Santa Fe Valley Division

Description

[@jeraldperry188]

My Dad JB Perry at 14:02 seconds. I remember him taking my older brother and I to the Calwa yard and taking us on the Roundhouse. What an experience. Great video and thank you for posting.

[@chrisstromberg6527]

That must have been awesome as a kid, very cool!

[@DouggieFresh50]

Wait that was your dad if it was thats cool

[@stevearnold2304]

We got to Rail when railroading was fun. I retired as an engineer on the Valley Division. I’m good friends with Bob Towns featured in this production. I worked this branch one summer in 1980 as a new engineer.

[@ericdee6802]

I worked with "H.L.Sumlin" in Barstow.

[@skullcrusher301]

I’d like to know what became of the people on the local crew.

[@stevearnold2304]

@@skullcrusher301 I’m still good friends with Bob Townes the engineer

[@stevearnold2304]

Bob’s a great guy

[@Bohica-tq3ps]

Really great video. I hired out as a switchman/brakeman in Fort Madison Iowa in 1966 on the Santa Fe and went on to work as a conductor. Retired after 43 years. No pakset radios, getting on/off moving equipment, dropping cars, this is as real as it gets.I took a temprorary transfer to the Richmond Yards for 3 months in '90 and then went back to work the Valley Div out of Fresno in '94 for 3 months on another temp, worked with a lot of good people out there. Thanks for the memories

[@uhlijohn]

When I first started working on the CNW in 1974 at Proviso Yards, when you walked into the Proviso Administration Bldg. you would see a small army of clerks at their work stations in front of many "pigeon holes" that the clerks used to put the waybills in to organize them. With the advent of the computer all of those clerks went "bye-bye"! So did the waybill! Man, I saw a lot of changed on the RR in my 39 years working as a brakeman/switchman for 5 months then as an engineer! I retired in 2013 upon my 60th birthday with 39 1/2 years of service. Wish I was still there sometimes.....

[@25mfd]

congrats on your retirement... i was also a CNW employee started in 93 out of butler yard... by the time i hired on, i had missed out on a lot of the "good times" the old heads talked about... i still had fun though, learned how to be a good switchman and be a good helper from a nice bunch of guys

[@BillP-kg1yp]

Love the hip 1970's cookie duster mustache on the yard crew man cleaning the windshield.

[@JDsHouseofHobbies]

The Visalia Branch looks like it would make a nice model railroad for someone who likes the Santa Fe but doesn't have a lot of room.

[@TrainTrackTrav]

So much in this video you can't see anymore. Geeps on the road, 40 MPH on a branch line, cabooses, Santa Fe pin stripe livery, mounting and dismounting moving equipment, a crazy dangerous switching move, and crews without high viz jackets. Thanks for sharing!

[@caveman123ization]

It's like the wild west compared to today.

[@meatballofdeath9846]

TrainTrackTrav Dont forget cameras on board and an actual enjoyment of railroading. Now it seems everyone I talk to who works on the rails dislikes their jobs and are only in it for the pay.

[@Lightwolf333]

Gives perspective of just how different things were back then.

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

BACK then, they Worked for the Railroad, and the RR worked for them.... Now, between overregulation, EnviroNazis, Bureaucracy and the almighty Union - the Hustlers, Hostlers and Jostlers basically work for the UNION!!! Management is now considered a "Monster" that you DON'T talk to without a Lawyer, or the Union TELLS YOU what you want! 😞 It really was, the good old days....

[@alexandergrube6437]

after hunter resigned (and then died) crews were seen stepping off of moving CSX trains

[@bubblelvr1]

I’m now retired started with conrail in 1990 as a brakeman when the crew was three man and boy I really miss those times getting on and of moving equipment flying drop switching man it was fun till csx came along today in buffalo ny it’s sad and just down disgusting on what they’ve done to railroading today it’s not fun anymore they’ve just killed the spirit of the job and the worker. I’m now a retired engineer and to tell you I cry sometimes the memories of the men I’ve met and worked with over the years was a great experiance

[@beeble2003]

"it’s not fun anymore they’ve just killed the spirit of the job and the worker" Unlike in the "good old days", when they just killed the worker.

[@dennisrichardville4988]

Trucking is the same way.....

[@millzym3381]

41 years ago-ish, this film quality is freakin' amazing.

[@beeble2003]

Remember that, by this time, film cameras were already 100-year-old technology. This kind of quality is completely normal for a professional production of the era.

[@kernjames]

In the late 1970s the way things were done by the Switchmen and Brakemen, were pretty standard across the Santa Fe. I worked out of Kansas City, and the scenery is all that is different. That similarity in signals and operations on trains and in yards, is comforting for some reason. Three times in the 1990s I transferred to the Western Region/Division from Kansas City to work in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Barstow as a temporary transfer. I loved it.

[@be6322]

Grew up in Reedley!! Miss watching the Santa Fe and the SP come rolling fast through town!!

[@jeffreymcfadden9403]

We spent 1994-5-6 photoing ATSF in Illinois. About a week or so each year. About all the leave time available. All those new red/silver locos was an amazing sight.

[@johnnyjames7139]

This brings back 1950's memories of my childhood. Grandpa would take me out to watch switch crews. Thanks for posting.

[@tomharris8263]

I worked this as head brakeman from time to time during my career with Santa Fe mid to late 70s. Crew running what we called elbows and a**holes. Really enjoyable working the branch and time would fly by. Thanks for the memories.

[@macmedic892]

Just curious, was that normal operation or were they showing off for the camera?

[@tomharris8263]

@@macmedic892 Not showing off. That's the way that job ran. These men knew there job and were good at it.

[@josephvirga8888]

Loving this ! 1A2 key telephones, typewriters , radio dispatch , paper pencil, those were the days...

[@davidarnold2173]

Thanks for sharing this, I Model ATSF in N-scale- great views of depots & infer structure & very interesting behind the scenes to- boot!

[@kenkemzura903]

Great memories. So sad that the branch lines and caboose are gone. I have photographed the line since the mid 70s.

[@stevearnold2304]

I’d love to see them

[@cadespencer6320]

show us the photos

[@kenkemzura903]

@@cadespencer6320 Not able to on this thread but thanks for asking.

[@cadespencer6320]

@@kenkemzura903 can you show the photos on another place?

[@kenkemzura903]

@@cadespencer6320 it probably would need to be posted on a special interest group or on my Facebook page.

[@gregoryorsatti3701]

Very pleased to see ATSF Rwy. Consist /w out BN .,I’ve taken trains to & from Bakersfield.,incl. Amtrak Juaquin service! Thanks and God Bless!

[@ThisWorks4Me]

A great trip back in time. It's how railroading was when I was growing up. I loved the Wig-Wags at the grade crossings.

[@bboomer1948]

Enjoyed the video, thanks for the post.

[@oooltra]

I was a Santa fe engineer for 58 years. One time I hooked up to a caboose and started pulling. Dumb ass on the other end never did figure out what was going on. Had to take a bus home.

[@TrainmasterSP-qk2lo]

That’s when railroading was cool! Now all you see here in the West is mostly stack trains! Great video! Brings back memoir railfanning back in the day! Wonder if there is a part 3!

[@markswasey4301]

Great video! I love getting a since of what is going in the depots and dispatchers table.

[@JanicefromKansas]

Hello from Kansas 🇺🇸

[@stevearnold2304]

Hello back from SW Oregon. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@gregsnavely5147]

My grandfather started during the steam era and became a conductor

[@sarjim4381]

Note the near complete lack of graffiti on the stations and rolling stock.

[@Mark-jl6tl]

That’s because graffiti used to be considered vandalism and a form of blight, not embraced by the “open-minded culture” of today.

[@Metro4054]

That's because grafitti had yet to leave New York and other urban cities. Once New York cracked down on graffiti, the artists took it on the road so to speak. Though they weren't pioneers of rail vandalism, that goes to the guys that tagged cars in chalk with little pictures or their signature. While not as garish and in your face as modern graffiti it is still vandalism nonetheless but those little tags seem to be well loved by your average railfan. Vandalism is vandalism is vandalism. The good news is that by the time graffiti really took hold most railroads had already transitioned away from the eye catching liveries and slogans of the golden age to the drab, corporate paper pusher arousing, cheap and soulless schemes we see today. In 2023 most of the good stuff is gone, particularly boxcars and tank cars. Seeing the boring PSR blocked of cars of the modern manifest tagged to hell doesn't move me. Now seeing what they do to locomotives in So Cal is shocking and gives off a real third world vibe.....but it is the LA area, so yeah.

[@model-man7802]

Just think,If we had supported our railroads we could still be enjoying all this.

[@dennisbrowder6316]

Great music track nice

[@HunterLohseRRVideos]

Wow! I didn’t see this was on your channel before I started working on my program Steve! This was very interesting to watch especially seeing how depot clerk operations were! I feel like this, my two parter, and then a DVD on the BNSF Bakersfield Sub are the only programs I know of that cover the ATSF north or Bakersfield in any sort of detail!

[@stevearnold2304]

I worked for the great Santa Fe during this time Hunter. I was given the video by Bob Towns the engineer spotlighted in the video. We are still good friends. If you have seen my cab ride video, Bob was at the controls of the 199 that we met at Christie.

[@mccoy79productions66]

Nice catch and new sub!

[@subbstevie]

love santa fe,bnsf,oh heck i like them all

[@michaelpowell3980]

This is bloody brilliant! Is there anymore? Is it from a dvd series? I want to buy it and eat up this REAL railroading, with people who knew what they were doing... not the current PSR bs

[@willcampbell8997]

Sad to see that old Santa Fe branchline is now gone. I recently looked at Google Maps and the line ends a few miles east of Calwa.

[@ValleyBeast559]

There is a small stretch in Visalia remaining about 3-4 miles long. SJVR serviced it up until about 6-7 years go

[@cadespencer6320]

@@ValleyBeast559 how do you know when they stopped servicing it?

[@cadespencer6320]

I just need a lot of money to restore this line

[@robscott8296]

This and you can still see some Santa Fe locomotives in their warbonet paint and say Santa Fe

[@AppalachiaRRlover]

July 5th ha, right before I was born. I came into this world 21 days later

[@FresnoOfficialByJosephJamarTay]

Way long time ago from Fresno California the Predecessor Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

[@OTRWA]

Luv these 80s clips

[@heididarlingdcscrewcreator1649]

Omg i love that horn!

[@CONTAINERMAN68]

Hey, So- Cal linked one of your older videos to one of his videos. The last of the Santa Fe!

[@stevearnold2304]

Cool

[@ATSF1317]

do you have the full movie of this and part 1?

[@rearspeaker6364]

wow,telephones with wires and typewriters!!

[@martineggert7818]

Grew up in Hanford, so weird to see the depot from the 70s! Awesome video, is there more to it? possibly a full version?

[@stevearnold2304]

Martin Eggert . That’s it.

[@MikeMercury]

I love cabooses

[@Med0sproductions]

WHERE did you find this?!

[@gregsnavely5147]

I remember as a kid going to calwa yard and the roundhouse was still there fully with what looked like 23 stalls

[@gregsnavely5147]

My dad also became conductor in 1986 he retired before the merger with BN in 1993

[@grizzlyacpm]

excelent!

[@christopherdibble5872]

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like did back in 1954!

[@millzym3381]

What's the song that starts for the montage around 10:00?

[@donstarr7261]

Were are the somerlands and Marvin Ray? Good old guys

[@25mfd]

@ 33:47... non railroaders don't know that what the brakeman is doing is required by the rule book (checking your train in the curve)... sometimes goofy trainmasters and/or traveling enrs will literally "hide in the weeds" and give a STOP signal with a fusee ... if that happens you BETTER stop your train or the crew gets written up for failing an efficiency test... dirty rotten scoundrel officers

[@stevearnold2304]

Weed weasels

[@raxxtango]

Loco Olympics ...Train-hopping, flying switch, speed competition. 40MPH? More like 60.

[@Rockit442]

At least 60!

[@marcoortega711]

Crazy operating fueled by Disco and Cocaine

[@popps2502]

Great video.....but what happen it just ended...I got cheated.

[@stevearnold2304]

I worked with Marvin a lot

[@Santafefrank]

Thanks 😊

[@vernonsaayman9741]

Yes, the advent of bnsf in94 put a cutoff date for me on theatsf for good.

[@25mfd]

that wayfreight crew was runnin' their butts off... then later we hear it's a 12hr job... didn't expect them to be running on a 12hr job

[@stevearnold2304]

25mfd . Back in the good ol days, jobs were advertised as 12 hours and paid accordingly. The faster you got it done, the quicker you got home. Nothing close to the PSR of today’s railroading.

[@stevearnold2304]

That’s my very good friend Bob at 13:00 minutes

[@25mfd]

oh man don't get me going on PSR... hunter Harrison started that crap at CN, and it trickled over to practically every other class 1 (supposedly PSR turned CN from a $2billion outfit to a $24billion outfit...so obviously every other class 1 CEO saw that and started drooling... and PLOTTING)... the ultimate goal of PSR is to show the investors that every car is MOVING... so to that end they have closed a lot of yards, where a lot of those same cars would be set out and then SIT not moving, the UP (my old employer... I was a switchman for the CNW/UP) calls this DWELL TIME and they hated it UP has closed SEVERAL yard across its system including the proviso(chicago) hump... all those cars that would be sitting in a yard are kept moving, making the trains of today even BIGGER, HEAVIER, LONGER... overall not a bad idea... just too bad the employees are pretty much cannon fodder behind this grand PSR plan

[@stevearnold2304]

I am so glad to be retired. Lol

[@25mfd]

as far as the 12hr jobs go... on our end of the railroad our 12hr jobs moved at a overtimes pace if you get my drift... they were in no hurry not even a little bit... our 12hr jobs had a lot of work and no one was interested in rushing through it, partly because our mgmt. would throw the rule book at you if you messed something up while rushing the job... and mgmt did just that... so guys were like hey I ain't running and get canned... but I like your vid... always interested in seeing the little things that make this job different and the same

[@gregsnavely5147]

My dad and my grandfather worked at calwa yard

[@Mike-tg7dj]

I could see where that move would be dangerous. One tumble and it's goodbye arm or leg or.....head.

[@patricknoveski6409]

Mike Lcml5c yup

[@calebweems9392]

To bad trains aren't in porterville anymore

[@cadespencer6320]

i agree

[@hardyhector8308]

like train

[@RickMadridxxx]

Where's Marvin Ray and Dizzy Francisco and Dias? LOL

[@Mike-tg7dj]

Flares in California? Now that's scary!

[@rearspeaker6364]

EPA compliant???

[@PaulMauser]

It's the Central Valley and it's all farmland and not forest so fire isn't a concern.

[@cobraspottedwolf8791]

Those guys are stunt men

[@stevearnold2304]

They are real old school railroaders. I’m proud to say that I worked with them.

[@madmikemadmike2175]

wow no safety vest?

[@brakie44820]

Not needed nor wanted back then. I suppose we were the last of the "iron men".. The moves you see in this video would get you shit canned today.

[@Zebrails]

'zactly 41 years ago... 8:08

[@robscott8296]

Zebrails yep

[@andrewh.8403]

Did they get Dale Gribble to narrate this?

[@kylewilmeth2667]

im a conductor for bnsf so much stuff on here you cant do anymore, if you did and u got caught your fired... lol

[@MikeMercury]

Kyle Wilmeth like what

[@thetrainguy1]

Fly switching... Is an illegal move.

[@timpriddy349]

ATSF.........not the other way around

[@soylandgreen4414]

in german we say "geil"

[@turbod1]

Once nixon took is off the gold standard all this started to fade away.

[@user-pp1ni2jy3f]

All the people in this video are either retired or dead. The railroad is also dead.

[@stevearnold2304]

The engineer is Bob Townes. A good friend of mine and he is very much alive

[@user-pp1ni2jy3f]

@@stevearnold2304 Retired? I heard folks with over 20 years punched out when BNSF started.

[@stevearnold2304]

A lot of guys stayed on. My best friend just retired a few years ago with over 45 years seniority. Another friend that I trained in 92 is #1 in seniority and retires next year