Southern Pacific Colton Yard Pepper Avenue Scenes 2-10-1991

[@oter500]

I used to work there 1977-2012. Brings back a lot of memories good and bad. Thank you for your video.

[@anthonygermano9363]

No Graffiti. Man the Good Old Days. Still Miss The Espee. Thanks for a trip down memory lane. Did I mention No Damn Graffiti!! God railfanning today is just the shits.

[@b2major9th]

Our society has definitely gone downhill. I too miss those days. Not the same country at all. Thanks for your comment

[@TigerDominic-uh1dv]

Thanks for the Ride in the Yard

[@bigern32480]

I’m sitting on Pepper Avenue looking directly where the trains in this video are, it’s like a ghostly image of the old SP in yard with the cement hill in the background

[@b2major9th]

This was one of my favorite spots to gather information for superdetailing engine models. The sheer variety of power passing underneath, the sound, sight, and smell was endless. Thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment

[@andross51]

I have been to pepper a lot of times recently and man times have changed! Great footage btmajor! Always a big SP fan! :)

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for your comment and for taking the time to watch my videos. I'm happy to share what I have.

[@Db--jt7bt]

I don’t remember the SP, but I remember right after the UP merger when it was very common to see locomotives in SP and Cotton Belt livery.

[@b2major9th]

Those were great times to spend trackside, and will never be seen again. Surprising to occasionally see former SP locomotives still in their original colors. Thank you for watching, and taking the time to share your thoughts

[@kylewilmeth2667]

All those new cars they are hauling are probably worth 300 bucks now lol great video looooove old SP wish it was still around

[@b2major9th]

lol most are in the scrap yard! Thanks for your comment

[@clearboardproductions503]

Always interesting to see how it was. Love the vids.

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for your comment and for taking the time to watch.

[@espeescotty]

Some good old SP stuff there! I didn't know about Pepper Ave back in the day. I would have begged my parents to take me there when I was a teenager. This was shot just 6-days after I turned 17, but I didn't have a license and lived in San Diego at the time, but we went to Cajon Pass a few times per year, though.

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. Pepper Avenue was and is still a great location, though the subject matter has changed for the worse! Back then, you could literally go out any day and be guaranteed of something special or unusual parading by within half an hour or so. I only wish I had taken more video, but then it was commonplace - and we thought things would remain the same forever. Little did we know...

[@espeescotty]

Exactly....when we're young and still unwise, we really don't think that things we love will ever change. "No way will UP be able to do without all of those tunnel motors...I mean I know they're already 20+ years old and had rough lives, but they're still valuable to a big road like UP that needs all the power it can get..." A conversation that I often had in my head 20-years ago now. Last one I saw was 2005-ish. 😕😢

[@rtd1409]

A great spot I know well through the years and got UP 1996 and 4014 at the same spot. Cool action on the vid and amazing Gyralite action that late in the game! SP 4801 in this video was one I got photos of many times through the years.

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for your comment and for watching my video. Knowing what I know now I would have shot far more video, rather than just still photos

[@AJLopez44]

I remember sitting at Pepper Ave watching trains and the C-141s flying into Norton....that one train that took the balloon track must've been one of the haulers...

[@b2major9th]

Fun times to say the least. And if you were into RR modeling at all there was no better place to be for detail shots

[@averageguy7136]

Great video. Thanks for preserving early 90's SP history for future railfainners.

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment. Should have filmed more from Pepper Avenue - great spot to capture details for model railroading work.

[@O-PAC]

Man I miss the bloody noses, and the EMD spartan cabs.

[@derek2803]

Man, same here. I grew up in the Denver area and have many-a-memory of the SP. Most of which also coincide with the Rio Grande. Damn, I just bummed myself out.

[@b2major9th]

Who would have thought at the time the commonplace would have become a classic? I miss them too. Thank you for watching and for leaving a comment

[@b2major9th]

I originally thought the merger with the DRGW was a good thing; It never really occurred to me that Anschutz was the Devil. Or related to him...

[@camsmith7651]

To be on top of the bridge inhaling them diesel fumes.

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for your comment, and for taking the time to watch. The diesel fumes were the very best kind, EMD diesel fumes! Those were wonderful times for sure.

[@derek2803]

Ahhhh

[@trainnerd3029]

They should make air fresheners that smell like that!

[@santeebandit3246]

Dammmit those were the best days of railfanning..❤😢

[@b2major9th]

Yes, and had I known it at the time I would have taken 100X more video. Thank you for your comment and for taking the time to watch

[@minsterkiller123]

Your videos are in such amazing quality considering how long it’s been, honestly real hidden gems, I thank you greatly for preserving some great moments from another time (it seems like everything was better back then) that many younger people such as myself (only in my early 20’s) never got to experience. I’ve been watching and rewatching a lot of your videos for a while to help give me inspiration for weathering my southern Californian 90’s to early 2000’s era HO trains. I was wondering though, what kind of recorder/camera did you use for this?

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for your comments and for taking the time to watch my videos! At the time I didn't really realize the historical significance of what I was recording or I would have done more. I am happy people like yourself are making use of them. I recorded the videos with a Sony 8-mm HandyCam, which was purely analog recording. After watching them a few times, the tapes languished in a closet for nearly 30 years before I thought about converting them to digital format before the tape quality deteriorated away. I was pleased to find that the tapes were still good and went through all I had. I still have a few more scenes I need to post

[@TheClosetBranch]

Great video!!

[@b2major9th]

Thank you for your comment and for taking the time to watch!

[@BradFalck-mn3pc]

Old kodachrome paint job for the failed Santa Fe merger ,i forgot about that

[@b2major9th]

A lot of fans in the day hated the proposed merger that never came to be but in retrospect would have been preferable to what we have now! Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to watch!

[@BurlingtonNorthernProductions]

Can I use this footage in a documentary I am making?

[@b2major9th]

I have no problem with you using some of this footage in your production as long as (1) it is not for profit, (2) you give me credit for it, and (3) provide a link to my channel. Please email me at the link provided on my "About" page for my name and other details.

[@BurlingtonNorthernProductions]

Thank you! What I am doing is non profit and just for fun

[@b2major9th]

@@BurlingtonNorthernProductions very good, and thank you for watching my videos.

[@BurlingtonNorthernProductions]

@@b2major9th Your welcome man

[@dominichetherington2287]

All those legendary "tunnel motors" sd40t-2/sd45t-2 love them

[@scottsheehan1596]

SP has the dirties looking locos.look like there painted in black primer,covered in black soot

[@b2major9th]

Always loved the dirty worn look of many of the SP locomotives, especially the older SD45s and 45T-2s. It was a sign of the environment they worked in, mountain railroading with lots of tunnels. Thank you for your comment