Tehachapi: SP Oil Cans at Woodford & other freights 1989

[@richiewhitaker5763]

My grandparents use to take me to that spot when I was a kid. I always had a great time.

[@enjoyingrailroading1013]

Nicely done! Visited Tehachapi in Feb 1993. Great experience!! Thanks for your videos!!

[@jarrietfair6497]

💘 both my Santa fe and southern pacific trains. Those were the good old days.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

I'm glad that you enjoy my videos. Thanks for the comments.

[@ChachaChapati]

Tunnel motors, oil cans, and gyralights--I miss the SP immensely. Loved the dark lark grey and scarlet color scheme as well.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

That is the all-business "bloody nose" paint scheme that actually de-emphacized accumulated grime and then looked "regal" when cleaned up.

[@carlzipperman6689]

SP power was usually dirty and grimey, but when their locomotives were freshly painted and clean they were beautiful.

[@MyVideos-fm7ug]

II remember seeing COTTON BELT units on coal trains passing through my back yard occasionally back in the early 90s… and I’m all the way on the east coast

[@paalakadewey7102]

Brings back great memories. Camping at the loop, watching trains day & night, always the highlight was the cans! Fantastic,

[@vidwilzvids9587]

It was certainly a magic place. Thanks for the comment.

[@carlzipperman6689]

It was a fun adventure to camp at The Loop. Now you can't even go there. Cajon Pass basically the same.

[@djpetesake]

Such beautiful footage

[@Rustyrailhead]

I'm still enjoying your videos each year.

[@coxsj]

My first trips to Techachapi were in 1989. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven! Watching your vid I can almost smell the creosote! Hard to beat this period and location - SP, ATSF, 2nd gen power, bare knuckle railroading on a tough stretch of track.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Very similar to my own impressions when visiting Tehachapi AND Cajon for the first time on the same day in 1976. That experience included DD40X's, DD35A's and cabooses on every train. I had never heard what railroad diesels sound like under constant full load on a 2.0+% grade. It was like a right-brain feast of intuitive physics. Thanks for the comment.

[@ScottKew-g8r]

Great Video! I love how you caught this WHOLE scene. Helpers. Gyralites. Scanner. Panning. HOWLING EMD s....GREAT STUFF !

[@4wdiesels]

The sound of those EMD's is hypnotizing! I was born in '80 and had the SP saugus line very close to my house in Burbank. I used to hear the drone of those SP emd locomotives approaching at night sometimes 20 minutes before the train would pass. They also had some of the nicest sounding horns and were not shy about using them.

[@ccrx-xu1wc]

Nice video! Thank You!!! first clip on tankers, mid locos still had an engineer onboard!

[@forwhomthebelltolls392]

Ah, yes. The good old days. I miss riding the El Cap and The Chief out of Union Station in LA. It was a fantastic ride from LA to Chicago back then.

[@Steve007tube]

Thanks for posting these. They bring back memories of the times I worked in the area. Excellent transfer to digital!

[@vidwilzvids9587]

You're very welcome. That would indeed be an excellent area to work in. Thank you for the compliment.

[@davidpoor8638]

I have the Athearn HO scale model of the 9372.. It's a beautiful model with incredible detail.

[@atc2853]

Wow! What an awesome video, good quality too! Whoever the engineer in the SP oil can train was was sure friendly 😂. The oil can train was my favorite with them ole SP tunnel motors in run 8 flying up around the turn at Woodford. Can't beat the sound of those EMD 645s in run 8 either. Can't believe that'll be 29 years in just a few days, I wasn't even born yet, wish I could've been there in person. Thanks for sharing!

[@vidwilzvids9587]

You're welcome. You are young enough that you will see the gradual demise of, first, two-stroke diesels, and then, all diesel locomotives, toward natural gas, fuel cells, and other technologies. Thanks for the comment.

[@atc2853]

@@vidwilzvids9587 Your welcome and thanks again for sharing your experience with us!

[@jefftoft5568]

Great power lashups, miss all that great older power!

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Their "personalities" really came out at Run 8. Enjoyed your latest posts incl. the ICE at Davenport. Thanks for the comments.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Jeff... when you get a chance, tell me about the camera you used for your latest posts. I didn't notice any rolling shutter effect.

[@jefftoft5568]

The IC&E video was done with a Panasonic camcorder that used mini DVD disc. Which you can not get the right disc for anymore. They don't sell that model anymore, mini DVD cameras were short lived. I've gone thru 2 VHS camcorders then the Panasonic and now I use a Sony that uses mini SD cards. My videos 2008 to 2012 were done with the Panasonic. Hope to get a camera with 4K down the road. Hope that answers your question.@@vidwilzvids9587

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Thanks for responding. I remember those mini-dvd camcorders. They had a quirk that if it slipped out of your hands the gyro effect of the disk could wipe out the drive. I bought a Canon DV camcorder a few years back that has a CMOS imager that has terrible rolling shutter effect especially when shooting fast pans and pacing shots. So I've been using cameras with CCD imagers like Sony SX10IS, SX20IS, & H300, all of which will only record in 1280 X 720 HD. That seems to provide enough detail for KZbin MPEG-4's, but I'd like to eventually get into an Ultra HD camera that has a global shutter imager with no "Jello" effect. Apparently that's a major hurdle among the pro-sumer camera makers. Thanks for the info about IC&E.

[@santeebandit3246]

The EX Amtrak SDP40F Cowl units…U-boats, SD45’s, Tunnel motors, best memories. Cajon Pass catching UP Bicentennials, DD35’s working in tandem. Ughh those surely were the best days of railroading.

[@dennisyoung4631]

Did these engines have a pounding, thunderous sound? Like some I recall from ages ago, so long ago that I don’t recall just when?

[@stripervince1]

I worked for SP for a decade back in the 80s. Never saw a clean engine.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

It was a rare sight. My California Operation Lifesaver Special video has one that looks like it was Simonized. There are also a few Kodachrome specimens in other vids that "look" clean. Thanks for the comment.

[@stripervince1]

@@vidwilzvids9587 I was a signalman right there 35 years ago. Loved the area and the job

[@H3avyHaul3r]

if they don’t have clean engines there’s two reasons…they are a busy railroad or they ate a broke railroad….both applied to the SP

[@oddjobz9858]

Clean burning from what I see just not in appearance

[@joestrainworldvideos3977]

Super fine train video. Thanks for sharing. 👍👍👍👍👌👌👌

[@donaldlumm7538]

I will add that the slow pan following the lead and DPU units, the judicious and timely use of the zoom lens, framing of natural background features (trees), late day photographic use of natural light, transition frames (birds on telegraph wire), and sound quality, is by far the best assemblage I’ve seen online. Let me not forget to mention the happenstance catch of the lone subsidiary Cotton Belt locomotive unit pulling the 6 parent SP locomotives, and the trailing SF caboose and red tail lights drifting into the sunset. Grade = A+

[@brbertram]

Well done!

[@scoobycarr5558]

The "billboard" era of boxcars still existed in the late 1980s on Southern Pacific and Santa Fe with "Hydra Cushion For Fragile Freight" for Southern Pacific and "Super Shock Control" for Santa Fe. And some "Real Cold" on reefer cars before graffiti would sadly take their place on most freight cars in this day and age.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Thanks for your comments,

[@gragor11]

No graffiti on these cars is an amazing sight to see.

[@25mfd]

Classic SP with their classic "oil cans". interesting how these old school oil cans, as far as I knew, didn't have the abysmal derailment record of todays crude oil trains. Good stuff here.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Thank you both for the comments.

[@ronaldmorrison6013]

@phillyslasher "in house"😂

[@michlo3393]

That's because that oil can train is actually pretty small compared to the trains running on Tehachapi today. The "cans" were under 5,000 feet usually.

[@EntertainmentWorldz]

super train video

[@dennisyoung4631]

Ah! Engines with *full loads of Soot!* excellent!

[@kevinoswaldofxe3817]

Hola excelente video y buenas tomás sino no me equivocó esas tipo de maquinas del SP eran las que mandaban a Nogales Sonora México en los intercambios de Mercancía con el FCP de hecho ATSF llegó a mandar locomotoras a México cuando FNM tenía falta de fuerza motriz normalmente mandaba modelos como los que aparecen en el vídeo saludos desde México

[@H3avyHaul3r]

as a driver…i understand why SP always put EMD power on the oil cans, you can trust them to live in run8…all day, everyday

[@NS6677]

GEs had a tendency to catch on fire.

[@chaitanyanandurkar9009]

I noticed the trains are shorter than what they are on average today.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

One reason: There was no DP (distributed power) back then. Thanks for the comment.

[@scoobycarr5558]

Looks like the oil train is going 20-25 mph the speed limit on this stretch of Southern Pacific in the Tehachapi Range

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Maybe even slower.

[@dmaxsba]

Questions, how many years did this train run? How many times per day/week? Noticed the tanks were joined together. How many were joined before the next break in connection? Was there a standard size of the train (total cars)? Were there ever any incidents with this train over the years of operation? Did any other railroad run this train or was it 100% SP all the time. Thanks to those who take the time to inform me on the details of this train.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

The loaded trains ran from Saco (near Bakersfield) to Carson (near Dolores Yard) on the SP via Saugus and Taylor Yard. The train was filled in two tracks in Saco. and unloaded in two segments in Carson. Here's the whole story: sptco.proboards.com/thread/881/call-oil-cans-june-1992

[@dmaxsba]

@@vidwilzvids9587 Thanks for the link. Outstanding!

[@mmcdude5768]

Nice to see the oil cans! Did the BKDOU ever operate with a caboose, or did it have a FRED from the beginning?

[@vidwilzvids9587]

My guess: The entire concept of the train was dependent on a 2-way communication between an ETD (End-of-Train-Device) and head-end and manned helper power. I don't think that relying on a crew member in a caboose was ever an option. Thanks forr the comment.

[@jackcapewell4373]

how many units and wagons did the oil can train had???

[@vidwilzvids9587]

The standard answer is that it depended on supply/demand, and storage and refinery capacity. Apparently there was also a seasonal influence.

[@jackcapewell4373]

vidwilzvids yes very true it was mostly like around 70 something aye? Mostly 5 at front and 6 helpers?

[@vidwilzvids9587]

I know I've seen as many as eight unit head-end and helper consists on the oil cans. I would agree that 70 cars was a typical Tank Train.

[@jackcapewell4373]

vidwilzvids 8 at front and 8 in the middle??? How many loads??

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Here is an exerpt from a comment on trainorders.com: "It was usually a 4 x 5 operation, with 72 "cans", 6 sets of 12 cars, the cars were about 132 tons each loaded. The loaded train was approx. 9,500 tons. There were also the 78 car trains (the 13 car 'sets'), abt. 10,300 tons. The cars were 28 tons each empty. You had 3 tracks at Saco, and at Mojave. 24 cars to a track, loaded from the middle, spotted under the rack. They could be loaded in about 6 1/2 hours to 8 hours. It depended on the temperature of the crude. Usually they weren't in a rush, and would just let it flow, un-heated, taking the 8 hours. If they had to 'catch-up' on a schedule, they would give it a little heat, and get it loaded in 6 hours. They didn't do that very often, as it used alot more energy. A sidenote: The storage tanks at the Mojave facility could hold 4 trains worth of oil, total. In the (few) times we had a few minutes to wait in Palmdale, the entire train would just barely fit between Sierra Hwy., and Palmdale Blvd."

[@rustyscupper2936]

I guess the helpers were still manned in '89. I remember in the late 70's an attempt at remote helpers via a technology called 'Locotrol'. It was a bit before its time. The radio frequency technology was not quite ready for such a thing. The 'slaves' would often lose continuity with the 'masters' and disconnect or worse go into emergency or reverse. I recall a couple of wrecks on the tehachapis due to just that.

[@NS6677]

Only Santa Fe did it right with the SF30Cs, having one engine as the master at the front of the train and the receiver engine in the middle of the train. Those worked well from what I know.

[@uncleriko4656]

At around 1:00 something under the second unit is looking absolutely red hot

[@H3avyHaul3r]

think its just the traction motor casings painted red…probably refurbished TM’s

[@regisbrooks8064]

How many cars

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Here is an exerpt from a comment on trainorders.com: "It was usually a 4 x 5 operation, with 72 "cans", 6 sets of 12 cars, the cars were about 132 tons each loaded. The loaded train was approx. 9,500 tons. There were also the 78 car trains (the 13 car 'sets'), abt. 10,300 tons. The cars were 28 tons each empty. You had 3 tracks at Saco, and at Mojave. 24 cars to a track, loaded from the middle, spotted under the rack. They could be loaded in about 6 1/2 hours to 8 hours. It depended on the temperature of the crude. Usually they weren't in a rush, and would just let it flow, un-heated, taking the 8 hours. If they had to 'catch-up' on a schedule, they would give it a little heat, and get it loaded in 6 hours. They didn't do that very often, as it used alot more energy. A sidenote: The storage tanks at the Mojave facility could hold 4 trains worth of oil, total. In the (few) times we had a few minutes to wait in Palmdale, the entire train would just barely fit between Sierra Hwy., and Palmdale Blvd."

[@hunterriley9904]

Is it just me or is SP the only ones at that time to have flashing lights at the front on the train for safety ? I know ATSF and others had that lil tiny spinning orange light. Love all your old videos. I was born in Aygust of 89 so its cool to watch the past in motion

[@vidwilzvids9587]

I'm glad that you enjoy my videos. Those gyrating (or oscillating) lights were Mars lights and Gyralights. The Mars lights were invented by the same guy that made Snickers bars. Of the western railroads, SP used these the most and the longest. SP also used the rarer Oscitrol, which was non-mechanical and solid state. One of these can be seen at 2 min., 34sec. of my video titled "Colton Crossing & West Colton Dec. 19, 1987". One of the commenters of that post (James Harness) brought that to my attention. Apparently there were only 16 SP units that had them. Thanks again for the kind comment.

[@hunterriley9904]

@@vidwilzvids9587 😀👍

[@JP-dj2ro]

Nice video. Did the oil cans train took crude oil to Los Angeles?

[@vidwilzvids9587]

The loaded trains ran from Saco (near Bakersfield) to Carson (near Dolores Yard) on the SP via Saugus and Taylor Yard. Here's the whole story: sptco.proboards.com/thread/881/call-oil-cans-june-1992

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

Billy Billy The Coast Line Oil Can train is the one that takes oil to Valero in Los Angeles.

[@eltoro6688]

Lemme see if I've got this right. The Oilcans would be destined for the refineries at Bakersfield?

[@vidwilzvids9587]

The loaded trains ran from Saco (near Bakersfield) to Carson (near Dolores Yard) on the SP via Saugus and Taylor Yard. Here's the whole story: sptco.proboards.com/thread/881/call-oil-cans-june-1992

[@joestrainworldvideos3977]

I subscribed for more. 😀😀

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Thank you for your comments and sub. I subbed your channel; I really like European rail subjects. I'm still re-configuring my capture rig but hope to post some more vids soon.

[@scoobycarr5558]

Santa Fe was renowned the world over for their classic Super Shock Control slogan on their boxcar fleet. These days under BNSF you cannot see that famous slogan anymore because these have been rebuilt by BNSF.

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Thanks for the comment.

[@dfwrailvideos]

What is it with SP and gigantic helper consists and usage of entirely too much power, whilst not having a power shortage?!?

[@CenturyMooseCentral]

taken 1988

[@ronaldmorrison6013]

Random birdies 😁👍

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Railfan birds that like Woodford.

[@carmenflores4065]

Looks like on of the army trains

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Crude oil going to LA refineries.

[@oddjobz9858]

They don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Grit guts and grime

[@frankmosch3757]

It does not get any better then this, except for high speed you better have some really good straight shining silver rail with signals and switches in good shape to go along with it otherwise you,r asking for trouble......

[@marcelomenendez1971]

43800 emd hp

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Getting that 43800 hp to the rail was the trick. Thanks for the comment.

[@marcelomenendez1971]

@@vidwilzvids9587 thank you for your videos, I am from agentina, and visit the loop in 1998, unfortunately, the oils tanks was gone at this time, but I was so lucky ,i think, that I saw so many sd45, sd40t2 and sd45t2, in sp scheme, perhaps is a theme of generations, but I dont like the new eco engines, and the fact that the union pacific holds the sp, all the engines are armour yellow, for me long life to the v20 turbo e3, i miss so much their twenty cilinders screaming to hell and you can hear them from miles away battling the mountain grades, regards

[@vidwilzvids9587]

Now you know the reason that I scrambled to record these legendary views. Gracias for your kind comments.

[@trainknut]

I never lived in the SP era, yet for some reason I can't stand seeing UP or BNSF GEVOs on Tehachapi What I wouldn't give to see a string of tunnel motors in their prime...

[@vidwilzvids9587]

You came to the right channel.

[@SoonerStateSirens1]

As SP uses their entire fleet of tunnel motors to pull a 2 car consist

[@vidwilzvids9587]

SP's idea of "failsafe".

[@SoonerStateSirens1]

vidwilzvids you mean bankruptcy

[@allenscottmontgomery3929]

@@vidwilzvids9587 One of my SP engineer friends said that they always threw on some extras, knowing a few units would go down during the trip.

[@robertswickard8355]

And that is why the S.P. & S.F. are not around anymore :::::: Using 3 times the locomotives to do the same work as what U.P. used ... Even Conrail used 5 locomotive only up the 1.85% horseshoe curve on a 12,000 ton move .... These 2 railroads take 10 locomotives to move 10,000 tons up 2.00% WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE WASTE