Date: 01/25/05
Nostalgic PLA Equipment Move Part 6 - Coastline Cruising
Author: espeeboy
We start off part 6 of this now long PLA movement series with the museum equipment relocation train traversing south out of Oakland on the northern part of SP's old Coastline. Well, today the first part of this trip is actually on UP's Niles Subdivision but not too long ago it all used to be the SP Coastline.

Extra SP5472 is seen highballing Fruitvale through East Oakland as fast as she can go (at about 29mph). That is the last SP signal bridge left in the Bay Area (aside from CalTrain's South S.F. rebuilt one). Engineer Lou did a mighty fine job hammin' his train up for the few lucky cameras waiting ready at old Fruitvale Tower (today's Fruitvale spur to Con Agra and the "island" of Alameda).

Young up and coming railfan Alex Ramos gets a dose of what normal freight action was like through East Oakland 35 years before he was born! I should talk, this was the typical Espee action all over the system 25 years before I was born!

Lou says hello after his best attempt to "whoosh" past us. Guess its kinda hard to whoosh at all when you're restricted to under 30mph. Looking back, this would have been a very good video spot. (note to self, buy video camera with part of tax refund).


After a missed shot a mile away on the Mulford line no thanks to ONE SLOW RAILFAN IN A GREEN FORD EXPLORER STUCK MOVING SUPER SLOW IN FRONT OF US (ARGH!!!!!) and then another missed shot at Marina, we rushed 10 miles down the road to the somewhat new overpass location of Eden Shores in Hayward, CA. The Eden Shores overpass is a monster railfan friendly structure built for a new housing tract on the waterside of the tracks.  That is Industrial Parkway crossing in the foregound where other foamers was lurking about (somewhere).

Same spot but getting closer. Yup those target signals are really crooked like that. We railfans are not complaining, leave those targets there trackside but how about straightening them up Uncle Pete!

Here's my lousy grab shot I got at Alvarado (was not amused). That's Howard in the 5623 - no doubt laughing at me...  (Dan Furtado photo)

And still closer....

Going away...

Going, going...

...away. Nice to get a caboose on the end, something so pre-80's. Have to reach far back into my railfanning memory for something similar to this (actually, all I from the early 80's got was SP bay windows with a few ATSF wide visions here and there)

Isn't the conductor standing there on the rear platform of the SSW40 a known SP old head off the Peninsula?

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