Santa Fe's 1948-1950 Super Chief in Victorville, & A Visit to Layouts in Minneapolis

We'll continue this time with the March 1948-January 1951 Super Chief as it passed through Victorville, and then I'll cover the three layouts I toured while visiting my siblings in Minneapolis, MN.

You may recall that when we studied the 1946-47 (and early 1948) Super Chief, the first thing we noted was that it normally passed through Victorville after sunset (eastbound) and before sunrise (westbound), so any photos of it in Victorville would be very rare.  I will be showing photos of the locos that pulled the Super Chief in those years, but they will often be pulling other trains.

For example, here we see F3 set #26 with the eastbound Grand Canyon at Sullivan's Curve in July, 1950, thanks to Jack Whitmeyer:

The scheduled times for the westbound Super Chief (Train 17) to pass through Victorville (it did not stop there) were 5:40 a.m. in mid-1948 and 5:42 a.m. through Jan. 1951.  The eastbound Super Chief (Train 18) came through at 10:50 p.m. in mid- 1948 and 10:55 p.m. through Jan. 1951.

With my layout operating plan of not running any nighttime operations, this means that I don't need to model this train, which is fortunate, as some of the cars can only be modeled in HO with expensive and rare brass models, as seen in this consist I presented as part of my 2019 Super Chief clinic (an update of my 2006 clinic after more HO models were made):

Here's a summary of this consist::

Now let's look at all the types of locos that pulled the Super Chief from March, 1948, through January, 1951, based on the loco assignment records posted by Loren Joplin at santafe.gmbus.com.  The photos below will show the various types of locos, but not when pulling the Super Chief.

As of March, 1948, the power pool for the Super Chief still included FTs #158-168, PA-1s #51-58, Erie-Built #90, and F3s #16-21, as we saw in previous report on the Super Chief up to March, 1948.

In March, 1948, they added new F3s #22-25 to the pool, and then in May-June, 1948, they added F3s #26-29, and in Sep. 1948 they added F3 set #30.

So now in June, 1948, they could drop all the older power from the Super Chief pool.  Gone were the FTs #158-168, PA-1s #51-58, and Erie-Built #90, so that only the F3s remained to pull the train.

Jack Whitmeyer shot F3 set #29 with the eastbound Grand Canyon at the Victorville depot (with pump houses on the left) in July of 1948:

Here is set #24 coming through Victorville with the eastbound Chief in the late 1940s, as shot by Richard Steinheimer.  Chard Walker is waving at the fireman:

The final batch of passenger F3 ABBA sets, #31-36, arrived in Oct-Nov of 1948 and Jan. of 1949.  These were "Phase 4" F3s, with horizontal grilles along the upper carbody sides, instead of chicken wire.

Here is F3 set #33 at Sullivan's Curve, thanks to Jack Whitmeyer:

Santa Fe got their first passenger F7s, #37-41 (ABBA sets), in Sep. 1949, and they joined the F3s in the Super Chief's power pool.

Here we see new F7 ABBA set #38 at the San Bernardino depot, thanks to Jack Whitmeyer:

This completes our coverage of the March 1948-January 1951 Super Chief.  We'll continue with this train another time.

It's been three weeks since I've written a blog entry, because my wife and I were gone to Minneapolis (my home town) to visit my siblings, as we do once a year.  While there, we both came down with bad colds (probably COVID), and we're still recovering.

While I was still healthy, I visited one small layout and two large ones, so I will share some of the photos I shot there.

But first, here's a report on more layout help from my volunteers.  My friend Jim Coady made some minor revisions to his drawings for the Rosso Cafe (adjacent to the Rosso Texaco station) in the Lower Narrows.  In particular, he added the sign board on the front that said "Rosso's Coffee Shop," and he revised the rear side per Jack Dykstra's memory to have one door and three windows, as seen here:

Bill Messecar plans to scratch-build this cafe after he finishes another structure project for the Boeing club.

My friend Craig Wisch in Victorville made a lot of progress on his cardstock model of the Santa Fe Hotel that was across the tracks from the depot in Victorville.  I was blown away when I saw his photos of his virtually-complete model.  Here are the front and right sides:

What a beautiful model this is!  Surprisingly, he then had a renewed interest in building the Rainbow Bridge in cardstock, so I was keeping my fingers crossed for that next project.

And now, back to the Minneapolis area, where I visited the small HO layout of my brother-in-law Scott Wardrope, who was the Chief Mechanical Officer in the St. Paul roundhouse of the Minnesota Commercial Railway.  He models a free-lanced electric interurban railroad, the Tidewater Terminal, that includes railroad car floats, and all the power comes from the overhead wires..  Here he poses beside his car float docks:

Here's a side view of his car float docks:

Here is his town of Tidewater, with the depot in the left distance:

Around the corner to the left of Tidewater is his engine terminal and car barn:

You can see where his mainline goes through the wall and into a staging yard in a closet on the left.

Now here's the first of the two large layouts I visited -- the HO Santa Fe layout of my old friend John Hotvet, who  is a Master Model Railroader and has been building his large attic-size layout in Minneapolis for decades.  He's a close friend of Scott Wardrope, and it was Scott who drove me to visit John.

I discovered that there's an online video tour of John's layout, showing his California Zephyr detouring though his many Colorado-based scenes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csUrrvQLkzk

I asked John to pose beside his large staging yard, as seen here:

Here's the unfinished engine terminal you can see at the far left of his staging yard:

John's most famous scene contains his very long steel trestle.  This scene of his California Zephyr on the trestle comes from the video I mentioned above:

Here we see his early Super Chief by his Climax depot:

Here's a busy switching area on his layout:

Here's one of the small towns along his mainline:

Here's one more small-town scene, the town of Rivera:

It's always a joy to visit John Hotvet, which I get to do every few years.  Be sure to watch the video to enjoy more of his scenes.

Here's the third and final layout that Scott and I visited, the O scale layout of the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum, which is in St. Paul.  When I was a kid, I saw it at least once in the basement of the St. Paul Union Depot, before it was moved.  Now I like to go see it every time I'm in the Twin Cities.

I found this trackplan online:

https://www.tcmrm.org/exhibits/o-scale-exhibit/

Here's one of my favorite scenes, showing all the bridges across the Mississippi river in Minneapolis, including the famous Stone Arch Bridge in the background:

Here's their model of the former Great Northern Depot in Minneapolis:

Here's their town of Mattlin, below where trains leave the GN depot:

Here's a view of their Mississippi Street engine terminal, with the coaling tower in the center:

Here's a view of the same engine terminal from the opposite side, showing part of the roundhouse on the right:

They have a long, panoramic scene of the mainlines along the Mississippi River:

Here's a final view, showing that river panorama from the opposite direction:

I never get tired of watching their O-scale trains running through all these scenes!

Here's a TV news report about the layout and the club:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cca6eHatCR0

This past week I still had no energy while I continued to recover from my bout with probable COVID.  But I had a lot of good correspondence with my helper in Victorville, Craig Wisch.

He reported that he has now finished his cardstock model of the old Santa Fe Hotel that was across the tracks from the depot.  Here's a view of the rear and left sides.  Note that the rear windows and the door don't have the 3-D details that the other walls have, as they will be out of sight:

Here's a new view showing the front and left sides, after he added a drain pipe to hide a joint between the walls:

He is now preparing to mail this beautiful model to me.  He took another look at maybe modeling the very large Rainbow Bridge in cardstock, but then he put this idea back on the shelf when he encountered some problems.

Instead, he is now interested in modeling the La Paloma Cafe, which was just to the right of the Santa Fe Hotel, as seen in this shot from the 1971 biker movie "The Hard Ride":

The cafe was not yet there during WW2, but it must have appeared soon after, as it shows up in the postwar photos.  Here's probably the best photo we have of the cafe:

It had a unique diagonal wall and door at the left front corner, as you may be able to see in these two photos.  An aerial photo from 1953 shows that it was a little narrower but a little deeper than the hotel next door.

Finally, this is not related to my layout, but Craig also completed his S-scale model of the newspaper office in Victorville by adding awnings to the front windows:

Many thanks to Craig Wisch for all his help during recent years!  

I hope to have the energy to get back to my layout wiring next week.  If you can help me, please let me know.

UP's 1946-47 City of LA in Victorville, & More Help with Layout Buildings, & a Steam Train Ride

Last time I covered the 1946-47 Super Chief, so this time I'll visit the UP's 1946-47 City of Los Angeles train.  Then I'll cover a bit of layout work and a lot of help from others in making buildings for my layout.  I'll also cover a fun steam train ride I went on.

In early 1946 Union Pacific's postwar City of Los Angeles train was running only every third day, using just two trainsets (the "7th Train" and the "9th Train") and two sets of power: an E2A-E6B-E6B set and an E6A-E2B-E2B set (they had mixed the E2s and E6s to try to equalize the power for each train).

Here's a color photo to introduce Union Pacific's postwar City of Los Angeles train.  UP researcher Jeff Koeller sent it to me with some comments that follow the photo.

Train No. 104, the eastbound COLA 7th Train, is posed for the company photographer just before entering Aspen Tunnel at MP 917.21. 

The photo was taken prior to the August 1946 renumbering, and after UP coach 5361 was added on May 6, 1946 (this is the first car after baggage-dormitory LA-101). The power units are E6A LA-4 (2nd), E2B LA-2 and E2B LA-3, which represents the 5,600 horsepower combination created in December 1943 by swapping the A-units in the 7th and 9th Trains. 

Here is Jeff Koeller's table of the consists of both trainsets:

Jeff also sent me all the following notes and photos of the 1946 train:

The table for the "UP-C&NW COLA July 1946 Consists” is based on the 1941 consists in Ranks & Kratville’s book, Union Pacific Streamliners, and updated to July 1946 from information in the Official Guide for July 1946. Of course, that publication doesn’t list the car names or numbers, nor does it include the Bagg-Dorm cars. Also, for the coaches, it just indicates there were 3 cars, but I’ve been able to update all of that through various other resources including UP inter-department letters. 

All of the cars in these two trains continued to feature City of Los Angeles lettering on the letterboards,  including the two 5331-series coaches added in May 1946, which also had UNION PACIFIC sublettering on the ends of the letterboard.

The consists for the COLA 7th and 9th Trains would remain essentially as indicated up to the beginning of daily service, inaugurated on May 14, 1947.  At that time, two new consists were created, and the amount of sleeping cars was reduced to 5 cars per consist. 

However, by the time daily service began, the COLA train name had been dropped from the letterboards, and only the sleeping cars retained their car names. The names for non-sleeping cars were dropped and just the car numbers were used (applied over the trucks). For example, Sun Valley became LA-901.  The non-sleeping cars also received the “Streamliner” logo in the center of the car side.

The sleeping cars simply had the word PULLMAN in 8-inch letters on the letterboard in a rather tightly-spaced arrangement. Individually owned non-sleeping cars had railroad ownership lettering in the letterboards, but all jointly-owned cars had 5-inch UNION PACIFIC at the left end of the letterboard, with 5-inch CHICAGO AND NORTH WESTERN lettering at the right end of the letterboard (same arrangement on both sides of the cars). 

In July 1946, the two COLA consists were powered by an E6-E2-E2 set (LA-4, LA-2, LA-3  on the 7th Train) and an E2-E6-E6 set (LA-1, LA-5, LA-6 on the 9th Train). The lead A-units had been swapped in December 1943 in an effort to better balance horsepower (per Wayner's Car Names, Numbers and Consists). 

Wayner’s CNN&C book is in error where it says that the units “exchanged numbers and positions” (on page 152). It should say that the units “exchanged positions.” The engine numbers listed here are correct.

This all changed in August 1946 when the new E7s were delivered. Now, the UP-C&NW E7 ABB set (927A, 928B, 929B) replaced the 1937-built E2s. UP-C&NW E7 units 930A and 931A were also used on the COLA, in combination with the 1941 UP-C&NW E6s in a general COLA power pool, but these units, along with the UP-C&NW E2s were also used to dieselize the Los Angeles Limited between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City at this time. 

The use of COLA-lettered power units on the LA Limited eventually led to the elimination of the train name lettering in the red “name banners” on the locomotive sides, leaving just a blank, red banner. This was done at least by spring 1947. Note that E7s 930A and 931A never did have train names in their red name banners, as they were intended for City of Portland service, but were delivered about six months prior to the start of COP daily service.

Here is another well known UP company photo showing No. 103, the westbound COLA 9th Train, posed at Riview, Wyoming, MP 821.07 (4 1/2 miles west of Green River). The photo was taken prior to the August 1946 renumbering, and after UP coach 5359 replaced UP coach-lounge 5203 in the 9th Train on May 3, 1946 (this is the first car after baggage-dormitory LA-103). 

The power units are E2A LA-1, E6B LA-5 and E6B LA-6, which represents the 5,800 horsepower combination created in December 1943 when the cab units were swapped in the 7th and 9th Trains in an effort to better balance horsepower needs. The green, anti-glare paint on the top of LA-1's nose is a good post-war spotting feature.

After the E7s were delivered in August 1946, the E2s were more or less relegated to the Los Angeles Limited (because the COLA got all the newest and most powerful locomotives). 

But that transition was not entirely completed when Stan Kistler shot the COLA backing out of LAUPT on October 18, 1946. Here is E2 921A, along with E6 925B and relatively new E7 928B. Note that by this date, matched power sets were becoming more rare as the engines basically went into a power “pool." 

Below is a Jack Whitmeyer photo of the Los Angles Limited at San Bernardino on February 15, 1947. This view shows COLA engines running on the LA Limited after the delivery of the E7s, and after the August 1946 renumbering. The engines are UP-C&NW E6A 924A (ex LA-4), UP-C&NW E6B 926B (ex LA-6) and UP-C&NW E2B 922B (ex LA-2).

Here's a photo showing the new E7 927A and two B units with the COLA as it approaches LAUPT in late 1946 or early 1947, as shot by Charles Robinson:

This ends the notes I've selected from Jeff Koeller's recent emails to me.

Let's also take a quick look at the COLA train times in Victorville during this 1946 and early 1947 time period.  (This train did not stop in Victorville.)

As of June 1946, the westbound COLA, Train 203 (UP Train 103) came through at 6:16 a.m., and the eastbound COLA came though at 7:21 pm.  At this time it ran only every third day, with 203 leaving Barstow on the 2nd, 5th, 8th, etc. of the month, and 204 leaving San Bernardino on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, etc. of the month.

Starting on Sep. 29, 1946, the COLA began running three times a week, to compete better with the Super Chief.  The schedule in Nov. 1946 had Train 203 coming through at 6:16 a.m. and Train 204 at 7:51 pm.  Train 203 arrived in SB every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Train 204 left SB every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

These are basically daylight hours in Victorville, but if I want to avoid modeling these two trainsets (the 7th and 9th Trains), I could operate on the days of the week when the trains were not in town.  Both trainsets would require all brass HO cars, which I don't have.

This completes the coverage of the 1946-early 1947 COLA train.  Next comes some layout progress (or lack of it) and a steam train ride.

During the week of July 22 I received the sets of hinges I had ordered -- six piano hinges, each 12" long, and five pairs of friction hinges, each of which has a screw that lets me adjust the amount of friction.  The piano hinges are for the 16x20" base boards that will hold the Touch Toggle base units and some terminal strips, while there will be two friction hinges behind each control panel, to allow it to rotate up to whatever angle the operator wishes.

I didn't screw the hinges onto the boards yet, but I laid them out on the floor to check how the parts will go together, referring to the drawing I had made previously (seen on the right side of each photo here).

First, here's a view of a 12" piano hinge at the top of a base board, connecting to a spacer board that allows all the bus wires to pass below the layout frame and above the base board:

The two black friction hinges will be used in the 2nd layer, when the control panel is placed in front of the base board, as seen here:

As you can see, this will be a fairly complex construction, with spacer boards needed for the piano hinge and for each of the friction hinges.

On that Friday I was gone with my wife to visit the town of Mukilteo, 40 minutes north of us, to pick up two Santa Fe brass locos that Gary Jordan had painted for me (and to have lunch and walk on the beach).  Here is Gary's photo of one of the locos, an old Balboa model of 4-6-2 #3443:

The other loco is a Sunset pre-painted 2-8-2, which he lettered as #4009.  Both need to go back for some extra paint details, such as gray smokebox fronts and smokestacks, and the 4009 needs weathering.

Meanwhile, Craig Wisch in Victorville (where the weather has been very hot) is making progress on his cardstock model of the old Santa Fe Hotel.  Here is the front view, but the front wall windows and doors have not been added yet, and the porch roof posts are leaning there:

Here is the back side of the hotel, which had a sloping rooftop:

On Sunday, July 28, I drove with my wife and son for almost two hours to get to the Elbe depot of the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad by 3:00 pm, for the 3:30 steam train ride, which carried a full load of passengers.

While the passengers were boarding, I walked to the front of the train to shoot a photo of the 2-8-2 loco:

As usual, we walked inside the train to the first car behind the loco, and I posed at the front door of the car, just behind the tender:

This car has open sides and no seats, and we enjoyed standing by the open windows and rocking back and forth for the entire 75-minute trip to Mineral and back. I was in heaven, with the chugging sounds of the loco, the steam whistle, and the smell of the smoke!

As we were arriving in Mineral after about 30 minutes, I shot a photo of the yard with its stored locos and cars:

We watched as our loco uncoupled and backed around the train, getting ready to pull it back to Elbe with the tender first:

On the way back, we were now in the last car of the train, so I could get some shots out the windows as we rounded the curves, like this one:

Back at the Elbe depot, I got more shots of the loco and train, including this one as the loco ran forward around the train to get back to the front end:

The loco is lettered as Polson Logging Co. #70.  You may recall that I went on a similar ride about a year ago and reported it here.

This past week I made no actual progress on the layout (the weather was too nice), but I do have some layout helpers who are working on Victorville buildings for me.  My architect friend in Wisconsin, Jim Coady, has developed a beautiful set of drawings for the cafe that was adjacent to the Texaco station in the Lower Narrows, working just from three old photos we have, thanks to Jack Dykstra.  Here's another one of those old photos:

Because of space limitations on my layout, we are not including the extension on the right end, which we think was probably the residence of the owners, the Rosso family.  Jack used to visit the cafe in the postwar years, as the Rossos were his uncle and aunt, and he used to sit by a back window and watch as the trains came through the Lower Narrows.

Here is the cover drawing that Jim Coady developed for me and for Bill Messecar, who has volunteered to scratch-build this cafe:

And here is just one section of his scale drawings:

I sent all the drawings to Jack Dykstra for review, and he sent me some notes on where the door and windows should be on the back side (not shown here), and what the small sign board over the main front window (currently missing from the drawings) should say:  ROSSO'S COFFEE SHOP.  I will do some red-ink mark-ups for a final revision by Jim.

My friend Don Borden, in the eastern US, made some minor revisions to three of his control panel drawings for me, such as this one showing the left part of the C Yard, which now has more parking spots along Track C4:

And my friend in Victorville, Craig Wisch, has continued to work on his cardstock model of the Santa Fe Hotel, which we hear was home to some ladies of the night during my time period!  Here is a rear and side view of the model, which now has some roofing on top:

Here is Craig's plan for the front wall of the hotel, which will also have a covered front porch on the lower level:

There were many emails back and forth with my helpers, which kept me busy for some the week.