| The Diesel Shop Serving The Railfan Community since 1994 |
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Photographer Stan Kistler captured WP's "California Zephyr" departing Oakland California one morning in 1958. (Rattenne Transportation Library) |
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Through-out the 1950s and 60s, Western Pacific enjoyed immense popularity within the railfan
community as well as the traveling public. One reason was the famed Vista-domed California
Zephyr which was changing train travel between the West Coast and Chicago. The railroad's
attractive fleet of Zephyr orange and silver-painted passenger and freight diesels was
another factor. On multiple occasions however, WP stepped away from the Zephyr colors in favor
of a simplified scheme that would help reduce locomotive maintenance costs -- such as the
Perlman green format reviewed last month. Notably, the railroad had opted for a
Pumpkin Scheme during earlier economic downturns.
The steel industry continued to draw a lot of attention by several people last month which resulted in the addition of three new "Steel Maker" rosters, raising the total to 21. In addition, two more Steel Company Owned RRs rosters were expanded and revised. By now you are probably aware that Progress Rail has sold 156 locomotives to GATX Rail North America. There were no specifics given as to types and quantities. The first Progress Rail locomotives were ex-Southern Pacific GP35s that underwent modifications and repainting at the NRE in June 1998. Coincidentally a couple of weeks ago, Paul Rome provided a photo of freshly painted PRSX #1001 (ex-SP 6359). The photo can be found at the bottom of this webpage. |
Future Profiles:
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