DSC_0072-Brightside-Quincy-2
Niles Canyon Railway, featuring SP 9010, 21 July 2019
The Pacific Locomotive Association has restored Kraus-Maffei diesel-hydraulic SP 9010 and dedicated the locomotive on 20 July 2019.
Family commitments kept me home on Saturday, but I went to Niles Canyon on the 21st to see what they were doing with 9010.
Due to a late start and traffic, I arrived as the second to the last train of the day was arriving back at Sunol. I got turned around and followed it back, getting a photo of the rear in about the same spot as I shot an April 1975 excursion that looped through Niles Canyon, Altamont and the Mococo Line. GP9 SP 5623 was pulling the regular Sunday train.
Steve Cope had been on that train and told me that SP 9010 had been on display at Niles, but was being put away at Brightside, so I drove to Brightside and photographed it arriving. When I photographed it as the camera car in Roseville in the 1970s, I never dreamed it would someday be turned back into a locomotive, although its engines were not running today and the SP SD9 was providing the power.
With 9010 put to bed, I made it back to Sunol in time to ride the 230 trip to Niles and back. The open cars were pretty full, so I opted to ride west in the SP articulated coach, which brought back memories of riding in these cars when they were in SP and Amtrak service. Even the smell of the Waukesha air conditioning engines triggered memories.
With people getting off the train at Niles, I found an outside seat for the ride back and got a few photos of equipment as we passed Brightside yard.
I took a few more photos after arrival back at Sunol, then headed home, catching a BART train in the freeway median at Pleasanton to finish the day. After some heavy traffic going west, the return drive was smooth.
DSC_0072-Brightside-Quincy-2
Niles Canyon Railway, featuring SP 9010, 21 July 2019
The Pacific Locomotive Association has restored Kraus-Maffei diesel-hydraulic SP 9010 and dedicated the locomotive on 20 July 2019.
Family commitments kept me home on Saturday, but I went to Niles Canyon on the 21st to see what they were doing with 9010.
Due to a late start and traffic, I arrived as the second to the last train of the day was arriving back at Sunol. I got turned around and followed it back, getting a photo of the rear in about the same spot as I shot an April 1975 excursion that looped through Niles Canyon, Altamont and the Mococo Line. GP9 SP 5623 was pulling the regular Sunday train.
Steve Cope had been on that train and told me that SP 9010 had been on display at Niles, but was being put away at Brightside, so I drove to Brightside and photographed it arriving. When I photographed it as the camera car in Roseville in the 1970s, I never dreamed it would someday be turned back into a locomotive, although its engines were not running today and the SP SD9 was providing the power.
With 9010 put to bed, I made it back to Sunol in time to ride the 230 trip to Niles and back. The open cars were pretty full, so I opted to ride west in the SP articulated coach, which brought back memories of riding in these cars when they were in SP and Amtrak service. Even the smell of the Waukesha air conditioning engines triggered memories.
With people getting off the train at Niles, I found an outside seat for the ride back and got a few photos of equipment as we passed Brightside yard.
I took a few more photos after arrival back at Sunol, then headed home, catching a BART train in the freeway median at Pleasanton to finish the day. After some heavy traffic going west, the return drive was smooth.