WP X921E W JIM MILPITAS CA FORD 9-22-75
WP X921E with all its worked completed and ready to leave the yard at the Ford plant located at Milpitas, CA on September 22, 1975. The two people in the photo are my best friend Jim Garrison with the camera and most likely the WP head end brakeman on the train.
The reason why the train is just sitting there after doing their work is the following. My best friend Jim Garrison, who had never see the WP, and I, who seen it twice, decided to take a three day trip to see the WP. We drove all night up the coast to the Bay Area where we photographed the WP in San Jose, the SP in Bayshore and San Francisco, the State Belt railway in San Francisco, the WP in San Francisco and Oakland and then we decided to follow the WP through Niles Canyon and over Altamont pass to Stockton. Please note that back in 1975 there was no place to get information about went certain types of trains ran from one place to another. As we were driving through Niles Canyon we saw a westbound WP with F-units so we turned around and gave chase. At this point we didn't know where the train was going, to Oakland or San Jose or some place in between. So first we drove to the WP Oakland yard and found out the trains wasn't coming to Oakland. Then we headed to San Jose where the yard office still open and the WP operator told us the train was at Milpitas yard next to the Ford plant and that the train was almost ready to leave. The operator knowing how railfans like the F-units and that we really wanted to photographed these units called the train and said there two guys in his office who wanted to photograph their train and could they wait for us. The crew said yes they could wait for us and we got back in the car drove as fast we could stopping only for a pit stop to the Milpitas yard, which luckily was easy to find, found the train waiting for us. We took our photos as the sun set and then thanked to crew for waiting for us. And then the train left for Stockton and we left to find a room for the night north of Richmond, CA.
WP X921E W JIM MILPITAS CA FORD 9-22-75
WP X921E with all its worked completed and ready to leave the yard at the Ford plant located at Milpitas, CA on September 22, 1975. The two people in the photo are my best friend Jim Garrison with the camera and most likely the WP head end brakeman on the train.
The reason why the train is just sitting there after doing their work is the following. My best friend Jim Garrison, who had never see the WP, and I, who seen it twice, decided to take a three day trip to see the WP. We drove all night up the coast to the Bay Area where we photographed the WP in San Jose, the SP in Bayshore and San Francisco, the State Belt railway in San Francisco, the WP in San Francisco and Oakland and then we decided to follow the WP through Niles Canyon and over Altamont pass to Stockton. Please note that back in 1975 there was no place to get information about went certain types of trains ran from one place to another. As we were driving through Niles Canyon we saw a westbound WP with F-units so we turned around and gave chase. At this point we didn't know where the train was going, to Oakland or San Jose or some place in between. So first we drove to the WP Oakland yard and found out the trains wasn't coming to Oakland. Then we headed to San Jose where the yard office still open and the WP operator told us the train was at Milpitas yard next to the Ford plant and that the train was almost ready to leave. The operator knowing how railfans like the F-units and that we really wanted to photographed these units called the train and said there two guys in his office who wanted to photograph their train and could they wait for us. The crew said yes they could wait for us and we got back in the car drove as fast we could stopping only for a pit stop to the Milpitas yard, which luckily was easy to find, found the train waiting for us. We took our photos as the sun set and then thanked to crew for waiting for us. And then the train left for Stockton and we left to find a room for the night north of Richmond, CA.