Hey Espee Fans! Tell me about the 1930s!
- Thread starter frogpipe
- Start date
Good morning, Frogpipe,
I've been an Espee modeller for well over 50 years, but my emphasis has always been the SF Bay Area and the Coast Line and Western Divisions. There are a few things I know of the Siskiyou line, though.
The Natron Cutoff was built to bypass the Siskiyou line's curves and grades and offer an alternative route to Eugene in the mid 1920s. Ever since the Siskiyou has been very much a secondary route. That means that in the 1930s there would be freight and local passenger service. I do not believe there ever was commute service anywhere along the line, even when it was the main connection with Eugene. In that Natron cut 25 miles off of the trip to Eugene, and had easier grades and more relaxed curves - one curve on the Siskiyou main was 15 degrees, or radius 380 feet! - bridge freight and most passenger service would have been removed from the Siskiyou line, though some passenger service remained until the mid-50s. Industries primarily feature lumber and orchard fruits.
Main line motive power in the '30s would include F4/5 Decapods (2-10-2s on the Espee; wouldn't do to run "Santa Fes" on the Espee), and older cab forwards, including some AM-2s (available from Paulz Trainz) I believe, came into use there as well, though I'm not sure if this was in the 30s.
There is a book available titled "The Siskiyou Line - Documentary: Adventure in Railroading" that is supposed to be very good, though I confess to not having seen it and don't know if it focuses on your era.
I think you are going to have to do your impression of Indiana Jones to get some really good info about this line, but it should be fun for you and I'm sure we will all enjoy following your progress. You might want to start at the SP Modellers Society forum here http://www.southernpacificmodelerssociety.org/index.php They are V-scale friendly and have been extremely helpful to me.
Bernie
I've been an Espee modeller for well over 50 years, but my emphasis has always been the SF Bay Area and the Coast Line and Western Divisions. There are a few things I know of the Siskiyou line, though.
The Natron Cutoff was built to bypass the Siskiyou line's curves and grades and offer an alternative route to Eugene in the mid 1920s. Ever since the Siskiyou has been very much a secondary route. That means that in the 1930s there would be freight and local passenger service. I do not believe there ever was commute service anywhere along the line, even when it was the main connection with Eugene. In that Natron cut 25 miles off of the trip to Eugene, and had easier grades and more relaxed curves - one curve on the Siskiyou main was 15 degrees, or radius 380 feet! - bridge freight and most passenger service would have been removed from the Siskiyou line, though some passenger service remained until the mid-50s. Industries primarily feature lumber and orchard fruits.
Main line motive power in the '30s would include F4/5 Decapods (2-10-2s on the Espee; wouldn't do to run "Santa Fes" on the Espee), and older cab forwards, including some AM-2s (available from Paulz Trainz) I believe, came into use there as well, though I'm not sure if this was in the 30s.
There is a book available titled "The Siskiyou Line - Documentary: Adventure in Railroading" that is supposed to be very good, though I confess to not having seen it and don't know if it focuses on your era.
I think you are going to have to do your impression of Indiana Jones to get some really good info about this line, but it should be fun for you and I'm sure we will all enjoy following your progress. You might want to start at the SP Modellers Society forum here http://www.southernpacificmodelerssociety.org/index.php They are V-scale friendly and have been extremely helpful to me.
Bernie
Ben is far too modest. He did a suite of buildings and the roundhouse and turntable and transfer table that were unique to Bayshore Yard and the major shops that were there. He spent about 3 months of detective work - Bayshore is rather poorly documented from the modeller's point of view - and mind numbing work so that the buildings and the layout are down to the inch. They scream "Espee" and "Bayshore" at you, and their fidelity to the prototype makes them suitable for many settings. Check my Yesterdayz Trainz drop box for a screen shot I'll put in there a little later today.
Bernie
Bernie
Wow! Frogpipe, that is an Espee "Southern Pacific," class, by Whyte's classification, three cylinder SP-2 4-10-2, progenitor of the UP Overland and 4-12-2. I've been hoping for one of those for years. I'm going to get it, like, now. Thank you muchly for the tip.
There is no F-4/5 available for trainz. Ben Neal's light 2-10-2 is a decent stand in, though the F4/5s were heavier and differ in detail.
Bernie
Actually, the SP class never made it to the Siskiyou line. They were designed for dual service on Donner Pass, where they turned out to be excellent track straightening tools :hehe:. They ended up mostly on the Valley lines and in Southern California and Arizona where the curves were more forgiving of long wheelbase locos. UP had more success with their Overlands and 4-12-2s on Sherman Hill because it had heavy grades but easier curvatures. BL
There is no F-4/5 available for trainz. Ben Neal's light 2-10-2 is a decent stand in, though the F4/5s were heavier and differ in detail.
Bernie
Actually, the SP class never made it to the Siskiyou line. They were designed for dual service on Donner Pass, where they turned out to be excellent track straightening tools :hehe:. They ended up mostly on the Valley lines and in Southern California and Arizona where the curves were more forgiving of long wheelbase locos. UP had more success with their Overlands and 4-12-2s on Sherman Hill because it had heavy grades but easier curvatures. BL
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hehe -- track straighteners...
Guess I'll grab and update one of Ben's Light 2-10-2s ("suitable stand in" is part and parcel of my routes, I'm not a rivet counter, esp when it comes to AI trains.)
One all skinned up for you here: http://trainzforge.weebly.com/sgsteam2.html if you're interested.
