Southern Pacific Steam Action!

Here are some photos I took of Southern Pacific No. 2472 and 2467 Class P-8 Pacific locomotives double-heading at Hunter’s Point Naval Ship Yard in February of 2003. These photos remind me of the reciprocating noise of steam hissing from the exhaust, the deep melodic whistle, and the tar-like smell of the exhaust as the train went by. It's easy to imagine that we're back when Espee ran steam. How about a P-8 in N-scale? Any takers?

In the picture below, I am in the cab of SP 2472 with a friendly ex-SP engineer. This gentleman, whose name, unfortunately, I have forgotten, showed my friends and I how to operate the State Belt ALCo 2-2 switch engine (a story told in the "About Us" section of wheelsotime.com).

Below is the Engineer’s view of backing down to couple with SP No. 2467 and "subs".

Walschaert valve gear in action ....

I stitched the following photo together since I didn’t have a wide enough lens. This is SP 2467 winding down the last hour of steam before the FRA boiler time is expired. I Remember when SP 2467 and train use to be displayed in a park in Oakland's Chinatown: my parents use to allow my brother and I to climb around on it. Today, this train is on long term loan to the California State Railroad Museum where you can't climb on it, but you can see it. Sister SP 2472 is still in operation and can be seen today at the new Golden Gate RR museum.