 |
| SP 4255 leading No.58 between Bakersfield and LA. |
Southern Pacific in the Bay Area, by George H. Drury, page 89 shows the regular Owl (No.57) at Martinez, nearing the end of its run on April 22, 1950. The shot shows the headend of the Owl, with an RPO right behind the engine, a 80-BH-1 horse baggage, and SP 6114 (60-B, ex-60-PS-1 4402). The lower photo of the same day shows the middle of the Owl with one of the 72-C-1/2/3/4 class "Deluxe Chair" cars , but no number is visible.
Most of the consist info shown below is from the SP Trainline No.74 from Winter 2000, with some data extracted from the commentary in the article on the Owl by Sheldon King. I want to thank Brian Black and James Salkeld for letting me use their fabulous photo collections taken by their family members during the 1950s.
Consist 1951
 |
| No.58, eastbound at Ravenna - James Salkeld Collection (used with permission) |
The last consist I showed in Part 1, shows Feb 15, 1951, but to avoid making readers flip back and forth, I'll relist the consist here.
No.57 Feb 15, 1951
BG Oak-Bakersfield (returns on No.57)
BG Oak-LA (Storage Magazine - Tuesdays only)
BG Oak-LA (Ex-Sunday)
PS Oak-LA Postal-Storage
RPO Oak-LA (Working)
Chair (probably News Agent)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
STD 12-1 (Replaced 16-Section Troop Car)
STD 12-1 (Replaced 16-Section Troop Car)
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission-Series)
STD 6-6-4 (LW) or STD 8-5 "Clover" (Alternating Days, one of each assigned)
STD 14-SBR (Night Fern & Night Mantel assigned)
STD 10-1-1 (HW Car)
STD 12-1 ("Regular" 12-1 sleeper)
By November 1st the two 12-1 sleepers behind the dining car were moved to the rear of the train. Also an additional partitioned coach was added on Mondays and Fridays.
Nov 1, 1951
BG Oak-Bakersfield (returns on No.57)
BG Oak-LA (Storage Magazine - Tuesdays only)
BG Oak-LA (Ex-Sunday)
PS Oak-LA Postal-Storage
RPO Oak-LA (Working)
Partitioned Coach (Mon & Fri)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission-Series)
STD 6-6-4 (LW) or STD 8-5 "Clover" (Alternating Days, one of each assigned)
STD 14-SBR (Night Fern & Night Mantel assigned)
STD 10-1-1 (HW Car)
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
 |
| A 3D Printed model of the News Agent space, used on some of the SP's Chair Cars. - OwlMtModels 4052 shown. |
I'm not clear if the leading Chair car remained as a News Agent car or if the assignment of the partitioned coach could have been a News Agent car. Generally, I would think the NA car remained the leading Chair Car.
 |
| SP 4251 with No.58 at San Fernando - James Salkeld Collection (used with permission) |
Steam continued to be the regular assignment over the Tehachapi Pass until 1952. Before about 1950, the ACs received MT-class or GS-class helpers over the Tehachapi Pass between LA and Bakersfield. After 1950, enough AC's were being displaced by diesels that they could afford to let them double head on the Owl.
In the San Joaquin Valley, the Owl was assigned Mt or GS class engines between Bakersfield and Oakland. On occasion P-class engines can be seen working lighter sections of the Owl, when Pullman traffic overflowed what the Owl's normal consist could handle, or the schedule of the extra traffic didn't make it possible for the extra passengers and cars to be worked into regular trains.
Consist 1953
 |
| SP 3501, converted to Baggage-Dormitory service. To the left is T&NO 141 a recent transfer from the Sunbeam. |
In 1953 the SP rebuilt the 14-Single Bedroom sleepers Night Fern and Night Mantle to be Baggage-Dorm cars SP 3500 and 3501, which were regularly assigned to the Owl consists. These cars are not easily modeled from standard Pullman sleepers without a large amount of window changes.
Typical Consist for 1953
BG Oak-Bakersfield (returns on No.57)
BG Oak-LA (Storage Magazine - Tuesdays only)
BG Oak-LA (Ex-Sunday)
PS Oak-LA Postal-Storage
RPO Oak-LA (Working) - Usually 70-BP-30-1/2/3 or 69-BP-30-2/3 as seen above in some of the photos.
Bag-Dorm - (SP 3500 & 3501 assigned once rebuilding was complete)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission-Series)
STD 6-6-4 (LW) or STD 8-5 "Clover" (Alternating Days, one of each assigned)
STD 10-1-1 (HW Car)
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
It should be noted also that during 1953 the ex-SSW American Flyer" Osgood-Bradley chair cars were assigned to the Owl, among other Pacific Lines trains, it wasn't uncommon to see at least one of the Chair cars on the Owl being one of these unique cars.
Consist 1954
 |
| Kitbashed model of SP 3503 starting from Rivarossi 12-1 sleeper |
I've decided to model one of the next two cars the SP rebuilt in this way, which were the 1954 rebuilt Pecos and Sunburst Rose, which started as Pullman 12-1s, and also became Baggage-Dorms SP 3502 and SP 3503 receptively. Follow this link to see how I chose to Model the SP 3503. I chose the 3503 because I had an extra pair pf Walthers Pullman 242 trucks, and the SP 3503 retained those trucks when rebuilt.
No.57, April 9, 1954
BG-Express Fresno-Oakland (Ex-Mon) return on No.58 unless noted
60ft RPO Mail Apartment (SP 5044 & 5045, 77-BP-60 - ex-77-D-6 diners with new 60ft Apartments)
PS Mail Storage (Ex Sat & Sun)
BG-Express
Bag-Dorm (usually 3500 & 3501)
Chair (News Agent)
Chair (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Chair
Chair
Chair
Diner
Lounge (Full Lounge or Tavern car)
STD 6-2-Lounge (Mission Series)
STD 8-5 "Clover" series HW Sleeper (Now two cars assigned, LW 6-6-4 dropped)
STD 10-1-1 "Palouse Falls and "Prior Lake" regularly assigned
STD 12-1
STD 12-1
The changes to the 1954 Owl include the new 60ft RPOs (SP 5044 & 5045) rebuilt from 77-D-6 dining cars. The balance of the space in the 77 foot body was assigned as baggage-express space. These newly rebuilt cars had ply-metal doors, as did most of SP's rebuilds after 1953. (see the door style on the SP 3503 model above. One of the three 80-BP-60 (SP 5217-5219) rebuilt Horse-Baggage turned RPOs protected the San Joaquin Daylight and the Owl.
Late in 1954, the SP began experimenting with "Hamburger Grill" cars, rebuilt from HW Diners. The 10502 and 10503 were the first two regularly assigned to the Owl in January 1955, replacing the full dining cars.
Also late in 1954, the STD 10-1-1 HW sleepers were withdrawn from service on the Owl.
Consist 1956
In 1956, the steam assignments of GS-3s and GS-6s between Bakersfield and Oakland finally came to an end. Often two-unit sets of F7s (A-B pairs) took over the assignment.
 |
| SP 6383 with two B-units leads No.51, the San Joaquin Daylight, in the Valley in the late 1950s. Brian Black Collection |
In September 1956, the use of the remaining Heavyweight sleepers in the Owl's regular consist came to an end. The Mission-series 6-2-Lounges were retired to MW service and LW 6-6-4 sleepers became the regular accommodations for all Pullman passengers.
 |
| The 6-6-4 sleepers replaced the old HW Dark Olive Green and TTG sleepers, here SP 9161 in 1953 Golden State colors. |
Consist 1957
By the end of 1957, the Owl, No.58 was down to the following cars:
BG Bag-Express (Ex-Sun) - Oak-Fresno (Return on No.57)
60ft Mail Apartment - Oak-LA (SP 5044 & 5045 regularly assigned)
BG Bag-Express - Oak-LA
BG Bag-Express - Oak-LA
Chair - Oak-LA
Chair - Oak-LA
Chair - Oak-LAHW Hamburger-Grill - Oak-LA
STD LW 6-6-4 - Oak-LA
STD LW 6-6-4 - Oak-LA
The end was coming for the Owl, even with the discontinuance of the (Tehcahapi) Mail Trains (Nos.55 & 56) in 1954/55, there wasn't a lot of mail and express traffic left for the Owl to handle. 1956 also saw the end of HW Pullman sleeper use on the Owl.
In Closing
 |
| The marker on a UP 6-6-4 brings up the rear of the Owl. |
The end for the Owl was still several years away, during those years the food service would again see a step down to "Automat" service in March 1962, basically a rack of drink and snack vending machines and cold sandwiches to eat. The "Economy" Baggage cars would start showing up in 1960-1962. Towards the end, even UP 6-6-4 LW sleepers would be seen on the Owl as there were not enough SP 6-6-4s to cover all the assignments.
 |
| UP "American Captain", a 6-6-4, similar to the pair seen in a photo of the Owl near the end. |
The last trip was made on April 13, 1965, with barely any notice by the public or the news media. Fewer than 33 passengers road No.58 on the last trip.
Jason Hill
Related Links and Articles:
Modeling the Owl (Part 1) - Post WWII to Korea
