SP Jawbone Branch (Part 15) - Passenger Ops & ETT Research Notes

I've been tinkering with a 'crazy idea' of passenger operations on my Jawbone Branch layout.  This has led to digging more into the research of the Employe Time Tables (ETT) for the Mojave Subdivision Owenyo "Jawbone" Branch history.  So on with the question....

Passenger Operations?

Little Lake with the arriving passenger train lead by SP 1433, circa pre-1938 - owensvalleyhistory.com - susan_stanton03 (Cropped)

Will I get to have passenger operations on my layout?  Well, it certainly would add a dash of style and color.  I've always planned to model the occasional passenger excursion trains which ran in the 1948-1956 era, but let's take a closer look at what options I have for the earlier passenger and mixed schedules.

Time Tables - Mojave Sub-Division

I'm still doing more researching on the earlier pre-1938 era operations from which time the above photo of the SP 1433 dates from.  Wooden coaches and the 1433 was renumbered as the Second 1500 in 1938, so that gives an idea of when passenger-only consists were run.

San Joaquin #158 1938-02 Owenyo Branch - SheldonPerry collection

Moving forward in time to 1938, the SP shows four scheduled trains on the Jawbone.  Nos. 802/803 were the "Searles Turn" working from Mojave to Searles to interchange with the Trona Rwy.  Nos.788/789 are shown as Mixed trains to Owenyo with flag stops as needed along the run. Running times are 6:30 eastward and 7:15 westward.

Notice that the Searles train (Nos. 802/803) is out and back to Mojave before the train from Owenyo arrives (No.789) and then departs again (as No. 788).  I find this interesting, as it basically shows that the local crew was resting each day in Oewnyo, except on Sunday when the schedule does not run.  

1941 Owenyo Branch Employe Timetable, note the telegraph codes! - SheldonPerry collection

The 1941 ETT is the last one showing Nos.788/789 as mixed trains.  My guess at this point is that they were kept until the end of the war.  Then the new ETT for 1946 changed the passenger operations to reflect the post-war operations moving forward.

From the previous conversations I've had with knowledgeable folks on the Jawbone operations and reading Vincent Cipolla's article in SP Trainline on Mojave, the Owenyo job usually went on at Mojave in the evening 6-7pm, and went off duty in Owenyo the following morning.  Returning to duty after 8 hours and arriving back at Mojave the 3rd morning around 7-8am.  It would seem that after the war with the discontinuance of the scheduled operations on the Jawbone the crews were consolidated back to Mojave.

Sept 1950 ETT - SheldonPerry collection

By 1950 all scheduled trains have been removed from the Time Table.  Three water tanks are active at this date.  Linnie and Bartlett are both showing as additional stations.  Interesting that Little Lake shows as 30 car siding, and Owenyo shows as a 40 car siding.  I'll be modeling Owenyo as only around 26 cars long.  Little Lake will probably be around 20 cars, with my train lengths this should still work out.

April 1952 ETT - SheldonPerry collection

By April 1952, the water tank at Diaz (MP 512.8) has been removed from the ETT.  Leaving the water tank at Haiwee (MP 484.1), Letlier (MP 450.0), and Cantil (MP 402.5).  However a new tank at Owenyo (MP 523.0) is now active supplying the far end of the branch.

April 1953 ETT - SheldonPerry collection

September 1953 ETT - SheldonPerry collection

April 1954 ETT - SheldonPerry collection

By April 1954 the water tank at Letlier (MP 450.0) is now gone, leaving only the tanks at Cantil (MP 402.5), Haiwee (MP 484.1), and Owenyo (MP 523.0).

List of Water Tanks & Histories

MP 402.5 Cantil (from construction until well after 1954)

MP 450.0 (Water Tank only) Letlier (Removed by April 1954)

MP 484.1 Haiwee (from construction until well after 1954)

MP 514.3 Diaz (Water Tank only) - (from construction until April 1952)

MP 523.0 Owenyo (New water tank in April 1952 - could this be the Diaz tank moved?)

The changes to the watering options are interesting.  I am still trying to nail down if the tank at Owenyo was fed by moving water tank cars from Diaz and the other water tanks to cover Owenyo's needs, or if there was a well at Owenyo.  I rather doubt the Owenyo tank was supplied by a local well.

Most of the photos of the excursions after 1952 show there are water cars for each engine, not always coupled to the engine (canteen service).  Also there always appears to be a water car at the tank(s) at Owenyo, suggesting they are being actively used.

There's the photo on Page 24, SP Trainline issue 135, showing SP 5300 switching Owenyo, possibly departing, in early 1953 with a SPMW water car right behind the diesel!  Certainly not needing the water for the RSD-5 on the Jawbone, but the SPNG was still running steam, so was this water for the village of Owenyo or the SPNG engines?  Was the SP 5300 taking the water car west to refill at Haiwee?

Sometimes there's always more questions than you can answer!

Modeling a Consist for Nos. 788/789 Mixed, circa 1941

Of interest on my modeled part of the Jawbone in the 1941 ETT for the Mojave Sub's Owenyo Branch showing schedules for No.788 and No.789 mixed trains.  This mixed train I believe are the ones photographed at Owenyo during the daytime layover during that era.

SP 2578 No 788 - Owenyo 1940 - Phil Serpico - owensvalleyhistory.com southern_pacific015_sml

Obviously by time of the 'Mixed' operating on the Jawbone, the train consisted of whatever freight needed to move plus two passenger cars tacked on instead of a caboose.  Notice the two passenger cars at the end of No.788's consist of 11 cars in 1940, above.

Owenyo with the RPO & coach laying over looking north - owensvalleyhistory.com - ebay35_owenyo_sml

In this view the engine in the distance, probably a C-class.  Many single-sheathed boxcars, with a T&NO boxcar and an SP B-50-12 class closest to the road crossing through the platforms. Note the engine-service fuel oil tanks next to the C-class.  The ETT shows that Owenyo and Mojave have oil, which is run with a steam powered pump.

RPO-Baggage Car

SP 5187

SP 5187, a 60-BP-30-1 RPO-Baggage kitbashed from MDC-Roundhouse parts

There are some modeling options for 60-BP-30-1 available in brass, I have an old MDC kitbash that I've tinkered on and off with for the last 20-25 years.  This is about how it looks currently.  I left it with the RPO door being raised and adjusting the paint and decalling.  One of the 4'10" baggage doors needed replacing as I previously had used the double door 7ft option, which is incorrect for the 60-BP-30-1, so I fixed that.

Currently, the changes I need to do to finish it include upgrading the trucks to Walthers 8ft Pullman type, installing diaphragms, and underbody work.  I'll probably also install an OwlMtModels 30ft RPO interior.  I'm not sure I want to repaint the letterboard yet again to decal as SP Lines.

Ken Kidder?!

Ken Kidder brass 60-BP-30-1

A friend several years ago traded me a 60-BP-30-1 from Ken Kidder.  The model is arronously painted for the 69-BP-30-series cars used on the Golden State.  The model will have to be repainted.  While the window and door arrangement is more accurate, the roof profile is very flat, and about 6" too low!  The roof is a major pain to correct on these cars.

The Ken Kidder car above of course will need the trucks changed out to Walthers 4-wheel Pullman 8ft models.

SP 1190 - Ken Kidder's low roof shown next to correct height SP 6102.

Generally in the past, I've decalled Ken Kidder cars to be riders and other cars which usually will not be seen with full-contour roof cars.

Coach

SP 2178

SP 2178, a typical 60-C-9/10 class all-steel coach, as produced by Soho.

One option for my coach is a late-series Soho 60-C-9/10 class car like the SP 2178, shown above.  Most of the Soho 60-C's that I've done which have plated over transom windows are in SP with post-1946 lettering.

SP 1005

SP 1005 Chair Car

Another option is the transom-windowed Soho 60-C-series cars, such as SP 1005 above, but the SP 1005 was not a chair car until later WWII era, when it was returned to passenger service from use as a caboose.

SP 1190

SP 1190 - Ken Kidder coach

Another option is a Ken Kidder model, also with the low-roof like SP 1190, shown above.  The 1190 is possibly a better option as it is already painted in the SPL scheme for 1941 operations before the June 1946 change which dropped the "LINES" from the letterboard.

In Closing

Could I run a passenger train like the "Shasta" to Owenyo?

Well, while I haven't made any choices in this post that are carved in stone, there certainly are some interesting questions and options that are open to my operational planning.  At the end of the day, judicious use of Model Railroading, Rule 3: "This is my railroad, and I'll do what I want." can be very liberating.  The research of 'history' allows a much easier way to import a sense of reality than 'inventing' everything myself.  However, if I want to run a 'regular' passenger train after 1946, because of "Reasons", then I can.  (BTW, for reference, Rule 1: Model Railroading is FUN.  Rule 2: If in doubt, refer to Rule 1.)

Could I have a consist like the one above running to Owenyo, but maybe with a T-class?

Would it be too wild to say that the high-class customers at Little Lake would charter a couple of Pullmans to bring customers from LA?  Maybe.  A 4-8-2 will certainly be too big for my 26" radius wye at Owenyo, plus historically only an Mk-2/4 and occasionally an Mk-6 could go that far out on the branch.

Mk-6, SP 3266, leads an excursion past Olancha with excursion 1952 - Phil Serpico - owensvalleyhistory.com - southern_pacific012_t

Then of course there are the actual excursions that were run!  As they say, "At least I have options."  

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

Jawbone Branch Index Page - List of all my SP Jawbone Branch modeling posts.

The "Shasta" - Revised Pike-Size Passenger Train - My first consist blog post, on the Shasta - A back-water passenger train readily modelable with a baggage car, chair car, cafe-lounge, and Pullman which will fit most layouts!

Modeling the Owl (Part2) - Korea to 1960

In this part of discussing the Owl (Nos.57 & 58), I will look at the changes that happened to the Owl from 1951 to 1960.  After which point the Owl was on the slide to being annulled, leaving only the San Joaquin Daylight running between LA and Oakland.  Follow this link back to first part of Modeling the Owl (Part 1).

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-LA
HW 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

Modeling Mail Trains Nos. 55 & 56, The Tehacahapi Mail

The Shasta, a revised "Pike-Sized" train from 1987

Modeling SP Road Engines (Part 4) - Articulated Steam

Mistakes in Modeling - Part Oops!

Well, we all make mistakes...

Can you see the mistake?  I bet you'd never know.. but now that I know... it's REALLY ANNOYING!

A few weeks ago as I was finishing up a PSC 60-P-5 model of SP 4261 for a customer.  I reviewed the various RPOs I was working on to see which ones might need the 3D printed interiors.  I was looking forward to designing one for the 4261, as its unique interior layout would show off the double letter case on each wall between the windows!  I was reviewing the car's history in SPH&TS SP Passenger Cars Vol.3 and came to the horrifying realization that I had made a mistake in the car!

Car Backround

The SP 4261 was the only car in SP's last class of 60 foot postal cars.  Her sister cars were sent to UP, and for some reason the SP ordered one car following the style of those cars.  The SP 4261 has its letter cases mid-car, with the windows towards both pairs of side doors.

One can only assume that it was because this car was the odd ball, but it was retired from active RPO service in 1936, while most of her older sisters stayed in service many more years.  The car was then placed in Storage Mail service.  When RPOs were stricken from the fleet of active RPOs and stripped of their working capacity, i.e. Catcher Arms, Sorting Racks, Letter Case, etc. they would pretty quickly have their "US MAIL RAILWAY POST OFFICE" lettering painted over.  Baggage cars usually had lettering for BAGGAGE and RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY on their sides to indicate what service they were in when the RPO lettering was painted out.  Cars in dedicated Storage Mail service would have "US MAIL STORAGE CAR" lettering applied in place of the RPO lettering.

The Error

The 4261 in 1936 would have been in Gold Leaf lettering "SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES" when last lettered as an RPO.  The model that I'd finished lettering was done for the post-1946 "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" style lettering.

The SP 4261 should look something more like this picture of my in-progress SP 4404....

The Fix

Well, the customer wants the car to be the way it should look in the 1950-1953 era for operations.  So there's only one thing to do.  Not wanting to try to strip the car and repaint the whole thing, I masked off the carside where the offending lettering was.  I placed the masking vertically near a rivet line, so any stepping of the masking edge would be hidden or look like a joint in the car siding.  I shot a fresh batch of StarBrand SP Dark Olive and covered the overcoated decals.

I've tried stripping or just lifting off the bad decals in the past.  If they've been properly applied and set completely, and then overcoated and sealed they're is NO WAY it's coming off without completely messing up the rest of the paint job on the car.  It's better to patch over completely finished and sealed decals.  These decals are extremely thin and I will be placing new lettering decals over the area, so I'm not worried about anyone "seeing" the old lettering... even if they did it's prototypical!... The real car probably still had "RPO" lettering under there too!

It took an afternoon to reshoot the car and a few days of drying between the painting and glosscoating.  I have plenty of extra Storage Car decals laying around, as most models I've done are using the "BAGGAGE" and "RAILWAY EXPRESS AGENCY" lettering for baggage-express cars.

Back on Track!

All better, Storage Car 4261 will soon be ready for service!

Here's the relettered and corrected model of SP 4261.  While I'm sad that I don't get to do a car with all the cool interior and full length lighting to show it off... at least this unique car will continue to be a very unique car in Storage Mail service on trains like the Owl (Nos.57/58). - (Link to Modeling the Owl - Part 1)

I'm sure this won't be the last model that I'll have to do something to "Fix" so I thought I'd share this. I hope that this encourages everyone out there to not be afraid to change your models to keep up with the new research that is available to us now!

Jason Hill