Morning Daylight dieselization

[nof]

Thank you all very much for the good answers.

[timz]

SP had but one E9A 9051,

One E8A, he meant-- the 6018. Nine E9As.

[jimrice4449]

The first psgr units the SP bought (other than COSF joint owned) were 6 ABB sets of E-7s.   The first three were intended for Golden State service and were so painted (briefly).   Due to the lay-over time in LA a service schedule was set up where they would go west to San Fran on the noon Daylight and return on the Lark giving an "off-color' look to the Noon Daylight on occasion.

[passengerfan]

The SP for the most part assigned all E units to Los Angeles and PAs to Oakland. Thus the PAs could be found on the City of San Francisco, San Francisco Overland, the Mail train as well as the Cascade, San Joaquin Daylight and Shasta Daylight. The E units were generally assigned to the Daylight, Starlight, Lark, Sunset, and Golden State. The T&NO also operated a number of PAs at this time and they were generally assigned to the Sunset east of El Paso and Sunbeam trains. Once steam was finally retired the SP Los Angeles power pool operated the Argonaut and another secondary train whose name escapes me for the moment using FP and F units geared for passenger service. Operated by the Oakland pool was the Owl an overnight Los Angeles - Oakland train this train was most often assigned F or FP diesels as well . One other secondary train the Los Angeles - Sacramento - Portland operated from the Los Angeles pool using FP and F units but most often F and FP units. The Mail train between Ogden and Oakland was assigned F and FP units about that same time and eventually even the San Francisco Overland was assigned F and FP units. As this took place more and more PAs were being assigned to Los Angeles and they were often mixed with E units on the Daylight and Lark trains. This probably explains why the PAs lasted as long as they did as there were two shops looking after them by that time. If an ailing PA arrived in San Francisco it was transferred to Oakland to cure its ails and an Oakland based unit was transferred back to San Francisco to take its place. The PAs were much better performers in the Mountains, Cascades, Donner, and Tehachapi passes then the E units. This was due to the dynamic brakes found on the PAs. When SP purchased there first E units they were ABB sets of E7s for assignment to the Golden State and Shasta Daylight. The PAs took over from the E units on the Shasta Daylight within weeks of that trains inaugural and were able to maintain the fast schedule something the E units failed miserably at. The early prewar E units of the City of San Francisco were not able to handle Donner anything like the PAs yet it was the PAs that became snowbound on the City of San Francisco there only real poor performance in all the years they handles trains over Donner.

Al - in - Stockton 

[West Coast S]

 

In 1955 steam was still very much alive, although living on borrowed time the GS class moved to secondary passenger, freight and commute assignments, 4458/4459 in particular were held for backup primary passenger protection. 4459 became a staple on the San Joaquin Daylight until it was dieselized in September 1957. In the same period they began to shed their Daylight colors and side skirts. 

SP had but one E9A 9051, no B units with this model, it would be plausable to combine any E8/E9 configurations or in post 1959 era mix and match with PA's. SP dieselized all passenger trains with the exception of possibly the Sunset Limited with the Alco PA, although they were used when needed in this assignment as well. E units were only purchased because the PA's were no longer in production when the push was made to eliminate all steam operations in 1956-57. 1956 was the beginning of the end for SP passenger service, ensuing years would see the company doing all within its power to eliminate passenger operations, thus the first of several cost cutting measures were enacted, elimination of Daylight colors and freight black widow, the Automat replacing staffed diners debacle, introduction of simplified paint schemes to name just a few. 

Dave 

[timz]

Probably you know there were E7As and E7Bs too? And just the one E8A, and no E8Bs or E9Bs, so a certain amount of mixing was inevitable. Dunno whether SP cared in 1956, but I doubt anyone would forbid a PA-E7B-E8A consist.

Supposedly diesels became the regular Daylight power in January 1955.

[West Coast S]

The PA's stayed in passenger service until 1967, the E units survived till the dawn of Amtrak. Starting in 1960, the passenger locomotive fleet was among the first to recieve the new Scarlet and Grey colors. Any concieveable consits was possible E's with Alco cab units, ditto with booster units. In 1956 the SP still cared and Mixed units would have been rare, not impossible mind you, but not the usual. Occasionaly, a SD9 or Geep 9 would pitch hit for a missing cab unit with the attendent B units for heating. On the SP there was no wrong way to assign power!!  

 

Dave   

[nof]

Hello!

I have bought the KATO N-scale Morning Daylight carset and one GS-4 locomotive. I have found a lot of information on the Internet about the steam era but very little about the dieselization of the Morning Daylight. It started in 1956 and the diesels used was PA/B-1 and E8/9. I would like to know during what eras were the different diesels used? And in what combination was the A and B locos used?

Thanks