News from the San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum Issue Number 52 San Luis Obispo, California, Spring 2015 www.slorrm.com

About 600 visitors came to the Museum on San Luis Obispo’s Train Day, May 9, which was also the start of several 2015 Amtrak Train Days around the country. A Busy Day Train Day May 2015

The first Saturday in May was a Museum workday, with members preparing for the second Saturday’s Train Day, and work continuing on the archives, the model railroad, the nar- row-gauge push cars, and on La Cuesta (formerly known as La Condesa). May 2nd was busy in other ways, too. Four tracks at San Luis Obispo were occu- pied at once. But it was not quite like “the old days.” On the Amtrak layover track, where The Freighthouse trackside platform offered exhibits, presentations, and litera- the evening and morning Surfliners ture by Amtrak and by Operation Lifesaver. Saphya Lotery and David Weisman are stored and serviced at night, were on hand throughout the day to answer questions. Also on the platform were Amtrak trainees were using a locomo- tables or displays by the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, railroad artist Rod Aszman, tive and two single-level coaches to and swap meet offerings by the Museum and others. Photo by Glen Matteson practice safely making forward and backup moves, coupling and uncou- pling, making all the required connec- tions for cab control, electro-pneumat- ic brakes, and head-end power, as well as changing a coupler knuckle. The two customary Union Pacific helper loco- motives were on their pocket track, and four additional Union Pacific engines were on the siding awaiting their next assignment after bringing empty inter- modal cars to a north county siding for temporary storage. Then Amtrak’s mid- day Surfliner arrived and waited at the station, with the Pacific Railroad Society’s Pullman National Forum painted in U.P. colors and L.A. Rail’s stainless steel Vista Dome, former Burlington Route Silver Splendor. More on page 3 Dispatchers must have been busy keeping the wooden routes fluid at the play tables. But don’t overlook what’s on the wall behind them: Two 14-foot long, panoramic photographs of the San Luis Obispo rail yards, town, and more distant moun- tains. The monotone image was taken in 1930 by Frank C. Aston, a local com- mercial photographer. The full color one above is contemporary. Both are from nearly the same spot on Terrace Hill. Local photographer and graphic commu- nication expert Brian Lawler took the upper image, and prepared and mounted both for display. Thanks to Mr. Lawler’s generosity, they are now part of the Museum’s permanent collection. They need to be seen in person to be appreciated. Photo by Glen Matteson More Train Day on page 4 Renew your membership The following people have joined the The Museum exists thanks to con- San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum tinued member support. All annual since the last Coast Mail was published. memberships expire on December 31. James F. Collins, Jack Hutchinson and If you have not already renewed, please Raymond H. Strong provide your payment and any changes to your contact information: phone num- ber, and U.S. mail and email address. Mission Statement You can renew online through the Museum’s website or checks may be mailed to the Museum. If renewing online, you can provide updated contact information by phone message to 805 548-1894 or email to [email protected] The Museum will never share your contact information. To renew your membeship online using a credit or debit card, go to www.slorrm.com and click on MEM- SAN LUIS OBISPO RAILROAD MUSEUM BERSHIP, then click on SUBSCRIBE BOARD OF DIRECTORS and fill out the PayPal form. Become a Member The following families have renewed their membership. Kathleen Gardner, Robert and Olga Harway, Ron and Louise Milot, William and Kim Ryan, and Christian Schultz. New Sustaining Members

New Life Members David and Aurelie Boyer. TIMETABLE Members Only This is a good time to become a Museum member or to renew your membership. This is the last current issue of Coast Mail that will be avail- able online to nonmembers. As each new issue comes out, the previous issue Life Members receive an embroidered will be archived along with all past patch, enameled pin, the Coast Mail issues, which will be available to any- newsletter, and have voting rights for one through the website. So to keep up one person for life. Spouse and depend- with feature articles on recent and ent children under the age of 18 are upcoming events and accomplishments, included as members. Use current age and to be the first to solve mysteries to calculate amount due. involving photos and objects, be sure that your membership is current. 40-65...... $1200 or5 payments of $275 BY-LAWS AVAILABLE 66andolder...... $800 or5 payments of $180 Every member in good standing is entitled to a copy ofthe San Luis Obispo Company Store Railroad Museum By-laws. For the sake of economy, we have not distributed them to all members automatically To get a copy, send a #10, self addressed stamped envelope to SLORRM, 1940 Santa Barbara Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 or go online to www.slorrm.com under the members only section. A New Name for an Old Car

Museum President Karl Hovanitz, left, long-time Board member John Marchetti, and special guest Sydney McGovern pull off a temporary paper covering to reveal Gala emcee Monica Quintero welcomes La Cuesta’s new name. Photo by Jack Hutchinson Rob Himoto of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad. Photo by Jack Hutchinson Welcome La Cuesta to the San Luis business meeting, narrowed by Board Obispo Railroad Museum. Several vote, and selected by a general mem- The Puttin’Onthe Ritz Spring months ago Museum directors decided bership ballot (Coast Mail, Winter 2014- Gala took place on April 23rd, and a that a new name for the observation- 15). Restoration work continues inside great time was had by all. Friends of lounge car, built by the Pullman and out, with Dave Rohr, Mike the Santa Maria Valley Railroad held Company in 1926 for the Santa Fe Fairbrother, and Howard Amborn put- the fundraising soiree, designed to raise Railway, would be appropriate consid- ting in long hours. money to support the First Responders ering its new role. Unnamed when used of Santa Maria, with the bulk of the pro- by Santa Fe, the car’s previous name La ceeds being dedicated to restoration of Condesa was used by the car’s private Train Tales the Musuem’s1926 observation-lounge owner before it was donated to the car. One of the items auctioned at the Museum. The new name was one of gala was the right to christen the car several nominated by members at a with its new name, La Cuesta, to fit its new life on the Central Coast. Reported by Diane Marchetti Another Mystery A Busy Day Continued The private cars brought 50 visitors from the Pacific Railroad Society for a quick tour of the Freighthouse and La Cuesta, which wasn’t counted as a fifth This item was found in the Southern occupied track because the Museum’s Pacific bay window caboose that now display track is not connected to the sits at the south end of the Museum’s display track. It’s steel, about a foot Union Pacific tracks. The Pacific Jack Hutchinson (right) and Tom long, with finely machined threads at Railroad Society is one of the earliest Mitchell set up their equipment to record the narrow end. There’s a hole through established railroad enthusiast groups another “Train Tales” oral history ses- the threaded end and two holes through in the West, having been founded as the sion in the Freighthouse. the wide end, apparently to accommo- Railroad Boosters, sometimes called Photo by Glen Matteson simply “the boosters’ club,” in Southern date pins. What is it? California in 1936. The boosters’ early The Museum’s “Train Tales” oral his- members are often the sources for arti- tory program got a boost with the recent cles, photos, and films (since trans- membership and active volunteering ferred to digital video format) docu- of Jack Hutchinson, a professional video menting daily operations and special recorder and editor. His first session excursions in the transition era, as was in April, with former Southern diesels were replacing steam and as Pacific and Amtrak locomotive fireman branch-line, down-home railroading and engineer Ray Craig. In the photo was fading. One of their excursions was Jack and previous video recorder Tom to the Pacific Coast Railway. For more Mitchell set up their equipment. The information on PRS and a short video “Train Tales” program coordinator of their May 2 outing, including Diane Marchetti continues to vignettes in Price Canyon and along seek local railroad workers and the coast, visit their website their family members who can http://www.pacificrailroadsociety.org. tell about their experiences. Donations Major recent donations include the following: A generous financial contri- bution from the Santa Maria Valley Railroad toward restoration of La Cuesta (see page 3 article on the Spring Gala); Checks from Marilyn Darnell, Leon Fairbanks, Dan and Patricia Manion, Duane Powell, and Gerry Johnson in memory of her long-time friend and neighbor William “Bill” Howell, to renew chairs in Southern Pacific bay-window caboose No. 1886. The Museum now has sufficient funds to complete the chairs. The wood bar with black metal ends sitting on top of the rails is a track gauge, A track gauge from John Miramon. shown here on the Museum’s display track. When the railheads’ inner surfaces The gauge includes a bubble level and touch the metal parts extending down, track workers know the gauge is correct. adjustable attachment at one end to If the metal ends don’t drop between the rails, the rails are too close together; if set the superelevation, or banking, of the gauge can be shifted side to side, the rails are too far apart. The steel piece curves. The bar was probably used at that’s the same color as the rails, visible between the ties and attached to the base Camp Roberts by the Army Engineers of the rails, is a gauge rod. When track gets “out of gauge,” it’s almost always because when trackage was expanded shortly the rails have spread farther apart, which tends to happen on curves. The rod helps before or during World War II. prevent such spreading. Photo by Glen Matteson The biggest calipers you’re ever like- ly to see, from Dwaine Nelson. They More Train Day were probably used in San Luis Obispo Stroller traffic was heavy and it seemed to measure locomotive driving wheel that no one was too young to join the diameters, and are stamped “PCRy.” spirit. Photo by Glen Matteson From Tom Mitchell, a 1917, govern- ment-published book on military rail- ways and several documents from the World War II era, including a folded mailer preprinted by Camp Roberts with a greeting and a poetic thought for any soldier to send to his mother. A carefully restored Pacific Coast Railway “harp” style switch stand, from Severn Edmunds. Museum Curator Brad LaRose tells a museum guest about the circa 1876 Pacific Coast Railway switch stand, first presented to the public during San Luis Obispo Train Day on May 9, 2015. Photo by Gary See

Museum Manager Diane Marchetti shows off the latest in late-1800’s tools

circular objects, such as locomotive driv- ing wheels. With effort, the arms of these Pacific Coast Railway calipers can be Don’t stop here . . . moved together and apart so that the Go online to www.slorrm.com points just contact a surface. The dis- tance between can then be measured and click on Newsletter for more with a ruler, or it can be compared pages of Coast Mail. Read . . . directly with another object to see if Notes Along the Pacific Coast Right-of-way either object needs to be made larger, or, by Andrew Merriam. Stories and pictures of usually in the case when equalizing The Pacific Coast Railway. See more pictures wheels, smaller. For such objects, from the Grand Opening. calipers allow more convenient and accurate measurements than with a If you don’t have internet access, send a #10 yard stick or tape measure. SASE to Bill Pyper, PO Box 885, Salem, OR Photo by Glen Matteson 97308 for printed copies of pages 5-8. Brad LaRose (red hat) and Ted VanKlaveren (blue A Moving hat) guide a section of rail, while Damon Meeks, out of view on the right, operates the crane (upper end Experience of its boom also out of view). Dan Manion (white hat) verifies the midpoint of the next section to go. Howard For several years the City of San Amborn, seated on tractor, moved smaller items. Luis Obispo has allowed the Museum to use the unimproved northern part of Emily Street, between what is now Miner’s Hardware and the Union Pacific property, to display, work on, and store track materials, signals, rolling stock, and other items. During special events at the Freighthouse, founding member Brad LaRose often leads tours through the yard so that visitors can see items awaiting or undergoing restoration —

This site was very convenient for the Museum, it being located only a few hundred feet south of the Freighthouse and the end of the Museum’s display track, and allowing pull-through access for semi-trucks and other large equip- ment. However, the Museum has known that this arrangement was not likely to last forever. Museum members Howard Amborn, named above, moved about 100 sec- A development has been proposed Chris Hurd, Brad LaRose, Dan Manion, tions of rail and other items. Damon’s for the privately owned parking and Tom Mitchell, Dave Rohr, and Ted expert crane operations, based in storage area south of Miner’s, raising VanKlaveren have been, literally, the Atascadero, have helped the Museum issues of installing sidewalks and moving force behind this effort. Because on several occasions. paving within the Emily Street right- joint bars and some other track hard- With the near-term situation in hand, of-way. Even more significant in the ware were not in containers, most had the Museum continues to explore poten- immediate future was that the fence to be moved by hand, with Brad taking tial sites in the vicinity in case its long- between the Museum’s Emily Street off his Curator hat and putting on his term use of Emily Street must be Yard and the Miner’s property had been weight-training hat. changed. installed where it was convenient at On April 15 Damon Meeks of Superior the time, not along the property line. As Crane & Transport, assisted by those Photo and Report by Glen Matteson a result, the many tons of rail, track hardware, and trackside signal equip- ment since stored along the fence have Where is editor Bill? been partly encroaching on Miner’s What happened to Bill Pyper, long- you’ll continue to enjoy and be informed property. The encroachment ranged serving editor for this newsletter? Rest by the arrival of each new issue. And from about a foot at the south end to assured he’s still up in Oregon, arrang- we’re aiming for a regular schedule, about 12 feet at the north end. For the ing text, images, captions, and titles to with issues coming out in March, June, rail in particular, stacked in courses, bring us this edition of the Coast Mail September, and December of each year. moving any of it meant moving all of it. and hopefully many future ones. But If you have a thought to share with our Proposed changes on the Miner’s prop- even in this digitally connected age readers, a correction to point out, sug- erty and relocation of the fence to the there were times when it was awkward gestions for future articles, or a draft property line also mean pull-through for Bill to coordinate with our band of for submission, let us know. access for large vehicles will no longer writers and photographers, who some- be possible. times tend to ride off in all directions Moving two Pacific Coast Railway at once and not come back for awhile. boxcars from Emily Street to the west Besides, he’s ahead by one in the beau- side of the Freighthouse (Coast Mail, tiful granddaughter contest with your Spring 2013), and shifting other items new editor, who can see the Freight- from and within Emily Street, created house and La Cuesta from the back enough space to move the items along window of his home. the fence, in most cases just a few feet Bill is too modest to give himself a across the access way. That access way new job title and keep his name on page must be kept open for a high-pressure two, but he still deserves the credit. gas line and a major city sewer line, and There may be some rough track as we for practical access to the Museum’s make the transition to having a content items such as the Southern Pacific wood gatherer in San Luis Obispo and a con- caboose (Coast Mail, Fall 2013). tent arranger up north. But we hope track so I fixed it my self. a car of lum- “Thanking you for giving this matter From the Archives ber hit the warehouse at new port your prompt attention for I believe you Collected by Glen Matteson because the lumber was load to fare out are fully aware of the damage and evil and today I am going to take the track consequences which a small patch of The house was small, as far out from the ware house as I can. this treacherous weed can produce.” but not small enough and I want you to give me a order for Following some other correspon- During construction of the transcon- me to get 4 – 6 x 8 – 20 feet switch ties dence, on August 17, 1926, the super- tinental railroads it was not unusual for “A. Silva foreman intendent replied, “I have sent to Harris whole construction camps to be loaded Section I three sacks of salt and instructed our on flatcars and moved from one site to S. L. O.” Roadmaster to see that the morning another. And there must have been glory now growing at that point is thor- By “babet” he meant babbit metal, other cases where small company struc- oughly exterminated and not permitted any of several alloys used in axle bear- tures were loaded onto flatcars for relo- to spread.” cation. There was not enough docu- ings. But let’s reflect a moment. In the mentation concerning the following inci- early 20th Century, for any of several reasons Mr. Silva probably did not have dent to determine if the house referred the luxury of staying in school beyond to belonged to the Pacific Coast Railway the first few grades. English may not or to a customer, but it definitely was have been his first language. Every day moving by train. Here’s a transcription he must have faced challenges to get- of the relevant note: ting his job done: equipment wearing June 7, [19]40 out; lack of spare parts; other workers protective of their domains and their H.C g own schedules; unforeseen events such Had to leave the car with the house as, oh, by the way, lumber loads crash- on it at Arroyo Grande on main line at ing into warehouses. Mr. Silva’s ini- Bridge there. tiative and resourcefulness, and pride, It got wedged in the bridge and it show through the imperfect writing. would not clear the switch stand. Was Excuse some editorializing: His com- afraid to shove it back through the petence is what we should remember. bridge again to clear main line a few Morning glories raise their beautiful, shingles was tore off it. ugly heads again. The Pacific Coast Chris Treachery at Harriston Amazing feats of engineering and Railway had been gone for over a Some notes indicate that the next construction. The clash of financial decade, but beans were still being grown day a Mr. Stewart notified a Mr. H. titans. The commerce of a nation thun- and processed in northern Santa Bunce, and word was passed along to dering over the main lines. Railroad Barbara County and Southern San Luis get the car with the house on it off the history has them all. It also has the Obispo County in the 1950’s. The PCRy main track — no word on how, or more mundane and the closer to home. had been involved in several screening whether additional shingles were lost. and warehouse operations, including Thanks to a long chain of conscien- at Los Alamos and at what is now the All in a day’s work tious employees from the Pacific Coast Pacific Coast Center at Higuera Street Railway in the 1880’s through several and Madonna Road in San Luis Obispo. In a previous life, your archivist had other businesses, last year the Museum a reputation for being something of a Screening was the process of separat- received a collection of documents span- ing the dried beans from bits of their –to put it politely— stickler for writing ning 60 years of local railroad activities form. So at first the following item pro- pods along with any other plant debris and ending over 60 years ago. One item and foreign material. duced several chuckles and the thought in particular shows the drama of Man that “He didn’t get the memo on writ- confronting … The Vine, along the line: Among older PCRy items, your ing memos.” Here’s a transcript of a a letter dated July 25, 1926, from archivist recently found a November handwritten message on Pacific Coast Lawrence Harris (return address – 1952 Santa Barbara County Railway stationery, addressed to that “Harriston”) to “Mr. Massengeil, Agricultural Commission document company’s Superintendent Massengeil: Manager, P.C. Ry. Co, San Luis Obispo.” approving the disposal of garbanzo bean 8/2/26 screenings that contained morning glory “Dear Sir: seeds. This must have been an impor- “W. J. Masengill “I notice that there are quite a few plants tant matter, because the form was to be “I fixed the chase [Case or chassis ?] of Morning Glory which are growing in filled out in triplicate. The Coastal joint the things that I used was Mister a most healthy manner right on your Counties Warehouse in Los Alamos Toms give me 3 rings and the other tracks immediately in front of your sta- proposed disposal to a ranch in Solvang, Toms give me a piece of oil paper for a tion at Harris. by way of feeding the cooked debris to gaskit and the two axels boxs wor out “If these plants are allowed to go to pigs. Presumably being cooked and and I told Toms what to do and he said seed this patch will only become larger passing through a hog prevented the for me to take the boxs in the chop and and more difficult [to] check, therefor, seeds from germinating. And hopeful- he would fill them with babet and thats it seems to me that if they are attended ly cooking broke down the naturally the things I used, and I got em all fixed to now by the application of some exter- occurring, toxic lysergic acid amide in now, I did not put it in the chop minating agency such as salt or Carbon the seeds. If enough seeds are con- because maybe it would stay there Bisulfide much trouble and expense will sumed, that chemical produces hallu- for a week or more so I would not be saved as you know that ‘a stitch in cinations like those of the related com- have a car to go to work on the time is worth nine.’ pound LSD. Notes Along the Pacific Coast Right-of-way By Andrew Merriam Oil Cans on the Central Coast E W. Clark replaced C. O. Johnson in 1900 as superintendent of the Pacific Coast Railway. And while I doubt that he ever considered the term “oil can” as anything other than the lubrication container used by engineers, his rail- road was the first to run tank trains on the Central Coast. His immediate concerns, however, were more about loss of business. On January 1901 “The Gap” was closed as the Southern Pacific drove its last spike on the Coast Route near Gaviota. The passenger business at Port Harford would soon be a memory. (However derailments and the need to replace the light rail meant that the SP’s Sunset Limited did not become a regularly scheduled passenger train until Decem- Figure 1: A string of steel tanks on narrow gauge flatcars at Santa Maria in 1939. ber 7th of that year.) In addition, while Photo by Harold F. Stewart 1899 had been a banner year for freight with 450,000 sacks of grain, most hauled to Port Harford, the closing of “The Gap” also meant changes in freight hauling patterns on the Pacific Coast. However during the end of the 19th century the ranches and rural lands of the southern San Luis Obispo and northern Santa Barbara counties saw a new type of prospector: employees of Southem California oil companies searching for the geology that indicat- ed oil. Discovery of new oil fields was to change the PCRy’s rural way of life for several decades. According to Gerald Best (Ships and Narrow Gauge Rails, now published as Figure 2: Union Oil Company loading facility at Avila. John Simas is the tank The Pacific Coast Company: Ships and car loader. Estimated between 1906 and 1915. From the collection of Andrew Merriam. Narrow Gauge Rails, by Signature type of cargo. Clark capitalized on the When the Pinal Company sought to press.com/pcc.html) the first strike of oil discoveries by converting the Pacific shut the monster down, the casing production grade oil occurred in April Coast fleet of locomotives to oil burn- cracked. When Superintendent Clark 1901 when the Western Union Oil Co. ers thereby beating the Southern Pacific hastened back from San Francisco leased the Careaga Ranch in the Los in the use of the liquid fuel by more than where he had been meeting with oil Alamos Valley and brought in a well a year. By the end of the year there officials on the shipping problem he that flowed 200 barrels a day without were 14 wells producing up to 300 bar- found oil bubbling out of the ground pumping. Superintendent Clark’s inter- rels a day. Since the tank cars of the era around Pinal #3 at such a rate that it est in these events turned into active could only haul approximately 180 bar- was flowing down the canyon toward his participation when in January1902 the rels of crude. the demand for more cars railroad. second well came in at 2,200 feet. At was heavy. Tank cars typical of this Hastily constructing an earth dam that point the PCRy had no tank cars period are shown in the 1939 line-up at across the canyon, an oil lake was but Clark knew what to do. An emer- Santa Maria after the great boom years formed, temporarily relieving the crisis. gency request was dispatched to oil (see Figure 1). But the busy Pinal drillers, like the school boy who sticks his finger in the companies in Southern California for a Then Clark’s participation turned drinking fountain, had been drilling a supply of steel tanks from standard into a headache. On June 2,1903, near fourth well and deepening their first; gauge cars. Graciosa Station, Pinal Well #3 came both came in on the same day as gush- By the time the tanks arrived by in at 2,500 barrels a day “with a force ers, creating the utmost confision. In steamship at Port Harford a series of so great that it spewed oil over the top flatcars had been outfitted to create a of the derrick” (page 53 of Ships and sympathy, Pinal #3 went on a fleet of homemade tanks cars. In addi- Narrow Gauge Rails: The Story of The rampage again, blew off its cap tion to meeting the demand for a new Pacific Coast Company by Gerald Best). Continued on page 8 and sent the derrick across the canyon, wrecking the bunkhouse and flooding the whole area with oil. (Again from page 53 of Ships and Narrow Gauge Rails: The Story of the Pacific Coast Company by Gerald Best). The Standard Oil Co. had agreed to purchase all the oil that Pinal and other independents could produce. To store the oil, large tanks were shipped from Bakersfield and assembled at Port Harford where the mobile home park and marine storage yard are today. New steel tanks were arriving by each ship and Superintendent Clark Figure 3: Tank car #925 lettered U.O.Co. for the Union Oil Company, Santa telegraphed Baldwin Locomotive Works Maria, 1938. Photo by Ken Frick for three new consolidation locomotives which would arrive in May of 1904. The Pacific Coast was now in the positive position of having to haul vast amounts of supplies to the oil fields from Port Harford and the large trans- fer dock at San Luis Obispo. Strings of tank cars went to the port for both Standard Oil and Union Oil where the oil was off loaded into storage tanks. Each company mantained their own tanks for holding the oil until it could be loaded into ships. A typical string of tank cars is shown in Figure 2. The original oil pier was an extension of the existing Harford pier. This burned Figure 4: Standard Oil owned tank cars for refined retail product with advertis- in 1915. The Pacific Coast then built ing on the sides. These cars were numbered X-106 and X-107. another wood pile pier which was sold Collection of Kenneth Westcott. to Union Oil Company just before the depression. The new engines arrived to serve these areas. Ultimately pipe- service stations. See Figure 4. These nonetoo soon and were immediately lines were constructed from the main cars had silver tanks mounted on 30- put to work hauling the 35 tank cars oil fields to Port Harford with the result- foot narrow gauge flat cars. Standard now on hand for three round trips a ing tank farms above the community of Oil was not shy about advertising. Each day to Port San Luis. The great activ- Avila which would last almost a century side of the car had different text but before being demolished in the late their product was “Unsurpassed” and 1990’s. While efficient pipelines would the big block of lettering was in red. now take the majority of the oil from the These cars had an interesting and fields to the refineries, there were still diverse history. They were built for the small independent producers and in Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) in some cases remote fields with pipelines 1913 at Reno, sold to the Standard Oil to the railhead which were still served Company in l928, came to the Pacific Union Oil made new oil discoveries by the railroad into the 1930‘s. adjacent to the Pinal field. Their most Coast where they lasted until 1934 famous well being Hartnell #1 which The tank cars were composed of steel when they were transferred to the initially gushed at 40,000 barrels a day, tanks typically with a capacity of 5,700 Nevada County Narrow Gauge (NCNG) again required damming a canyon to gallons mounted on 33-foot wooden flat- headquartered in Grass Valley. The contain the overflow. The oil volume cars. The Pacific Coast owned most, two Standard Oil cars (plus four PCRy. from this well then tapered down to but some were lettered for Union Oil cars) were transferred to Alaska to 20,000 barrels a day, equivalent to the Company, shortened to U.O.Co. on the serve there during World War II on the Pacific Coast’s total hauling capacity typically black tanks. (See Figure 3). Alaska Railway. There are also photographs of U.O.Co. (estimated at 171,000 gallons of crude While Superintendent E. W. Clark cars with silver and black lettering. per train). Of course the SP did not sit could never have foreseen today’s Union idly and watch the whole bonanza flow All of the Pacific Coast cars were Pacific triweekly “oilcans” passing next to the narrow gauge. A pipeline was given odd numbers in the 901 to 981 to the former PCRy, and while a 23,000 constructed to their siding at Casmalia. series. An interesting footnote is that gallon tank car in a 78-unit train car- Other noted fields were devel- Standard Oil also had two tank cars rying about 1.7 million gallons would oped at Palmer and Cat Canyon numbered X-106 and X-107 imported for have staggered his imagination, he was southeast of Santa Maria and their reserved use, which I speculate the first to run “oilcans” through San the PCRy extended a branch line was to supply retail products to local Luis Obispo.