WP Mileposts Feb 1950 No. 7

WESTERN PACIFIC Jl[~J~p.,~Sls WP PLACES FIRST ORDER FOR NEW BUDD RAIL CAR Western P acific became the 'first" dome coaches in appearance, although railroad to place an order for one of the dome contains the engine cooling the new Budd rail diesel cars, when system r ather than observation seats. the passenger and express model, tech The engines are two 275-h .p. General nically referred to as the RDC- 2, was Motors diesels, and the power drive is purchased for delivery this spring, at provided by Allison torque converters, a cost of abou t $130,000. developed for heavy tank use during A similar car, the RDC- l , which the war. The six -cylinder, in-line en No. 7 Vol. I FEBRUARY, 1950 differs only in the number of passen gines are mounted under the car floor. Departme nt of Public Relations, 526 Mission Street, San Francisco gers carried and does not include a All clearance requirements are met, Le e She rwood, Ed itor Arthur Lloyd, Jr., Associate Ed itor baggage compartment, made the first and at the same time there is no intr u Me mbe r A merican Railway Magazine Editors' Association actual scheduled revenue runs for this sion on revenue space. Moreover, this C ORRESPONDENTS type of cal' over Western P acifi c's east placement contributes to a low center Ruth C ra ne , Sacramento Northern Hazel Petersen, Oakland ern division during J anuary, operating of gravity-only 52.6 inches. The in Frank Lindee, Tid ewater Southern Bill McGrath, Chicago on the schedule of Trains 1 and 2. sta lla tion h as b een d esigned with Dudley Thickens, Jim Mills, Molly Fag an, Rita Conoll y, San Francisco During the five round trips between special consideration for simplifying Nevad a Michelson, El ko Gene Trace, Stockton P ortola and Salt Lake City, passengers normal maintenance, preventive main Madg e Siaughtner, Irene Burton, Sacramento for points west of P ortola changed tenance, and ready replacement when Ro bert Munce, Jr., Los Angeles from this all-coach accommoda tion to overhaul schedules require. ....7 regular steam trains. The principle of the torque conver The Budd rail diesel car closely re ter, so widely employed in au tomotive INDEX Page sembles the California Zephyr vista- transportation, has been applied to WP P laces First Order for new Budd Rail Car 3, 4, 5 It May be for You ! 5 Caboosing 6,8, 9, 10, 13, 14,15, 16, 18, 20 The Bum's Rush . 9 That's a Good Question! 11 The Tax Bite . 11, 12 Consequences 13 Rail and Highway Overloads 15 Mileposts in Gold 16 Up the L adder 17 In Memoriam 19 Don't be HALF Safe! 20 An Employee's Train of Thought 21 WP Men Elected to Office 22 Sports 23 Railroad Lines 24 Cover: Ditcher removing snow from WP main line at Keddie. Just another of the many services performed by The Budd Company's demonstrator Diesel car, RD C-l, enters Yuba City from the east on the line of the and at the expense of the railroads to give the best transportation without the assistance of State Highway Sacramento N orthern Railway en route to Chico January 29, the first rail fan trip to be held with this type Department equi:r;ment or the taxpayer's money.-Photo by N . F. Roberts, Road Foreman of Engines. of car.-Photo by Arthur Lloyd, Jr. 2 MILEPO STS MILEPOST S 3 all head-end business had to be han It May Be for You! dled via the conventional vestibule A report from Ann H. Crowder, doors. The Railway Express Agency secretary for the Medical Department, assisted by diverting, wherever possi reveals that the following employees ble, shipments of unusual size or have recently answered that depart livestock. ment's call for blood donors for re With the cooperation of Budd Com plenishing the supply of the Irwin Me pany service engineers, a welded morial Blood Bank: stainless steel-sheathed pilot was General Office Employees designed and attached to the front George E. Bowers Virgil M. Haggard of the car. The original car carried Douglas J. Bruce Robert D. Hanson Pearl M. Cunha Harold F . Harrington only truck-mounted pilots which, while' Lu'ella Dickinson Anthony Jakenovich Doris A. Doherty Yen Louie satisfactory for commuter service, Denise D. DuPre Anne K. Malfa were unsuited for mainline service in Rosalie Enke Alice M. Mills Kathryn S. Fiscoe Alma Painter mountainous terrain. The wisdom of Carl H. Flaig Mary E. Rathburn Vernon W. Ged c. es Axel F. Rintala this installation was proven in subse Roland L. Gohmert Roberta Stearn quent encounters with snowdrifts and Richard A. Groves Clifford E. Warner And rocks during the course of the tests. R. W. Landon, brakeman-conductor Rail fans stop to visit Sacramento Northern's shops at Chico during Bay Area Electric Railroad Associ. All modifications of the car were Alfred Vrismo, engineer ation's excursion between Sacramento and Chico. Hundreds of people turned out at Sacramento, Chico and Yuba City to see the car.-Photo by Stanley Snook. handled at Western Pacific's Sacra A heartfelt gratitude goes out to mento shops, under the supervision of these employees of WP, who so gra power transmission. It operates during signed for railway car use by the E. E. Gleason, superintendent of mo ciously answered the call for blood acceleration up to a designated speed, Frigidaire Division of General Motors: tive power. donors in order that the life of a fellow at which point the transmission auto Its foam rubber seats provide comfort In the test, the RDC-l acted as a employee may possibly be ·saved. matically locks into direct drive. for 70 passengers at speeds up to 83 complete train and proved to be an A call to Miss Crowder will put your In addition to providing high miles per hour. Actual service on the adequate substitute for the usual name on the list with those who wish ,efficiency and reliability, the torque WP's eastern division provided opera steam-powered consisting of two or to make future donations. converter saves tons of weight, is ap tion at high speeds at long distances more conventional cars. preciably lower in price than other with few stops, and railroad men Traffic-wise, the Budd car presents portation, W. W. Nelson, who re ·drives, and gives unsurpassed flexibil throughout the country watched the an attractive appearance. Constructed marked that it was the smoothest ride ity and smoothness in operation. innovation with interest. throughout of stainless steel, it makes he had ever had over the line since its The Budd Railway Disc Brakes, Before putting the RDC-1 through a fitting supplement to the California inception in 1906. model CF, operate in conjunction with its paces, special arrangements were Zephyrs, and for this reason, Western Cost-wise, the car can be operated the Budd Rolokron anti-wheel-slide made with the Budd Company to tem~ Pacific has dubbed its new car "The for about one-half the cost of a con device, and have stopped a fully loaded porarily modify the demonstrator Zephyrette." ventional train of equivalent appoint car, under service application, from model and to equip it for the test serv Following the test between Portola ments. In 6,000 miles of test service 85 miles-per-hour in 2,330 feet. To ice contemplated. Seats were removed and Salt Lake City, the car was made the car averaged 2.8 miles per gallon of increase rail adhesion the car is from one end and a temporary baggage available to the Bay Area Electric diesel fuel at a cost of slightly more equipped with both automatic and compartment was so constructed that Railroad Association, a local rail-fan than three cents per mile. Fuel cost for manual sanding devices. Wheels are 33 the interior trim and decorations of the organization in the San Francisco area, steam locomotives used in similar inches in diameter, and the disc is car were untouched. When the com for an excursion between Sacramento service averages 22 cents per mile. bolted to the inner face of each wheel. partment was removed only· minor and Chico over the once-electrified The Zephyrette is a logical solution The car is fully insulated against touching up was needed to restore the rails of the Sacramento Northern. The to the problem of local passenger heat, cold and noise, and is completely car to its original condition. Since the trip attracted 86 railroad enthusiasts service, and Western Pacific is looking air-conditioned by seven-ton, electro demonstrator model possessed no bag as well as many old "rails," including forward to inaugurating a "first" in mechanical equipment especially de- gage doors, for the period of the test, the retired Superintendent of Trans- passenger ·travel. 4 MILEPOSTS MILEPOSTS 5 ea&oosing Tidewater Southern JOE LEMONS and HAROLD CHALMERS WAR REN "BILL" TRUITT h angs up his started with the road in 1914 (when I lantern and retires March 15. Starting rode free and not on a pass) , FRANK with the Tidewater in 1935, Bill served EDGERTON in 1925, and SAM EVANS in as conductor during the fruit season 1928. Can Western Pacific produce a and brakeman during the winter cr ew that can total 130 years on the months. In looking over the winter same tracks? crew of the Tidewater, we find the Sacramento Northern youngest man in seniority is retiring. CHRISTINE WILKES, gen eral clerk , In fact, the 5-man crew has a total of Though traffic departments of neighboring railroads compete aggressively for Sacramento general office, is on a 90- business, their operating organizations are always ready to help out when the rival 130 years with the Tidewater, so they day leave of absence account illness could hardly be classed as a bunch of and has been replaced by GORDON HAL line has an emergency.

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