Southern Pacific Lines

Coast Line Division 

“The Route of the Octopus”

 
 

Locomotive Movement & Speed

SP's Racetrack (79 mph)

  1. Speed of passenger trains have been varied over the course of SP history.


  3. There was a time in the 1930s when ICC enforcement of speed limits was more lenient, especially on ATS territory. The early City of SF was carded to run faster than 79 across Nevada.


  5. A memorandum issued by SP which is undated but which seems to relate to the M series power cars and therefore likely to be 1936 or 1937 gives the maximum speed for CoSF at 95mph and speed on trial as 115mph. However, this is likely to be east of Ogden. An instruction issued by Charles A Fogus Foreman of Engines at Sacramento dated July 1938 implies that with a C of G of only 60.8" speeds of 90mph are permitted round 1 deg curves (or less) with 3" elevation. The date would indicate we are now talking about the E2 units. The curve at Harney in 1939 was 3 deg. with a 4.5" elevation which concurs with the table as 60mph. A 1938 employee timetable for the Western Division that allows the City of SF 95 MPH on part of the line between Benicia & Sacramento.


  7. As to SP legends, several of the SP "Old Heads" in California that during WW II  noted when running the 4449, a passenger train 3 hours behind schedule and arrived in Salt Lake City on time, having hit 103 mph running across the Nevada desert, and passing several water stops in the process. As the GS-4's were balanced for 107 mph, true or not this story is possible.


  9. 80 MPH was made the magical number. If you go 80 MPH you must have ATS or what ever letters you use. If you pass a yellow board at more than 30 mph you have 30 seconds to start slowing your train. If you pass a red board it will stop you. If you want to run 80 or faster you must have the pick up shoes on you engine and the senders at each board. If your RR is nor equipped this system then you can not go 80 MPH and that means 79 MPH is as fast as you can go. They started working toward this system after the UPRR put one of their streamliners in the rear of another one in a blinding snow storm. They had cab signals but the engine crew over looked the settings and BOOM. This happened some where in Wyo. and in the late 40s or early 50s.


  11. The ICC rule on cab signals or ATS for speeds over 79 came out made the rule in 1947, and another that says it was 1951. In either case the rule was made after most railroads had already submitted huge orders for new passenger cars and locomotives. Exceptions have been allowed to the rule in the western U.S. but never in the east.


  13. Without automatic train stop, the ICC did not permit speeds over 79 mph. Railroads such as Uncle John did have train stop and ran considerably above 79 in places. SP would not have it.

  14. Tony Thompson


  16. In modern times SP had some areas where "fast freight" was the rule. On the Sunset Route, there were long stretches of desert where the SP could top out on  speed. Southeast of Palm Springs, stack trains raced by in the late 80's and 90's. Areas to the east on the Sunset Route were also known to be high speed lanes. The Blue Streak Merchandise train comes to mind. Also, long stretches of track in the San Joaquin Valley allowed SP's freights to pace the cars on parallel Highway 99. That said, remember that the SP was not at all geared to any kind of  speed competition and ran most of its passenger trains well below 70 mph, even into the Daylight era.


  18. SP did have some stretches of track equipped with automatic train stop, although of a different flavor than Uncle John's. The pickup was between the rails, rather than on the outside near signals; when visiting Sacramento, take a stroll through the pit underneath the SP F-unit cutaway and savor the framework behind the front truck where the ATS pickup was mounted. ATS was used on The Hill and was at least in part responsible for SP locomotives leading the CZ when it was re-routed over Donner. Nobody was going to be running faster than 79 around Cape Horn or through Blue Canyon, at least not for long!


  20. For standard operating procedure, SP put up special speed signs ("79") that applied only to lightweight streamliners, IIRC. But again, SP didn't have speed limits higher than the magical 79 under most circumstances.

  21. Joe Strapac


  23. Back in the 1990's, federal law restricted passenger trains to 79 mph unless the locomotive was equipped with cab signals.


Coast Line Speed

  1. 79 M.P.H. was the maximum speed aloud. A lot of the Coast Route was slower. Some of the S.P. was 90 or 100 M.P.H. before the I.C.C. imposed the 79 M.P.H. ruling came in to being about 1946 or 1947. A good part of the Coast Route was even slower than many lines, due to the curves. Some of the engineers, that really knew the road, would go faster than 79, in areas that were previously faster. This was before the time of speed recorders on engines, and officials with radar guns. There was a rule in the rule books, that allowed faster speeds than the marked speed boards, to make up time while running late, and the conductor and engineer both felt that it was safe to do so.


Speed Restrictions

  1. A wealth of information can be gleaned from an employees' timetable and special instructions for the division where your branch was located. Speed restrictions on branch lines were invariably low, but they were usually printed in these publications in detail.


  1. General restrictions that defined absolute maximum speeds particular classes of locomotives were allowed to operate. Local conditions would further restrict maximum allowable speeds.


  3. A copy of SP's Coast, Santa Margarita SubDivision Special Instructions No. 1, dated January 23, 1949, includes a table titled "Speed Restrictions for Other than Main Tracks." Maximum speed is shown below for trains:


  5. Track Type                                                  With Caution Not Exceding MPH

  6. Through sidings, yard and other tracks, wyes

  7.    balloon tracks, crossovers and turnouts except:                  15

  8. Through slip switches                                                          10

  9. Through turnouts other than sidings                                   10

  10. On branches                                                                        10

  11. Through all sidings, yard tracks and other

  12.     tracks with engine running backward                                10


  14. A copy of SP's Western Division Special Instructions No. 5, dated September 27, 1953, includes a table titled "Speed Restrictions for Engines." Maximum speed shown below is subject to further restrictions applicable to certain territories as shown in Speed Restrictions for trains:


  1. Class Running Forward With Train Light     Running Backward


  3. S, SE         20 20 20

  4. Mk-2, 4         40 40 30

  5. Mk-5 thru 9         50 50 30

  6. Mk-11         35 35 30

  7. MM         35 35 25

  8. TW         40 40 30

  9. T-1, 23, 28, 31     50 50 30

  10. T-32, 40         60 55 30

  11. F         50 50 30

  12. M         50 50 25

  13. SP         55 55 30

  14. P-1 thru 6         65 55 30

  15. P-7 thru 12        75 55 30

  16. Mt         75 55 30

  17. GS         75 50 30

  18. AC         605525

  19. C         404030


  21. Joe Strapac



Engine Speed

  1. A 1% grade 15 miles long qualifies as a serious grade! Keeping a train moving at a constant speed up a1% grade requires a 400% increase in drawbar pull -- on straight track. Even more if the track has a lot of curvature. The minimum continuous speed is usually around 10 mph -- 10,000 lbs of drawbar pull will keep about 400 tons moving up a 1% grade (if the track is dry and straight). Steam locos reach a maximum drawbar pull (tractive effort) somewhere around 10-20 mph.

Modeling Engine Speed

Scale MPH Operating Speeds

  1. To better place scale speeds into perspective, the following HO scale speed table equates the scale speed (in SMPH) with real time (in everyday, 1:1 scale SECONDS) over actual distance traveled (in everyday, 1:1 scale INCHES):


  3.   5  smph = 1"/sec                35 smph = 7"/sec

  4. 10 smph = 2"/sec                40 smph = 8"/sec

  5. 15 smph = 3"/sec                45 smph = 9.1"/sec

  6. 20 smph = 4"/sec                50 smph = 10.1"/sec

  7. 25 smph = 5"/sec                55 smph = 11.1"/sec

  8. 30 smph = 6"/sec                60 smph = 12.1"/sec


  10. There’s an on-line multi-scale smph calculator at:     http://www.nhsouth.com/crafts/workbench/ssc.htm


  12. During monthly TT&TO/CC&WB Ops sessions, they normally run trains at somewhere between 2"- 5"/sec - that equates to approx. 10-25 smph. The layout in question is rather large. Even when running at 10-25 smph, the actual running times between widely-spaced stations are not very great. Granted, they could easily 'sprint' 1st Class passenger and manifest freight over certain stretches of main track at 50-60 smph but that would translate into whizzing down the main track at an average rate of 10.1"-12.1"/sec - that would be extremely fast and would drastically 'shrink' the perceived temporal distances between stations thereby rendering the Ops sessions less realistic and less enjoyable.


  14. The Glendale Model RR Club. GMRRC has a very nice, very large layout modeling the SP from LA to Bakersfield with a considerable long main line. GMRRC strictly enforced 'slow'  running as being more realistic (and hence more fun) than simply high- balling down the main. Besides, it's always nice to watch the drivers roll with the side-rods and valve-gear moving in synchronicity, all while running at slow speeds.


  16. Most layouts are far smaller than the GMRRC's large layouts, our(my) running distances are far less. Unless someone is modeling the Acela and has a VERY large layout (e.g., aircraft hanger-sized), it's difficult to relate to running trains at speeds much greater than around 25-30 smph.


  18. Calibrate the Digitrax DT400 throttles to read in scale MPH using known distance test loops as time traps. Have scale speed tables covering 4' and 6' module boundaries that can be used on the fly while operating as a double check.


  20. Speed wise we typically try to keep the mainline up at 60 MPH and the local at 35 MPH.



Specific Engine Speeds

0-6-0 Speeds

  1. Speeds for 0-6-0 speed were the SP speed limits, per T/T Special Instructions circa 1949. The SP had very conservative speed limits for locomotives - and they weren't always obeyed! They had very specific limits for engines hauled dead in train, and the 30 mph limit with main rods removed was the fastest allowed, but with all rods in place 30 mph was also allowed. For long switcher moves the rod were removed due to piston/cylinder lubrication concerns.


Cab Forwards Speed

  1. A copy of SP's Los Angeles Division Special Instructions No.3, dated December 1, 1951, includes a table titled "Speed Restrictions for Engines." Maximum speed shown below is subject to further restrictions applicable to certain territories as shown in Speed Restrictions for trains:

  2. AC class, running forward, w/ train:         60 mph

  3. AC class, running forward, light:         40 mph

  4. AC class, running backward w/train or light:    25 mph


  6. A Western Division Special Instructions No. 5, dated September 27, 1953 states the following:

  7. AC with train         60 mph

  8. light                  55 mph

  9. running backward w/train or light        25 mph


  11. A Portland Division Special Instructions, No 5, Effective Sunday, January 9, 1955 states the following:

  12. AC with train         60 mph

  13. light                  55 mph

  14. running backward w/train or light        25 mph

  15. (There is no distinction of the different AC classes.)


  17. Any steam locomotive with a tender running backward is limited to 25 mph. Any faster it will pick up it's tender and derail.


  19. These are absolute limits. As Mr. Lyons points out, "it depends."

  20. Joe Strapac


Engineer Prototype Practices

Brake Applications

    There are four braking situations:


Full Service Application    - normal stops, terminal or on-line

Release Brakes    - before moving the engine and cars

Emergency Application    - fast and hard, “dumping the air”

Setting/Releasing             - for use on down grades

Modeling Engineer Prototype Practices

The engineer shall follow the prototype practice of allowing time on the fast clock for brake applications. Each of these situations requires time on the fast clock in the following increments:


Set/Release at terminal    - 2 minutes per car

Rear-end Set/Release On-line   - 2 minutes

Pickup One or More Cars    - 1 minute per car

Emergency Applications    - 15 minutes

Setting/Releasing Retainers    - 1 minute per car at top & bottom of down grades


Engineer Sign In

  1. All engine crews had to sign into the active shift log at the engine terminal before going to their engine and after leaving it at the shift's end. At shift start they might find the locomotive on the roundhouse lead or out in the yard, although most crews tried to ride their engine to the terminal for its servicing before signing off. There might be the occasional relief job that would necessitate going to the engine at a remote site, but that would be hard to ID unless it was specified by notes or an oral history account.

  2. Kevin Bunker



Moves

0-6-0 Moves

  1. Most 0-6-0 moves between points on one division were light engine moves. For this the engine would be equipped with class lights and white flags; the tender would display markers. Maximum speed for all S class engines was 20 mph, so it was a slow trip. The color photo on the back dust jacket of The Train Shop's edition of Dunscomb's "Century of Steam" book shows #1221 on arrival at San Jose from Bayshore. Note the class lights still in place. These were removed before she went back to her depot switching job.


  3. For long moves (LA-SF, Sacto-Portland, etc) they were moved dead-in-train with just the main rods removed (usually stored on the running boards), as in this condition they could be moved at 30 mph.


Mikados

  1. The SLO locals ran with smaller engines (Mikados) when they had steam. They started putting those big Baldwins (AS-616) on the turns in the 50’s.


Cab-Forwards

     Cab-forwards had to be turned on the wye at San Luis Obispo, because the turntable was too short.   

 
Southern Pacific Lines S.P. Locomotive Moves
Locomotive Movement SP's Racetrack (79 mph) Speed Restrictions Engine Speed Specific Engine Speeds Engineer Prototype Practices Moves 0-6-0 Moves
Home../Modeling_the_SP_Coast_Line/Title_Page.html

Photo courtesy of Ryan Dora