(Ken Rattenne Photo) In October of 1995 SP GP60 9763 pauses in the yard between switching chores. The days of beefy SW1500s kicking cars are now gone: This is now the switcher of choice.

By the end of 2004 this is what Warm Springs Yard looked like: Armour Yellow with shades of Rio Grande and SP patch units waiting for the call to duty.

Warm Springs was once a separate village, part of a collection of small villages known as Washington Township. In 1956 Warm Springs was incorprated into the new City Of Fremont along with Alvarado, Mission San Jose, Centerville and Irvington.

Seven years later, in 1963, Southern Pacific built the Warm Springs yard specifically marshal and distribute incoming and outgoing traffic to the new GM plant which opened for business that year. 

Today, Warm Springs still serves the former GM plant, now known as New United Motor Manufacturing plant (NUMMI), a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, producing Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks, the Geo Prizm, and the Toyota Corolla. 

The yard also serves as a major collection point for freight traffic brought in by the many locals working the San Francisco Peninsula, San Jose and points south. 

Warm Springs then forwards cars to West Oakland and onto Roseville. Today, Union Pacific stations anywhere from two to four B-B road units to do local switching.

In 2005 UP closed Newhall Street Yard in San Jose, shifting the work performed there to Warm Springs and Watsonville Junction.