The
Permenente' Local
My
Backyard Railroad
One
of my first railroad photographs I made was of a Southern Pacific local
freight called the
Permenente' Local (perm-en-entay). You might
say I grew up with this train which operated between San Jose's Newall
Street Yard and the Kaiser Permenente cement plant in the foothills of
Cupertino.
In
1975, the Permenente' (as it was referred to) ran five days a week,
servicing customers along the Vasona Branch with a pair of SD7s in charge.
The Permenente Local even had it's own assigned power: The 1419
and 1442, with the 1420 used as a relief unit.The 1442 was special because
it still had its ash can oscilating headlight firmly attached to the nose
roof, a remnant from the 1950s. It would be several years before the SD7s
would be rebuilt as a class at the Sacramento Locomotive Works and numbered
into the 1500-series.The entire fleet of "Baby Cadillacs" would then gain
a uniformity of appearance and reassigned as yard engines to Roseville
and West Colton yards.
But
that's the future. Today it's August 21, 1975 and a warm 6:25 pm. The 1442
and 1420 are returning from their sojourn up the Vasona Branch where there
were several light manufacturing customers scattered along Winchester Boulavard
in Cambell. Shot from the San Carlos Street overpass, the local has paused
to get clearance from San Jose Telegraph to proceed onto the freight main
and return to Newhall Street yard where the crew will tie down the power.
A "herder" would then move the power back to the Lenzen Street Roundhouse
for servicing. Standing dutifully next to the lead unit is an ancient "wig
wag" crossing signal, also known as a magnetic flagman, it's solitary arm
swinging lazily back and forth with the warning bell issuing a dull "clink,
clank, clink, clank."
Standing
on the San Carlos Street overpass on this warm summer evening, the photographer's
nose is overpowered by the strong aroma of cooking tomatos forced skyward
by the exhaust fans of the Del Monte cannary to the left. Coupled with
diesel fumes and the stifling Auguat heat, the scene made made a lasting
impression as I made a series of photos before escaping down a flight of
stairs to the street below and the a/c of my 1972 Dodge van's "factory
air."
-
Ken Rattenne
Photo
Information
Shot with Kodak 620 print
film using an Argus Super Seventy Five twin lens reflex camera set
to 1/125 of a second at f11. Negatives were scanned with an Epson V850
flatbed scanner.
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Copyright
©1997-2024 by Ken Rattenne & KPR Media Services
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