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Here is a slide I just picked up. Still researching the photographer.

I ran into this cool N-Scale cattle car with cattle sounds. My father who rode many rail lines with boxcars and cattle cars full of livestock says often the cows were quiet in the car unless something was wrong. Sometimes the engineer would let him ride in an F Unit on the way to show cattle. Does anyone know if the cattle car is actually a WP prototype? I know they had several kinds. https://www.ebay.com/itm/393407064489?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=L-nPrpB0TTK&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=-SfnQT7lQJi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=MORE

Friends, As I promised Dan, I am posting two views from Will Whittaker's negatives of SN 654 running in third rail territory on the Woodland Branch. The first is a Charles Savage photo showing 654 with a cabooseless train. The exact location is not given, but from the small shelter in the distance, I think this is near Fremont. The date was 12 October 1939, a Thursday. Note the 10,000 gallon Texaco tank car with the enormous dome. The second photo is one of Will's own, taken in December 1940 south of Fremont, possibly on the other side of the tracks, but in about the same place as the Savage photo (note the road in the distance). After looking over my negatives, I find that I have two more views of 430 on the same train I posted yesterday. I may get around to sharing those another time. Yours Aye, Garth Groff ?

Folks: Here is a shot of 410 somewhere around Yuba City/Marysville area with one of SN's short cupola hack's I recently purchased. Can't make out the number since I have no scanner. Comments?

Friends, As a follow-up to the photo of 654 with its train, here is a Will Whittaker view of "downtown" Fremont, in fact, just about all of Fremont. The negative sleeve is dated 6/1X/40, the "x" representing a strike-over. As I remember it from a brief stop here in the 1960s or 1970s, Fremont consisted of a small riverside tavern, maybe doubling as a bait shop, and not much else. I do not remember if there was still a siding here, and certainly no evidence of a shelter. There is some interesting detail here. The "station" is a post-and-beam structure, probably originally open, but the sides have been boarded in. This apparently was Northern Electric's standard design, as it is similar to a photo I have of the Bilman shelter (though its lower walls were brick). There is no platform access on the train side, so there must have been a doorway on the back wall. Note the stringers showing where the wall shingles have fallen away. On the platform is a simple passenger-operated semaphore to signal the engineer for a pick-up. The cattle guards appear to be superfluous, as the right-of-way beyond the station does not seem to be fenced. The crossbuck is turned 90 degrees to the track instead of parallel. Note what appears to be a mailbox fashioned from a barrel behind the shelter. What is now called "Old River Road" heads off toward West Sacramento in the distance. I'm not entirely sure if the attached screen shot is the same location (called "Elkhorn" on the station sign). And by the way, the Google Street View taken in February 2022 still shows the Fremont/Elkhorn trestle as standing intact. I thought it had been torn down several years ago. Go get your photos while you still can. Yours Aye, Garth Groff ?

Friends, Today I am offering a Will Whittaker photo of 650 and its entire train for your discussion, enjoyment and approval. The photo was taken at or near Marysville on 25 November 1938. The exact location wasn't specified on the negative sleeve. You will note that the motor is showing a white flag, indicating this is an extra. Most SN freight trains, except those on the branches, usually ran at night. A day freight train on the mainline would be a rarity. The train is very interesting, as it is just five freight cars, just right for a model railroad. The first car is a Great Northern USRA double-sheathed boxcar, one of 1,500 built for the GN in series 23494-24993. The GN was the last major operator of USRA DS boxcars, some lasting into the late 1950s after upgrading with AB brakes and AAR trucks. The second car is a "frameless" UTLX "Van Dyke" tank car, class V in series 14300-15999, with a capacity of 6,500 gallons. Chances are good this car is headed to, or returning from, a Standard Oil dealer as UTLX was their carrier of choice, though other refiners also used UTLX cars. The third car is one of SN's double-sheathed 40' boxcars (noted the channel side sills), though the camera makes it look like it is only 36' long. The car series was 2129-2153, 25 cars, though by this time three had been lost to fire and a wreck. Cars four and five are tank cars, likely 8,000 gallon capacity. There isn't enough detail for me to guess their reporting marks. At the rear is caboose 1613, a rare-in service view. I'm sure you all noticed that the train is in third rail territory. Your comments, particularly on location and the identity of the two tank cars, would be of great interest. Yours Aye, Garth Groff ?

This is it? Nothing since August ? I've had more excitement watching paint dry than this group... ~Bill Shippen

Hi Everyone, A long time ago as a part of my Eagle Scout project, I put together a sign at Snake Road discussing the Sacramento Northern History. Below is a small image of the sign as installed today. I also installed one next to Lake Temescal. I am now on the board of Oakland Heritage Alliance, and the Shepherd Canyon Homeowners Association is doing another sign discussing Montclair with another prospective Eagle Scout. They have asked Oakland Heritage Alliance for its feedback and among updates to the text to correct inaccuracies, I had suggested that we do not duplicate photos between the signs. Does anyone have access to a few high resolution images (with credit of course) that could be used on this sign? I had gone to the WRM archives previously, but considering this is not my project and I do not have time to do research, I thought I would ask our group to see if there was anything on hand. Here is the prospective sign below. As you can see, the two images in the left column are duplicated from the Snake Road sign. Best, Daniel

Friends, I don't think I've ever shared these two photos, or if I have, it was a long time ago. SN boxcar 2301 is a Sunshine resin kit, assembled per the instructions and using the kit decals (better than the incomplete Champ lettering). This was the only one of the ex-WP boxcars with an inverse Murphy end. All the rest has inverse Dreadnaught ends. SN caboose 1631 is a stock Westside brass car. No lettering was available for this one, so I cludged it using mostly Microscale alphabet lettering. Close, but not quite right. Both cars were photographed on my old Buffalo Brewing Co. layout, a portable shelf layout in four sections. Three sections still remain in my basement, but I've gone to other projects. The BBCo. layout is for sale for a very reasonable price if anyone wants to come to Virginia to pick it up. ? Yours Aye, Garth Groff ?

Apologies in advance for being a bit off-topic, but I don’t know where else to turn. I’m powering and finishing a Corgi Birney car to match the Pacific Gas and Electric cars circa 1939-40. I’m having difficulty figuring out the roof color (black, dark gray, or medium gray?) and the yellow used on the lower sides (lemon, orange-tint, or more like SP colonial yellow?) Thank you all in advance. Michael Starkey Moderator, please remove if inappropriate.

Friends, Today I am posting two photos of SN caboose 1613 from negatives in my collection for your enjoyment, enlightenment and approval. The first is a Wilbur C. Whittaker view taken in Chico on 25 November 1937 while the car was still in service. Photo number two is from Kenneth Clyde Jenkins and is also at Chico, but is undated. As the car was retired in 1946, and is considerably shabbier than the Whittaker photo. I suspect that photo was taken post-1946 and the car was retired and awaiting dismantling. Why one axle is missing is a puzzle to me. The AFE number for the retirement was 47-46, dated 29 November 1946, though this was an accounting date and cars were often gone before the AFE dates, or hung around far longer as hulks. Caboose 1613 was one of three 21' cars inherited from the OA&E, originally their number 53. Early photos of 51 and 52 showing they were four-wheel bobber cars, 51 at least originally lacking a cupola. What 53 looked like is unknown to me. Early handwritten OA&E records in the WRM archive claim the cars were originally built by the Southern Pacific in 1913 for use on their Port Costa ferries, but why the SP needed special cabooses just for ferry service is a puzzle. Also the 1913 date may relate to when they were sold to the OA&E. Whatever the case, this car was unusual by any standards. Yours Aye, Garth Groff ?

Friends, Today I am sharing two SN MW photos from my negative collection for your enjoyment, edification and approval. The first is a Kenneth C. Jenkins shot of tool car MW915. Sadly, Jenkins did not record the date or location on his negative sleeve, but the tower behind the car marks this as Chico. This car was formerly Northern Electric 702, probably one of the 20-ton capacity, 34' flat cars sold to the NE by the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. (UP) during the construction years. The earliest mention I could find of this specific car was in the 1928 ICC valuation, where the car already had its 915 number. Wilbur C. Whittaker lensed pole line car SN MW938, near Fairfield in 1946.The car was originally NE 1204, a 40' Fitzhugh-Luther flat car built in 1907. During the post-merger purge of unneeded freight cars, the car became SNRY MW938 on authorization for expenditure (AFE) 13-32, as recorded on 19 March 1932. Likely the car was still lettered SNRR 1204 at that time, as many of the older cars were not relettered for the SNRY, or were relettered only on paper, but this is speculative. However, according to my January 1930 ORER, some cars were still lettered for the SNRR and even a few for the NE. SNRY MW932 soldiered on until around 1950, when it either wore out or was unneeded on the increasingly dieselized North End. It was retired on AFE 22-50, dated 20 December 1950. By this time WP/SN AFEs were usually year-end accounting summaries, rather than recording actual disposal dates. MW915 was also retired on this AFE. Other cars retired at this time were B&B material car MW44, material car (flat) MW940, material car (flat) MW941, and material car (flat) MW61. The difference in numbers is interesting. While most MW cars on the NE had low numbers, so did those inherited from the OA&E/SF-S during the merger. Low numbers continued to be used for South End MW cars. North End MW cars were in 900-series. In 1937 when tank cars 66-68 were purchased, additional service cars received numbers in the South End series, no matter where they were used. During the 1950s, most cars added to the MW fleet simply had a "0" tacked in front of their previous road number, or were used in MW service without any changes to numbering. Note the covered third rail in Will's photo. While The Suisun-Vacaville Branch was geographically in South End territory, it had been built by the Vallejo & Northern, a Northern Electric subsidiary. The branch was powered using both third rail and overhead wire. All of you are welcome to archive these photos for your private use. Please do not repost them, or use them in any publication without further permission. Yours Aye, Garth Groff ?

The fine folks at Rio Vista have reconditioned substation 1. Looks great!