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With much gratitude to Ed Von Nordeck, pictured on the right with his cousin in Barstow, CA circa 1946, for sharing his vintage railroad photos. This has turned into a treasure trove for railroad aficionados to enjoy.
Thank-you for sharing your passion.
The Historic Vintage Photos of Ed Von Nordeck 1945-1985
Commentary by Evan Werkema
Click on the image to see the full commentary.
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Ed Von Nordeck is pictured on the right side in this 1946 photo. Santa Fe had the largest fleet of what David P. Morgan, in the February 1960 issue of Trains Magazine, termed "The Diesel That Did It." The "it" Morgan was referring to was proving that diesels could successfully perform as heavy road freight locomotives, the last task for which steam still held a virtual monopoly on the railroads. By the FT's 1939 debut, earlier diesel types had already shown themselves up to the tasks of switching and pulling passenger trains, but now EMD had fielded a 4-unit, 5400 hp "locomotive" that could move freight over the road efficiently and relatively inexpensively.
Santa Fe's FT's, decked out in the blue and yellow "catwhisker" scheme with a red separation stripe that EMD had designed for them, were initially deployed in long distance freight service as EMD had intended. After the end of World War II, though, as newer types of F's began to join the roster and before the widespread adoption of hood units, Santa Fe started trying their FT's in other roles, and in other paint schemes. Below are some photos Ed Von Nordeck took of Santa Fe FT's during this period of experimentation in Southern California.
Santa Fe's FT's, decked out in the blue and yellow "catwhisker" scheme with a red separation stripe that EMD had designed for them, were initially deployed in long distance freight service as EMD had intended. After the end of World War II, though, as newer types of F's began to join the roster and before the widespread adoption of hood units, Santa Fe started trying their FT's in other roles, and in other paint schemes. Below are some photos Ed Von Nordeck took of Santa Fe FT's during this period of experimentation in Southern California.
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Ed Von Nordeck took the following photos of the 1937-vintage Santa Fe depot at Corona, CA circa 1950. The depot's architecture is of the simple Mission Style stucco motif common on Santa Fe's Los Angeles Division, a style erected at "significant" towns that might have warranted a red brick "county seat" style depot had they been located on the Western or Eastern Lines.
While no two of these Mission Style stations were exactly alike, Corona's depot resembled those at Upland, Orange, and Santa Ana in overall shape and size. Of those four, all but Santa Ana are still with us in one form or another.
Corona's depot today houses the Corona Depot Bar & Grill ( https://www.facebook.com/CoronaDepotBar/ ). Not surprisingly, the trackside wall and the surrounding landscape is considerably different from when Ed took his photos nearly 70 years ago.
While no two of these Mission Style stations were exactly alike, Corona's depot resembled those at Upland, Orange, and Santa Ana in overall shape and size. Of those four, all but Santa Ana are still with us in one form or another.
Corona's depot today houses the Corona Depot Bar & Grill ( https://www.facebook.com/CoronaDepotBar/ ). Not surprisingly, the trackside wall and the surrounding landscape is considerably different from when Ed took his photos nearly 70 years ago.
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Corona Depot#EdVonNordeck,#CoronaModelRailroadSociety
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Here's how it looked 25 years later in July 1975.-BMT
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Thanks for the additional photos. According to Gustafson & Serpico's Santa Fe Coast Line Depots - Los Angeles Division, the agency closed in 1981, and crews stopped using it in 1982.
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Former Valley Flyer 4-6-2 #1376, now returned to more standard decorations, stops for water at Corona with westbound local train 55 from San Bernardino in 1948.
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Frame #8 on the roll shows the first 4-8-4 Santa Fe purchased, 1927-built #3751 (albeit in its final form, much rebuilt and updated). It appears to be powering (or overpowering) train 51, a westbound passenger local between San Bernardino and Los Angeles, CA that generally drew smaller motive power such as 4-6-2's and boiler-equipped GP7's.
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