T&NO 204A:

 

Photo by: Brian Black - Alhambra, CA - ca. 1963-1964

 

This loco was built in 8/1949 with ALCO-GE serial number 77093. She was painted in the SP's Daylight orange and red as a passenger engine.

She was renumbered to remove her alpha suffix along with many other SP E-units and F-units in 1949. She became the T&NO 208 that year.

She was involved in an accident in Lafayette Yard pulling the Sunset Limited train #1 on September 15, 1952 when she struck a freight car that had fouled the main line at approx. 35 mph. The damage from the accident can be seen in the photo, bus she was repaired and continued to serve the SP.

In 1956, she was leased to the Pacific Lines and was renumbered SP 6058 on 10/12/1956.

At some point in the late 1950's or possibly early 1960's she was repainted into the newly adopted grey and red "bloody nose" scheme for all locomotives regardless of passenger or freight assignment.

She was retired and sold to GE on 08/21/1963.

 

Text from the Lafayette Daily Adverstiser of the incident:


SP TRAIN HITS FREIGHT CAR IN LAFAYETTE YARDS

Lafayette was the scene of a double railroad accident yesterday when the Southern Pacific's Sunset Limited struck 
a freight car which had jumped a siding and fouled the main line. The Sunset Limited was bound for Los Angeles 
when it smashed the car near Sunbeam Road west of Lafayette.

No one was reported hurt in the accident, but damage to the diesel electric locomotive pulling the crack passenger 
train was severe. The empty freight car was demolished and all oil tanker, loaded with cottonseed oil, was badly 
damaged, spilling a part of its load onto the right-of-way.

The accident happened yesterday between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m.; railroad officials on the scene said. No official 
report of the accident is yet available, according to C.W. Rush, assistant superintendent in the Lafayette office.
The main line track was cleared for train passage in about seven hours after the Sunset Limited hit the loose car, 
Rush reported. Repair and section maintenance crews worked yesterday to clear and repair tracks for the waiting trains.

TRAINS DELAYED

Scheduled trains and regular freights were not detoured but were held from passing the Lafayette depot and at other 
points. Rush said that only one other passenger train and a freight train carrying perishables were officially 
delayed by the wreck.

No official report of the accident is available from SP officials. Railroad men and evidence at the scene of the 
accident indicates that two cuts of freight cars being switched in the yards side-swiped, causing a freight car 
to break loose, jump the tracks and foul the main track.

Several cars were damaged in the side-swipe accident. Some were derailed and a switch plus several sections of track 
were smashed, Crewman said.

The diesel locomotive pulling the passenger train carried its freight car about 200 yards down the track. The first 
unit of the locomotive was derailed and was damaged about the front end. Repair crews had in use welding torches to 
cut the freight cars loose from the locomotive and the Lafayette Fire Department was called as a safety measure in 
case the diesel fuel ignited.

Unofficial sources estimated the Limited speed at 35 miles per hour. It has been gathering speed after a stop at the 
Lafayette depot.

Lafayette Daily Advertiser 9/15/1952.

 

T&NO 208:

T&NO 208

Lafayette Daily Advertiser

Lafayette, LA; 09/15/1952

 

SP 6058:

SP 6058

Brian Black

Alhambra, CA; ca. 1963-1964

 

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