A blast from the past at Redding

Less than six months after I had shot the SP 3207 in the SPSF "Kodachrome" merger scheme leading Amtrak 5, it was repainted to scarlet and grey for a Directors' Special to Oregon. This picture was taken August 23, 1987 at Redding, California. There were at least five people in the cab of the locomotive, and all were wearing neckties. The train was so hot that opposing freights were put in sidings two hours in advance.

My friend Mike Devlin was along on this trip, and he was very disappointed to see that the two SDP45s had been repainted grey. As Mike put it, "That train looks just like the 'San Joaquin Daylight,' and I already have lots of shots of that." I was thrilled to get shots of a 'pure' SP passenger train.