|
Steve
Delano's Orange County Photos Copyright 2011 by Steve Delano and James E. Lancaster. Notice:The images - photographs, drawings, maps and track diagrams - presented in this web site are the property of the respective contributors and may not be used for any purpose without permission. For more information see Photo Credits and Restrictions. With one noted exception, all photos on this page were taken by Steve Delano in 1968-69 using a Kodak Instamatic camera. Steve grew up in Orange, CA. Southern Pacific Tustin Branch
The
Southern Pacific Tustin Branch left the SP's Santa Ana Branch in
Anaheim; went east to Villa Park crossing both the Santa Fe Fourth
District main line from Los Angeles to San Diego and the Santa Fe Olive
Sub between Orange and Atwood on the Third District; then south to
Tustin (see the Tustin Packing House web page).
In the photo below, SP SW8 1125 crosses Collins Avenue in northeast Orange headed toward Villa Park in 1968. The Orange fire station is to the right. (The original photo had developing fluid, or something similar, splashed on it by the film processor. It has been partially restored using Photoshop.)  Steve Delano photo. The next photo was not taken by Steve but is from the Orange County Archives. It shows the intersection of Wanda Road and Katella Avenue. in Villa Park in December 1965. The location is a short distance north of where the previous photo was taken. The track crossing Katella Ave. is the SP Tustin Branch.  Photo courtesy Orange County Archives. Steve
photographed a wood sheathed CNW reefer next to new PFE mechanical at
the Villa Park Orchards Association packing house in 1968. For more on
the Villa Park packing house the see the Villa Park Packing House web page.
 Steve Delano photo. A little south of where the first photo was taken, the Tustin Branch crossed Santiago Creek on a steel girder bridge. The next two photos show the bridge looking south, the first from track level and the second from ground level on the west side. At the south end of the bridge the track curved past Consolidated Rock Products (later renamed Conrock) on the left and Industrial Asphalt on the right, then straightened out and went toward Chapman Ave. and on to Tustin.
The southern part of the bridge
was washed out during heavy rains in
January-February 1969. The bridge was never rebuilt leaving the Tustin
Branch severed. The photo below shows the muddy water in the
rain-swollen Santiago Creek at the time of the washout.
Pacific Electric in
Orange Just
after the Tustin Branch crossed the Santa Fe Olive Sub between Orange
and Olive, a freight only Pacific Electric line left the Tustin Branch
and ran south to a PE depot in Orange about a block west of the Santa
Fe depot. It paralleled the Santa Fe tracks until after it crossed
Walnut Avenue. Then it went through an S-curve to pass in front of the Santiago
Orange Growers Association (later Villa Park Orchards Association)
packing house located on Cypress Street. The Santa Fe and PE tracks are
shown at the top and middle, respectively, in the map shown below,
where north is to the right.
 In the photo below, SP NW2 1950 crosses Walnut Avenue headed north, shortly after passing in front of the packing house.
South of the packing house he PE track ran down the center of Cypress Street for a short distance before turning again to the end of track at Chapman Avenue as shown in the map below.
Where
the PE line crossed Maple Avenue, a spur ran into Barr Lumber Company
(a site occupied by Anaconda Wire after Barr Lumber closed).
Steve photographed the turnout for the spur in the Maple Avenue
pavement, below. For more information on this interesting bit of PE
trackage and the packing house see the Orange Packing House web page.
Southern Pacific in Anaheim
For information on packing houses in Tustin, Orange and Villa Park, go to the Virtual Tour of Orange County Page. For more railroad photos, click here. Last Update: 11/1/11 |
