Hey everyone!
Yesterday I got a very special opportunity to attend the first appearance of two very special locomotives, that were donated for restoration to the Southern California Railroad Museum in Perris California. First was Santa Fe #5704, a Bicentennial SD45-2. The 5704 was quite stunning, as it had been kept in good condition while in storage. Currently though, it does not operate. The locomotive was on display at SCRM’s main platform siding, and tours were given of the interior.
North County Transit #2105 is an F40PHM-2C, built by Morrison-Knudsen in 1994 for Coaster service between Oceanside and San Diego. It and the four other F40’s were in service until 2021, when they were replaced by Siemens SC-44 Chargers. 2105 was donated to SCRM, but had to be stored along with 5704 by BNSF until the museum could make a connection to the national rail network. Just recently, the tracks were completed, and the locomotives were delivered by BNSF. Yesterday, 2105 was put into service as a cab car for the museum’s passenger train, and I was able to do a cab ride on the first run! It was something I’ll never forget, and I’m glad I had my trusty Canon with me. Another special moment was meeting Mike Armstrong, of the YouTube channel CoasterFan2105! He’s a really nice guy, and I love his videos.
It is great news that both the Santa Fe Bicentennial and Coaster units were actually on display!
Likely while you were photographing the units at Perris, I was checking out Union Pacific’s old Crestmore (CA) branch in the Riverside area and the new SP (UP) second main in the Ontario-Fontana area. The Crestmore line had bizarre new track heading to Riverside that I could not explain on short notice! And new buildings were everywhere!
Getting back to your thread, thanks for sharing and the photos. It was wondering if the units were on display yet. I should visit that area real soon!
You definitely should. I believe 2105 will continue to be used as an NPCU and I think 5704 is going to be restored to operation eventually. I can’t wait to see it again!
Interesting that the throttle/dynamic and automatic/independent are on opposite sides from every other desktop I’ve seen.
I was thinking the same thing.
Jeff