Photo of the Month - August, 2003

Southern Pacific ran a special in spring of 1990 to move several SP bilevel commuter cars to Tillamook for storage. Power for this trip, which ran from Mahan all the way to Tillamook, is SP 4430, another SD-9 in Kodachrome paint, and Port of Tillamook Bay 4381 towing approximately 17 cars. The train is crossing Wilkesboro Road in its way into Banks. This is the only photo I have seen to date that shows the Wilkesboro wig-wag. (See the inset photo for an enlarged view of the signal, which can bee seen over the top of the second car). The bilevel cars would go into storage in Tillamook, and four (perhaps even some of the ones shown here) would be converted into the first ultradome full dome cars by fledgeling Tillamook Railcar. The ultradomes are still being manufactured today by successor Colorado Railcar, and this photo provides a perfect introduction to my new website on that subject, which can be found at www.trainweb.org/ultradomes. Enjoy! Photo by Scott Anderson