SP Rolling Stock

Here are a few photos of Southern Pacific equipment. Some images date from the actual SP era, but most are more contemporary. As the SP fades, I try for as many photos of remaining equipment as possible.

Photos are grouped by car type, more or less.

	SP rack on ETTX flat 950309, seen on the Golden State route north of Tularosa on 2/18/2008. This one has had several panels replaced.
	Autorack No. 516176 is parked at Carrizozo, NM on 7/18/2002. Note that the rack sits on a Southern Pacific flat, not a Trailer Train car.
	Autorack No 516765, rolling west out of Gallup on 1/21/2019. It’s a bi-level rack.
	Downtown Phoenix is very difficult for railfanning. Here I’ve done my best to grab this tri-level SP autorack, No. 517533. It’s still in original lettering (plus graffiti). (9/11/2019)
	SSW tri-level autorack 80530 (on dedicated flatcar) in Las Cruces on 8/03/2015. Super surprised to see a Cotton Belt herald on a rack in 2015.
	SSW rack 80563 (with the SP merger herald) in Las Cruces, 8/03/2015. Trust me on the number, the final digit appears in a different photo.
	SP-herald tri-level autorack on an SSW flat, No. 80631, seen on the Golden State route north of Tularosa on 2/18/2008. There were two SP racks on this particular UP train– kind of nice to see them still in service some 12 years after the merger.Bottom: A closer view of the same car.
	Cotton Belt (SSW) car and tri-level rack, both carrying number 80691 per SP practice for some railroad-owned flats. This one received Speed Lettering sometime prior to the UP merger, just like its sister in the photo above. Here it’s in Albuquerque on 2/26/2009.
	SP tri-level rack (number illegible) on ETTX 854206. Note the pre-merger herald on the nameplate. In Las Cruces headed for Mexico on 8/03/2015.
	Tri-level rack SP 1513, on ETTX flat 854289, in Las Cruces on 8/03/2015. Remarkably clean for its age, including lack of graffiti.
	SP autorack on ETTX 854308, seen on the BNSF near Gallup on 2/21/2011. Apologies for not getting the entire car– these BNSF trains really fly through there. I was thrilled to see an SP rack still rolling, fifteen years after the UP merger.
	Bi-level autorack (number illegible), seen from I-10 at Benson, Arizona on 10/14/2013. It’s on a dedicated (SP) flat.
	Tool car No. 5810 sits at Grand Junction, CO on 8/02/1998. Some of the lettering has been peeled off; look closely for the words “Car Houston”. And now we see why the SPL had difficulty making money: they painted their MOW cars like first-class varnish!
	SP container No. 681710, a 48-footer, is on a westbound stack train at Tucumcari, March 24, 2001.
	Eleven years after the UP merger, one wouldn’t expect to find an SP 5-pack well car in pristine condition. Yet, on 7/29/07, such was the case. SP No. 513821 was in line at the BNSF intermodal yard in Denver, clean as a whistle and looking good. Unfortunately, it wasn’t positioned so that I could photograph the whole thing. The other three sections are out of sight to the left. One carried a white-on-brown version of the SPL “meatball” (herald).
	Here’s a short ACF covered hopper No. 490285, in soda ash service in Colorado. It’s on a westbound UP freight seen at Hot Sulphur Springs on 8/09/2007, headed eventually for the Soda plant at Rifle. These cars stand out, being much shorter than the usual ACF hoppers. The cargo is a lot denser than wheat, though, hence the smaller size…
	Ex-SSW covered hopper parked in east Alamosa on 12/28/2009. It looks like an ACF design. Based on the fine lettering (in Roman type) and the repainted patches, I am speculating that Cotton Belt picked it up second-hand. Now it’s lettered for CMHX (CarMath, Inc.). Alamosa was on the SP system from 1988-1996, now SL&RG.
	SP Boxcar, heavily tagged, is eastbound on the BNSF at Kingman, AZ in June 2004.
	Double-door boxcar No. 246159 is on a westbound freight at Sulphur, CO on 8/09/2007.
	Double-door boxcar No. 226525, lettered for Golden West Service, is on a westbound freight at Sulphur, CO on 8/09/2007.
	A pair of boxcars, numbers not quite legible, are rolling westbound in the middle of a freight near Deming on 10/14/2013. It’s great to see these cars still in service, so long after the UP merger. (Apologies for the windshield smears and the car antenna!)
	Gondola 323074 at Rocky, west of Denver, 12/06/2008. Lots of graffiti, a common occurrence on cars that often sit in one place for extended periods…
	Gondola 323157 in Denver, 9/01/2008.