Western Pacific Trackside with Bob Larson by Tim Morris Morning Sun Books for Sale

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Western Pacific Trackside with Bob Larson by Tim Morris Morning Sun Books For Sale

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Western Pacific Trackside with Bob Larson by Tim Morris Morning Sun Books:
$125.00

RailroadTreasures offers the following item: Western Pacific Trackside with Bob Larson by Tim Morris Morning Sun Books Western Pacific Trackside with Bob Larson by Tim MorrisHard Cover w/ dust jacket128 pagesCopyright 1999
CONTENTSBob Larson, Photographer 3Trackside on the Western Pacific 4The First SubdivisionSan Francisco to Stockton, California 8Oakland California 11Livermore-Altamont, California 20Second SubdivisionStockton to Oroville, California 21Modesto, California 25South Sacramento, California 26Third SubdivisionOroville, to Portola, California 27Oroville Dam 30James, California 31Pulga, California 33Rock Creek Bridge 36Belden, California36East Virgilia, California37Fourth SubdivisionKeddie 38Keddie to Bieber California 42Bieber, California 46Third Subdivision ContinuedWilliams Loop 48Sloat, California 49Fifth SubdivisionPortola, California to Winnemucca, Nevada 53A Near Miss in Portola Yard 57Portola Potpourri 61The Wreck at Floka, Nevada 78Hawley, California 79Chilcoot Tunnel, #37 79Reno Junction 81Doyle, California 84Herlong, California 87Flanigan, Nevada 87Sand Pass, Nevada 89Phil, Nevada 91Gerlach, Nevada 92Trego, Nevada94Cholona, Nevada94Floka, Nevada 95Jungo, Nevada96Gaskell, Nevada 97Sixth SubdivisionWinnemucca, Nevada to Elko, Nevada 97Carlin, Nevada 99Seventh SubdivisionElko, Nevada to Salt Lake City, Utah ....100Silver Zone, Nevada 101Clifside, Nevada 101Wendover, Utah 102Burmester, Utah 103Buena Vista 103Salt Lake City, Utah 104WP Locomotives at Feather River Rail Society Museum 105Roster Shots 106The Green and Orange Era - 1971 to 1982 114The Bicentennial Units 1776 & 1976 116The Perlman-Flannery Era 120BOB LARSON, PHOTOGRAPHERThe story of how I met Bob Larson starts when I left the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to go to work for Amtrak. I had been with \"The Grande\" for 15 years as a freight conductor out of Salt Lake City, Utah and thought it would be fun to work passenger for a change. That\'s when I met Bill Magazin, a conductor off the Western Pacific from Portola, California. It\'s no secret that many rail employees are railfans too, and Bill was no exception. I noticed the tell tale cover of Trains Magazine peeking out from his grip and we began an instant friendship. Whenever we had a chance to work together I would always hear stories of Bill and his Stepdad, Bob \"Hoopie\" Larson going off on railfan adventures to strange and interesting places. Once they traveled all the way to South Africa to chase steam engines. \"Hoopie?\" I said, \"How the heck did he get the name Hoopie?\" (Every railroader has a nickname.) Well, it seems that in his younger days Bob would drive all over creation in his Volkswagen Bug that he had named \"The Hoopie Mobile,\" so the name of his car just sort of became his nickname too.I had always heard what a fabulous slide collection Bob had. One day Bill brought Bob along on one of our working trips from Salt Lake to Grand Junction, Colorado on the CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR. Upon arriving Grand Junction it was announced that Hoopie would be showing some of his slide collection in Bill\'s hotel room later that afternoon. What I saw was most impressive. Railfan photos taken from an employee\'s point of view were very different, especially with many from the cab of a diesel engine and all of them from the late 50s and early 60s. I later found that he had a collection like this that covered all the 60s and right up to present day. Bob really likes short lines and takes the time to search them out on his many trips across the country, thus I saw photos of little one-engine outfits that I have never heard of. I asked if he had ever been published and he answered in an \"aw, shucks\" sort of way that he had never gotten around to it. Well, I thought, that was going to change. Now with the help of Bob Yanosey of Morning Sun Books we can all share his life of photography and railroading, especially his years as a Locomotive Engineer for the Western Pacific.Bob Larson was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 1937. The Larson home was near a small Soo Line yard in town and Bob was always watching the trains, even as a young boy. Once in 1949, when he was 12, his mother sent him to the store with the specific instructions not to cut through the rail yard - in one ear and out the other. As he made his way to the yard, a local with Soo Line 4-6-0 2649 was taking care of some local switching chores. As the engine came along side where Bob was standing, the fireman, Harry Lee looked down and saw the youngster, inviting him up into the cab. Louis Sill, the engineer, showed Bob all about a steam locomotive. It was now time to leave town and Sill asked Bob where he lived. \"Not too far away, right near the Grand Avenue railroad crossing.\" Well, that settled it, the crew would give him a ride back home in the cab of the 2649. Upon arriving home with the excitement of a cab ride, there quickly followed a stern lecture about staying away from the train yard, and where were the things he was sent to the store for anyway?Bob was one of these people who had the foresight to carry a camera with him on the job from the very start. He began with a 616 folding camera taking black and white, but quickly converted to 35mm and color. He always had his camera with him and caught the day to day workings of the railroad on film.From the beginning Bob knew he wanted to be a railroader and not just any job, he wanted to be a Locomotive Engineer! But it was a time when old steam engines were being phased out and new diesels brought in. Nobody was hiring enginemen because of the surplus of manpower created by the diesel. So Bob thought he would go in the back door. His first job on a railroad was with the Chicago and North Western in the signal department. Always trying to get into the engine service, he worked for the Minneapolis and St. Louis, the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range and even stopped in at Dear Lodge, Montana to see what was going on with the Milwaukee Road. Making his way ever westward he heard that the Western Pacific was hiring engine-men and made a beeline to San Francisco. Finally on November 7, 1956 he was hired on by the WP as a fireman. Even then he could not hold a fireman\'s job year around, so he had to take a job as WP Crew Caller at Portola, California. Soon Bob could hold engine service all year and was promoted to Engineer on June 20, 1967. He served with the WP right on through the Union Pacific merger and retired on June 26, 1997 on a trip from Elko, Nevada to Portola, California as Locomotive Engineer on train SCOAZ with CNW 8606 on the point. It is something very special to point out that Bob went his whole railroad career with a perfect safety record.During his whole career he kept a camera in his grip and recorded the passing railroad scene. These are the photos of a working railroader recording what he saw. This is for you \"Hoopie,\" Western Pacific Trackside, the photographic work of Bob Larson.All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
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