Looking for trains of a specific time-period

[Cranberry]

Hello forum!

I will apologize in advance for being completely uninformed about the subject, I am a concept artists and am currently working on a personal project based on the novel "The Monkey Wrench Gang" by Edward Abbey.

For a piece I am working on I was looking for information about the sort of trains that were used, or could have been used at that time, to be more specific; The 1970's in South-West America. Perhaps pointing me in the general direction (a website where I can find all the info myself for example) would be enough but do feel free to share your insights and opinions. I don't really need specific models but I do need to come up with a design for the train that would be historically correct and believable.

Thank you in advance, if I can give any more information please ask!

[Allen Hazen]

Passenger or freight? And when in the 1970s-- both chaged dramatically in that decade. For example: at the beginning of the 1970s, passenger trains were still being run by the private railroad companies, with equipment mostly dating from the 1940s and 1950s. By the end, long-distance passenger was Amtrak, with new Amtrak rolling stock. For freight, the ratio of piggyback and container (trailers or boxes on flatcars) to conventional box-car freight increased radically.

Even the colors changed: in 1970, Santa Fe's freight locomotives were mainly dark blue, with just a bit of yellow trim. By 1980 most had the whole front end in bright yellow: theoretically to increase visibility at grade crossings, but perhaps also for morale.

[Eliphaz]

If you want to depict big freight trains , Union Pacific would also be a good subject, they have not changed the livery of their locomotives in 60 years, and many folks in the rail fan community view the UP as a bit of a villainous character, worthy of the attention of the Monkeywrenchers.

if you want to look at pictures of locomotives and freight cars go here: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ this is George Elwood's renowned photo archive. its a gigantic resource. Each picture in the archive is dated, so you pick out items that fit your era from the lists.

Besides the UP, and as Allen Hazen mentioned the Santa Fe (listed under its full name Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe), the Southern Pacific was another big operator in the region at the time.

Dont bother looking at steam engines, those were all gone before 1960. if you need more specifics just ask.

edit to add: as Allen said, Amtrak was the only thing going in passenger trains at that time. there is a decent selection of period Amtrak photos on fallenflags like this one http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/amtk/amtk-train-bjh.jpg at Raton, Co in 1976.

[Desertdweller]

Cranberry,

I am not familiar with the novel, but it would be helpful to know the specific geographic area. Southwest America is a huge area, encompassing several states. In the time frame you are referring to, there were many more independent railroads operating there than there were even in the following decade. So, if we could have the names of the state(s) involved, we could help you better.

AMTRAK took over operation of about half the nation's passenger trains on May 1, 1971. With very few exceptions, the rest were discontinued. But the AMTRAK trains didn't change appearance overnight. For several months at least, they looked like the trains they replaced.

There was one notable railroad in the Southwest that did not join AMTRAK, and operated its sole passenger train on a reduced frequency. This was the Denver and Rio Grande Western RR in Colorado and Utah. Remnants of this railroad's narrow-gauge operations operated in steam in a very limited capacity in Southwestern Colorado.

Main line operations west of the Front Range in Colorado were all handled by D&RGW. The major railroad in New Mexico was Santa Fe (AT&SF). Southern Pacific operated in Eastern New Mexico and across the Southern part of the state. Santa Fe operated across Northern Arizona, and SP across the Southern part.

SP operated across Northern Nevada from Ogden, Utah into California. UP operated from Ogden Southwesterly across Utah and Nevada to Southern California.

SP dominated rail operations in California. UP and AT&SF entered the Los Angeles area across Southern California. Santa Fe had a line that ran up the Central Valley to the San Francisco Bay area, as did SP. SP ran up the coast to San Francisco, and networked the state. Western Pacific had a single line connecting Salt Lake City, Utah with Oakland, CA.

So there you have it. That should give you an idea where to research.

Les

[Gadfly]

If you want to depict big freight trains , Union Pacific would also be a good subject, they have not changed the livery of their locomotives in 60 years, and many folks in the rail fan community view the UP as a bit of a villainous character, worthy of the attention of the Monkeywrenchers.

if you want to look at pictures of locomotives and freight cars go here: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ this is George Elwood's renowned photo archive. its a gigantic resource. Each picture in the archive is dated, so you pick out items that fit your era from the lists.

Besides the UP, and as Allen Hazen mentioned the Santa Fe (listed under its full name Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe), the Southern Pacific was another big operator in the region at the time.

Dont bother looking at steam engines, those were all gone before 1960. if you need more specifics just ask.

edit to add: as Allen said, Amtrak was the only thing going in passenger trains at that time. there is a decent selection of period Amtrak photos on fallenflags like this one http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/amtk/amtk-train-bjh.jpg at Raton, Co in 1976.

What makes UP such a "villain"? I would've thot Norfolk Southern would get that title!

GF

[Eliphaz]

If the topic was eastern roads you would be right, and for the same reasons.
UP has swallowed up many beloved smaller roads. MoPac, WP, CNW, MKT, etc etc, replacing them with uniform bland yellow.