Historical Santa Paula Branch operations

[Mr. Wizard]

>They were still using ice in the 60's? (I did not know that.)

Absolutely! In fact, the last time I saw reefers being iced was in Fullerton in spring 1973. There was a commercial ice house immediately across from the station and they had portable conveyors to lift the blocks up to the hatches to the cars spotted on what I think was UP's team track. Also, when I was recklessly trespassing :bgrin:in Santa Fe's Bakersfield yard in 1970 or 71, the full-blown icing operation with those big wooden cooling towers was still actively loading. It was 100°+ that day, and strolling through the mist coming off the towers was welcome relief.

I regret not knowing more about the Santa Paula seeing that it was in my backyard. The washouts had pretty much taken their toll by the time I was old enough to drive.

[user=1103]mapboy[/user] wrote:

Quote:My late uncle, T.J. (Tom) Gill...

Hey, Harry! Didn't realize you were on this forum!