Perishables and Intermodals for the SP Santa Barbara Subdivision

Two more trains for the SP Santa Barbara Subdivision...

One of the bigger industries on my layout is lemon packing.  There are currently three packing houses - two in Carpinteria, and one in Santa Barbara.  Eventually, there will be a model of the Goleta Lemon Association.  There will be lots of action delivering empty refrigerator cars to the packing houses and then collecting the loaded reefers back to the Santa Barbara Yard.

The Southern Pacific had a train that started in San Luis Obispo and headed east with just power and a caboose.  As it passed towns like Oceano and Guadalupe, it would pick up loaded reefers of produce.  The train was affectionately called the Smokey.  It would sometimes pick up Lompoc produce left at Surf before heading to Santa Barbara to pick up loaded citrus.  Then one more stop in Oxnard before heading to Colton where it would be combined with other area perishable traffic to head east on the Sunset Route.

Here is a photo of the prototype.

Charles Lange photo of the 'Smokey' just railroad west of Santa Barbara in December of 1973.

I will run the train east with a few reefers representing the Oceano and Guadalupe loads and then make the additional pick-ups as it moves east across the Santa Barbara Subdivision.

Here is a photo of the eastbound train crossing the Santa Ynez river.

'Smokey' passing over the Santa Ynez River bridge

Another traffic along the coast was the intermodal traffic.  Starting with trailers earlier and containers later, the traffic moved to and from both the Bay Area and Los Angeles.  Typical trailer trains included the Bay Area City of Industry Trailers (BACIT) and the reverse City of Industry Bay Area Trailers (CIBAT).  For more information on symbol trains on the Coast take a look at John Carr's CarrTracks  http://www.carrtracks.com/Southern-Pacific.htm  

For more a more recent discussion of current freight traffic look at Cuesta Pass Rails http://www.cuestapassrails.com/railfan/coast_trains.html

Gerald Putz photo of a BACIT nearing Seacliff in November 1990

So currently I have two intermodal trains.  The westbound is loaded and the eastbound is empty.

Here are some photos of the two trains.

BACIT in West Staging.
Eastbound manifest train on adjacent track.

CIBAT just west of Carpinteria

CIBAT passing a lemon grove east of Summerland.