I recently acquired a program/guide for an excursion to Lompoc and White Hills that was arranged by the Pacific Railroad Society on August 16, 1953.
The excursion was run under steam with San Diego & Eastern locomotive 103. The Baldwin 2-8-0 was built in July of 1907 and came to Southern Pacific new as 2523. The locomotive was sold to John Spreckles San Diego & Arizona on March 17, 1921. It was sold back to the Southern Pacific just before the war in May 1941. It came back to the San Diego & Arizona Eastern in September of 1948. The SD&AE was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern Pacific since 1932 so these were basically paper transfers. The locomotive was often seen on the Coast. An additional Baldwin diesel assisted during the excursion.
Here is the program
And here is a Donald Duke photo of the train at the White Hills Mine
