When I was born, we lived less than a 1/2 mile from the Southern Pacific “Alhambra Yard” in the eastern part of L.A. (Not East LA). It was the last half of the 40’s and steam was nearly all there was. I loved, and still do, the steam engines. They ran 24-7 and their “noise’ was a way of life.

My buddies and I would walk down to the yard and then walk the mile and a half east to the Alhambra station once or twice a week. We were 8 or 9 years old.

I particularly remember the “Cab Forward” SP engines. They were the biggest, noisiest most wonderful engine around. Yes, there were the diesel yard and switch engines and the streamlined diesel “passenger engines” but we detested them!

Our home was only about 10 miles from the Union Station in Los Angeles and travel by train was the #1 means of travel in those days. There I got to see the “Daylight” train that ran to San Francisco daily. THAT was the most beautiful train of them all!

By the early 50’s, the diesels were taking over most of the passenger service but the SP yard still had steam running ’round-the-clock. Every night, I’d go to bed hearing the sounds of the steam trains and falling asleep happy.

When they were gone, I’d talk Dad into going to Knott’s Berry Farm so i could just sit for hours and watch their old steam train run the circuit. What a blast! (That was long before they turned it into a major amusement park.

I still love steam, have been able to ride some and we are planning to ride the “Toltec & Cumbres” some time next month.

Went to “RailFair” in Sacramento in 1981 for the Grand opening of the California Railroad Museum and took lots of pictures of the engines there.

Long live steam!