03-04-2012, 10:35 AM
The only regular commuter runs on the SP during the diesel era were on the San Francisco peninsula, which is 400 miles or so from LA. Weather there could be cooler, but winter temperatures in the 40s and 50s F aren't unusual in LA (it snows every couple of decades, for that matter). And actually, only 10 GP9s had steam generators, often used on off-hour commutes, but often as well filling in on freights and on the Sunset Limited. The Train Masters were the main commute locos until the SDP45s were freed up from Amtrak lease in the mid-1970s, since the GP9s didn't have the power for rush hour trains. The SP was in decline by the 1980s, and it kept GP9s longer than most roads; a lot were in the LA area, but when I got up to Roseville and the NWP, I could see some there, too. The set in the photo got regular use between West Colton, Los Angeles, and various branches in the area. Single units were used on some of the ex-Pacific Electric lines, too.