very interesting mark. I worked nearly every oil field that you showed the rail serving in the south SJV and the west side oil fields for 50 years, but i didn't know anything about the part the rail served. In my day, the lines were inactive i guess, but i sure enjoyed your tour. Thanks a bunch
The line to Taft was active into the late 80s. The rest were cut back between 1938 (Taft to Fellows/Shale) and 1962 (Pentland to Maricopa). I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also have a video about the McKittrick Branch. Check out my "Branch Lines" playlist! ruclips.net/p/PL6ge3Roxmyvrl5qy7rvH98TQVTSY0nYwk
I have another video (one of my very early ones) about the McKittrick Branch to those oilfields and another on the Oil City Branch in Bakersfield. Check them out in the "Branch Lines" playlist!
@@MarkClayMcGowan Thank you for the information. I will check those youtubes out. I think you are retired now? I watched a few of your youtubes last night. One was when you lost your Foreman position and you said you had six month to retirement. When did you retire?
That tanker unit train was headed out to the Bakersfield Crude Terminal (the new big place along the line). They bring crude from Canada, offload to those big tanks, and pump it south over the mountains to the refineries. My pipeline patrol includes that facility along with Paloma Station (what you called Gulf). Boeing Propulsion is a rocket fuel manufacturer.
Thanks for the heads up! If I'd known what was out there I'd have looked into it a little more. That's what I get for shooting from the hip! Thanks for checking it out!
No problem! The BCT is a pretty impressive facility that rivals the refinery off 7th Standard with the huge terminal off the BNSF main. Taft manufacturing has a small spur that gets a few flat cars with ranks set on them. They actually had a chemical release last week that caused a four mile radius evacuation. As far as I know the Boeing facility isn’t served by rail. I haven’t seen anything there when flying over. Like I said, my pipeline route includes the BCT and Paloma. It’s kind of a cool different perspective from an airplane!
At 26:21 you can see the old and new in drilling for oil. The oil derricks in front are the old way, they were erected to drill the well and then do maintenance. On the right, is a truck-mounted portable derrick. There are still a lot of old derricks in Kilgore, TX a lot like those. I remember oil derricks around Shreveport, LA when I was growing up. Originally, the derricks were built out of wood then steel.
I grew up in an oil family. I was the first man in the family since the 40s not to have a career in the patch. I worked in them before the RR, and while I was laid off in the early 80s. Although I found it fascinating and love the history of it, it was not my cup of tea. I have a video called "How Oil Gets From the Ground to Your Tank", and another from the West Kern Oil Museum as well. As a kid here in Bakersfield, we were surrounded by both wood and steel standard derricks.
Levee, was also the location of Heritage rail car repair, a contracting service that would repair all kinds of boxcars, hoppers, gondolas, tanker cars, all kinds of rolling stock. It shut down sometime in the mid 2000's.
Beautiful video. That REA building was an antique store in the late 90's and early 2000's. The old fellow that lived and worked there, used to refurbish old ice box type refrigerators.
It still has the sign on it. I started a lively debate on the Vintage Taft Pix page a couple years ago by suggesting it might be moved to the museum before it collapses!
@@MarkClayMcGowan I hope they will. Or at least restore it in place. Last time I was there was 2006 or 2007, and the building was in decent shape. It would be a shame to let another piece of ATSF/SP history just fade away.
Mark, thanks for another great tour. Not much has been written on the railroads in those oil fields. It must have been a busy place in those early years. Many years ago one of the model railroad magazines had a article on the oil fields and some of the machinery that worked the oil well pumps. In the early years, the SP and AT&SF railroads were the largest customers. Conversion to oil as steam locomotive fuel put a heavy demand due to several thousand engine being converted in a few short years. Coal was the primary fuel in the 1890's. Oil was sure easier to use. Shoveling coal in to a fire box was lots of work. I never fired with coal but I worked for a small tourist railroad in 1964 firing with oil. I can't believe it has been some many years ago that I was a fireman, it seems like it was only day before yesterday.
Time flies whether or not you're having fun! I always search RUclips to see what may have already been done. If something has it's generally not the kind of presentation I have in mind. Anyway, thanks for the comment and for checking it out!
That bridge at 22:40 you were standing on I could be wrong but I believe it was used for steam locomotive firebox cleanout. Ashes would fall down through the slotted opening onto the ground. Interesting video.
No. It was a simple wooden structure with a tight loop that brought the trucks back across it and out to the highway and the roadbed is still easily defined.
Lots of time and research for this video. The old photos really help to visualize why it was build and what it did. Most of today's persons have no idea about it and just worship their alleged smartphones.
They started building the facility around 2012-2013, by late fall of 2013 they officially started running trains to the facility. You could look up Crude Oil Trains of Kern County, and see some of the first trains that arrived to this area.
Going through all your videos you've been answering a lot of questions I've always wondered about when it came to the railroad just in general but also these Branch lines. At the refinery (it's been a few years since I've been there) they used to have newspaper clippings up on the wall in frames that showed either the last steam engine from 1957 that went all the way to Taft Maricopa or it was the last time a train went up that far.
Great videos - very informative! It would be helpful and much appreciated if you could include images of an area map spaced throughout your videos, which illustrate the location(s) being featured. Also, I just saw your “5,000 Subscribers” video - you really shouldn’t be too concerned about any negative comments received from rail fans. I’ve been a rail fan for sixty-seven years (ever since I was four years old and saw my first steam locomotive running WB on the old SP Sunset route thru the grade crossing Lower Azusa Road in Temple City, and the old be-spectacled hogger waived a gloved hand at me as he blew for the crossing and drifted thru) and I can readily attest to the fact that some rail fans are so anal-retentive that every time they fart they blow their own brains out! Happy High-ballin’, Engineers!
very interesting mark. I worked nearly every oil field that you showed the rail serving in the south SJV and the west side oil fields for 50 years, but i didn't know anything about the part the rail served. In my day, the lines were inactive i guess, but i sure enjoyed your tour. Thanks a bunch
The line to Taft was active into the late 80s. The rest were cut back between 1938 (Taft to Fellows/Shale) and 1962 (Pentland to Maricopa). I'm glad you enjoyed it. I also have a video about the McKittrick Branch. Check out my "Branch Lines" playlist! ruclips.net/p/PL6ge3Roxmyvrl5qy7rvH98TQVTSY0nYwk
This Volg just amazed me. I did not even know about the oil fields out by Taft. Amazing!
I have another video (one of my very early ones) about the McKittrick Branch to those oilfields and another on the Oil City Branch in Bakersfield. Check them out in the "Branch Lines" playlist!
@@MarkClayMcGowan Thank you for the information. I will check those youtubes out. I think you are retired now? I watched a few of your youtubes last night. One was when you lost your Foreman position and you said you had six month to retirement. When did you retire?
That tanker unit train was headed out to the Bakersfield Crude Terminal (the new big place along the line). They bring crude from Canada, offload to those big tanks, and pump it south over the mountains to the refineries. My pipeline patrol includes that facility along with Paloma Station (what you called Gulf). Boeing Propulsion is a rocket fuel manufacturer.
Thanks for the heads up! If I'd known what was out there I'd have looked into it a little more. That's what I get for shooting from the hip!
Thanks for checking it out!
No problem! The BCT is a pretty impressive facility that rivals the refinery off 7th Standard with the huge terminal off the BNSF main. Taft manufacturing has a small spur that gets a few flat cars with ranks set on them. They actually had a chemical release last week that caused a four mile radius evacuation. As far as I know the Boeing facility isn’t served by rail. I haven’t seen anything there when flying over. Like I said, my pipeline route includes the BCT and Paloma. It’s kind of a cool different perspective from an airplane!
@@rynetreatch9558 I'll bet it looks much different! Do you use a plane or helicopter?
We use airplanes, mainly Citabrias. It’s a lot of fun!
@@rynetreatch9558 I'll bet. Fly safe!
At 26:21 you can see the old and new in drilling for oil. The oil derricks in front are the old way, they were erected to drill the well and then do maintenance. On the right, is a truck-mounted portable derrick. There are still a lot of old derricks in Kilgore, TX a lot like those. I remember oil derricks around Shreveport, LA when I was growing up. Originally, the derricks were built out of wood then steel.
I grew up in an oil family. I was the first man in the family since the 40s not to have a career in the patch. I worked in them before the RR, and while I was laid off in the early 80s. Although I found it fascinating and love the history of it, it was not my cup of tea. I have a video called "How Oil Gets From the Ground to Your Tank", and another from the West Kern Oil Museum as well. As a kid here in Bakersfield, we were surrounded by both wood and steel standard derricks.
Levee, was also the location of Heritage rail car repair, a contracting service that would repair all kinds of boxcars, hoppers, gondolas, tanker cars, all kinds of rolling stock. It shut down sometime in the mid 2000's.
I'd forgotten about that. Thanks!
Thanks Mark for putting all the work into these .
My pleasure! I'm enjoying it!
A few scenes from Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest' filmed in this area, I believe. 1959.
Always enjoy your videos, Mark. Thanks.
Beautiful video. That REA building was an antique store in the late 90's and early 2000's. The old fellow that lived and worked there, used to refurbish old ice box type refrigerators.
It still has the sign on it. I started a lively debate on the Vintage Taft Pix page a couple years ago by suggesting it might be moved to the museum before it collapses!
@@MarkClayMcGowan I hope they will. Or at least restore it in place. Last time I was there was 2006 or 2007, and the building was in decent shape. It would be a shame to let another piece of ATSF/SP history just fade away.
Mark, thanks for another great tour. Not much has been written on the railroads in those oil fields. It must have been a busy place in those early years. Many years ago one of the model railroad magazines had a article on the oil fields and some of the machinery that worked the oil well pumps. In the early years, the SP and AT&SF railroads were the largest customers. Conversion to oil as steam locomotive fuel put a heavy demand due to several thousand engine being converted in a few short years. Coal was the primary fuel in the 1890's. Oil was sure easier to use. Shoveling coal in to a fire box was lots of work. I never fired with coal but I worked for a small tourist railroad in 1964 firing with oil. I can't believe it has been some many years ago that I was a fireman, it seems like it was only day before yesterday.
Time flies whether or not you're having fun! I always search RUclips to see what may have already been done. If something has it's generally not the kind of presentation I have in mind.
Anyway, thanks for the comment and for checking it out!
That bridge at 22:40 you were standing on I could be wrong but I believe it was used for steam locomotive firebox cleanout. Ashes would fall down through the slotted opening onto the ground. Interesting video.
No. It was a simple wooden structure with a tight loop that brought the trucks back across it and out to the highway and the roadbed is still easily defined.
Also, it was only a few miles to Rexford, 17 miles to Taft and 40 to Bakersfield where yards with dumping facilities were.
Propulsion is the term used for rocket motors. May be tied in with rocket motor testing site at Edwards AFB.
Thank you for this informational video!
My pleasure. I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you subscribed and will check out some of the other pieces. Stay tuned! More is on the way!
Lots of time and research for this video. The old photos really help to visualize why it was build and what it did. Most of today's persons have no idea about it and just worship their alleged smartphones.
They started building the facility around 2012-2013, by late fall of 2013 they officially started running trains to the facility. You could look up Crude Oil Trains of Kern County, and see some of the first trains that arrived to this area.
Thank you. I know quite a few oil men in the area and none of them knew about it either!
@IsIt SoupYet thank you! I'm hoping to get a tour of the facility for my channel at some point.
Pipelines in canada are powered by a turbine.. aka a jet engine attached to a genny. Or in some cased to the pump unit.
Could explain the bowing plant
UN 1267 is Crude Oil. UN 1987 is Ethanol
Going through all your videos you've been answering a lot of questions I've always wondered about when it came to the railroad just in general but also these Branch lines. At the refinery (it's been a few years since I've been there) they used to have newspaper clippings up on the wall in frames that showed either the last steam engine from 1957 that went all the way to Taft Maricopa or it was the last time a train went up that far.
1267 placards are indeed Crude Oil cars
Thank you! Sure are clean for oil cars! I guess we need to give them time!
Andrew Shafer They are heading out to the old Gulf Oil Terminal.
@@ictrains9731 no they're not. That's a small facility. They went to the giant facility at San Emidio. I don't know who operates that.
@@MarkClayMcGowan Plains All American
@@wavesnbikes that's the company that operates the oil facility?
Awesome footage but nothing now
Great videos - very informative!
It would be helpful and much appreciated if you could include images of an area map spaced throughout your videos, which illustrate the location(s) being featured.
Also, I just saw your “5,000 Subscribers” video - you really shouldn’t be too concerned about any negative comments received from rail fans. I’ve been a rail fan for sixty-seven years (ever since I was four years old and saw my first steam locomotive running WB on the old SP Sunset route thru the grade crossing Lower Azusa Road in Temple City, and the old be-spectacled hogger waived a gloved hand at me as he blew for the crossing and drifted thru) and I can readily attest to the fact that some rail fans are so anal-retentive that every time they fart they blow their own brains out!
Happy High-ballin’, Engineers!
Crimson Energy is who runs at Gulf.
In my ignorance I would have thought a pipeline was more economical than building the track and running trains.