Came across this in, of all places, a discussion page on the proposed California high-speed rail system (interesting, sometimes comments about a historical perspective show up there):

http://historical.fresnobeehive.com/201 ... c-depot-2/

Question for the Espee fans out there. The article mentions the "Pullman shed." It appears from the photo that this was something slightly out of the ordinary with at least three tracks, all of which are under a concrete roof. What was the reason Fresno had such an unusual structure to protect and store PVs? I can see having such capacity at the classic watering holes like Jacksonville, White Sulphur Springs, and other like places. But in Fresno?

Or maybe it's the author's guesstimate as to the reason for the structure.

If anyone can shed light on this, my curiosity would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Jim,

My guess is that it does get hot in Fresno in the summer and the fog is just as bad in the winter. So, protection for the Pullman owners?

Fresno does indeed get very hot (100F) but relatively dry in the summer. That's why it's a great place to grow melons, grapes, peaches, raisins, etc.

In the steam era, Fresno was roughly halfway (in travel time) between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the San Joaquin route (Los Angeles-Glendale-Burbank-Saugus-Mohave-Tehachapi-Bakersfield-Fresno-Tracy-Martinez-Oakland Pier-SP ferry-San Francisco). The northbound & southbound ("westbound" & "eastbound" in S.P. parlance) overnight trains came through Fresno & Bakersfield in the wee hours of the morning. They would pick up and drop off Pullmans so travelers could go to bed at a reasonable hour, and not have to get on/off the train in the middle of the night.

Pullman sheds protected Pullman cars from the daytime heat, so they were relatively comfortable - at least not furnaces - when boarded in the evening, and didn't heat up too fast in the morning. This was especially important before Pullmans were air-conditioned (late 1930s - early 1940s).

- Doug Debs

Fresno may have also been a set-out spot for private car and Pullman travelers heading for Yosemite--some of those heavyweight cars might have been close to the limit for the Yosemite Valley RR.

Back in 1970, I visited Riverbank (Santa Fe station, north of Fresno, east of Modesto), and noticed a "pole barn" with an assortment of wooden cabooses under its shelter. I was told that these were "crew quarters" for trainment who were based elsewhere but needed a place to bunk down in Riverbank. Not too many years later, some of these cars wound up in "railroad theme" restaurants.

Thought some members of the forum might really enjoy seeing the Fresno Pullman shed in the 1970's... A friend, Robert Zenk, took these photographs between 1975 and 1977 and offer a unique glimpse into the inside of the Pullman shed... Robert indicated that the Southern Pacific offered a number of overnight sleeping car trains through the San Joaquin Valley, with Fresno being the largest city at the midway point between the Bay Area and Los Angeles. As a courtesy to passengers, Pullman sleeping cars were readied for occupancy under this shed in the evening, and then were cut into their trains in the wee hours of the morning. The practice was abandoned in the waning days of SP postwar passenger service, but the shed was not.

In these photographs you can see the shed was four tracks wide, and on this day in the mid 1970's .. only Southern Pacific office car 107 "Delmonte" occupies the shed. 107 was originally Henry E Huntington's private car San Marino.

Hope a few members find this interesting...Any additional information would be welcomed.


Dean Levin

additional photographs showing exterior of Fresno shed...


Dean

I have always felt that this would be a neat "prototype" for a museum passenger car shed.