A Southern Pacific freight heads west at 140-feet below sea level as it passes through southern California’s “Low Desert,” just 3 or 4 miles from the Salton Sea, and about 40 miles from the Mexican border. This is the SP’s Yuma District of the West Colton Division – and 132 miles from West Colton Yard. The eclectic power lash-up exemplifies why so many loved the SP – SP SD39 5315, U33C 8719 and an SD45 were so typical of the SP until the late Eighties. (Niland, California – November 14, 1981)
