Thanks for sharing the last days of the railroad, I've done some industrial railroad work before, and switching is the name of the game, it always amuses me that they back piled so much, the trolley wheel I think is what allowed this to work, because the overhead was really lose. I've also run various trolley cars and locomotives at a museum, they are fun to run, but can be quirky, and back poling is strictly prohibited

Never thought I'd actually find footage of this railroad in operation so thanks for the upload and great footage! The reason the Breweries here closed was because the City Council raised taxes high on the beer companies so they moved operations to more business friendly places around Texas. I wouldn't go so far as saying all of the rails/trolley line were removed as I can still see some on roads that weren't removed or paved over even after most of the Brewery was demolished 8 years back. No 2 is still on the same display track right next to that circular building despite the demolition of most of the Brewery in favor of building new apartments. Whole place is a huge hipster area now actually. No 1 has been stored in some sort of large storage area behind the Elemendorf Community Library and now recently opened Elemendorf Heritage Museum for the last 10 years. The nice lady there should take you around back were they're displaying that new SP Alamo car they recently got and you should get a somewhat decent view of No 1 from a yard or 2 away though you'll definitely need a good camera to take a good photo of it.

Amazing Footage

Thank you for posting this. I never knew about this operation until about 1991 when I did a little railfanning while at a business conference in SA. I noticed the overhead catenary next to the (at the time) SP double main and followed it back past the museum and eventually to the breweries. I never got to see any operations, but saw the other locomotive (#1) parked way back behind the fence. I motioned to a security guard I saw there to ask him when the units operated, but never got the chance to ask. He yelled at me from a distance and said there were no tours given. So much for that. Looking at Google maps now, most of it is indeed vanished and the brewery area has been redeveloped into some sort of trendy multi-use area. Portions of the curved track behind the Samuels Glass company (another former customer) on Newell Ave are still evident but the weedy bridge across the San Antonio River is gone, replaced with some sort of concrete landing. The trailer parking area, the fence, and the lead to the covered area inside the property are all gone now, replaced with a through street called Emma Koehler. A portion of the lead track (the part next to the recycling center in the video) is still there in the middle of the street, then curving back behind the stable building to the old brewery building. A decorative streetlight has been ingloriously planted right between the rails at the SW corner of Karnes St and Emma Koehler. As vdubdork67 indicated below, the unit in this video, #2, is on display under a covered awning behind the shopping strip located on Pearl Parkway, between Karnes St and Avenue A. It's between that building complex and the stable building. Trivia: There is an old SP (T&NO) steam locomotive #794 on display next to the Sunset Station building, the former SP passenger station just north of the Alamodome. It's a Mark-5 2-8-2 Mikado and one of only four remaining in existence. At the time I visited, it was on display in the little park down Jones St just SE of the art museum. It looked pretty neglected at the time, but it looks all nice and shiny now at its new home. It marked its 100th birthday last year in 2016, and there is a gofundme account that has been set up to restore her to operating condition.

I rode with the TTC crew in 1986 on motor No. 1. I wrote a story for the Southern Pacific's employee magazine, The Cross Tie.

Finally got to visit this area yesterday, after obtaining the Pentrex video "Juice" about seven years ago. I tried to place the various scenes from the footage while I was there. Aside the Stables,smokestack,and a few other structures,the giant eraser definitely rubbed out the rest. I tried to inquire about the history of the railroad and the disposition of the Baldwin - Westinghouse No.1 but was met with shrugged shoulders and directed to where a yellow painted "train" was parked near the Stables. I surely filled the SD card with images of No.2 and came full circle,to actually see and touch the very motor I've veiwed countless times from the DVD player. I did end up doing the tourist routine and hoofed the entire Riverwalk,and I hope to return soon to try and place where most of the tracks were. My only regret is that I wish I'd known about this place sooner,but having now been here I see a layout in HO of this short line in my train room in the very near future. Thanks for sharing your footage.

@browningchannel

7 жыл бұрын

vdubdork67 #1 is supposedly in storage somewhere. It sat in the railyard of the same company that restored #2 forever, but when that company moved, #1 went with them. Where it's exactly at these days seems a mystery. If you're ever in town again let me know. Though they're gone now, I can show you were most of the tracks were.

@vdubdork67

7 жыл бұрын

Shawn Browning - thanks for your reply. I should be returning to SA this summer so I will contact you then. Couldn't find this area in the Sanborn Map database but managed to steal a few aerial shots from Google Images to make some sense of it all. Looking forward to returning. 👍

@shadowknight227

7 жыл бұрын

Number 1 is currently sitting under a roof on a former rail car repair facility in Elmendorf, Texas. (Just south of San Antonio near Braunig Lake). It IS on private property, but the somewhat recent San Antonio Railroad Heritage Museum is inquiring about acquiring it from the owner. It is safe right now, under a roof, and the owner has no plans to dispose of it anytime soon.

@browningchannel

7 жыл бұрын

Oh wow, so Silver Ventures (company that owns Pearl Brewery now) must have sold it. They talked about restoring it and putting it on the property like they did with #2, but I guess they figured one engine was enough. It's a good sign that it's under a roof, means the current owner knows what it is and is interested in protecting it. One of TTC's other engines is down in that area as well. The old #2 that was a converted box car turned into an electric engine. It's over in the Rod & Gun club property, it's been turned into a hunting cabin. A friend and I visited it years ago and it's still in amazing shape for as old as it is.

I'm a San Antonio local myself, and I always knew the presence that railway used to have here. I envy the boom I never got to live through, as today there's bearly anything that remains of what once was.

Glad you took the time to record this before it was gone.Thanks!!

Yep I was there in 1982. Rode with them and also on streetcar "old 300".

Nice footage! They sure do like to back pole that old steeplecab.

What a nifty old “motor”; I wish Atlas/Athearn/Kato would do an HO scale model of it!

Nice footage

Nice video!

Nice job!!!

That's so cool!

not sure if this operation, rail or brewery, would be operation now, 2017, but corporate greed killed both operation back in 2000.

Is nothing sacred in this world anymore? How could u close this? It's historical. Damn.

@katerinakittycat3849

4 ай бұрын

We still have the Iowa traction and east troy electric in the Midwest

Those Dash 7s @ 5:50 were on thier last legs too. Nice to capture all of this in this vid.

Brewery is now closed this some type of market now 2010

Sure not timmied about front pole ing

I am the only one who thought that in 5:03 minutes the train seemed like it was not going through the tracks

I guess with this line gone that leaves the east troy electric and iowa traction as the final 2 interurban freight haulers

@fmnut

4 ай бұрын

I believe East Troy no longer does freight, so IAT is all that's left.

@katerinakittycat3849

4 ай бұрын

@@fmnut I only really meantioned it because of it's appearance in the pentrex video "Juice: the final three interurban freight survivors" I don't know what east troy is like today but iat is very active still which is surprising