SCV History – Saugus Train Station Gets Rare Southern Pacific Carts

The Saugus Train Station Museum rolled a little closer to becoming real with the arrival of two authentic Southern Pacific baggage carts, donated by two local historians with hearts for iron horses.
The carts were most likely built in the 1920s and markings show that they were last serviced in 1963 in West Oakland, California, which was the terminus of the Overland route where cargo or baggage and other items would be loaded onto a ferry for San Francisco.
“We are absolutely ecstatic about finding these,” said Mike Jarel, a retired Southern Pacific engineer who advises the SCVHS on all things railroad and oversees projects in the train yard. “These are extremely rare to find, usually they are altered or beat up and need restoration, but these are in prime condition.”
Painted in official Southern Pacific hues in the Daylight color scheme – a particular orange, red and black – and were probably built in Southern Pacific’s Sacramento shop. Southern Pacific made its own hardware, equipment, and tools instead of buying them from vendors.
Jarel said that these carts were used for baggage, trunks, Express (parcels, small packages, or crated freight) and sacked U.S. Mail. Loaded, they would be rolled into a baggage car and taken to their destination.
The Saugus depot had carts like this through its years of service (pictured at far left in the black and white photo). The Society already has several steamer trunks in its collection that will be put on the carts when they go on display. As the official baggage room in the Saugus station is currently in use as the archiving office, the carts will be displayed in the freight room to interpret both freight and baggage (passenger) service.
“It’s really important to teach people how we as a society used to move people and goods before the automobile. Private automobiles were used 80 percent of the time, so the railroads and airlines fought over that other 20 percent,” Jarel explained. “Every artifact we get, from the signals outside, signboards, train cars, they all complete the look of the depot and explain how it functions. Every little piece helps to tell the story.”
Learn more about the depot at www.scvhs.org and www.scvhistory.com.