Dave Stanley

There is common, uncommon, and then there is Dave Stanley. Brakeman, conductor, and engineer mixed with passions for photography and writing. He was born and raised in Sacramento, 150 feet from Central California Traction’s old main track into downtown Sacramento. Photography and journalism kept him in school, but he found his way eventually in June 1974 as a student brakeman for CCT, and eventually was promoted to conductor in 1977. With his inside insights, three decades later he would compose “Central California Traction Company: California’s Last Interurban” with co-author Jeffrey Moreau, the definitive study of that railway. After CCT, he worked with WP , start from the ground up pounding spikes for five months in the Feather River Canyon, a great locate, but the worst job on the UP system. By the spring of 1983 he was back as brakeman, this time in Salt Lake City. He would end up working across the WP-UP route from Oakland to Salt Lake, including the Reno Branch and the Tidewater Southern. Between 1983 and 1988 he was yardmaster at UP’s Stockton Tower. Engine service followed in 1988 where he navigated former SN rails between Pittsburg-Port Chicago and Woodland-West Sacramento. After the SP-UP 1996 merger, he handled SP lines from Sparks to Oakland-San Jose-Watsonville, Dunsmuir to Roseville, Roseville to Bakersfield, and the former SP Ione, Oakdale and Madera branch lines. His remained in “the seat” until his final run on October 28, 2015. When I “pulled the pin” in 2015, I had 41 years, 4 months and 5 days under my bib overalls. Time to call it a day.