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Who else can remember the beet gons trundling thru Anaheim and into Santa Ana en-route to the Holly Sugar plant at Dyer? And who can describe what the place smeeled like?
Posts: 37 | From: Orange, CA | Registered: Nov 2002
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I have piotures on my web site of the SP hauling empty beet gons in my Early Days of the Southern Pacific and of the Holly Sugar SW-1 in my Shortline story. They are off my Railfannning Trip Page on the web site http://www.trainweb.org/chris
As for the smell it was very sickly sweet\ but unique in its own way.
Chris
Posts: 711 | From: Santa Ana | Registered: May 2003
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Dyer was but one of about a half dozen sugar beet processing plants in Orange County over the years, of which most are described and illustrated in my "Rails Through the Orange Groves". Too bad one of the old beet racks couldn't have been preserved and displayed near one of the factory sites as tribute to the industry(I think the nearest one is out at OERM, and of course the Holly loco No. 1 is in northern California now. Yeah the oder was strong , and the powdery residue from the processing clung to your shoes and left a trail everywhere you went after visiting such facilities on foot. A great industrial insitution no longer visible. I recall with some regret, seeing the Dyer station sign tossed aside when the track to Dyer Road was removed and failing to 'preserve' it for posterity.
[This message has been edited by SteveD (edited 03-05-2004).]
Posts: 216 | From: San Carlos, CA, USA | Registered: Jul 2000
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I moved to OC in 1969, well before my railfanning career began. I remember holding my breath as we passed the plant. I don't recall the actual aroma, just the fun we had holding our breath... it was an aweful stench tho.
Posts: 77 | From: anaheim, california, USA | Registered: Oct 2002
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Before Holly Sugar obtained the SW1 to switch the Dyer sugar factory, the SP would use various was of switching the beet dump. Some seasons a locomotive was stationed at Santa Ana to switch Dyer and other year the job that delivered the beet would do the switching. The empty beet train at times would also have the empty limestone gondolas and perhaps a tank car of liquid sugar from the plant. Another interesting operation was the sand shipments to Kerr Glass on the SP between Santa Ana and Dyer. Most or all the sand came from near Oceanside on the Escondido Dist. in short covered hoppers. The AT&SF interchanged the cars at Santa Ana. The smell from the plant, just hope the wind was not blowing towards you.
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