By El Gaucho, November 15, 1960
Goleta will soon be the proud possessor of a 12 1/2-ton locomotive — something no town should be without, especially Goleta. Philip Goldman, secretary-treasurer of Dispenser’s, Inc., is bringing the locomotive to form the motive power for the La Goleta and Shore Line Railroad Co.
At first the locomotive will make short runs on a small stretch of track around the northeast corner of the Dispenser’s property at 400 Rutherford Street. As soon as the ties, rails and rolling equipment arrive, the train will have a circular route covering two acres of land. This will come after two months.
From Japan
The locomotive will arrive from Japan in the Los Angeles Harbor. It was purchased in Japan following two years of negotiations between Mr. Goldman and the Kiso Railway, a Japanese company which has decided to end its years of link-and-pin, wood-burning and diamond stackers and convert to diesel locomotives.
The LGSL comes complete with a set of officers: Philip Goldman, president; Maurice Goldman, chairman of the Board, and Howard Goldman, master mechanic. Maurice is the father of Philip and Howard. All are executives of Dispenser’s.
Statistics
Statistics are available for readers fond of railroads and in particular, locomotives: the engine weighs 25,000 pounds. It was built in 1927 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works Philadelphia, Penn. It has 28-inch drivers, a tractive effort of 3,900 pounds and a boiler pressure of 150 pounds. It has a 45-inch wheel base, carries 300 gallons of water and runs on an American standard gauge track.
Goldman expects to expand his railroad to the ocean. He will have to bridge San Jose Creek, a formidable obstacle. Southwards there is the Ward Memorial Highway yet to be built, and there is much negotiating to be done between Goldman and the various landowners.
Monument
Goldman plans the railroad as a living museum and a monument to the past. He comments on the venture, “La Goleta and Shore Line Railroad Co. is being built in the optimistic manner of a better era, such as the railroads of Kansas, Mexico and Orient and the St. Louis and San Francisco.”
