The last run of number 9 was on August 25, 1959. I was there and have pix and the train orders (as do many others, since Bob Cartt, the agent at Owenyo, made many copies). The diesel had gone to Bakersfield on a standard gauge flatcar for work, and returned to Owenyo on the Jawbone local on August 24. But since it needed to be unloaded, the decision was made to use steam one more time. No. 9 ran from Owenyo to Keeler and return, and then unloaded No. 1 from the flatcar. If memory serves me right, this was the last use of steam in regular service on the entire SP system, the Nacozari having been dieselized sometime previously.
The last run of the SP. ng. was on April 29, 1960. Again, because Mr. Cartt used so much carbon paper, I have copies of those orders as well. If I remember correctly, that was the same day that Mr. R. R. Robinson, then Superintendent of the San Joaquin Division, dedicated the Laws railroad museum, including the donation of the No. 9. Ole "RR" was later superintendent of the Sacramento Division, and was known for years as "two flake", based on his propensity to call snow clearing equipment on Donner at the least hint of snow.
One of the idiocyncracies of the SP ng. was that in its last years it was administratively part of the San Joaquin Division, but crews continued to be assigned from the Sacramento Division at Sparks, a relic of the days when the line ran from the north over Montgomery Pass. Everytime someone laid off at Owenyo the replacement had to be deadheaded by bus from Sparks, which made it a rather lucrative extra board opportunity.
Those were the days when the rates of pay were low, but you could more than make up for it by sharpshooting the extra board.