On Christmas eve we had a rare and intense snow event here in North Texas where I was able to get some snow shots on the BNSF Wichita Falls Sub, and after a few days of good weather on Tuesday 29th we had another snow event. This time the snow was forecast to come in from the southwest late in the day, so I decided to try my luck on the UP Baird Sub this time around. I watched the snow approach on the radar in the morning, and around 2:00pm I drove west through Aledo as it started to come down heavily in our area. Local UP officials were interested in any snow shots I could come up with, so I had a rough lineup that the MFWEP train would leave Fort Worth westbound after 3:00 pm and that a westbound intermodal would be called not far behind it. Eastbound there was a IHJMN stack train approaching Ranger with the WP Heritage 1983 working as the DPU, and behind that at Eastland was a KGSMN stack train. Rather than trying to go somewhere west of Weatherford for the eastbounds I stopped at one of my favorite locations at the westbound approach signal to Earls between Aledo and Weatherford at milepost 270.5. The snow was falling here as heavily as it would be anywhere else, so I decided to let the trains come to me. I read my current railroad magazines and ran the wipers every few minutes to keep the windshield clear. Just before 3:00 pm I got out to check the signal, but it remained dark as I looked west into the falling snow.
Another hour passed and I was beginning to wonder what happened to those four trains when finally the signal lit up green westbound.
Three minutes later I wished I had brought my tape recorder as the K5LLA on the UP 8608 West leading the MFWEP train echoed off the nearby hills on this windless afternoon.
I zoomed back for this broadside shot a few seconds later as the train roared by with three of six units on line.
There was no DPU today as a minute later the rear end passed the red signal.
The radio started to come to life as the eastbound IHJMN train went into the siding at Earls two miles further west to meet the westbound MFWEP. Ten minutes later the UP 7695 East appeared from behind the trees with its two lead units in Run 8.
I took one more head end photo just before they passed the signal.
A seemingly endless string of stacks rolled by, bringing the snow along with them.
Knowing the UP 1983 was on the rear and hoping it was facing away from the train I got into position for the going away shot. A minute later my preparations paid off with two good shots of the WP Heritage Unit in the snow as it moved away from the camera.
Listening to the radio I heard the MFWEP meeting the second eastbound stack train the KGSMN at Weatherford, so with a few minutes available to make a move I drove west to the grade crossing on Center Point Road about one-half mile east of the east switch at Earls. Here i decided to put on the 100-400mm zoom, and less than five minutes later I could hear an approaching GE exhaust beat just before the train appeared over a distant hogback seen here at 400mm.
Pulling back to 100mm I fired off my second shot as the headlights reflected the falling snow. It is good thing I made note of the lead unit number 7411 on the side of the cab as the numberboards were unreadable.
A long string of stacks raced by and then the UP 8475 pounded by pushing hard on the rear as the train disappeared into the increasing gloom.
There was still supposed to be a wesbound intermodal in the mix from the earlier lineup, but as I trailed the eastbound back towards Fort Worth it did not stop at Iona. I paused at Aledo for a few minutes when I saw a potential shot of a westbound with the signal and Jorge’s Mexican Restaurant brightly lit in the background, but no train came before the light gave out completely.
Nowhere near as much snow fell this afternoon as on Christmas Eve, so even though visibility was poor for the rest of the drive home it was much easier this time around.
