FL9

IN the early 1990’s when I would travel to the east coast I would look forward to seeing the NS and CSX power that was so rare here at the time.  Now things have reversed in that foreign power is normal here, and half the trains on the east coast I see pictures of are powered by UP or BNSF locomotives.  Sunday afternoon was one of those cases in point when my wife and I decided to drive out to Weatherford to see what fresh produce we could find at the farmer’s market.

When we arrived in Weatherford, I saw something eastbound stopped short of the old T&P depot in the siding.  We drove down to investigate, and found this eastbound autorack train led by NS C40-9W #9657.

The lighting was perfect to get him meeting a westbound and I got into position, but my hopes were dashed when he got a yellow signal out of the siding and proceeded on towards Fort Worth.  Judy and I went on to the farmer’s market, and came away with a haul of fresh corn, melons, tomatoes, and of course Parker county peaches.  I took the “scenic route” home (translation: following the tracks), and was rewarded by catching the westbound ZNSLC passing the grain elevator in Aledo.

The lead unit was yet another NS C40-9W, this time #8895.  Two trains, both with an equal number of NS and UP units with NS leading, and I’m sure I probably missed a CSX leader somewhere local today.  Well, it does break the monotony of an endless number of UP SD70M’s on the point……