FL9

I actually got out this morning around Saginaw and again this afternoon between Saginaw and Decatur,  but I’ll save those shots for a future day.  When the sun was high during the early afternoon I came home and delved into the slide boxes again. I found three shots from the early 1980’s when I lived in northwest Oklahoma and the ex-Rock Island north-south main line was operated by the Katy as the Oklahoma-Kansas-Texas.  First up is a northbound loaded Dolese rock train stopped on the main at Hennessey, OK waiting for a new crew as afternoon thunderstorms loom in the background during July of 1983.

We saw the white stuff up there several times each winter, and January 27th of 1983 was no exception as OKT train #503 from Wichita to Fort Worth is seen leaving Enid, OK in the middle of a snow shower.

On a sunnier morning in December of 1984 we once again see the 503 train southbound, this time passing the old Rock Island depot at Kingfisher, OK.  Today’s power is a new GP39-2 and two GP40’s.

One of these days soon I’ll break open the Frisco and Rock Island and KCS boxes……

It was completely overcast this morning for the first time in awhile, and even though the sun came out this afternoon I stayed home to catch up on printing, paperwork, etc.  As a result, when it came time for today’s entry I reached into the slide boxes again and came up with a few more shots for the Dublin Sub back in ATSF days.  First off we see an eastbound intermodal climbing the grade between the ATSF Lamapassas Sub connection at Ricker and the first siding at Delaware.  FP45 #90 and two SD40-2’s provide the power on July 11th in 1992.

Further east at Dublin on March 6th in 1992 we bear witness to the passage of the 875 train from Los Angeles to Dallas headed up by a new B40-8W #540.

Now in February of 1992 we are on the south side of the high bridge over Mustang Creek looking up as a westbound train led by an F45 and a GP60M glides quickly across the structure above the shallow waters.

A few months earlier in November of 1991 we are a few miles further east at the east end of Primrose, TX as a short intermodal train led by a pair of SD45’s rolls off the last few miles into Fort Worth.  Out of service today, the double red CTC signals as the east end of the siding are plainly visible in the late afternoon light.

As I said last night, these shots are not always perfect, but regardless I think you will enjoy seeing things that are now only memories.  Thanks for looking!

The Katy shots I put up last week seem to have attracted the most attention in awhile, so I pulled a few more slides this evening.  The quality of some of these shots is not always up to my current standards, but hey, go try and reshoot these today……

First up is a freight southbound from Muskogee to Denison, seen here near Checotah, OK on October 6th in 1978 with a pair of four axle units.

Back on the original Oklahoma City line to Parsons, KS prior to its abandonment, we see yet another F-unit northbound on a cloudy day.  F3 #70-A is leading on 3/1/74 near the site of today’s Oklahoma Railroad Museum.

Lastly for tonight is a shot of red FP7 #80-C as it lays over in Oklahoma City a year earlier on June 10th in 1973.

I’ll see what other oldies I can come up with for your viewing pleasure in the near future!

Thursday afternoon I delivered a bunch of prints for FWWR employees at Hodge Yard, and it was shortly after the beginning of the 5:00pm rush hour when I headed back out onto the streets.   The radio was active with news of a northbound train on the BNSF with a CSX engine leading on the approach to Saginaw while Amtrak 822 was just leaving the station behind him.  DS22 told the freight all the sidings were full, so he would be going to Justin to let Amtrak around him.  I started north up FM 156 from Blue Mound thinking I would beat them easily to the Alliance area for a shot with the favorable northbound light.

At least that would have been the case several years ago when I did this regularly before all the new housing developments and traffic lights.  Thought of catching either train faded rapidly as I inched along in bumper to bumper traffic no better than diving downtown.  This is when possible salvation smiled as the radio informed me of a 10 mph slow order over the diamonds at Saginaw, and the northbound freight was over 6000 feet long with Amtrak plodding along in his wake.  Now as I moved on up into Haslet and traffic began to thin, it looked like I was going to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat thanks to the slow order.

I pulled over to the side of Highway 156 north of Alliance’s Eagle Parkway besides a long, open stretch of track.  Soon I was joined by the CSX 7847 North as he headed towards the siding at Justin.

I moved back south about 1/4 of a mile to the bridge over a usually dry creek that still sports a nice Santa Fe herald, one of several in this area.  Will this stretch of track and its scenic bridges be abandoned north of the new runway expansion coming in the near future?  Better get your shots of through trains now to be safe.  In a few minutes Amtrak 822 glided by on his delayed trip to Oklahoma City.

Nothing else sounded to be close by, so I started home via Saginaw.  I arrived at the diamonds just as the UP welding crew that was my salvation left their parked truck and walked across the street to El Sombrero for dinner.  I suppose I could have offered to buy for them, but I wasn’t sure they would understand.  Appropriately enough, a northbound UP on the Duncan Sub was next on DS22’s list to pass over the slow order. 

I’m getting tired of all this new stuff myself, so tomorrow we’ll go back to the time machine.