FL9

Today we have a brief respite from the endless supply of SD70’s and ES44’s powering UP trains today.  On April 3rd in 1989 the MKCFW train is southbound on the Choctaw Sub between Pilot Point and Denton is powered by a C30-7 and two SD40-2’s as it is about to descend Aubrey Hill.

Darkness overtook us on Train 22 somewhere east of Mesquite on October 9th, the first day of our Montana Trip.  Our sleeping car attendant Phyllis had made us a dinner reservation for 5:30pm, and otherwise taken care of all our needs cheerfully and efficiently.  The food was surprisingly good, and our random tablemates very entertaining.  When we stopped in Mineola at 7:22pm, I braced my Canon 5D on the window ledge of our roomette for this shot of the deserted town gazebo.

A little less than an hour later found us stopped in Longview at 8:14pm where we boarded a number of passengers that had arrived from Houston on the Amtrak bus.  Since this was an extended stop, passengers were allowed to detrain as long as we stayed close to our car.  I used my monopod to steady the 5D for this shot on the platform.

Later on at 10:00pm after a very dark ride through the east Texas piney woods we arrived at Texarkana.  The full moon gave the platform of the classic old depot a haunting look as Phyllis visited with other crew members before the conductor signaled our departure.

Soon after crossing the line into Arkansas, Phyllis stopped by and showed me how to lower the top berth when I was ready for bed, as Judy had already staked out the bottom for herself.  I was still excited about the ride, and read a book until we stopped in Little Rock at 12:30am.  Phyllis and I were all alone at the back of the regular train, and the private cars behind us were dark and silent.

Once we were under way again I  checked the timetable to learn that sunrise should find us somewhere south of St. Louis.  I pulled down the top berth and made my way up the small ladder.  The track was reasonably smooth, but after reclining I still clipped the wide harness attached to the edge of the berth to the ceiling so I would not accidentally roll out or be piched out courtesy of the UP.  My radio picked up each detector as we passed by at a steady 79mph along with the occasional crew conversation.  I own a CD called “Falling asleep on the Train,” but now I had the real thing going for me!

Today’s post will begin the official Montana trip coverage, but I promise the chronological entries will be broken up by days featuring some of the favored older slides too.  After a weekend of packing, my older stepson dropped Judy and I off at the Fort Worth ITC on the afternoon of Monday October 9th to catch Amtrak train 22 bound for Chicago.  We checked some of our bags, and made a fort with the rest on the platform near the display trolley car.

The area was alive with activity as Train 21 was already in the station, Train 821 was arriving from Oklahoma,  and the TRE along with city busses were trading a multitude of passengers.  Here we see TRE Train 2923 with an F59PHI stopped in the ITC before moving on to the end of the line at the T&P building.

Train 21 soon left on its way south, and on the radio we could hear it meeting Train 22 at Birds.  I left Judy with the bags and walked down to the south end of the platform for this shot of 22 arriving a few minutes later with P42DC 31 in charge, and three private cars on the rear of the normal consist.

I strolled back to where Judy was waiting, and we gathered up our luggage and started on our way down to our assigned sleeper.  We checked in with our attendant Phyllis, who invited us to board her “Happy Car,” and she certainly meant it as we were to find out over the next 24 hours.  Some of the luggage was stashed in the rack, and we made our way up the winding stairs with the rest to our roomette.  We had one with a bathroom, and were very pleased with the amount of space available.

With time to kill, I made my way back down to the platform for a better picture of the private cars, but unfortunately could not get any closer than this angle.  I could make out that the closest car was the Eagle View 621 and that the next car was ex-New York Central, but the two-tone green observation car was a mystery at this distance.  I subsequently learned the cars were on a private charter, and belong to the Trans-Texas Rail Shop in San Antonio.

I went back upstairs and settled in to begin our journey.  Soon we backed out of the station and on south of Tower 55 before pulling north and then east around the southeast corner of the interlocking.  As we turned towards Dallas, it was evident a second P42DC had been added to the point of our train to help with the three extra cars.  You will see many through-the-window shots like this one in the days to come, and almost all will contain minor imperfections due to the condition of the glass and the angle of the camera and lighting.  Regardless, the story of the trip would not be complete without them.

We ran over the UP to Dallas without incident, and soon after leaving Mesquite the sun began to set behind us.  However as the light faded my picture taking did not stop as you will see tomorrow.  

It was a long day at work today, so as a result I fell back to the old slide boxes for one shot this evening.  Here we see one of the MP’s dynamic brake equipped coal service SD40-2’s leading two other SD40-2’s and a GP38 pulling a northbound manifest train approaching Wapanucka, OK on June 13th in 1986.

This is the year the MP was consolidated into the UP, and before long this ex-KO&G mainline through Oklahoma from Durant to Muskogee would be completely abandoned in favor of the ex-MKT mainline several miles to the east.  Today only a few revealing spots remain to indicate a railroad ever ran past this location.