FL9

Yesterday we saw two red Katy EMD SW1500’s at the Dallas Yard engine facility in 1975.  One track over to the left were two more EMD prime movers, but with different shells on the outside.

Green and yellow #24 and #22 started their careers as Fairbanks Morse DS-4-4-10 switchers, and were later re-engined with EMD prime movers by the ever thrifty Katy. 

Things were busy this last weekend with a day of FWWR photography on Saturday and working at home on Sunday, so we’ll continue on with the Katy slides until I have time to process the new pictures.  After witnessing Katy green and yellow the past few days, here are two SW1500’s wearing the red paint scheme that came before it.

The Katy’s Dallas Yard where #55 and #52 are resting in 1975 has now been redeveloped into the American Airlines Center entertainment area.

Following the abandonment of their own through route from Oklahoma City to Bartlesville in the early 1970’s, the Katy obtained trackage rights over the Rock Island from Oklahoma City to McAlester as an alternative.  As a result on a grey December day in 1977 we see the Katy’s eastbound train with an FP7A and an F7A taking the siding at Seminole, OK to meet an eastbound Rock Island train.

There is no operator on duty at present, so the train order signals are locked in the clear position as this is dark territory where train orders rule.  This line is part of the Rock Island’s Choctaw Route from Memphis through Oklahoma City to Amarillo. 

Yesterday evening on the way home I drove past the west end of Davidson Yard just in time to see the rear end of a westbound stack train heading out of town.  A large number of JB Hunt containers clued me in that this had to be a BNSF train, and I really wanted to see the power.  If I had only been five minutes earlier……

The sun was out full, I had the digital SLR in the car, and I decided I could spare a little time, so the chase was on.  His rear end was already out of sight when I crossed the tracks at Boaz Park with the rest of the backed up crowd, so I got on I20 and accelerated on west.  I could see the train in the distance making its way up the hill to Iona, but I could not see the power as I overtook him.  I heard an eastbound train call an approach signal leaving Weatherford as the westbound was hitting the detector at Aledo, so I figured on a meet at Earls.  I got off of I20 at the Bankhead Highway exit and drove back to the Centerpoint Road crossing just east of Earls.  I was set and ready when the BNSF 4320 West came past me with the intention of holding the main at Earls.

The eastbound train would be coming directly out of the sun here at the crossing, so I drove on east a bit on Centerpoint Road until I found this open location for a broadside.  In a few minutes the train that had taken the siding at Earls turned out to be the BNSF 4145 East with two units.

Unfortunately there was no livestock in the pasture to make use of the watering trough, but it still made a good photo prop.  With two trains in the bag, I now sprinted for home myself, and was walking in the front door when I heard the BNSF 4145 East blowing for the crossing at Boaz Park.