FL9

Going back again to September of 1983, it certainly appears I had lots of time for railfanning that month.  This day finds us on a highway overpass at the east end of Mullinville, Kansas about forty miles west of Pratt along highway 54.  An eastbound SP freight powered by Cotton Belt SD45T-2 9165 and three Milwaukee Road SD40-2’s leading three smoky GE’s has just passed by the local elevator on their way to Kansas City from Tucumcari, New Mexico.

The SP spent millions rebuilding this ex-Rock Island line to high speed standards, and out here in the flatlands of western Kansas trains running over it from a distance look like land ships as they make their way from town to town.

These old slides are not always technically perfect even before I scan them, case in point this pair of AT&SF F45’s on an eastbound intermodal train at Godley, Texas on the Godley Sub.  The scene was slightly back lit when I took the picture in October of 1990, so the right side of the nose is in shadow.

I still like to share them regardless due to the now rare subject matter.  This line from Cresson to Cleburne is now owned by the Fort Worth & Western.  While it is in very good shape today, it will never see a train like this one bound for Dallas again.

The weather was not the greatest on Saturday, but a brief stop at Judd siding on the Baird Sub 70 miles west of Fort Worth proved to be worthwhile regardless.  An eastbound BNSF train was heard on the radio calling signals to enter the west end of the siding, and it turned out to be a manifest train with an ex-BN SD60M leading.

(Read on …)

Once again taken in September of 1986, this slide shows ATSF SW900 1453 switching with a full crew in the yard at Arkansas City, Kansas.

Quoting Paul Harvey, the rest of the story is that this locomotive was already 46 years old when this picture was taken.  It was built by EMD in 1937 as a 600 horsepower model “SC” switcher for the AT&SF, and then rebuilt by EMD in 1953 into an SW900.  The Santa Fe finally retired the 1453 four years later in 1987, and it was bought by Union Tank Car.