FL9

With two loaded BNSF coal trains heading my way southbound on the UP Midlothian Sub, I drove north to the only place on the map the tracks are accessible by road between the Joe Pool Lake and Midlothian.  The Gifco Road crossing turned out to be not overly inspiring scenery wise, but the lighting was good as the tracks are running due north-south at this spot.  I did not have to wait long before The BNSF 9682 South with two Grinstein SD70MAC’s rounded the corner and lit the opposing signal at milepost 25.6 red as they roared up the grade from the lake bridge to Midlothian.

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It has been a long time since I had driven along the tracks through Midlothian, as evidenced by the new heavy-rail connector I saw between the UP southbound on the MIdlothian Sub and the BNSF westbound on the Ward Indutrail Spur.  Driving along the west side of the business park where new automobiles are unloaded, I spotted the BNSF 5501 that I had photographed the day before at Tower 55 in the distance surrounded by a sea of cars parked in the grass.

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Waxahachie is a somewhat unique town these days in that it has two railroad depots still standing just southeast of downtown.  The old M-K-T depot is dormant and boarded up as it overlooks the remaining few feet of what was once the Katy’s mainline from Dallas to Hillsboro.

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Between a long day at work today and tonight’s storm (three inches in the rain guage in one hour, but no hail or wind) I have only gotten around to processing one photo from last Sunday the 13th.  After letting the UP 5028 South go on towards Ennis, I scouted out Waxahachie for a good spot to catch the UP 4369 South next in line coming down the Midlothian Sub.  Nothing appealed to me downtown, and the wig-wags that used to protect the crossings in SP days are all gone now.  On the east side of town a found a nice and open grassy area that was right with the sun, and Molly had a nice walk here before the manifest train arrived.

Listening to the dispatcher a southbound BNSF train was about fifteen miles behind, so I drove to the south side of downtown where the M-K-T and B-RI depots still stand.