Leaving Merkel behind Troy and I were soon in Abilene, and since it was a week day we drove by the offices of the Southern Switching Company. We were in luck as one of the two ex-Army NW2’s was missing, and after driving around for a few minutes we spotted the 1865 at the UP interchange picking up two cars. I set my scanner for the UHF business channel I had heard them on years before, but quickly the Kenwood mobile radio scanning all 97 AAR channels found them on 160.650, channel 3636. We got two good shots as they pulled past us a few minutes later.
Following them on south they stopped down by the elevator to switch out a few hopper cars.
I guessed the crew thought Troy and I were from the FRA, so we introduced ourselves and my assumption had been correct. Once we were identified as harmless, I was invited to check out NW2 1865’s cab between moves.
It was time to go pick up our U-Haul truck and return to Sweetwater, so I took this parting roster shot before the crew went back to work.
That was the end of our day photographically, but we felt we had made the most of the morning.
One Comment
Great catch! When I lived in Texas in the late 90’s I stopped by Southern Switching several times only to find their power locked up behind a warehouse gate each and every time.