By KenFL9 | Published:
August 14, 2010
On Wednesday afternoon I had a photo assignment from the BNSF that took me to Tower 55. As I made the first turn climbing the metal staircase on the outside wall I looked up and east towards the Ginnie Yard. A westbound UP intermodal was on the approach, and luckily I had my camera around my neck so I was able to quickly get ready for the UP 4235 West on Track One.
Turning around I got the going away view as the four units up front banged over the diamonds.
There was no DPU on this train so I headed on up to the landing outside the tower door.
By KenFL9 | Published:
August 12, 2010
Driving northwest out of Cleburne on highway 171 alongside the FWWR tracks you soon come to a spot where the railroad built a two-track yard and named the location ”Windmill.” FWWR purchased 70.8 acres north of the tracks that has been divided up into smaller units and dubbed the Cleburne Railpark. A service lead has been put down
and the first track into the property is also under construction.
Two of the lots have already been sold to new customers. Moving on to Cresson as the sun lowered towards the horizon FWWR 2005 and two other units were tied down in silence as the next Cresson Job would not go on duty until 11:00pm.
I played with the angles to mostly hide the sun behind the 2005 for this effect.
On the south side of the yard I experimented with the light resulting in this silhouette view of the cars and rails.
For my final shot of the day I panned to the left to include the setting sun.
Not a bad Sunday starting with Amtrak number one and ending with special effects.
By KenFL9 | Published:
August 10, 2010
On Sunday August 1st I needed to transfer some items to Troy Minnick, so we agreed to meet in Saginaw after noon at the diamonds. I arrived in town just in time to catch the southbound Heartland Flyer at the crossing just north of the BSNF yard office. Today was a special treat as the lead unit was P42 class engine number one, marking the first time I have ever caught this unit.
I met up with Troy and we visited in the oppressive heat for a few minutes and then went our separate ways after determining no other trains were close by. While taking Loop 820 back around to highway 377 I heard Davidson Yard talking to the ZAILC about changing crews at the west end of the yard. Since Aledo is now more or less on the way home I headed that way and set up under a shade tree in the park behind city hall. I only had to wait less than ten minutes before I captured this all NS lashup on the point with the 7673 leading.
Even the single DPU this day was a Norfolk Southern unit.
I took care of some work at the house, and late in the afternoon as the sun started to come down in the west I decided to make a loop to Crowley then down to Cleburne to photograph the FWWR’s new industrial park and then back home via Cresson. Heading east on FM 1187 I managed to arrive in Crowley just as a northbound BNSF empty grain with a Ferromex GE in the lashup was pulling into the siding.
The empty grain train met a loaded coal train with two aging SD70MAC’s up front.
I followed the loaded coal train down to Joshua where another northbound train was waiting in the siding. I set up at the first crossing north of downtown Joshua for this shot of the BNSF 5099 North.
As I drove on south to Cleburne it sounded like the next northbound was still south of the Brazos River, so I headed northwest on highway 171 toward the FWWR’s new industrial park on the outskirts of town.
By KenFL9 | Published:
August 4, 2010
I had a photographic dry spell from Thursday July 15th returning from Sweetwater until Saturday July 24th late in the day when I spent 2 1/2 hours next to the Baird Sub. I had been informed the MODFW train was coming east late in the afternoon with a KCS Retro Belle on the point, and I left the house a little after 4:30pm to see if I could catch it coming through nearby Aledo. I was planning to drive directly to Aledo but then I heard a meet about to happen at Iona, and as luck would have it no one was using the their train or engine number on the radio. Not knowing if the eastbound was the MODFW or not, I headed north to Benbrook and then west along the Baird Sub, sacrificing a potential shot of the better lit westbound train. The eastbound was just about to leave the siding at Iona when I arrived at the east switch, and it turned out to be an intermodal train with only the UP 7876 up front.
Only a single unit was on the rear too, the UP 7858.
The westbound train was long gone, so I drove to Aledo and parked under a shade tree on the west side of the town hall park. I monitored the radio while I caught up on my reading, but there was no word about the MODFW. After an hour my solitude was interrupted by the UP 6709 West with two other units and a manifest train.
On the rear a UP and another NS engine were idling in DPU mode.
Still nothing was heard regarding the MODFW, and I was about to give up when I heard a faint transmission from a westbound leaving Fort Worth that I thought had identified itself as the “BNSF something 455″. Thinking this might be a currently infrequent BNSF trackage rights train I hung out until 7:31pm when it turned out to be the NS 8455 West with a solid black lashup and another manifest train in tow.
The light was about gone now, and then I finally heard the MODFW was between Preble and Weatherford, putting it at my location well after dark. I decided to settle for the three trains I had caught and let the brass ring go for this day as I headed on back to the house.
