Front Range Explorers Passenger SpecialI got a last minute message from Phil Gosney yesterday letting me know that he would be boarding Amtrak train No. 21, the southbound Texas Eagle, in Dallas that evening and staying with some private cars that would be set out for an overnight layover in Fort Worth. The message included a cordial invite to swing by and say hello! The cars would depart the next morning on a High Iron Travels Rail Excursion trip named the Front Range Explorers Special Train. He also added that a number of the cars would be painted in the IC Chocolate-and-Brown passenger scheme. This is a weak-spot for me for sure! It had been a while since I went out to get the shot. It was time. My son Jacob joined me for the evening. We sung by my parents' house and borrowed a couple of digital video cameras and we headed downtown to scope out the shot. We decided to set up on the west levee of the Trinity River and photograph the train crossing the TRE bridge. Normally the Texas Eagle is a "One-Unit-Wonder" with a single locomotive powering the train for the run from Chicago, IL to San Antonio, TX. Today's train had an additional two locomotives coupled back-to-back ahead of the regular locomotive. These units would provide extra horsepower to assist with the weight of the seven private cars on the rear. At Fort Worth the lead two units would be removed from the train and coupled to the seven private cars. This would set the consist for the Front Range Explorers special train. I handed Jacob the Canon 30D and he scored a few good shots. He even got a shot of me getting the shot! We then headed for the Fort Worth ITC (Amtrak Depot), parked, and walked to the platform tracks. We grabbed a few quick shots of the IC colors that had taken over the scene. Sure enough, Phil Gosney was hanging out near the rear of the train. I have know Phil for a long time and my father has known him for even longer. In California he holds the Number 1 spot on the Amtrak engineer's seniority roster. It is always good to catch up with friends. Phil insisted that Jacob and I pose on the open platform of the Caritas for a photograph. Thanks Phil! It is a great shot. Next we got an interior tour of all of the cars. I think Jacob was impressed! Phil joined us for a quick tour of downtown Fort Worth. We visited the historic T&P station as well as Tower 55. The Texas Eagle had positioned the equipment southbound at the Fort Worth ITC. Since tomorrow's departure would be northbound this wouldn't do. An Amtrak crew was on-hand to wye the train on the TRE at Dalwor Junction and Purina Junction. We managed to get some shots of this move at a couple of locations. First was at the 8th Street grade crossing just north of the Fort Worth ITC. He we got some shots of the train backing out of the depot and under the Tindall Building. The sun was getting pretty low, casting long shadows. The crossbuck shadows were fun to work with on the side of the train. I handed Jacob a video camera on the fly just to see what he could do... Finally we navigated the road construction and made our way to Purina just in time to catch the train on this leg of the wye. Our vantage point would be from the East 1st Street grade crossing. The train would pull by us to clear the control signal. Once the route was changed, the train got an approach signal and backed by us one more time. The Purina Mill is one of the more interesting elevator structures to photograph in the Fort Worth area. The shadows were getting longer yet, but I think it worked out OK! Again, Jacob had a video camera. Schedule - FRONT-RANGE EXPLORERS SPECIAL TRAIN May 31-June 6, 2016 Ft. Worth, TX-Denver, CO-Gillette, WY-Glendive, MT-Minot, ND (via Snowden)-Minneapolis/St. Paul. With connecting service from and to Chicago. A 2,350 “rare mileage” extravaganza. Connecting Chicago Service: May 29. 1:45PM Dpt. Chicago on Amtrak #21 (Texas Eagle) May 30. 1:25PM arr. Ft. Worth. Park overnight at Amtrak station. Front Range Explorers’ Special May 31: 7:00AM, Dpt. Ft. worth for Amarillo via Wichita Falls (ex-Ft. Worth and Denver) Arr. Amarillo 6:30PM. Park overnight. June 1: 7:00AM Dpt. Amarillo for Denver via Sixela, Trinidad and Pueblo. (ex-Colo. & Southern). Park overnight at Denver Union Station. June 2: Free day in Denver. Explorers’ banquet. June 3: 7:00AM Dpt. Denver for Gillette via Wendover then to Gillette via the “coal line.” Park overnight in Gillette. June 4: 7:00AM Dpt. Gillette for Forsyth, MT (ex-NP). Park overnight in Forsyth. June 5: 7:00AM Dpt. Forsyth for Minot via Glendive then on Sidney branch to Snowden where we join the ex-GN high-line to Minot. Park overnight in Minot. June 6: 3:00AM Dpt. for Minneapolis/Dst. Paul via KO sub. for Moorhead and Willmar (original route of GN’s Empire Builder). Arr. Midway (former Amtrak station) 4:30PM. Trip ends. Connecting Chicago ServiceJune 7: 7:00AM Dpt. Behind Amtrak #8 (Empire Builder). Arr. Chicago 3:35PM. Equipment will include a full (ex-Santa Fe dome), full diner, Caritas open-platform business car and sleepers with bedroom, roomette and section accommodations.
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New Freight Car Delivery TodayThe Meridian Speedway took delivery of seven covered hoppers today. The simplest cars in the latest InterMountain release got my attention this time. A plain "Data-Only" run of ACFX 4650 CUFT 3-Bay covered hoppers with round hatches is a perfect fit for my railroad. I managed to secure two of them - ACFX 49279 and ACFX 49951. Two additional ACF 4650 CUFT 3-Bay hoppers made this order - BN 446197 and BN 458531. These cars will ad to my growing Burlington Northern grain fleet. Three PS 4750 CUFT cars reached out to me as well. ICG 765764, NAHX 55169, and PTLX 14185. The ICG car, well there is no such thing as too many ICG grain hoppers! The Ralston-Jefferson and Sand's of Iowa cars I have seen in Illinois Central grain trains. Below is a picture I took of NAHX 55208 on the IC at Hammond, LA. I also remember seeing and photographing the Sand's of Iowa cars on the IC in Illinois. Those photos are somewhere.... Chris
CSX NO&M Sub Part I - Mobile, AL to Pascagoula, MSI took a week of vacation while my wife and daughter took a girls trip to the East Coast. During this vacation I made a trip with my uncle Joe Scorsone to a storage unit where he had been saving a number of VHS tapes that I took in 1997 and 1998 when I was working for Amtrak as an intern out of New Orleans, LA. My internship with Amtrak was probably one of the most fun jobs I ever had, though also one of the least paying. I was assigned to work for the Manager of Safety for the Amtrak Gulf Coast Business Group. Among other things I was trained as an Operation Lifesaver Level II presenter and went all over the system presenting to professional drivers, driver's education classes, and other groups. Target areas would be where we had a high number of "near miss" incidents and actual collisions. To make the presentations relevant to each audience I would make several trips on the head end of trains in the area with a video camera rolling. Edited tapes showing locations recognizable to the audience from this perspective were quite powerful. The videos were taken with a Panasonic VHS camera bought by my grandfather, Michele Palmieri. My uncle and I purchased all of the VHS tapes used for these projects so all of the tapes remained in our possession. Unfortunately, I did video one collision with a vehicle during this exercise. It was a fatality involving Train No. 20 and a Mazda MX3 north of Hattiesburg, MS. This incident and a near miss with an LPG tank truck on the return trip shaped my decision not enter train service with Amtrak as a career choice. Train Dispatching is done from a much more stable environment! There are probably 200 video tapes that we pried from storage. With the passage of time many of the videos have captured things that have significantly changed. Four of the videos were taken from the head-end of Amtrak train No. 1, the Sunset Limited, between Cantonment, FL and New Orleans, LA. These tapes are valuable to me since passenger service on this route was discontinued due to damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and has not returned to date. I have decided to add to my list of many projects the editing of these videos for publishing to YouTube as Meridian Speedway Productions. The first cab ride video has been uploaded to YouTube. It is "CSX NO&M Subdivision Part I - Mobile, AL to Pascagoula, MS." This was filmed on the above mentioned Sunset Limited trip on December 21, 1997. Amtrak P40-8 826 was the lead unit. Tragically, the 826 was destroyed in a collision with a truck carrying steel beams at Bourbonnais, Illinois on March 15, 1999. On this date the 826 was the lead unit on train No. 59, the southbound City of New Orleans. 11 passengers were killed in this incident. On a more positive note it was refreshing to hear the familiar voice of CSX train dispatcher Jerry Lachaussee at the beginning of the video as we are navigating Mobile, AL. I added some notes including Mile Post locations for reference as the video progresses. Below is the link to my first YouTube cab ride video: Stay tuned for CSX NO&M Part II - Pascagoula, MS to Bay St. Louis, MS. For this leg we will change trains. Our vantage point will be from Amtrak F40PH 270 on the very last run of train No. 23, the Gulf Coast Limited. I also found the below video on YouTube. It is collection of new clips documenting the tragedy at Bourbonnais. Please remember when crossing railroad tracks to expect a train at any time and in any direction.
Chris One More 4x8 - Loaner DCC - And Paint!My wife and daughter are out of town on a girl's trip so I have taken some vacation time to be home with my son. This means, of course, layout progress! I purchased another 4x8 sheet of 1/2" Birch Plywood yesterday and cut it to fit the corner piece on the northwest corner of the room. This leaves just two more pieces to go to complete the lower staging level and the first continuous loop. Joe Scorsone and my father came over to assist which is always nice. Joe came bearing the gift of a loaner DCC system which he had purchased but not used. This is a wonderful gift that will jump-start operations on the Vicksburg Terminal! Thank you Uncle Joe! With my wife gone for several days her car was kicked out of the garage. The space will be used over the next few days to paint the major components of the layout. Since the railroad is elevated, the underside will be painted white to improve the appearance of the room. Chris
Hattiesburg, MS to Evanston, MS - 1995I made a trip with Kurt Nastasi on March 11, 1995 to southern Mississippi in search of a DEGX coal train. This trip was one experience that has inspired my ProtoFreelanced Meridian Speedway concept. During this time the Daniel Electric Generation power plant near Escatawpa, Mississippi was doing a test burn of Powder River, WY coal being delivered via the Burlington Northern to the Illinois Central at Memphis, TN. The Illinois Central handed the trains off to the Mississippi Export Railroad at Evanston, Mississippi for the final leg of the journey. Our expedition began in Hattiesburg, Mississippi where we saw some action on both the Norfolk Southern and the Illinois Central. We chased Illinois Central train JAMO southward to Evanton. This train was running with three locomotives facing long-hood-forward because the lead unit (the only forward facing unit) derailed at Hattiesburg.
We became aware that the Mississippi Export would be delivering coal train UEVME-11 to the Illinois Central at Evanston tha evening so we set up there. Sure enough, emerging from the south Mississippi woods was an empty coal train powered by three Burlington Northern C30-7s and a Burlington Northern SD40-2! While BN powered coal trains were common in many parts of the country, this was an oddity in southern Mississippi. The Powder River test-burn was short lived and the utility switched back to its Coloroado source with trains coming into Memphis via a DRGW/SP/UP routing. We managed to get one more train at Evanston. All IC powered UMOKM-11 with five locomotives wearing the "Death-Star" scheme pulled into Evanston at last light. Please enjoy this glimpse into the past on the Illinois Central Beaumont District! Chris Athearn Genesis GP40-2 and Intermountain LO's - 4-14-2016I was so pleased with the model of SSW GP40-2 7265 that I decided one just wasn't enough! Athearn Genesis GP40-2 SSW 7257 arrived today. This is only the third EsPee 4-axle locomotive I have purchased for the Meridian Speedway fleet. I now have a decent 4-axle consist to race SP stack trains across the Speedway! Also included in this equipment delivery were five InterMountain PS-4750 covered hopper cars from the latest release. They pose in the image below on what will become my Mississippi Central staging yard. Not a bad looking consist: For some reason a photograph I took of an NAHX covered hopper lettered for Cook Industries on the MidSouth in Vicksburg, MS over twenty years ago has stuck in my mind. The connection was made when I saw that InterMountain had released six cars decorated for Cook Industries. So....I got two of them: NAHX 478023 and NAHX 478612. I also picked up NW 177503 and NW 177564 in two different schemes as well as UP 87588 with the centered logo. Below is the picture I took of Cook Industries NAHX 54178 on April 4, 1993 on MidSouth train MS-3 in Vicksburg, MS. Chris
4-12-2016 - Operating SessionYesterday I participated in an operating session at Don Murphey's house in Southlake, TX. A small group was invited over to test the railroad out in preparation for on open house event this summer. The operators were Rich Duncan, Dean Ferris, Greg McComas, Matt Sugerman, and myself. I was able to carpool - thanks for the lift, Rich! Don has a passion for transition-era passenger trains and has developed a story line to support the operation of a colorful fleet of passenger trains in and out of the centerpiece of his railroad--a massive model of St. Louis Passenger terminal. The mainline is a generic east-west Kansas City to Chicago theme with double track all the way. Don's wife lent considerable assistance with the scenery over the years. Construction of this model railroad began in 1998. My assignment for the evening was a manifest train that would traverse the entire length of the railroad to Kansas City. I built the train per the work orders handed me and then was assigned a Union Pacific Challenger steam locomotive for power. There was an on-line set out and pick up at Jefferson City as well as a set out at St. Louis. The train was a bit over powered from there with only two cars and a caboose into Chicago. It was a great evening in good company. The run was very enjoyable. Chris
Support Framing for Lower Staging CompleteMonday 4-11-2016 was a milestone for the first Meridian Speedway Layout. The wall framing for the lower staging level has been completed and two 4x8 sheets of plywood have been cut. Thanks to Joe Scorsone who assisted with the work! Chris
Roll of Film Scanned - New Orleans Trains - May 1996Not being really sure how to tackle the huge amount of photographs I have taken in the pre-digital era, I have decided to try what I will call the "Random Roll" approach. I have literally hundreds of rolls of developed film, both prints and slides, taken in the 80's, 90's and early 2000's, which have not seen the light of day more than once or twice...ever! So...I have decided to start a "Random Roll" Blog Category. Exactly as it sounds, I will indiscriminately grab a roll of film and scan it in its entirety. Larger files will be posted on rrpicturearchives as usual. These images will be linked from smaller images in the "Random Roll" blog post. I feel that this will at least start me on the track of getting some of this material out of boxes, envelopes, and drawers so that they can be searched for and found on the internet! Working with drug-store developed prints does give me great appreciation for the digital era we are now in. Often the images are poorly cropped during developing. I still have not found a suitable scanner for color 35-mm negatives, so I will be working with the prints for now. Once upon a time, our photography was limited to a 24 or 36 exposure roll of film. There was cost involved both in film price and developing. Sometimes a roll of film was in the camera for several weeks. With digital it is now cost effective to take several hundred images in a matter of hours. This blog category will give a glimpse into the mindset of film photography. Without further ado, lets take a look at May 1996 starting with a 36-exposure roll of Kodak Gold 100-Speed color print film. The images were taken in the New Orleans area between May 10 and May 20, 1996. The film was developed by Eckerd Drugs in the last week of May, 1996. Frames 1A-5A - SP Train HOCXM - 5-10-1996Louisa Street was a popular place to photograph trains. This is on the CSX between Gentilly Yard and N.E. Tower. Generally the grass was cut here, allowing for clean shots of equipment. This roll of film begins with five images of Southern Pacific Houston, TX to New Orlenans, LA (CSX) train HOCXM. At 9:52 AM, four SP motors lead the way here: B30-7 7782, B30-7 7856, B36-7 7759, and SD40M-2 8644. Frames 6A & 7A - CSX Train M-720-10 - 5-10-1996Just seven minutes later, at 9:59 AM on 5-10-1996, I was at the North end of CSX Gentilly Yard where I took these two images of local train M-720-10, the "Bay Turn", departing with lone CSXT GP38-2 2689 and a handful of cars. The Bay Turn usually worked industries at Michoud and interchanged at Port Bienville. Occasionally this train went as far as Bay St. Louis, MS. Frames 8A-11A - UP Train AVLICX-14 - 5-14-1996The next images on this roll of film were taken four days later, on May 14, 1996. My records indicate that I saw quite a few trains between the 10th and the 14th, but no pictures I guess. Frames 8A-11A were taken at Central Avenue, another popular New Orleans area location to watch trains. Here we find the CSX connection of Union Pacific Avondale, LA to Livonia, LA train AVLICX-14 with three Union Pacific motors running "elephant-style" C41-8W 9422 leads C30-7 2449 and SD40-2 4152. According to my notes the train stopped at 12:40 PM and started rolling nine minutes later, beginning ascent of the Huey P. Long bridge. Frames 12A-16A - CSX Train Q-605-12 - 5-14-1996Back at Louisa Street on the other side of town, I took five images of a colorful locomotive consist leading CSX train Q-605-12: UP SD40-2 3328, MKCX SD40M-2 9012, and CR C30-7 526. The only freight car image on the entire roll of film was CSXT 291355 on this trian. Unlike today, where I can shoot an entire train digitally, I had to be very selective in the film era. This may have been one of the first, if not the first, grey CSX car with the yellow numbers I has seen and is likely why I took the picture. Frame 17A - CSX Train M-720-14 - 5-14-1996Frame 17A is a lone image of the day's CSX Bay Turn returning to Gentilly at North Gentilly behind GP38-2 2558. It is interesting to note that none of the Maintenance-of-Way employees near the rear of the train are wearing high-visibility clothing. It was a very different culture on the railroad back then! Frames 18A & 19A - UP Train LINONB - 5-14-1996Union Pacific Livonia, LA to New Orleans, LA train LINONB was the last train I recorded on May 14, 1996. Having just crossed the Mississippi River, this train was stopped at Central Avenue when I spotted it. Being somewhat back-lit, I probably would not normally have bothered to photograph it. The third engine, CNW C44-9W 8614, was a locomotive of interest; however, so I did get a couple of shots. Ahead of the CNW 8614 were UP SD40-2 3963 and UP SD60M 6226. Frames 20A-25A - NS Oliver Yard - 5-20-1996The next images were taken at NS Oliver Yard on Monday, May 20, 1996. This yard was the most risky to visit in the Big Easy as a large percentage of the city's homicides occurred in this area. Montegut Street parallels the east end of the yard and Galvez Street crosses over the yard where the locomotive servicing area is located. It is difficult to photograph power here from Montegut Street because of a fence. One can park under Galvez Street where there is a stairway up to street level for a good vantage point. On this day there were four locomotive consists idling away at the Oliver Yard diesel facility so I decided to walk up the bridge and get a few photos. On hand were: UP SD40-2 4161, UP SD40-2 3408, UP SD40-2 3916 SP B30-7 7872, SP B30-7 7853, SP B30-7 7873, SP B36-7759 NS GP38-2 5020, NS SD40-2 3219 NS SD60 6575, NS C40-9W 8945, NS GP38AC 4114, NS GP38AC 4124, NS GP38AC 4132 Frames 26A-29A - CSX Train Q-605-18 - 5-20-1996The four frames following the visit to Oliver Yard were taken of CSX train Q-605-18 while it was switching the south end of Gentilly Yard. It was 9:57 AM and the sun was not in a very good position to photograph this west-facing train. The rear two locomotives were of interest to me so I shot them. The consist was west-facing UP SD40-2 3741 leading east-facing UP SD40-2 B4294 and LMS C40-8W 710. At the time Union Pacific stopped maintaining a number of former Missouri Pacific SD40-2s to "lead qualified" standards and designated them by putting a letter "B" in front of the road number. The middle locomotive in this consist was one of these units. Trailing unit LMS 710 is one of 40 locomotives (LMS 700-739) belonging to Conrail-General Electric subsidiaty Locomotive Management Services. These units were leased under a unique agreement whereby they would operate for 6-months-per-year on Conrail and then they would operate for the remainder of the year on other railroads. Built to Conrail specifications, they look just like Conrail locomotives, but have block "LMS" markings instead of the Conrail name and logo. Pretty cool I thought. It looks like Atlas will have three of these in their next release - LMS 702, LMS 711, and LMS 713. I may have to add one of these to the Meridian Speedway fleet! Frames 30A-32A - SP Train LANOF - 5-20-2016This roll of film concludes with three eastbound Southern Pacific trains making their way across New Orleans in less than an hour! First up is Los Angeles, CA to New Orleans, LA (CSX) intermodal train LANOF. At 10:28 AM I was set up at N.E. Tower, where the CSX crosses the NS about a mile north of Oliver Yard, to get the shot. Power for this train was SP B30-7 7779 and CSXT C40-8W 7892. The propped open front door on the SP 7779 probably means that the air conditioner was not working. I do remember this event. As the train was coming into view someone fired several shots from a weapon nearby, scaring pigeons which took flight and got in the way! Mr. Earl Hampton who worked at N.E. Tower for many years likely heard gunfire here more than once! Frames 33A-35A - SP Train LBCXT - 5-20-1996The second train in this EsPee fleet was Long Beach, CA to New Orleans, LA (CSX) train LBCXT. This train had a wonder consist of matched SP SD40M-2s in Speed Lettering, both with flared radiators having been rebuild from SD45's! I think this may be the best catch of the roll! Lead unit SP SD40M-2 8622 began life as BN SD45 6491 and trailing unit SP SD40M-2 8665 was built as CNW SD45 957. I had moved up to East City Tower for these shots. The LBCXT made its appearance here at 10:43 AM. The white vehicle parked in the field to the left belonged to the Norfolk Southern Special Agent who was keeping an eye on things. Frame 36A - SP Train HOSOM - 5-20-1996The final frame was also taken at East City. Southern Pacific Houston, TX to New Orleans, LA (NS) train HOSOM was running about 30 minutes behind the LBCXT, passing East City Tower at 11:14 AM. Also sporting an all-EsPee consist, this train was a great catch as well! Three "B-Boats" running elephant style were in charge: SP B30-7 7790, SP B30-7 7832, and SP B36-7 7764 were gliding this train across the NS New Orleans Terminal with ease. Had this not been the final frame of the roll, I certainly would have taken a few more images of this train. Hopefully the pictures in this Random Roll No. 1 will be useful to those who come across the images. All are posted and tagged in rrpicturearchives.net. Chris Layout Supports Added to Two WallsMany thanks to my uncle Joe Scorsone who assisted today with some layout progress. Before today, only the North Wall of the Man Cave had a support brace installed. This brace is at the main level of the VIcksburg Terminal, just high enough to allow continuous operation around the room, clearing the height of two doors. The other three walls will have a lower level that will house two staging yards, one holding trains from Greenville and Memphis on my Mississippi Central Railroad and the other holding trains from Natchez, Hattiesburg, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans on my Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. Today's trip to the Home Depot yielded two 12-foot lengths of 1x3.5 wood and 10 more shelf brackets. Chris
4-3-2016 - Photographing UPRR PCBSF2-02Long-time friend and fellow New Orleans native Kurt Hampton gave me a heads-up that he would be in DFW this weekend for WrestleMania. He carved some time into his schedule to visit on the morning of Sunday, April 3. A quick check with the local railfan network revealed that the Union Pacific would be running a business car train into Fort Worth from McAlester, OK this morning. We had something to do! Kurt picked up my brother, Steven, on the way to the house. My uncle, Joe Scorsone, and my son Jacob also joined us for the outing. We decided on a spot in Argyle to get the shot of Council Bluffs, IA to Spofford, TX business car train PCBSF2-02. En-route from Council Bluffs, IA to Spofford, TX this train would have a pair of clean ES44AC-H locomotives and twelve passenger cars all adorned in the UP yellow and grey paint scheme. (Note: Images are linked to larger files posted on rrpicturearchives.net) I handed Jacob my Canon 20D camera with a 23-135mm lens, gave him a few ideas, and let him pick his shot. The third shot in the above slideshow is what he came up with! Not bad at all... Below is a photo-consist of this train: ES44AC-H Locomotives UP 2527 and UP 8112Power Car UPP 2066Crew Sleeper UPP 202 Willie JamesCrew Sleeper UPP 314 Columbia RiverBusiness Car UPP 102 St. LouisBaggage Recreation Car UPP 5779Deluxe Sleeper UPP 1602 Green RiverDeluxe Sleeper UPP 1605 Powder RiverDeluxe Sleeper UPP 412 Lake ForestDeluxe Sleeper UPP 315 Little RockDome Lounge UPP 9005 Walter DeanDiner UPP 302 OverlandTheater Inspection Car UPP 420 Fox RiverThe Union Pacific business car fleet is impressive. Being able to see one of these trains in motion is a great experience! Union Pacific also has indexed their active business car fleet on their corporate website. The button below will take you to this index. Most of the cars have unique .pdf write-ups, many with interior photographs and floor plan drawings. Chris Merger & AcquisitonAs seen on the Michigan Interstate Blog! Rumor has it Michigan Interstate parent company Lakes Interstate Transportation Group has placed a takeover bid of the Natchez Trace & Orient parent railroad and its subsidiaries. Officials were quoted "These guys are a good fit in helping us create the Great Lakes, Gulf, & Orient Railroad, their current leadership team will help bring together two great railroads and create an competitor to rival current class 1s". When asked how they would connect between Indiana and the southeast an official was quoted "We will just buy someone else to fit the mileage gap". Check out Greg McComas' Michigan Interstate early April update via the button above!
Chris 3-30-2016 Equipment DeliveryA shipment arrived today for the Meridian Speedway. Today's box contained an Athearn Genesis model of SSW GP40-2 7265, a Tangent Scale Models "Lincoln Grain" PS-4750 covered hopper marked as CRDX 7127, and an Athearn 60' FMC High Cube Box Car decorated in Golden West Service livery as VCY 142046. This Cotton Belt GP40-2 is one of four representatives from this order just released by Athearn Genesis. SSW 7248-7273, along with SP 7240-7247, were some of the very last GP40-2's built (in October-November 1984), and were the railroad's premier power until the first GP60's and B39-8's arrived in 1987. The only newer GP40-2's were FEC 430-434, built in December 1984 (2), December 1985 (1) and December 1986 (2). On January 14, 1994 I found two specimens from this Cotton Belt class sitting in the yard in Lafayette, Louisiana. The SSW 7265 and SSW 7269 made a great looking pair! Some identifying features of the late model GP40-2 include the modern anti-climber, large radiator grills, and the angled blower housing. Since the SSW 7265 is one of the ones released by Athearn Genesis, the selection process was easy for me. Above are engineer's side images of the model just received and the prototype I photographed in 1994. Below are conductor's side comparison shots between the model of SSW 7265 and the prototype SSW 7269. As for the freight cars, well having spent two-and-a-half years in Lincoln, the Tangent car was a must have: And the VCY box car is one I have had my eye on for a while. As I am focusing on building a few EsPee trains I decided to acquire this one now: Also included in today's delivery were three more Peco switches and some rail-joiners.
Chris BNSF K-ALTALT1-23 Tests CSXT 3419 and 3421On Tuesday 3-22-16 I noticed that the locomotive on Amtrak train No. 21, the Texas Eagle, was my favorite Amtrak Heritage Unit, the red-nosed No. 156. I put the bug in a few people's ear that maybe we should try to shoot it the next day on No. 22. This would work only if it was a little late. Of course the train was right on time with a scheduled Fort Worth departure 10 minutes before the end of my shift at work. There would be no catching train No. 21. Ken Fitzgerald had accepted the invite to do some photography on Wednesday afternoon and we decided to meet at Alliance and see what the GE Job has in store for us. I had actually worked my Birmingham desk this day so I was not sure what was in store. The "GE Job", BNSF K-ALTALT1-23, had spent the first half of the day building train J-ALTMEM1-23 which consisted of a number of new locomotives to operate as a special train to Memphis, TN. This meant that they were just beginning the task of testing the assigned new locomotives for the day. Today that would be brand-new CSXT ET44AC's 3419 and 3421. We arrived in Justin with enough time to set up to photograph this train taking siding to meet southbound intermodal hotshot Z-WSPALT8-22A Once the Z-Train was out of the way at Justin, the GE Job had a straight shot to Valley View where the crew set the equipment up to test a different locomotive on the return trip. We were able to grab a few great pacing shots along the way! We also set up for a few runbys at Ponder, Krum, Metro, and a crossing between Sanger and Valley View. The light just kept getting better and better! BNSF DS122, the Fort Worth Terminal Dispatcher, asked the GE Job how much time that would need at Valley View for set-up before they were ready to return south. They responded that it would be about 30 minutes. At this time, the railroad was being set up for the passage of Amtrak train No. 822, the northbound Heartland Flyer. The dispatcher let the GE Job know they would remain there for Amtrak. She also advised them that there was a soutbound train approaching Gainesville that she would flag into the siding at Valley View behind them for the meet with Amtrak. With that information in hand, we located a spot between Gainesville and Valley View to photograph this train. Adding more color to the evenings photographs, this train was 2x1 DP unit sand train U-CPPELT0-03 with all KCS power! Amtrak engineer Donnie Novak had train No. 822 rolling through Valley View right on time! Cab control car (NPCU) 90222 was leading three Superliner cars and P42DC 115. Our perch was the I-35 embankment just south of the Texas Highway 922 overpass. From here we could see the Martindale Feed Mill elevator as well KCS 4144 on the rear of the sand train. Not a bad location at all.
CSXT 3413 - 3412 - 3415 - 3414 Make Their DebutThe BNSF "GE Job" tested four brand new ET44's today. Of course there was plenty of traffic so they did not get far before I got off work... Chris
The Story of Crown Zellerbach's Operation in LouisianaThe latest addition to the Meridian Speedway Library, "The Pulpwood Train", by Louis Saillard is now available for viewing. This article is accompanied by some excellent photographs by the author. This article describes Crown Zellerbach's unique pulpwood train operation between Hammond, LA and Bogalusa, LA. This is relevant to my Meridian Speedway concept as I am having proto-freelanced decals made for "modern day" Crown Zellerbach pulpwood cars to run on my 1996 Vicksburg Terminal layout. Many thanks to Louis Saillard for sharing this work! The image above is linked to the article.
Chris Fox Valley Models GP60 - SP 9607 Added to FleetYesterday - 3-17-2016 - Fox Valley Models SP GP60 9607 arrived. This is the latest addition to my EsPee fleet intended to operate over my Meridian Speedway. This unit is factory Equipped with LokSound DCC. I remember the SP and SSW GP60's when they were brand new. They were some of my favorite locomotives to photograph because they were just about the only Southern Pacific locomotives that looked good. In fact I have a photograph of the SP 9607 that I took in New Orleans in 1994. That image is below and is linked to a larger file on rrpicturearchives.net. For my standards, this Fox Valley Models GP60 is just fine. It looks and feels "EsPee" and brings back fond memories for me. The "Rivet Counters" out there will point out that grey is too dark, the yellow roof light is too big, the anti-glare nose should be black, the lettering and numbers should be white instead of off-white, the cab window panel should be welded (not riveted), wrong profile Q-fans, wrong anti-climber, etc, etc... Below are similar angle photos of the Fox Valley model of SP 9607 and the image I took of the prototype SP 9607 in New Orleans over 20 years ago. No longer being a "rivet counter" myself, I really like this model and would consider adding more to the fleet in the future. More images of this model are posed in the slideshow blow. I am looking forward to many years of service from this machine! Chris
BNSF K-ALTALT1-14 Tests 4 New CN LocomotivesAs is the norm at work now that 67 dispatchers have been furloughed, I am working anything but the Birmingham North job I own. Today was no exception. A check of the slide sheet in the morning showed that I would be working the Fort Worth Terminal DS 122 position today. A note from GE advised that today's K-ALTALT1-14 crew would be needed to deliver two new locomotives from GE to the BNSF and then would be needed to test four new locomotives: CN 3054, CN 3055, CN 3056, and CN 3058. The delivery move was first on the agenda setting the stage for an evening shoot. I made sure they did not get far before my shift ended at 1430! After work I headed to the house to grab the camera. My father met me there and off we headed for Rector Road at Sanger. Ken Fitzgerald and Troy Minnick were already on site waiting for the colorful quartet of GE's. The images in the below slideshow were taken by me during the southward chase from Sanger back to the GE Plant at Alliance. My father took some video of the BNSF "GE Job" testing the four brand-new Canadian National ET44AC locomotives on the BNSF Fort Worth Subdivision. The GE Job is a unique crew consisting of one conductor and two engineers along with GE technicians. These locomotives are operated in controlled conditions so that diagnostic performance data can be gathered. The engineer on the lead locomotive controls the testing locomotives under power while the engineer on the rear locomotive has them in dynamic braking to simulate load conditions. I have edited this footage into the latest Meridian Speedway Production video and have uploaded it to YouTube. Enjoy a few glimpses of this unusual test train with four very shiny Canadian National GE locomotives! The scenes are recorded at Sanger, TX; Krum, TX; Ponder, TX; Justin, TX; and Alliance, TX: It was nice to be trackside with my father again!
Chris Print Scan from 1995 - NS on SPToday I scanned a number of large prints sent to me by Louis Saillard to accompany his article on the Crown Zellerbach operations in Louisisana. While I had the computer plugged into my wife's flatbed scanner/printer I thought I'd throw on of my many, many, many old prints to see what it would do. This is the one I grabbed: I placed my hand on a roll of film developed by the long-gone Eckerd drug store chain that was once common in the New Orleans area. Dated August 19, 1995, this roll of film contains a number of images I took on the EsPee in south Louisiana on that date, evidently on a trip to Houston, TX.
This picture depicts eastbound SP Houston, TX to New Orleans (Southern/NS) runthrough train 1-HOSOM-18 holding the main track at Baldwin, LA as it waits for its meet, westbound SP train 1-AVSRQK-19, to take the siding. The freight traffic in this corridor (Houston/Birmingham and Houston/Atlanta) I have penned into the operations of my proto-freelanced Meridian Speedway. Instead of being handed off between the SP and the NS at New Orleans, which is a huge bottleneck, in my HO world this traffic runs from Houston to Shreveport, LA on the SP/SSW, across North Louisiana to Meridian, MS on the Natchez Trace and Orient, and then onto destination via the NS from there. Investment in my fleet of NS and SP locomotives will provide suitable power for these trains. My latest arrival, SP SD40M-2 8691, will fit nicely here. Now if only we can get Athearn Genesis, ScaleTrains, or maybe Atlas to model these big GE's....C36-7's and C39-8's needed please! Are you listening model manufacturers? Oh yes, and we also need more chemical tank cars from before the era of the ubiquitous and omnipresent ethanol tank car! Chris New Library Item AddedGrowing up in New Orleans, LA I had very little first-hand exposure to the Santa Fe. For me the Santa Fe was an exotic railroad, almost mythical, that I only saw in books, magazines, and videos. As I got older I would plan extensive trips to see the Santa Fe at various locations. Often these trips included time at a Santa Fe Modelers Organization convention. For many years, the Santa Fe did live up to its reputation of excellence for me. At some point I discovered Silsbee, TX. This town could actually be driven to from New Orleans in a single day. Traveling through the south Louisiana swamp and west Louisiana pines that melded with the east Texas pine forest yielded Silsbee! This town was a little Santa Fe oasis that was within reach. Silsbee was a small-yet-busy terminal with a locomotive facility and a small yard. From Silsbee, the railroad radiated out in all directions: Westward to Conroe, TX and connection with the rest of the Santa Fe, Northward to Longview, Texas, Southward to Beaumont, TX and...most importantly...Eastward to DeRidder, Louisiana. Yes, the Santa Fe did have rails in Louisiana. Not plentiful and seldom photographed, Santa Fe trains entering Louisiana to serve Boise Cascade were launched from Silsbee. Steve Patterson has enjoyed a diverse career with the Santa Fe which landed him in this forgotten corner of the Santa Fe empire around 1969. He supervised 44 open agencies on ATSF’s Southern Division (everything south of Cleburne). During his tenure the Santa Fe began to close little-used or redundant agencies. I was forwarded some of his images from the area and reached out to him with a request to host some of them here. Mr. Patterson graciously agreed and shared the images on the above slideshow! This piece of railroad is relevant here as I have penned the entire Silsbee network into my proto-freelanced Texas & Great Northern Railroad. It is a wonderful fit! Chris
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