Along the Rolla-Lebanon Subdivision Today

Cottonseed trains pass by with westbound loads and eastbound empties. The cars are box-shaped, open-top cars that appear to have an end that swings open for emptying on an incline or car lift. I have wanted to get a photo to share for awhile and the opportunity came today during breakfast. The first shot shows one of the red cars with MWCX marks following one of the gray ones with HKRX markings. Loaded trains typically have two locomotives on the point and two pushing. Today's helper set included a treat: ex-ATSF warbonnet 646! Warbonnets have become rare these days so even seeing a faded one is welcome. Finally, the going-away shot shows BNSF 7567 basking in the kind of light I wish I had for the other shots. (I see the camera is still on daylight time.)

 

These should be the trains loaded in Hayti, MO. I had no idea they ran via the Cuba Sub, I assumed they ran south and came up the Thayer Sub. I see these trains here in Flagstaff. Destined to Modesto and Fresno, CA

 

It is an interesting move when it goes through Lindenwood. The train runs into Lindenwood and then the crew (or another crew) gets on what had been the pushers making these the lead locomotives. In this case 7567 assisted by 646 pulled the train from Hayti but became helpers heading west.

 

Thought I would share photos of the same train (posted above by Windsor Spring) as it passed westbound through Flagstaff, Arizona, last Friday 11/20/2020 at 12:29pm Mountain Standard Time. The train is on BNSF's Seligman Subdivision, a portion of the Southern Transcon. Heavy unit trains that will be going north out of Barstow, CA, over Tehachapi get mid-train DPUs added at Gallup, NM. The configuration through Flagstaff was: 4677-969-7257 / 8095-8194-8160 / 646 -7547. The closest mountain is a lava dome named Mount Elden. The collection of peaks in the left background are the San Francisco Peaks, tallest peak is 15,600 ft. The train had been climbing steadily since leaving the crew-change point of Winslow, AZ, and will crest the Arizona Divide (7355 ft elevation) in about 10 miles. The Arizona Divide is listed as the highest point on the "active" BNSF system (Raton Pass and Glorieta Pass in New Mexico are both higher.)

 

Great pictures. It is nice to see 646 still pushing, but it is also interesting to see 969 with its "Great-Northern-like" "H1" paint scheme in the train. I wonder if 969 was the lead of 2 when the train went through Kirkwood. If so, I am sorry I missed it. It is sad to think a bowl of Cheerios held more of my interest than the approaching train.

 

Caboose TEXX 100 of BNSF logistics was on the end of a west bound freight this morning at 07:15 through Kirkwood. A call from an on-line friend asked for a photo, so I stumbled through the house to get this one. It is interesting to share here, too. Does this one have a Frisco pedigree to put this post a little more on topic?

 

LOL!

Today's railroading would never be something I would ever have the urge to model. The visuals of the equipment is simply not compelling to me in any sense of the word.

However, the visceral side of railroading can still be found in today's railroading for me. That is:

* I still love the sound of a whistle (horn) off in the distance.

* I still love the sound of locomotives working hard. (I love feeling the vibrations in my chest of the roaring engine as they claw past me.)

* I still love the sounds of the wheels hammering a crossing diamond or a frog. (Sometimes you even get to hear the clickety-clack of a rail joint.)

* Sill like the sound of a flat spot coming/going as the train passes by.

* I still love seeing (and especially hearing) a train battling gravity. (Think: Grades.)

* I do like the experience of standing along the right-of-way (legally off the right-of-way) and experiencing a train going by that's balling the jack.

* Trains in mountains are a plus and add to my sensations.

I didn't realize it when I was but a lad, but apparently it's always been the visceral side of railroading that I liked more than the technical side of it. That is, almost all of my memories of railroading do not involve specific engine-types or engine numbers, etc. Those details weren't as important to me then. For example, I cannot remember what type (or number) the high hood Rock Island GP was that I rode in back in about 1957 or 1958, but I certainly remember sounds and sensations, and yes, I do have distinct visuals memories... but no details of the engines I saw that day. Thus, I now understand that my memories all seem to be based on the elation I felt seeing and experiencing the railroading that caused the emotion. It wasn't until many years later that I came to have an inkling of what I was seeing as a lad "back then". (Model railroading began to teach me what I was seeing.)

I've read that, typically, the model railroader will model what he was exposed to during their "wonder years" (puberty), or roughly the medium age of 15. My tastes seem to lend a bit of credence to that theory.

So, I still find the visceral side (sensations and emotions) of trains in today's railroading. It's just that once the experience is over, I have zero urge to model what I just saw. Instead, I use the visceral experience to fuel my motivation to relive the best of the memories of my lad/youth/young man years out on my 1964 KC&G layout, and see the engines that I remember seeing as a youngster (Geeps n' F's!)... along with some I didn't know what I was seeing (Alco RS's and FA's/PA's and other oddities).

Andre

 

Was the caboose part of a MOW operation? When?

0218 0715 TEXX 100 Cabo

 

This caboose was on a regularly-running westbound train on Thursday, February 18 around 07:15. I am not aware of other mention of its movement or its purpose.

 

If you type in the URL on the caboose, you end up here:
https://www.bnsflogistics.com/solutions/engineering-services/

 

https://www.oklahomarailwaymuseum.org/plan-your-visit/exhibits-grounds/equipment/cabooses/

Has a GN look to it to me. Seems similar to the first one here. Considering possible modifications over the years.

 

Canadian National, hmm, well, at least the roadbed used to be SL-SF. The cars sound like nicely-appointed cabooses (or vans) with all that equipment.

 

The caboose appears to a part of this organization:
http://www.railengineer.com/

The organization's scopes also include;

Transportation Execution

• • Over The Road
  • Heavy Haul
  • Rail
  • Intermodal
• Managed Transportation
• Project Management
• Engineering Services
• managing special loads
  Weights, dimensions, potentials for derailments

TEXX 100, They changed the roof's color.
Nice car.

 

The afternoon west bound freight was interesting because it had a KCS locomotive as # 3 of 5. Even more interesting was it had tw0 SD-type locomotives and it had a long string of empty inter-modal well cars. The big story was it had a caboose! My friend Scott Nauert took the picture (probably near the Webster Groves station) and gave me permission to post here. I could not tell whether it was occupied and had little opportunity to check it as it passed through Kirkwood around 5:30 PM.