Memories of Miss Katy

[friscobob]

Having lived close to the main line of the Katy since 1973, and railfanned it from 1975 until the 1988 merger, I have several memories of spots along the Katy right-of-way:
</font> Watching freights roll across Lake Eufala with a rainbow of color- ex-Conrail blue and/or black diesels, ex-IC GP38s, ex-Kennecott GP39s, and a green/yellow thrown in for good measure</font> Prowling around the ready track at the shops in Parsons, Kansas, catching such rarities as the yard slug, two of the three U23Bs in dead storage, the M-K leaser engines, and GP7s still in service as late as 1988</font> Walking through a silent roundhouse at Ray Yard in Denison, and stopping to get a shot of a gondola inside</font> Watching the stacks of ties burn as Katy was rebuilding its line in November 1980</font> Looking at freights roll over the new track at speeds never thought possible on the old stuff</font> Shooting trains as they roll over Red River north of Denison, then catching up to them as they approach Ray Yard</font> The frantic approach I took to gathering up thrown-out timetables, Official Guides, and miscellaneous Katy paperwork tossed in a Dumpster outside the soon-to-be-razed car shops in Denison, after the merger took place</font>
Those are mine- do you have any to add, either steam or diesel, modern or earlier?

[Doug A.]

My memories of the Katy were of the waning years of this endearing railroad. In the early 80's, the OKKT took over the old Rock Island line through my hometown of Bowie, TX. The line also passed behind my dad's steel supply company in Bridgeport, TX and the nearby rock crushers at Chico. So my memories...
-In Bowie, I lived about 4 blocks from the Katy and I could hear southbound trains far enough away that I could make it trackside on my bicycle by the time the train passed by. Trains were pretty rare, though, and usually were VERY long when they did run. So there would be 6-8 units sometimes and a wild variety of paint schemes.
-Also in Bowie was the crossing of the OKKT line by the Burlington Northern's ex-Fort Worth & Denver line. The interchange was close to my house as well, and there was a good vantage point for watching trains where the BN line went through a large cut just north of the diamonds.
-Toward the end, DRGW tunnel motors began making appearances on the long OKKT trains. That was probably the most memorable motive power I saw.
-On the BN line, MKT had trackage rights to Wichita Falls and ran regular grain extras up the line. Also, MKT shared a coal train with BN and the Katy SD40-2's would often appear in the mix. So, lots of MKT power through my hometown and that was something I always looked forward to.
-I often went to work with my dad, and I always got opportunities to railfan while he was making deliveries to crushers or other local industries. I remember one of the crushers had a GE 70-tonner that I got to check out one day. But the hodgepodge of MKT diesels pulling the rock trains was the prominent thing I looked for.
-I also railfanned many other places with MKT ties, including their Ney yard in Fort Worth and of course Saginaw where the rock and grain trains would come through occassionally.

[friscobob]

Here's a good one- driving along the Broken Arrow Expressway in Tulsa, OK. For a stretch, the Katy's line from N. Muskogee to Sand Springs (back in the day, it met up with the OKC line in northern Osage County, OK) was/is in the center median of the freeway. Scary thing about it is, the track was in rotten shape, so I can imagine some poor fool driving along the BA Expressway and coming up on a Katy local, cars weaving side to side like a line of drunken sailors... :eek: :eek: :eek:

[r_i_straw]

I remember the "Salty" running on the joint MKT MoPac line between Houston and Galveston. There was a set of Geeps with a slug in between that showed up regular. They stopped in Dickinson to switch out loads a the mineral oil plant on the bayou there. The tracks went right by the Dickinson High School football field. If a train passed durring a game, the visitors had trouple hearing the anouncer on the loud speakers. Then there was Eureka yard up in Houson with all the weird collection of used power that the Katy picked up.