On my morning bike ride yesterday, I saw a BNSF oil train parked on the other side of the general aviation airport that I pass. Tried to zoom in with my cell phone but that just seems to produce crappy photos. Anyway was surprised to see an old SD70 in the BN Executive paint scheme in the consist. I remember when these were usually only seen on UFIX coal trains in these parts. The covered hopper car behind it is just the required buffer between the oil cans and the locomotives.
An unusual find in town today! An Excel Energy Ortner 5 bay coal hopper. XCLX 054. Graffiti could be hiding part of the car number also.
I sent in a suggestion to BNSF - 3M makes a product that's a sheet of clear plastic that sticks to metal or paint. My suggestion was that they stick this stuff over car reporting marks or whatever and if it's graphitied, they just peel the stuff off and stick on another sheet - the graphiti comes right off with the plastic wrap. I never heard anything about it though - been a couple years. *I* thought it was a good idea. ;-) Here, I'll include a picture to make my comment in this forum valid! CIMG2894 by MaxDaemon posted Mar 31, 2017 at 6:04 PM Maui, Hawaii's Sugar Cane train - fun little road. Unfortunately, I think they closed it this year, but it's apparently being looked at to restart.
I didn't realize that Rock Island came into Houston. I knew they interchanged with SP at Dalhart, but Houston seems too far east and south for the Rock.
Oh, yeah. See the post #1205. The Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway was chartered in 1902 but soon ran into financial problems. The Colorado & Southern bought it in 1905 and sold half to the Chicago Rock Island & Pacific. The railroad eventually connected Dallas/Fort Worth with Galveston, some of it via track rights and was operated as a joint line. The railroad's name was changed to the Burlington-Rock Island. (C&S being part of the Chicago Burlington & Quincy.) Here is one of the first Rock Island Streamliners leaving Houston in 1937. It was replaced by the Twin Star Rocket during WWII.
Russell, I was going to ask you what that locomotive was, but apparently Mike answered my query. Now, to both...what was the TA, and who made it?
Nice looking trolley. They were, and still are an efficient system for public transportation. But we HAVE to have our automobiles....sigh.
And so many were privately owned, built, etc. Not the billion dollar boondoggles of government owned messes.
Out with the old and in with the new. Ugh. Scene shot at Marion, VA on former N&W a few days ago. Not many of the PLs remain.
