If you haven't got it yet, look for the August 2003 issue of TRAINS- it features the KCS and its boss, Mike Haverty. Also has a pic of two of my fav-o-rite DJs on the radio these days, Brett Dillon & Bruce Kidder- they're on KHYI-FM (the Range).
That was a pretty good article. KCS sure has taken a lot of gambles that seem to have really worked out well for them. I wonder what would have happened if they hadn't though.
As the article said, coal saved KCS's butt in the late 1907s, but it's a static base now- and it's being eroded. The gambles haven't all paid off yet, but they seem to be working so far. The Beaumont-Robstown mess is still an obstacle, thanks to the attitude of the Borg. They, of course, are under no obligation to be nice to a competitor, such is the nature of the business. ALso, if KCS can ever get the wherewithal to turn the former IC line into a decent stretch of railroad from Shreveport east, they'll take a BIG step forward. I remember seeing KCS in operation in the mid-1970s, and its sorry shape and numerous detoured trains (due to the derailments- thanks, WND III, for deferring maint. on track), made a lot of people think the road would never make it to 1980. Well, it did, and if you could have seen the track then and compare it to what it looks like now, you'd be amazed. I'm not a slobbering KCS fan, but I like railfanning this line, especially from Heavener south to Rich Mountain. Every time I've been in Heavener, there's been a freight there awaiting a fresh crew, or refueling at the fuel racks just north of town. I've yet to chase KCS except around Hunt Yard in Greenville, and still heven't seen any TFM diesels (yet).
