My brother tells me that the BNSF is down sizing the great former Frisco hump yard in Tulsa, where I really woke up and figured out what I was doing working on the railroad. The night or 3rd shift has been eliminated except one industrial job that works the acid plant and DX refinery. Most all traffic is now run through P's and z's. Most all blocking and switching of cars is done in KC and traffic has been divereted to the former SF main thru OKC. Lots of switchman like my brother are starting to wonder if they will get cut off like the 20+ did when they whacked off the midnight shift.
Yikes! I hope the hump doesn't go the way of the Rio Grande yard in Grand Junction- it's been out of service for several years now. How are the runthroughs being handled as they run between the Cherokee and Enid Subs? I know the Enid Sub turnoff is north of the yard, so running down into, then backing out of, the yard is out of the question. Also, how much traffic is left south out of Tulsa headed to & from D-FW?
I will ask my brother those questions and get back to ya. Last time we talked about the south end I seem to think he said they were lucky if they ran 2 trains south. Like I said I'll check on it.
IIRC, one of those trains would be traffic coming off the Kiamichi RR at Lakeside, OK (the former Frisco A&A Sub to Hope, AR, the Kiamichi's Madill Turn hands off its train to BNSF at Madill- although I've seen BNSF power in Hugo a few times, so apparently Kiamichi crews were running the trains with BNSF as runthrough power). And hopefully, the coal trains have come back as well to the WEFC power plant & Ft. Towson, OK on the KRR.
