The "Whirlwind" was a run thru train that interchanged to the ATSF and operated on the area I model. The ATSF sources I have found have some (limited mostly nose shot) photos but little description of the lading or power. Questions: 1) Anybody know the actual time frame this train operated? Was it still in operation at the time of the MP/UP merger? 2) Was there typical MP power at any times in its history? 3) Was there a specific cargo type or was it a manifest freight? 4) Did it ever use joint power? All photos I have show pure MP power consists.
well i guess we need the we are so busy we have 305 emails to go through response, and since i don't know what area you model, lots of places the mopac and santa fe interchanged.
Santa Fe's 865 train was the Whirlwind. It was a Barstow to MP runthrough train interchanging to the MP at Tecific, Texas for points south and east. See Joe McMillan's Route of the Warbonnets pp. 81-83. Will check Bluebonnets and Warbonnets for more info.
I gave what I could find out from Joe McMillan's Route of the Warbonnets. I expect that the 865 train helps date when the train was a joint MP/AT&SF runthrough. I have to wonder if there was a westbound counterpart and suspect there was likely the 568 train was the westbound. What we need is someone to look up in an Official Guide for the schedules of both MP and AT&SF back in the later 1970s. My newest guide is 1973 so it doesn't help. The junction point was Tecific, TEXAS where the two roads interchanged this train just to the East of Sweetwater. I do note that the 1973 Guide was showing Santa Fe Trains 805/508 as connecting in Sweetwater (Tecific) with MP. I found the Santa Fe 865/568 trains listed in an old 1981 Albuquerque Division ETT I had. The westbound MP train may have been called the FS for Fort Worth-Sweetwater. That is from the 1973 Guide. The eastbound move may have been through a connection with the ED El Paso-Dallas. Both of those freights show connections at Sweetwater. I don't know if it was called the Whirlwind back in 1973. Ed
Unfortunately the books I have from McMillan only show some side shots. T&FF shows the #618 on the point. However one shot does not tell me if this was an anomoly or the normal power. Also I'd like to locate info on normal consists.
