Welcome to the Kansas City Southern (KCS) Forum, an independent transportation company comprised of four primary railroads: Kansas City Southern (KCS), Texas Mexican (Tex Mex), Grupo Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana (TFM) and Panama Canal Railway Co. (PCRC). Enjoy.
I don't have much to offer this forum.... I did catch a KCS unit on a NS train (that was, after chasing it several miles ) Harold
I considered modeling the KCS several years ago but didn't because I know that I would never be able to get those cheezy looking "candycane" handrails to look good enough in N scale to satisfy myself. Why can't they paint them just white or yellow?
When I was in the Army, I was stationed in Louisiana. I did get to see some KCS action. But had no camera with me. I always thought that choosing a white paint scheme was asking for dirt and grime to show up quickly. For me, the current gray is much better. Boxcab E50 [ 25. October 2002, 17:00: Message edited by: BoxcabE50 ]
KCS6625 is westbound on a CSX train at Harborcreek PA, Sep 2000. Looks like this was a Canadian loco at one time by the snow sheilds, bell and light locations. Welcome to the new forum folks!!!
Hot Dog .... Now I'll have to run uptown and get some photos of the hodge-podge of locos that show up on our orphan line. The line is KCS, ex-Mid-South, ex-IC, nee-Gulf & Ship Island from Gulfport to Hattiesburg, MS, then trackage rights on CN/IC to the interchange with the KCS east/west main at Jackson, MS. A few weeks ago, there were 5 locos heading north with the tri-weekly mixed merchandise of 78 cars. Would you believe ... 2 Mid-South GP-10's (Paducah rebuilds inherited from IC in 1986) 1 Gateway Western GP-38(?) 1 KCS GP-40(ish) 1 Gateway Eastern (never heard of it, but that's what was on the body!) [ 25. October 2002, 18:34: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
Gateway Western is a 402-mile regional, bridge carrier operating between Kansas City and East St. Louis and Springfield, Ill. Gateway Western Source: RR Links right here on TrainBoard .
Thanks Jim, but I was questioning the Gateway Eastern . I had never heard of it before seeing it on that loco.
Thanks Jim, I'll check it out. BTW, your link seems to come up with a dead-end ... ? I'll search for the GWEE when I leave TB. Thanks again.
My first exposure to the KCS was in 1979, when I was in medical technology school in Ft. Smith, AR. I shot the Ft. Smith Dodger in that city, and with friends chased KCS freights between Spiro and Heavener, OK. I became familiar with this road around the time new blood had come in to erase the mess Deramus left the railroad. I missed the red, red & black, red & black & gold, etc. colors on the F units, but I did get to see F-units and Geeps in action- ever see a locomotive run with a traction motor on fire? Later, when I met & married wife number 1 and moved to Kansas, I would make trips back to her folks in Arkansas, and chased KCS action between Watts and Heavener. Even after the divorce and her moving back to Arkansas, I would make trips to see the kids- every trip I made, I made it a point to stop by Heavener at least once to check out KCS action, and even got to shoot the main at Texarkana. When the Kiamichi RR became the owner of five old Geeps and two F-unit slugs in 1990, I was there to shoot the arrival in Hugo yard. One slug, the 4055 (nee F7 70) is now in Kiamichi paint, and is on display at the Frisco RR Depot Museum in Hugo. On my commutes to & from work, US 75 passes under the KCS in Plano (its line from Wylie to the Santa Fe main). I have yet to see a train on that line, but considering the traffic in & around downtown Plano, I'll wager they run at night. If Arthur Stilwell were alive today, I'm sure he would grin when he looked at the Kansas City Southern- it's a far cry from the line he built from KC to Port Arthur, Texas.
FriscoBob, do you remember this paintjob? These are two "A" units and a "B" unit KCS E-8's that I have. They are HO scale. The "B" unit below is a closeup to show the lettering detail. I plan to put the "A" units on eBay soon, the "B" is already sold.