While driving home this evening from isolating a while with the armadillos, I was on a farm road pulling up to Highway 36 in Orchard, Texas. The crossing gates came down and the lights started flashing for the BNSF tracks ahead. I was following a septic tank servicing truck but still managed to photograph the lead locomotive. After I got on the highway I was able to catch up with the train and shoot the other side.
I too got a chance to meet and hear the chants from this group of guys during the Danville railroad days in the mid 2000's. Hearing their story was amazing.
Do you remember Charles Kuralt segment on the Mississippi Export Railroad track workers? It's on this video it starts at 30:25.
Clayton, thank you for this piece. I've spent years searching for Charles Kuralt's MSE Gandy Dancers and never could find it.
I second the thank you to Clayton. On The Road with Charles Kuralt was a fine program and I'd forgotten all about this segment.
You are welcome @Hytec ! Us being from the gulf coast of Mississippi this railroad is a staple to us rail fans there. Though I still cannot find the actual episode that focused on the MSE gandy dancers. Just this collage of different ones.
The move across a main line and turning the entire structure 90 Deg. before setting it down must have been quite a spectacle to see. In my April 2011 picture below, we can see that the renovation was a success and that the new setting is quite nice. I'm happy too that the city resisted landscaping with trees, as they'd grow to obscure the station and spoil photography. That's the SAL main to Columbia in the foreground.
Clayton, that's how Charles Kuralt and his producer segmented each hour. What you posted is a tape of the original broadcast that I saw when first aired. Having worked in 'Goula from '71 until I retired in '97, I visited the MSE often, even in their shops. It was fascinating watching CSX coal units arrive from the WV coal fields, run to the Gautier passing siding, swap ends, run up the MSE to Plant Daniels, dump their load without stopping, finally come back to Gautier where they swapped ends again and headed back to WV. The train's time on the Coast had to be less than 6 hours. I'm sure part of that quick turn around was because MSE track always appeared as excellent as that of CSX. Thanks again for this.
I was just looking through some of the videos on my phone for an interesting car to contribute to the thread and found these well cars. This was back in October of 2019. There were two 5-car sets of 48’ well cars, all equally graffitied, with these open top trash containers in the middle of a train. Farther on back were a block of 6 aggregate hoppers. I don’t see these very often up here. I am using the Tapatalk app, so let’s see if this uploads at full resolution. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
"Baden House Track" A CP ribbon rail train, led by a veteran pair of SD40-2s lead welded rail racks west into the house track at Baden on CP Portal Sub.
I can't wait to sign on my new house next month. I will literally have MSE in my backyard! I am thinking of doing something along the line of @badlandnp . I know I won't have the frequency of trains running as he, because of the yard. But I should be able to catch them rolling by.
I wish laying flex track on layouts was this easy. The first machine is moving the rail from the shoulder to the center of the ties. The second is moving it onto the tie plates. The two machines were about 100 yards apart, if that. (I goofed. Meant to post this on Men At Work.)