C'mon foks, show some interest or this board could disappear! You gotta love this railroad for the logo alone! Let's hear it for the Cotton Belt! I have some good memories of the Cotton Belt because back in the '50's (when I was a mere child), I used to climb all over (including inside) the rolling stock & locomotives on the Cotton Belt sidings in Mt. Pleasant, TX. In retrospect, they must have been terribly lax about trespassing on rr property, but I had a lot of fun seeing Cotton Belt equipment up close and personal. One of my best memories is getting to sit in a caboose and listen to the conductor & the rear brakeman tell lies - to a 10 year old it was pretty exciting, but I'm sure they stretched the truth quite a bit
When my son and I visited Southern California in 1998, we were excited to see a Cotton Belt SD45T-2 from the motel balcony in Mojave. It was in an appalling condition, but looked GREAT!!! Find a pic of it on my web site (gallery) on the Mojave page. ------------------ Alan www.ac-models.com http://Andersley.homestead.com http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com
Cotton Belt fans are all over the place including New Zealand where I am. I have been interested in Cotton Belt for about 20 years, have accumulated books and articles in magazines etc, but have failed in finding any, but any, film/video of SSW in the period up to the 1960s. I want to model in the near future, SSW in Texas in the late 50s early 60s in an area between Waco TX and Gatesville TX. Who can locate some film for me? I also belong to the Cotton Belt list on Onelist, about 50 members there. We will have to drag some of them over here as well. What about photos of SSW/REA express cars. Have located one only to date. Charlie Harris SSW New Zealand Division HO - Harris Creek Railroad (there is a location on the Waco - Gatesville called Harris Creek!
Charlie; Invite them over. I think we can handle 50 Cotton Belt folks Charlie ------------------ Ship It On The FRISCO!
I'm here ! I'm awake ! I'm a regular to the Espee list on Onelist, but I hadn't heard of trainboard.com until a link for it showed up in a post. Southern Pacific fan, but of course that means I love the Cotton Belt too ! I'm a Central California native transplanted to Northern Virginia .... I miss the grey and scarlet of SP/SSW locomotives, stuck out here in the east and doomed to watch dull black NS locomotives, occasionally a grey-blue-yellow CSX unit. As a young kid, I would breathlessly point at a black-widow-painted F-7 or GP-7/9 lettered for Cotton Belt, saying to friends, "Look at that ! It's almost the same as an SP engine, but it says 'Cotton Belt' !" .... not understanding at that tender age the relationship of the two roads. Anyway, here I am ... and I'll be back ! - Dave Dave Gates "Pining for the SP/SSW in the land of NS and CSX"
Good to have you on board, Dave. Spread the word! What terrible thing did you do to be banished to NS territory? ------------------ Alan www.ac-models.com http://Andersley.homestead.com http://galleryusarail_tehcaj.homestead.com http://eurogallery.homestead.com
Here is another Cotton Belt fan. My first year of college was at the old East texas State University (now part of A&M) in Commerce. The Cotton Belt ran four trains a day through there plus locals. In the Spring another pair of freights was added to keep up with Dallas freight traffic. Made friends with the third trick op and got to watch him work. One of the guys in the dorm had a grandfather in town who was a retired Cotton Belt engineer.
