brinkley

For a little change of scenery regarding rail photography, here's some photos I took at Brinkley Union Station Museum in Brinkley, Arkansas from August 27 through September 10, 2005. I'm now a volunteer worker/host at the depot/museum on Saturdays. The UP main directional-south line (ne. Cotton Belt) runs right past this restored depot and the trains run at track speed (55-60 mph) past the station. Plus UP's line to Memphis (ne. Rock Island) meets the Cotton Belt line at the depot, so at times you can see train lights in the distance both from the north and from the east. At other times, it's quiet train-wise for a couple of hours (they seem to run in rapid succession, almost all southbound).
Come visit the museum if you're ever driving by Brinkley on Interstate 40 (between Little Rock and Memphis on the old Rock Island and Cotton Belt (UP). It's located where US 70 crosses the UP tracks in downtown Brinkley. The depot is officially called the Central Delta Depot Museum, 100 West Cypress St, Brinkley AR 72121-2809. The depot is the original 1912 Rock Island/Cotton Belt depot which was almost torn down in the early 1990s. Head of the museum is Bill Sayger, billsayger@cddm.org, www.cddm.org. You may also contact me, Ken Ziegenbein, at the email link at the top of this page - this link will take you to a comments form. Some of the nicest people I've ever met work at or volunteer at this museum.

This shot taken on a stormy Saturday, August 27, 2005, shows the restored Brinkley depot. This was two days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and this band of thunderstorms was part of the outermost cloud bands of this storm, according to my NWS satellite loops of the time. Some of the photos this first day will be darkish, to say the least. This was also the day the UP Heritage Katy 1988 came by this station.

My first picture, at 8:43 a.m., in the pouring rain with cloud to ground lightning all around me. To try to get a sharper image since trains go so fast past here, I went to shutter priority on my Sony DV1 digital set to 180th second. Yep...the locomotive is in sharp focus, but of course you can't see it! :-) I know I could lighten it up with Paint Shop Pro, but I wanted to show you how it really looked at the time. The structure to the left is the Monroe, Arkansas MoPac depot on display at the museum park.

9:07 a.m. Aug 27. This time I went to aperature priority and lightened it up. Blurry, but at least you know there's a train in the picture. This was taken from inside the depot/museum looking out the original bay windows of the station. The light at right center is the headlight of another UP train coming from Memphis on the old Rock Island. It's about to go around a sharp curve and merge with the tracks in the foreground. Unfortunately it was blocked from view this time by the CSX-led train.

9:47 a.m. Aug 27. I'm standing on the abandoned roadbed of the Rock Island just on the west side of the UP (Cotton Belt) main. There are still ties where the track used to be. The train in the distance will curve around to the right - it's on the former Rock Island tracks (Sunbelt Line) to Memphis.

Another shot of the depot. Just on this side of the fence you can see the grade of the former Rock Island. The bay window where I took a previous picture can be seen at the center of the photo.

9:50 a.m., UP 4818 is starting to round the curve, going from straight west to straight south, where it'll merge with the track in the foreground south of Brinkley.