MARCH 3, 2002. Today Robin Thomas, John Jones and myself went on a 12-hour train photographing trip, starting from Little Rock, east to Brinkley, up the UP's (ne. Cotton Belt) Jonesboro Sub,  west from Jonesboro on the BNSF (ne. Frisco) to Hoxie, then south  from Hoxie on UP's (ne. Missouri Pacific) Hoxie Sub. Included are scenes of the being-remodelled Brinkley Rock Island/Cotton Belt depot and a good shot of two UP trains going over the Little Red River bridge near Judsonia, plus several towns in between. Also shown are photos of UP's new Remote Control unit 100 at Searcy.
   It was one of, if not THE coldest day of the winter with temperatures starting out in the middle teens and staying in the 20s all day with a strong northerly wind of 15 to 25 mph with higher gusts. My fingers kept getting numb. It was clear, though.
   These are all the usual small-size photos taken by my Sony Cyber-Shot. I have much higher resolution photos of most of the scenes if you'd ever want one.

To see other train scenes over the months, see: http://www.trainweather.com/sunday.html

To read the latest Arkansas Railroader monthly newsletter of the Little Rock Chapter, NRHS, Arkansas Railroad Club (which I edit), go to: http://www.trainweather.com/road.html

Ken Ziegenbein, ken@trainweather.com






The above 6 shows the being-remodeled Cotton Belt/Rock Island depot in Brinkley, Arkansas. You can see where the Rock Island crossed the Cotton Belt (now a busy UP line) - there are still some ties there. Looking east toward Memphis, you can see the original Rock Island line, now also part of the UP.


LEFT-Fair Oaks, our first train, UP3557, 849 a.m. RIGHT-Robin Thomas bundled up in the cold at Fair Oaks.


LEFT-UP3280, Fair Oaks, 930 a.m. The line crossing from left to right is the Memphis Sub of the old Missouri Pacific from Bald Knob east to Memphis through Wynne. RIGHT-CSX5816 near Tilton, 942 a.m. Most trains on the Jonesboro Sub are directional running southbounds.


LEFT-Old airplane near Waldenburg, 1001 a.m. RIGHT-Weiner, Arkansas, showing a grain elevator, 1039 a.m. There are many such elevators along the Jonesboro Sub.


LEFT-UP9449 through Weiner, 1050 a.m. RIGHT-Conrail6401, 1103 a.m.


LEFT-At Weiner. RIGHT-Old observation car at Gibson, Arkansas, apparently deserted but signs of being used as a residence. More photos will show that lots of stuff on the car is still there. Does anybody know what this car is?






ABOVE SIX photos show more of the car, sitting next to the Craighead Rice Milling Company buildings. If you know anything about it, email me at ken@trainweather.com


LEFT-at UP yard in Jonesboro, 1050 a.m. RIGHT-BNSF office in Jonesboro, 1159 a.m.


LEFT-BNSF Santa Fe2197 shown at Jonesboro with BN caboose #9449. RIGHT-BN caboose #12385 at Jonesboro, about noon. This caboose was actually behind a string of freight cars - does anybody know if BNSF actually uses these on certain runs or what their purpose is? If so, email me at ken@trainweather.com


LEFT-BNSF/UP crossing east of Jonesboro, taken about 1230 p.m. The track to the left is BNSF (ne. Frisco), crossed by the UP (ne. Cotton Belt). RIGHT-At Jonesboro, waiting for a BNSF freight in the distance.


BNSF603 eastbound coming into Jonesboro, 102 p.m. Trailing unit was BNSF4856.


LEFT-UP5657 northbound through Hoxie, 206 p.m. RIGHT-UP4310 at Hoxie, 217 p.m.

 
LEFT-CSX7328, just south of Hoxie, 224 p.m. RIGHT-UP7275 near Minturn, 232 p.m.


LEFT-SP3996, 236 p.m. near Alicia. RIGHT-Bald Knob depot, not being used for anything but seems to be structurally sound. Does anybody know who owns this depot, UP or the City?


UP coming off the Memphis Sub into Bald Knob.This line that curves eastward at Bald Knob is the one that cross the UP at Fair Oaks. Time was 350 p.m.


LEFT-Passing the Bald Knob depot, 353 p.m. RIGHT-UP double-track bridge over the Little Red River with a northbound train, 423 p.m.


LEFT-A southbound was passing the northbound at 425 p.m. The leads almost were on the bridge at the same time. RIGHT-A closer view.


LEFT-After just having crossed the Little Red, UP8531 heads south. This was the train coming from Memphis that we saw in Bald Knob. RIGHT-A couple of miles further south of Judsonia, UP8531 again passes a northbound UP freight. The double-track almost again allowed us to get two trains meeting each other at the road crossing. Time was 439 p.m.


LEFT-UP8531 heading south through Kensett about 444 p.m. RIGHT-UPY100, a EXS20 slug, SL1RCL, one of the new remote control units being evaluated, was sitting at Searcy.


Another shot of UPY100. From here we headed home to North Little Rock, frozen and dirty.