These trips were sponsored by the volunteers of SARM (Southern Appalahia Railway Museum), P.O. Box 5870, Knoxville TN 37928, 865-241-2140. SARM is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the railroad industry. The trip was hosted by Bart Jennings. Also, High Iron Travel Corp, P.O. Box 50116, Minneapolis MN 55405, 612-922-7259, had two cars on the trip. Plus, lets not forget the generosity of the railroads involved: Farmrail; Grainbelt, Wichita, Tillman & Jackson; and Hollis & Eastern for letting us use their roads (Farmrail provided the public coaches).The sponsor's web addresses are:

(SARM) - www.southernappalachia.railway.museum.
(HIGH IRON TRAVEL CORP) - www.highirontravel.com

Email me (Ken Ziegenbein) with suggestions/corrections, etc: ken@trainweather.com
Check out my website, trainweather.com, for lots of weather and railroad stuff. For my fall colors page, go to:
http://trainweather.com/fallcolors2002.html

These photos were taken during the trips on Friday November 1, Saturday November 2, and Sunday November 3, 2002 out of Clinton, Oklahoma. I did not go on any trips earlier in the week. Remember: there are many photos here, all reduced in size for the web, but it may take a few minutes to download them all...be patient. Thanks.

On Friday evening, November 1, we had a special birthday roundtrip between Clinton and Elk City, Oklahoma on the old Rock Island's Sunbelt Line (now part of Farmrail). The party was in honor of Naurine Lennox, who was celebrating her 60th birthday. To celebrate, she sponsored the entire trip, including a meal of grilled steak, baked potatoes, salad and soft drinks for everyone, plus paid for the trip itself.  (Thanks, Naurine!!)

Farmrail 4079 leads the excursion into Clinton, Oklahoma from Altus, Oklahoma (from  the south) at 350 p.m. November 1. I am standing on the south side of the Clinton headquarters of Farmrail. The temperatures was a cold 40 degrees with light rain.

Here the excurion waits to depart at 408 p.m.

Train getting ready to leave with the private cars Caritas and Cimarron River on the rear. At lower right is Bart Jennings taking a photo of Naurine Lennox on the engine with the white flags to celebrate her birthday.

LEFT: Farmrail coach.RIGHT: From the rear of train. The old Santa Fe is on the right, Frisco on the left, just north of Clinton at 502 p.m.

LEFT: After wying, we headed west on the old Rock Island Sunbelt Line toward Elk City at 512 p.m. November 1. RIGHT: A view of the grilled steaks and salad used for the birthday celebration.

More shots of the food and birthday cake. A banjo player got on the train in Elk City and rode back with us to Clinton.

The Rock Island tracks from the rear of the train heading west toward Elk City.

Bart and Sarah Jennings in one of the coaches during the meal.

Today was even colder that yesterday! It was 39 degrees with a misty rain all day. We ran a roundtrip from Clinton to Enid, including a huge meal at the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma in Enid.

The two locomotives hooked onto our train (one at each end) at 753 a.m.November 2 for our trip to Enid. Shown are some passengers on the train, including the Controller of Farmrail, Judy A. Petry (lower right). The girl with her is an exchange student from Warsaw, Poland. Her name is Ewa Maciejewska. The other people shown are several 'rare mileage' riders who go on many of these trips. This trip was sold out with many local riders. One family enjoyed the excitement of riding past their home and going over a highway crossing they drive on every day north of Clinton. Children on board enjoyed playing with a toy wooden train set.

T-shirts with a map of the trip were sold. At right is a typical view from the coaches showing raindrops on the windows. Oh well, railroads provide all-weather transportation, right?

At 1130 a.m., we stopped and had a runby across the Cimarron River south of Enid. One reason for this was the fact that the private car "Cimarron River" was one of the two High Iron cars on the train. This former Frisco car was named "Cimarron River" for the Cimarron River we were crossing. The rain was increasing here and it was rather muddy, but a unique photo spot nonetheless. The photos above are of the train backing across the river (the car "Cimarron River" is seen  middle right).

The runby itself, showing locomotive 4079 "Cheyenne" and the "Cimarron River" private car.

We arrived in Enid at 1230 p.m.and were bused to the Railroad Museum of Oklahoma, where a giant buffet meal was provided. This museum has several model layouts and specializes in old railroad china, plus as you can see, has lots of rolling stock, including many cabooses. My wife picked me up here and we drove back to Clinton on our own.

Hey, it warmed up today (up to 45 degrees!), but it was still a drizzly, dark day for most of the day. The sun did come out late in the day, however. Bart's legacy lives on! We left Clinton for a roundtrip to Frederick, Oklahoma on the old Frisco about 840 a.m., arriving in Frederick at 130 p.m. Again, I left the train in Frederick and we drove to Shawnee, Oklahoma for the night. These trips were over and all I talked to had a great time. Thanks Bart and Farmrail for these three days!

The day started out as foggy and drizzly with little improvement during the day. I thought a shot of the Farmrail/Grainbelt sign was appropriate. Many of us walked the half mile or so from the Best Western to the boarding point.

LEFT is our train at the Farmrail boarding point about 730 a.m. RIGHT: Running past the Farmrail shop area about 8:45 a.m.

We had a runby at 1119 a.m. one mile north of Cold Springs, Oklahoma. On the right notice the two on the hill on the other side of the tracks. Bart Jennings was one of those people.

The runby itself. We all climbed on a ridge overlooking the tracks. Of course, it was raining.

The private cars Caritas and Cimarron River finish pasing the photo line. At right is Mr. Bush, a long-time excursion rider, taking it easy on the train.

In Frederick (about 130 p.m.), the two private cars were picked up by the WT&J Railroad. The Farmrail cars and locomotives returned to Clinton.

This concludes the photo essay of this rare-mileage trip. To see more of my photos of current and past railroad action, go to:
http://www.trainweather.com/sunday.html

ken@trainweather.com (Ken Ziegenbein)