SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2005 in Little Rock and SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 in Brinkley, Arkansas. Motive power on October 2 includes: UP 9478, 9579, 5109, 4983, 6604 *** CSX 4794 *** Santa Fe 6848 *** BNSF 634, 155. Fallen flag rolling stock: Rock Island hopper, MKT red gondola  #16165 with colorful scrap, Ashley, Drew & Northern boxcar, an old Santa Fe fereight car.




UP 9478, 9:20 a.m. October 2, 2005 passing Union Station in Little Rock.


Old red MKT gondola 16265 with a rather colorful load of scrap.


Another view.


View of group and Union Station.


UP 5109, southbound at 9:45 a.m.


Closer.


Unknown father and son watching.


Blue gondola, also full of colorful scrap.


Ashley Drew & Northern boxcar.


An old Santa Fe car. According to Joe Enochs, "the Santa Fe car you shot was not a box car I think.  It was an old woodchip car.  I think it had SMIX reporting marks. SMI Structural Steel uses these to haul metal scrap to their recycling plant in Seguin, Texas on the Sunset line east or San Antonio. They usually come through here (Taylor, Texas) on the Austin Sub and then get sent to Seguin from S.A.  Those folks use about anything that they can to haul scrap. The steel market is so strong that they need the capacity.  They use gons, old woodchip cars,
old boxcars with the roof removed, old coal cars, and even an occasional coke car."


Getting these while I can, Rock Island hopper.


UP 9579, 9:56 a.m. with fan club.


UP 4983, 10:06 a.m.


CSX 4794 leading the BNSF rights train past the station at 10:20 a.m.


Santa Fe 6898.


BNSF 155 and 634.


UP 6604, 10:56 a.m.


These were taken Saturday, October 1, 2005 at Brinkley, Arkansas. Here's a southbound UP train at 8:45 a.m. I work at this restored Brinkley depot museum on Saturdays.


The train is about to cross U.S. Highway 70.


The former Rock Island/Cotton Belt station now houses a museum called the Central Delta Depot Museum. It has exhibits on the delta, railroads, the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, thought to be extinct but re-discovered in the delta woodlands nearby recently, and other things.


View from the east side of the tracks near U.S. 70. The tracks curving to the right go to Memphis on the former Rock Island while the main north-south line goes north to Jonesboro and beyond on the former Cotton Belt. Both are now UP, which runs mostly southbounds through here, south to Pine Bluff, Texarakana and Texas. Trains run at track speed on the main line.


Another view.  The station to the right of the Brinkley depot used to be at Monroe, Arkansas on the Missouri Pacific, about 10 miles southeast of here. The old MoPac tracks were taken up years ago.


Shown in early morning light on October 1.


CSX 5930 leads a train from Memphis around the curve at 9:51 a.m. Oct 1.


The train will switch over the the main north-south line eventually.


Fred Fillers of our Arkansas Railroad Club visited the museum on October 1.  The tile floor was the original floor of this station.