OCTOBER 14, 2001 (Union Station Little Rock. UP 9659, 6211, 9252, 1539, 9418)

OCTOBER 21, 2001 (Union Station Little Rock. UP 4465, 1540, 4542, 8182(?) *** BNSF 4713 in bright red Santa Fe Warbonnet colors)

NOVEMBER 25, 2001 (Union Station Little Rock. UP 8132, 9?70)

DECEMBER 9, 2001 (Union Station - 11 trains between 7:30 and noon, 9 photographed, including UP 4699, 9795, 9536, 3782 *** others)

OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY TRAIN PHOTOS IN ARKANSAS, DECEMBER 13, 2001 - Small digital photos and a one-minute 1.4mb MPEG movie taken of the Union Pacific Olympic Torch Train, Thursday, December 13, 2001. The shots were taken at Gurdon, Arkadelphia and Donaldson, Arkansas.

DECEMBER 24, 2001 (Union Station just before UP freights stopped running for Christmas)

DECEMBER 28, 2001 - December 28, 2001 was the last day Union Pacific owned this bridge across the Arkansas River between Little Rock and North Little Rock (the Junction Bridge). This was a former Missouri Pacific line. Now UP only has the Baring Cross bridge to operate on, although they haven't had but one or two trains a month crossing the Junction Bridge in recent months. UP gave the bridge to the City of Little Rock after the STB approved the abandonment of it. The City takes it over officially December 29, according to latest estimates. It is to be made into a pedestrian bridge with an elevator in the middle to get over the span lift, which will remain permanently open due to barge traffic. You can see parts of the track going to the bridge taken from the River Market in Little Rock as well as the Alltel Arena across the river in North Little Rock. One scene has a kiddie train ride in the foreground. Also on this page are a couple of photos of trains passing Union Station in Little Rock, one having a CNW Operation Lifesaver unit as the third unit. All photos taken December 28, 2001

DECEMBER 30, 2001 - December 30, 2001 at Union Station, Little Rock. There were many different roadnames on locomotives today, including Union Pacific, Cotton Belt, CNW, NS, CSX, BNSF, D&RG and Conrail. It was cold with water frozen in small ponds again, and clouds increased during the morning. Photos were taken between 908 a.m. and 1055 a.m. with a total of six trains. The BNSF trackage rights train was unusually long (didn't count the cars, but must have been over a mile and a quarter long).

2002

JANUARY 13, 2002 - Trainwatching, Union Station, Little Rock. Included today is a bright red F-Unit of the Idaho Northern between two black NS units, northbound.

LITTLE ROCK & WESTERN PHOTOS - Below are two days worth of photographing the Little Rock & Western Railroad, January 9 and January 14, 2002. This line runs from a junction with Union Pacific in Little Rock westward to Perry, Arkansas (it's headquarters) then continues west to Danville, Arkansas, the home of Wayne Farms, with it supplies much of the grain used to feed chickens. The line is the old Rock Island Choctaw route that ran from Memphis to Tucumcari, New Mexico through Little Rock and Oklahoma City. The Little Rock & Western (LRWN) took over operations of the line from Little Rock to Danville, Arkansas in the mid 1980s. The old Rock west of Danville was taken up in 1985 or so.
 
OUACHITA RAILROAD PHOTOS - The following were taken Tuesday, January 22, 2002 by Ken Ziegenbein. They show a working freight on the Ouachita Railroad (OUCH)  between El Dorado, Arkansas and Lillie, Louisiana. The OUCH runs on the former Rock Island between these two cities. According to Mike Robbins, President of OUCH, the line owns the following:
   Locomotives: OUCH 1151 (GMD1) on loan to CQPA; OUCH 1159 (GMD1); and OUCH 63 (SW7, former EACH); Rolling Stock: 75 OUCH single door boxcars; 50 DR Centerbeams for use at Georgia Pacific at Anthony Forest. They run on a line (former Rock Island) 25 miles long between El Dorado, Arkansas and Lillie, Louisiana.
   Customers: Davison Petroleum (El Dorado); Anthony Forest (El Dorado - lumber); Georgia Pacific (Catesville - lumber); Great Lakes Chemical (Catesville - chemicals); and Willamette Industries (Lillie, Louisiana - particle board)

JANUARY 24, 2002 - January 24, 2002 at Union Station. Little Rock, showing one freight in the cold rain. I always thought railroads signify all-weather transportation and scenes like this "prove" it.
The photos were taken about 3 p.m. CST by Ken Ziegenbein.

FEBRUARY 3, 2002 - Sunday, February 3, 2002 at Union Station in Little Rock . There were lots of trains today. Some had to stop to let the yard area in North Little Rock clear out. An engineer told us that there were 11 northbound trains stacked up behind him as of 1030 a.m. (I guess the recession is over). As information, Amtrak President Warrington announced yesterday, February 2, that Amtrak would discontinue all long-distance passenger service October 1, 2002 unless Congress gave it $1.2 billion.

FEBRUARY 6, 2002 - SNOW DAY, Wednesday, February 6, 2002  at Little Rock's Union Station. It was 32 degrees with a dark sky and light freezing mist, but the streets were ok so I ventured out. There were nine trains between 1130 am and 130 pm. It was a dark day with backlight problems, so I've enhanced some of the photos so you can see the trains better. There's also a shot taken inside the Little Rock Amtrak station, which has some of the original benches taken from Memphis Central Station back in the 1980s or early 90s. Also shown is a switch heater (fire) under the heavily used switch between the two main tracks just before going across the Baring Cross bridge.

FEBRUARY 10, 2002 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2002 - Once again at Little Rock's Union Station. Of  special interest today is the photo of  UP SD-70 #4724 with the new pollution control (Tier One). Robin Thomas, who was also taking pictures, said it was probably a 2002 model.

FEBRUARY 16 and 17 2002  -  These were taken Saturday, February 16 and Sunday, February 17, 2002 at Union Station in Little Rock. Sunny skies. On Saturday, February 16, there were fifteen trains between 1141 am and 421 pm with a half hour missed due to lunch. Robin Thomas was there from 730 am till 1 pm and he had 18 trains during that time. Total number of trains, not counting the overlapping counts between me and Robin, was 27 from 730 am to 421 pm.
   On the February 17 outing, there was a unit ballast/rock "dump" train with the drawbar connections. Also I got a rare red Katy gondola on which you can barely see the MKT white writing.

FEBRUARY 19, 2002 - FEBRUARY 19, 2002 at Union Station in Little Rock, showing a LRWN freight waiting on a UP coal train and the southbound UP train with an SP unit in the lead. It was a stormy day.

FEBRUARY 21, 2002 - Here are a few photos taken at Ashdown, Arkansas of the KCS and Kiamichi Feb 21, 2002.

OLD "DROVER" CAR IN ASHDOWN, ARKANSAS - Clayton Castleman, 110 Little River 68, Ashdown AR 71822 wants to know the origins of this 9-window "drover" car near Ashdown, Arkansas. He nas moved this caboose (in the summer of 2003) and moved it next to the refurbished GN&A (aka. Memphis, Paris and Gulf) depot in downtown Ashdown soon. (The KCS now owns the former GNA line). For an updated photo of this caboose as of December 11, 2003, see HERE.
   As you can see, the caboose,coach,baggage car was red at one time... is it a former Cotton Belt caboose. He said it was built between 1890 and 1920. It is wooden and has been at this location near Ashdown for 35 years, the last 15 years being vacant. It was a bait shop until 1987 or so.

FEBRUARY 28, 2002 - FEBRUARY 28, 2002. Taken at Union Station, Little Rock. One shot has four locomotive roadnames. Also shows signs on the Amtrak station door, the first day the Amtrak ticket office was closed due to the major cutbacks in staffing...from 6 down to 1. It will only be open 11 p.m. till 8 a.m. or so each day.

MARCH 3, 2002 - 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-remodeled 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.

MARCH 10, 2002 - SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2002.  Scenes today show track work and a couple of cars still turned over when a few cars of a northbound (I believe) UP freight derailed predawn last Friday  morning, March 8, at the north switch in front of Union Station in Little Rock. Apparently, the gondolas were carrying sand. The Amtrak switch to Amtrak's siding was damaged and removed and hadn't been replaced as of Sunday morning. I was waiting on the CSX 769 SD70 MAC unit, but traffic was so backed up that it was still in Texas after dark Sunday after leaving Arlington, Texas at 3 Sunday morning. It finally went through Little Rock about 10 Monday morning, but I was working and missed it.

MARCH 19, 2002 - I made a quick trip to Mineola, Texas via the Texas Eagle on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 and here are a few scenes. The highlight of  the trip was the school tour of 84 Amish/Mennonite kids and their teachers. They rode from Texarkana to Longview and had a ball. Dark clouds came over Mineola late in the day and I got some interesting photos.

APRIL 3, 2002 - Went to the Amtrak station shortly after 11 p.m. at Little Rock, Wednesday, April 3, 2002 and saw THREE BNSF units lined up side by side at Union Station, one apparently on the Little Rock & Western line, having backed onto that track. Before I could get my car stopped, the one on the right (on the LRWN line) began to move, as can be seen in the photo of the two units (note streak to right of engines). These photos were taken using a handheld CyberShot camera with two second exposure, so the shot of  the two units plus the departing freight is blurry. I managed to get one flash picture of the two standing units just before they departed.

APRIL 13, 2002 - Here are a couple of train photos taken in College Station, Cat Spring and Sealy, Texas Saturday, April 13, 2002 plus a photo of a BNSF train in Brenham and a UP train in Hearne, April 14 and some shots of the Winsboro, Texas KCS restored depot. Included are a few shots of bluebonnets. I had wanted to get a shot of a UP train through my hometown of New Ulm, but by the time I heard the train come through, it was too late and I had to chase it to Cat Spring, about 11 miles away. I barely made it in time.

APRIL 20, 2002 - Here are some photos of the Branson Scenic Railway at the old Missouri Pacific depot in Branson, Missouri, Saturday, April 20,. 2002. The F-Unit is BSR #98, the other unit is BSR #99. The lone car is RSRX8503 "Silver Chief." Note the photo of the F-Unit with the horse-drawn buggy in the background. They were not operating. Does anybody know if they will this year?

APRIL 27, 2002 - APRIL 27, 2002. The Arkansas Railroad Club had an excursion on the Ouachita Railroad (OUCH) from El Dorado, Arkansas to Lillie, Louisiana (about 25 miles) and return on Saturday, April 27, 2002 (on the former Rock Island). The President of OUCH, Michael Robbins and OUCH employee Bobby Jones ran the train for both our club and as a working freight that Saturday. We had a caboose and a flatcar with chairs firmly seated to ride on. There were over 30 club members who rode this rare-mileage excursion. Going to the Weyerhauser plant in Lilllie, we pulled 9 boxcars and coming back we hauled 10 mostly loaded cars behind us. Speed was about 10 mph on the average, less on upgrades with one engine.
   The scenery in the Arkansas and Louisiana springtime was gorgeous with lush greenery and swampy land both in south Arkansas and northern Louisiana. We stopped at Junction City, on the state line between Arkansas and Louisiana for lunch at a barbecue place. We left El Dorado at 10 a.m. and returned by about  4 p.m. All had a great time.
   At the bottom of the page are a few scenes I took the day before of the beautifully restored Rock Island depot at Bernice, Louisiana, about 7 miles south of Lillie, where the old Rock Island tracks had been taken up years ago. However, it is rumored (good rumor) that this former abandoned Rock Island right of way will once again have tracks laid down later this year between Lillie and Bernice because of demand of businesses there. Let's hope this occurs and that one day we may be able to ride all the way to Bernice.

APRIL 28, 2002 - APRIL 28, 2002  - Union Station, Little Rock photos. What was unusual today was a 4-unit lashup of Cotton Belt locomotives on one of the trains.

MAY 5, 2002 - MAY 5, 2002 at Conway, Arkansas' huge Toad Suck "Daze". Over 100,000 people were estimated at this downtown Conway festival each day and Union Pacific's Arkansas Subdivision runs right through the middle of town. Here are a few photos of 3 trains coming through on Sunday, May 5. Operation Lifesaver manned all the crossings with uniformed people that stopped anyone from crossing the tracks ahead of the trains, even though all the crossings have crossing gates and bells.
   The craft festival, with vendors from as far away as Indiana and New Mexico, is famous for its toad (frog) racing events each day.

MAY 10, 2002 - MAY 9 & MAY 10, 2002 - Taken at Union Station, Little Rock. What's sort of exciting to me is UP Flatcar #262002 with a load was on one of the trains on May 10. That is the car we rode on back on April 27 when the Arkansas Railroad Club ran the excursion on the Ouachita Railroad from El Dorado, Arkansas to Lillie, Louisiana and back over the old Rock Island. I kept tracing the car just in case it would come through someplace where I could catch a photo and today was the day. See photos of this trip at: http://www.trainweather.com/apr27.html
   This car went from the OUCH on UP down to Alexandria, Louisiana on May 7 where apparently it picked up a load of some sort. From Alexandria it was scheduled to go to the CSXT interchange in Valjct, Illinois via UP with the interchange forecast to take place on May 11. I kept checking the trace and about noon on May 10, it had left McGehee, Arkansas at 1047 a.m. I knew then that it would be coming through Little Rock and Union Station sometimes during the day. At 1240 p.m. it was at Grady, Arkansas and left Pine Bluff at 1:12 p.m. That's when I headed to Union Station in Little Rock (I figured it would take about 2 hours or so from Pine Bluff to Little Rock baring any stops).
   I settled down for what I though might be a few hours, since it had to go through Biddle Yard before coming past Union Station and no telling what else the train had to pick up on the way. Well, at 304 p.m. I noticed the green light on the north main and knew another northbound train was coming. UP3251 was on the lead and I noticed it was a  mixed train, but I thought it would be wild luck that a train could make it from Pine Bluff to Union Station in less than 2 hours, but looking down the train, I noticed two bulkhead flat cars about the middle of the train. Sure enough, the second flat was UP262002.
   I know this doesn't mean that much to most people, but it's really fun to know that a car you've been associated with miles away is coming through on a train. I guess I'll keep tracing this car. Oh, by the way, the car's destination is Westfield, Massachusetts! Don't think we could have ridden it that far!

JUNE 9, 2002 - Here are a few shots taken at Union Station, Little Rock, Sunday June 9, 2002. I was the only one there today.

JUNE 21, 2002 - These photos were taken the week of June 19-21, 2002. I'll start with the Brinkley, Arkansas photos of three trains in only 30 minutes. A few others were taken in Alabama and Georgia.

JUNE 23, 2002 - JUNE 23, 2002 at Union Station in Little Rock. Roadnames today include Rio Grande, Norfolk Southern, SP, BNSF and UP.

JUNE 29, 2002 (Plus other days. Includes LRWN plus Baseline Rd in Little Rock and Union Station, plus a UP special June 30 and a rainbow)

UP SPECIAL JUNE 30, 2002 (passing Union Station, 1013 a.m.. plus Amtrak 21, the Texas Eagle)

JULY 4, 2002 (Some taken of the Baring Cross Bridge, plus red, white and blue unit DWP5908 on July 11)

JULY 14, 2002 (Three UP flagged/winged units passing Union Station plus red CP9012)

JULY 21, 2002 (Brenham, Texas and Union Station in Little Rock with rainbow and sunset)

CLASSIC RAIL PHOTOS (These are photos I made in the 70s and 80s, including lots of fallen flags, like the Katy)

RAIL PHOTOS IN  THE MIDWEST, PLAINS AND MONTANA 2002 (Includes DM&E, Montana Rail Link, UP shops in Cheyenne, South Kansas and Oklahoma, Amtrak's Empire Builder through Montana. These will take a few minutes to download -I separated the pages with another link one time) 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 (Some were taken in Newton, Kansas September 5, others at Union Station in Little Rock September 9)

SEPTEMBER 22 & 29, 2002 (Union Station in Little Rock...various locomotives plus a Delaware & Hudson boxcar)

OCTOBER 6, 2002 (Union Station, my first BNSF trackage-rights coal train, Chessie hopper, colorized UP sequence)

OCTOBER 14, 2002 (Reader Railroad in Reader, Arkansas after the town became unincorporated, plus a few Union Station photos)

OCTOBER 19 & 20, 2002 (Union Station in the cool rain. Temp 48 degrees)

MALVERN ROUNDHOUSE - OCTOBER 21, NOV 16, 2002 (Over 40 photos of the Malvern Hot Springs Narrow Gauge roundhouse)

OCTOBER 24, 2002 (Seven KATY gondolas on one train past Union Station in Little Rock, 6 red and 1 green)

NOVEMBER 10, 18 & 24, 2002 (Some Union Station, Little Rock, some Russellville, Arkansas. Includes a BNSF train on Amtrak siding)

DECEMBER 1, 2 & 3, 2002 (Some Union Station, including a bright red, unfaded BNSF warbonnet, a Iowa, Chicago & Eastern Illinois locomotive near Palestine, Texas, the Texas State Railroad, the Hearne, Texas depot, plus finally a UP train going through New Ulm, Texas on Dec 3)

NORTH ZULCH, TEXAS - WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2002 - NORTH ZULCH, TEXAS - A dark, cold, rainy day in North Zulch, Texas - where the Rock Island/Burlington Rockets used to zip through, if I remember correctly. I rode one of these trains in the early 1960s. Now it's still a very active BNSF line, but I didn't see any trains the half hour I was there. I did get to photograph the railroad overpass across Highway 190 - it still  says "Rock Island Lines - Burlington Lines."

DECEMBER 15, 2002 (Union Station, Little Rock. Also some scenes of an abandoned Rock Island weed-covered signal near the station on the old Rock Sunbelt Line.

DECEMBER 21&29, 2002 (Some taken Branson, Missouri from a lodge next to the Missouri & Northern Arkansas tracks in downtown Branson. Others taken at Union Station in Little Rock December 29, 2002)

2003

JANUARY 12, 2003 (Snow at Union Station in Little Rock in the afternoon)

JANUARY 19, 2003 (Union Station including Wisconsin Central #6604 and a Detroit & Mackinac boxcar on a BNSF freight)

JANUARY 26, 2003 (Union Station, including a warbonnet in original Santa Fe lettering)

FEBRUARY 4, 2003 (Atlanta, Texas, plus CN unit passing Union Station)

AMTRAK/UP SPECIAL LITTLE ROCK FEBRUARY 6, 2003

MARCH 6, 2003 (Forth Worth, Texas - mostly BNSF north of Fort Worth)

MARCH 22 AND 30, 2003 (Stuttgart, Arkansas and Union Station in Little Rock)

APRIL 6, 2003 (Union Station, Little Rock. One all CN/NS consist)

APRIL 11, 2003 (Chasing one train North Little Rock to Mayflower, Arkansas)

APRIL 13, 20, 27, 2003 - (Various Union Station photos. Lots of locomotive roadnames)

APRIL 29, 2003 (Sunset, BNSF, UP at Union Station Little Rock with Florida visitor Bob Pickering.

MAY 3, 2003 - Conway, Arkansas annual Toad Suck Festival with 4 train passing through the center of action.

MAY 5, 2003 - Included are two GE 's, a B30-7A and a B23-7M, on a southbound train.

MAY 10, 2003 - The South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad along with the Heart of the Heartlands group ran a special roundtrip on Saturday May 10, 2003 between Winfield and Fredonia, Kansas.  I was on board and heard that there were 150 passengers and about 20 volunteer crew on board. The train left Winfield on time at 9 a.m., arriving in Fredonia 30 minutes early at 1230 p.m. It left Fredonia at 2 p.m., returning to Winfield  5 minutes early at 555 p.m. - good old Santa Fe running!  There were many 'old' Santa Fe hands on board.
   The line used was the former Santa Fe line between the two cities (the Fourth District of the Eastern Division). The train went though the towns of New Salem, Cambridge, over Grand Summit (the highest point in Kansas), Grenola, Moline, Elk Falls, Longton and Fredonia. These were typical of small towns across America....with a lot of abandoned buildings and railyards just outside the towns. Fredonia and Winfield, though, appeared to be prospering.  The trip was 96 miles one way and we had some speed restrictions, highest speed being 30-35 mph.
   The ticket prices were only $30, which included a 'picnic lunch' at a high school gym in Fredonia. This 'picnic lunch' turned out to be a major barbecue buffet! And it all was included in the $30 ticket price! The Chamber of Commerce of Fredonia and others had actually barbecued a hog the night before for the occasion, so we were told.
   Power/consist for the trip was FURX 1167, WAMX 8506, SEKR non-powered RDC 9210 "Kaleigh Ann," SEKR non-powered RDC 9202 "Afton Leigh,"and SEKR non-powered RDC 9203 "Fallyne Marie."- Consist was reversed on the return trip with the engines running around the train north of Fredonia.
   For more information about the Heart of the Heartlands group, go to their website:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/8458

MAY 18, 2003 - Little Rock Streetcar construction/Rock Island Choctaw Passenger station in Clinton Library complex construction/CN untes at Union Station.

MAY 25, 2003 - Cat at Union Station/SP units/Work caboose on a mixed train! (by Brian Smith)/May 24 NS units in new paint scheme (by Robin Thomas)/few more recent shots by Brian Smith including MoPac red caboose and UP's E-9's in NLR..

MAY 31, JUNE 1, 2003 - The usual variety of motive power at Union Station, plus visitors from Pennsylvania and Tennessee (Bart Jennings)

JUNE 8, 2003 - Most unique today was SOO 6055. All at Union Station.

JUNE 12-14, 2003 - BNSF in Brenham, Texas; KCS in Jefferson, Texas; UP in Texas; Amtrak in Jefferson, others

JUNE 15, 2003 - Union Station, some spring flowers with the trains, man and boy.

JUNE 22, 2003 - Amtrak 21, two hours late, plus some scenes taken from the north side of the tracks.

JUNE 27-28, 2003 - UP NLR to Bald Knob, AR;UP Kingsville, Robstown, Texas

FEBRUARY 1969 - One of the last Missouri Pacific Texas Eagles to arrive in Fort Worth at the T&P station.

SEPTEMBER 30, OCT 1, 1981 - Last scheduled passenger train through Brenham, Texas.

AUGUST 1959 TEXAS ZEPHYR PHOTOS - Taken on a trip from Houston to Dallas to Childress, Texas. 

JULY 27, 28, 31, 2003 LITTLE ROCK STREETCAR CONSTRUCTION

UP WRECK NEW ULM, TEXAS JULY 22, 2003 - From New Ulm Enterprise newspaper. UP wreck east of New Ulm, Texas Tuesday, July 22, 2003. This photo was also in the New Ulm Enterprise - this one was in the Brenham Banner Press July 24. Another B&W photo in the New Ulm Enterprise is also included.

AUGUST 2, 2003 - Kansas & Oklahoma RR, McPherson, Kansas

AUGUST 3, 2003 - GREEN RIVER, WYOMING views on Sunday, August 3, 2003.

AUGUST 4, 2003 - These were all taken Monday, August 4, 2004 at an abandoned rest stop off Interstate 80, right before you cross the Wyoming-Utah state line. I had almost given up waiting for a train, but then I spotted an eastbound  UP coal train on the upper, high line. Just after I had taken that photo, I got back in the car to leave when I saw an eastbound UP mixed freight in my side mirror on the lower line.  What resulted was a meeting of two UP trains in mountainous terrain. Talk about luck. The time was about 930 a.m.

AUGUST 6, 2003 - Here are four photos of part of the Idaho Northern & Pacific rare-mileage trip we'll be taking August 8. These were taken August 6, 2003 from Highway 55 on my way to McCall for the night. All scenes were north of Horseshoe Bend. Included is a shot of the shortest railroad tunnel in the world, which we'll be going through.

AUGUST 8, 2003 - Idaho Cascadian rare-mileage passenger train excursion, Payette-Cascade, Idaho.

AUGUST 31, 2003 - SATURDAY, AUGUST 30 AND SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2003 at Union Station in Little Rock..

SEPTEMBER 6, 2003 - On Saturday, September 6, 2003, the Arkansas Railroad Club had its annual picnic outing at member Peter Smykla, Jr's Paperton Junction Southern Railway in Pine Bluff,  Arkansas. Following are some scenes of this outing and information on the railroad's rolling stock. It was a beautiful, dry and clear day. There were no train rides, just a get-together and picnic. To see other current and past railroad photos, go to http://www.trainweather.com/sunday.html.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2003 - Union Station, Little Rock including engine OSS101.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2003 - Union Station, Little Rock. Includes BNSF SF Warbonnet and unique grafitti car.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2003 - Unusually long UP train through New Ulm, Texas.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2003 - Union Station in Little Rock with CSX in new paint scheme, old SP logo, Montana Rail Link, BNSF, new ties.

OCTOBER 3-5, 2003 - Kansas & Oklahoma RR in Haven, Kansas, BNSF speeding through Burrton, Kansas, both at sunset.

OCTOBER 28, 2003 - Lucky shot of Sunset Limited crossing Heights Blvd in Houston, Texas plus Houston Union Station/Light Rail

NOVEMBER 2, 2003 - Southern 4610 in the famous Southern green paint scheme, Genesee & Wyoming 147, Sperry Rail 124, at Union Station, Little Rock.

NOVEMBER 9, 2003 - More photos of Little Rock Streetcar construction.

NOVEMBER 16, 2003 - Three pure SSW and SP locomotives on trains passing Little Rock Union Station.

DECEMBER 6, 2003 - Eastbound UP coal train at Sallisaw, Oklahoma, Saturday December 6, 2003 at 415 pm. First train photo with new camera. Also one photo of the depot. The original photos were 5 megapixels, but I always reduce them to 630 pixels wide on the webpage otherwise it would take months to download :).

DECEMBER 11, 2003 - KCS Coal train southbound through Ashdown, Arkansas at 441 pm Thursday, December 11, 2003.  KCS #2008 was in the lead. Plus a shot of the recently moved (last summer) former SSW caboose/'Drover' car to the GNA depot in Ashdown.

DECEMBER 11, 2003 - KCS Santa Train night photos, Ashdown, Arkansas.

DECEMBER 21, 2003 - Union Station, Little Rock. Centerbeam flat with load, CNW unit.

DECEMBER 25, 2003 - A Christmas Texas Eagle at Little Rock No. 22, on time at 1159 pm.

DECEMBER 27, 2003 - TFM, NS and SP units today passing Union Station.

DECEMBER 29, 2003 - Texas Eagle No. 21, 430 a.m., Little Rock. On time.

2004

JANUARY 1, 2004 - Empty coal train on this first day of 2004.

JANUARY 3, 2004 - An unaltered SP unit and an empty coal train past One Track Mind Hobby shop.

JANUARY 9, 2004 - Sunset Limited on bridge in Bay Saint Louis, MS plus night shots of Bay St Louis depot.

JANUARY 11, 2004 - DELTA SOUTHERN #104 a couple of miles north of Transylvania, Louisiana, January 11, 2004. It was idle. One of the grain cars was leaning to the right, but still on the rails.  This line was once the route of the Missouri Pacific "Delta Eagle" back in the 1940s. It is my understanding that the line still runs from Tallulah, Louisiana to McGehee, Arkansas. Is this correct?

JANUARY 13, 2004 - Little Rock Western plus two SP units passing Union Station Little Rock.

JANUARY 18, 2004 - Union Station, including NS, IC, SP plus a digital movie (MPEG)

JANUARY 22, 2004 -  The UP Challenger, No. 3985, ran from St Louis to Bernie, Missouri today. While it was supposed to be at Bernie at 3 p.m., it arrived about 6 p.m. due to trackwork and a lot of trains on the division. At one point, it was held on a siding at Avert, Missouri, about 8 miles north of Dexter for two hours, but it couldn't be helped. As far as I know, nothing was wrong with the 3985 itself. Many thanks to Ed Mertes of St Louis who called me from the train.
   I was waiting for it at Dexter, Missouri for over 3 hours, as was many others. There were hundreds lined up to see it coming through Dexter at 540 p.m., but it was mostly dark by then. I made a sound digital movie of it coming through Dexter since I couldn't take an unblurry photo of it anyway. However, I had the movie setting on my Sony camera set to VGA (640) mode, so the file is 33 mb in size. Except for viewing on my own computer, that's way to large to send over the Internet unless you have a broadband connection. Even then, 33mb is quite a lot. So I won't put that on here at this time. Basically you could see the lights and hear the great steam whistle of the 3985, but not much else.
   Here are some time-exposure photos I took at Bernie, MO after the train arrived. There were hundreds here too, and driving the 8 miles south from Dexter to Bernie took 30 minutes or so as traffic was crawling at 15 mph.

JANUARY 23, 2004 - Today I chased and photographed the special UP Challenger steam train from Bernie, Missouri to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.  It was full sun, excellent photography weather.

JANUARY 24, 2004 - Today I got photos of the Challenger from Pine Bluff to Texarkana, Arkansas and it contains the first shot of the train in Texas. Unlike the perfect sunny day yesterday, today it was raining, sometimes heavily, all day.

JANUARY 25-26, 2004 - Five photos of  trains in Little Rock/N Little Rock, one on Crystal Hill Road.

UP 3985 STEAM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004 - UP Challenger 3985 photos on part of its trip from Dexter, Missouri to Texarkana, Arkansas, then from Conroe, Texas to North Little Rock to Van Buren. Included are night shots, the Conway tunnel, Ozark, Arkansas, plus a lot of cities and towns in between.

FEBRUARY 3, 2004 - Today I followed the steam special from Conroe, Texas to Longview and got shots at Conroe, Trinity, Crockett, Overton and Longview.

FEBRUARY 4, 2004 -  Today I followed the train from Atlanta, Texas to North Little Rock, Arkansas. It arrived at the UP Jenks Shops about 420 p.m. and will be open for public display Thursday. Today I have scenes taken in Atlanta, Texarkana, a low bridge near the Red River, Hope, and Little Rock and North Little Rock. It was cold, but above freezing, with light sleet from Texarkana to Little Rock and as I write this at 10 pm Wednesday night, we're having thunder and lightning along with rain and sleet mixed, temperatures 34 degrees.

FEBRUARY 5, 2004 - Today the Challenger and its cars were on display to the public in North Little Rock behind the UP offices on 4th Street. Jenks Shops can be seen in the background. Noteworthy to me were the groups of school children that were bussed to the area so they could see and touch the mighty steam machine. Old and young alike came out by the thousands in the cold and rain to view the 3985. Some were making memories that will last a lifetime - others were having memories of past, simpler times when steam ruled the railroads and trains were as popular as automobiles are today. I think these pictures convey both generations.

FEBRUARY 5, 2004 NIGHT - Night shots of the 3985 in North Little Rock plus our night out at Grampa's Catfish House with most of the Steam Crew, Thursday, February 5, 2004.

FEBRUARY 6, 2004 -  The Challenger left North Little Rock at about 845 a.m., heading west to spend the night in Van Buren. Included are scenes at Burns Park in North Little Rock, the tunnel just west of Conway, Russellville, and the bridge at Ozark, which has a view of the Arkansas River to the south and town of Ozark to the north.

BURTON, TEXAS RENOVATED SP DEPOT, FEBRUARY 1, 2004 - FEBRUARY 1, 2004 in Burton, Texas showing the renovated Houston & Texas Central Railroad depot (later SP). This depot was made a Texas Historic Landmark in 1991 and is a beautiful example of good renovation work.
   Burton began as a terminal on the H&TC in 1870. A depot built that year burned in 1898 and was replaced by the current structure built according to standard plans of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which absorbed the H&TC. It exhibits elements of the Queen Anne and Italianate styles. Outstanding features include wide overhanging eaves and "Sunburst" gable windows, typical in Southern Pacific structures. (This information from the plaque attached to the building).

FEBRUARY 22, 2004 - Union Station, including a 5 1/2hour late Eagle, NS, BNSF and both colors of CSX.

FEBRUARY 27, 2004 - FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004 on the KCS in Heavener and Page, Oklahoma and Rich Mountain and Mena, Arkansas.

FEBRUARY 28, 2004 - KCS action and Railspot members at Page, Oklahoma and elsewhere.

FEBRUARY 29, 2004 - Union Station, including UP, CR, CSX, TFM, BNSF, SSW.

BELLEVILLE, AR CROSSING GATES - 'Protecting' the traffic from the abandoned Rock Island, February 28, 2004..

ABANDONED ROCK ISLAND ROW - From Howe, Oklahoma to Belleville, Arkansas, February 28, 2004.

FORMER ROCK ISLAND DEPOTS - In Western Arkansas, including Booneville, Ola and Perry.

MARCH 13, 2004 - Union Station Little Rock. CR, NS, UP, CSX

MARCH 14, 2004 - Union Station. UP, new refrigerator car, BNSF, TFM, SP, LLPX.

MARCH 21, 2004 - Union Station. CN, UP, NS.

DALLAS, TX MARCH 26, 2004 - In Dallas for the annual TX Association of RR Passengers/NARP meeting. View of Dallas Union Station and trains from hotel room on 8th floor, plus Dallas, Garland & Northeastern passing the station as well as TRE and DART and Amtrak 22.