Kansas City Southern
Scanned Slides
SD40s

by Mike Condren

This train is seen passing the "hot box detector" with number board which showed the axle count from the front end of the hot box. The crew in the caboose read the number and alerted the head end crew to the problem. Note the KCS MOW truck on US 59 in the picture to the right.

The northbound freight is seen on the mainline as "Southern Belle" #1 is seen in the distance on the passing track.
The northbound freight is seen on the mainline meeting a southbound. The northbound had a slave buried in the train.

This is the southbound train of the meet which is also pictured with a shot of #618.

On this date, Louis Marre and I chased the KCS to DeQueen looking for the then new SD40s in the then new white scheme. Of the 16 units ordered, we found and photographed 11 on this date. Four such units appear in this view.

KCS #610 was a slave unit and was involved in several accidents.

This photo was taken at Potter, AR following a derailment. This was my first picture published in Trains as a B&W image for the Fred Frailey article describing the decline of the KCS.

This meet is in Noel, MO. Friend Paul Moon and I were on our way to Wichita, KS to the NMRA Mid-Continent Convention. On the way we were measuring station for Paul to convert to plans for the NMRA magazine. Note the missing tiles in the roof, the result of the explosion on the other end of the siding caused by a hot box on a box car of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

This train is under the control of "Big John, Sarge" Locke.

Friend James Locke, brother of "Sarge" Locke and son of KCS engineer John Locke, showed me this spot near Howard, AR on Rich Mountain. The tracks are barely visible at this location now due to the growth of trees. Note the slave in the train at the far end of the "S" curve.

James and I continued our chase over Rich Mountain to Eagleton, AR.

This unusual movement is the result of a derailment knocking down the Poteau River bridge between Poteau and Howe, OK. Trains were detoured on the Frisco and RI from Poteau to Wister to Howe. The trains were stagged at Shady Grove north of this location and at Heavener on the south end.

This is the only photo I have seen of the Howe Coal Co. unit coal train using the 75', 6-wheel Buskeye trucked rotary gondolas.

The SD40s #626, 627, and 628 are northbound on the mainline. The GP30 is on the connection with the Frisco and is returning on the "Ft. Smith Dodger" from a trip to Ft. Smith.

In the local left corner, you can see the remains of a wreck. An empty auto rack was near a tank car of ethylene oxide. The from the fire caused the supports for the top level of the auto rack to softened and drop that top level to the bottom level.

The engineer of this train is long time friend John "Srge" Locke.

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