Recent Digital Photos
by Mike Condren

50 Years of Railroad Photography 1960-2010

Chase of A&M freight on 9/10/10

We first find the Monett Turn on a side track picking up most of its train.

Some interesting A&M equipment was sitting on a siding north of the station.

The Monett Turn picked up most of its train from a side track and then stopped at the Old Wire Road crossing to make its air test before proceeding north.

We beat the train to Lowell, AR and shot it from the center of the old town.

We barely beat the train to Rogers but got it at Frisco Park.

Photo by J. David Ingles

We caught the Turn again just south of Avoca, AR.

We then caught the train again at the north end of Garfield, AR.

This photo was taken just north of the location of the former station in Seligman, MO. Note the curved border to the station platform. The Missouri & Arkansas also served this station using the track along the curved edge of the platform. The M&A connection was north of the station as seen to the right in the going away shot. The M&A had trackage rights over the Frisco north to Wayne, MO where it then headed to Neosho, MO and the KCS. From Neosho the M&A headed north to Joplin, MO.

Just south of Washburn, MO, we barely caught the Turn.

The Monett Turn stopped at the feed mill south of Butterfiled, MO to make a pickup before crossing MO State 37 on an overpass.

In Purdy, MO we arrived far enough ahead of the train to scout out a location. While so doing, we discover this former 1400 series Frisco caboose, a homebuilt box car conversion from the 1970s.

We caught the Monett Turn with a feed mill in the background in Purdy, MO.

The Turn is shown here arriving in Monett, coming around the east leg of the wye, the former Frisco mainline is seen to the right of the picture.

At Monett the A&M Turn was met by a BNSF Turn out of Springfield, MO. The meet is shot from the former platform area of the station.

The BNSF Turn pulled forward and shoved the cars for the A&M into the yard.

Here we see a couple of the former platforms at the Frisco station in Monett. Monett once was a busy station with trains to Paris, TX through Ft. Smith, AR and trains to Wichita, KS connecting with mainline trains. Thus the platforms seen. The Frisco trains connected with Santa Fe trains for service to Dallas. My first train ride was from Ft. Smith to Dallas on one of those trains.

The BNSF power got out of the way and the crew released the hand brakes on these 4 cars and they rolled westward past the switch to where the power was sitting and they tied down the hand brakes to stop the train. The power returned to their train and prepared to head back toward Springfield, MO.

The A&M power was sitting by the yard office while the crew went to lunch and the BNSF did their switching.

We decided to break off the A&M chase and head west toward Neosho. JDI discovered a passing siding near US60 on a map in Rick Moser's copy of the Prairies & Ozarks SPV showing Missouri, and we headed there to check for trains. The west home signal was set up for an eastbound so we waited. Before long we heard a horn in the west.

At Granby, MO we discovered this former 1400 series Frisco caboose under the city water tower.

At Neosho where the KCS station once stood, we shot this northbound empty unit coal train with DPUs.

We found this good looking mile marker at Goodman, MO. Photo by J. David Ingles

We stopped in Anderson, MO to shoot the station, now city hall.

We then headed south again and drove under the bluff at Noel and then shot the KCS station there.

At Gravette, AR we discovered this caboose beside the highway just north of where the station once stood. In 1972 Paul Moon and I mapped out the station, and he published his drawings of the station in the NMRA Bulletin.

We headed to the first crossing south of where the station once stood to get another empty unit coal train with DPUs.

This KCS F7-unit, 73D, and caboose are on display in downtown Decatur, AR, just south of the depot, which appears in the background.

This page was designed and is maintained by Mike Condren. If you have materials
that you would like to contribute, contact me at mcondren@cbu.edu