Kansas City Southern
Scanned Slides
SW1500s

by Mike Condren

Howe Coal Company was a near still born mining effort just north of the KCS yard in Heavener, OK. They had a mine west of US59 and used a conveyor to transport the coal to the loading silo. The KCS aquired a train of 75ft, 150ton capacity, rotary dump coal cars riding on 6-wheel Buckeye trucks. Few if more than one train actually operated. After the operation shut down, the cars were stored in the siding at Spiro, OK. A few years later, a tornado turned over 49 of these cars onto the main line just as a Dodger was approaching. The stopped just in time. I was listening to the scanner in the kitchen of my parents home. I heard the dispather reply to the crew of the Dodger, "I now believe that those things can do anything." The KCS used the derricks from Heavener and Pittsburg to pick these cars up and retruck them. The balloon loop is still in place and is used by the KCS for storage of excess cars. The locomotives were incorporated into the KCS roster of SW1500s and were used in Howe Coal paint for several years before getting the normal white scheme. Only Howe Coal received this scheme. Number 1 wore the pale green scheme with no lettering.

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