Recent Digital Photos
by Mike Condren

50 Years of Railroad Photography
1960-2010

"The Meteor has landed! Tahlequah Base" Taking a line from the July 20, 1969 Appolo 11 mission, If you have not heard, Jan is the new pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Tahlequah, OK. I have put a map of the region below. There is no railroad currently there. However, it was once served by the Ozark & Cherokee Central/Muskogee Branch of the Frisco. It is 16 miles to Ft. Gibson and the UP, former MP, Wagoner Sub. Muskogee and the former MKT main is about 25 miles. It is 25 miles to the KCS in Stillwell. Tulsa is about 70 miles as is Fayetteville.

June 3, 2010

On my way to Muskogee, OK for the night, I heard on the scanner a meet of trains west of Russellville, AR. I finally got ahead, barely, of the west bound at Hartman, the first town west of Clarksville, AR where we used to live.

I then heard on the scanner that this train would meet an south bound at Alix, AR, so I headed west. It turned out to be a near perfect meet, with the engines meeting just west of me and when I shot the going away of the DPU on the east bound, the last car of the west bound is visible over the flat cars in front of the DPU.

Back to US64 in Altus, I shot these images of a liquor store that was the MP station here until the line was relocated through Alix, subject of the meet above.

Next is a series of shots along the former MKT in Muskogee, OK. This engine was parked in the engine service area north of downtown.

These leased units were switching the former MKT yard north of downtown.

This is an overview of the engine servicing facility.

This is the view across MLK Ave. of the facilities in front of the local UP office.

The lease units have now moved down to the Griffin Grocery area east of downtown.

Here we see a set of power pulling under the Church St. viaduct which once was used by trolleys. I am standing on the location of the former MKT station in downtown Muskogee.

The power is seen here backing down toward the yard as another train heads toward me and switches.

June 6, 2010

Okay, OK I had not been here since my short career as a MP student fireman. On my "thru-freight" student trip, we stopped at Okay to setout some cars for the KO&G which once crossed here. Of course both railroads are now part of the UP. The former KO&G line is no longer present at this location. The first image is the OK 16 crossing, looking north. The second image is looking south on the MP main.

Just south of Wagoner on OK 16, I spotted this photo studio. Look what is in the back yard!

On to the crossing of the former MKT and former MP in downtown Wagoner. The first image looks north on the former MKT. The switch is the connection of the MKT to the MP line toward Coffeyville, KS. The second iamge looks north on the former MP. The switch is the connection of the MP to the MKT line toward Parsons, KS.

This is the southbound "home" signal for the connection and crossing of the MP by the MKT. The signal shows a "medium diverging" indication for a southbound MKT train to take the connection to the southbound MP toward Van Buren, AR.

This is the southbound train on the MKT for which the "medium diverging" signal is intended.

June 7, 2010

This is the front of the Atkins, AR station, the rear of which appeared in Issue 68 of Recent Trains.

June 9, 2010

This heavily "tagged" lease unit is sitting in the engine service area at Van Buren, AR.

These lease units are roughly at the former location of the livestock feeding pens in Van Buren along the MP.

This former 2-bay covered hopper is used by the A&M to haul sand from the processing plant in Van Buren.

A loaded unit coal train is seen passing under the Jefferson Street viaduct in Van Buren, AR.

A pass by the terminal of the Ft. Smith Railroad turned up these two ex-ATSF GP20s.

The unit coal train seen earlier has now pulled down to the refuelling station at the east end of the yard.

A northbound freight is seen approaching the Van Buren yard.

The train pulled down to the refueling station on the north end of town near Main Street.

June 11, 2010

These units are sitting in front of the UP office in Muskogee, OK.

These units sit in the engine service facility in Muskogee, OK.

June 12, 2010

It was hard for me to believe that this is the same location where I, in 1964, shot the westbound RI passenger train that I was riding. Where those trees are now, once was the location of the multi-story joint passenger station.

The A-OK has a small operation in McAlester just west of the former RI/MKT crossing.

This unit coal train was parked in North McAlester.

This unit was sitting all by itself just south of the UP, former MKT, office in North McAlester, OK.

Even though it is located in downtown North McAlester, this former MKT station is labeled McAlester.

Our loaded coal train has been joined by two other trains, tying up all three tracks through the town.

The former MKT station has been moved to the side US 69 in Checotah, OK.

June 25, 2010

Upon crossing the Mississippi River and the BNSF overpass, I spot headlights and take the Mound City exit off I40.

At Van Buren, AR, this is the scene at the engine terminal.

The DPU for a loaded coal train was spotted at the Main St. crossing refueling station.

While chasing the A&M transfer from the UP yard in Van Buren, AR to Ft. Smith, I discover this A&M switcher working the Gerber Baby Food spur. The engineer turns out to be long time friend, Andre Ming. The switcher returns to the main line, picks up its string of covered hoppers and heads for North Yard just ahead of the transfer.

The transfer from Van Buren to Ft. Smith follows the switcher up the hill.

The loaded unit coal train is seen climbing the hill between Van Buren, AR and Alma, AR.

June 26, 2010

On our way to Tulsa to shop, we stop at Wagoner, OK to get a picture of this mural.

After a very tiring day of shopping, we finally get to West Tulsa, OK and find a BNSF train heading around the wye and out the Avard Sub. Note that the lead loco is 1027!

We then get stopped on West 17th Street South by a switcher pushing a string of cars back into the yard.

As we crossed over the track on the West 23rd Street South overpass, I spotted a train approaching from the north. The two sequences above prevented us from catching that train in the yard. However, heading west on Southwest Blvd., we catch that train south of Cherokee Yard at MP 429.

June 28, 2010

On my trip back to Memphis, the scanner announced an empending meet at Stillwell, OK. The southbound arrives first. It stops south of the restored station and waits for the northbound movement. The northbound shows up 20 minutes later and "takes the siding". It turns out to be 4 units running light, 2 BNSFs and 2 KCS "retro Belles".