Recent Digital Photos
by Mike Condren
 |
50 Years of Railroad Photography |
 |
July 3, 2010
| On a shopping trip to Fayetteville, I slipped away to Springdale and found this former Canadian unit on the back track of the Arkansas and Missouri. |
 |
| This more normal C420 was sitting on the siding north of the station. |
 |
| This string of A&M C420s was sitting on the main line next to the A&M offices. |
 |
July 5, 2010
| These units were sitting in the engine service area at Van Buren, AR. |
 |
July 21, 2010
| I ran across this Sperry Rail Service truck at the crossing where once the Buntyn station stood in Memphis. Once they got the hi-railing wheels deployed, they headed east test the rail on the NS mainline. A BNSF/NS loaded unit coal train waits in the distance. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Later in the day I catch an empty coal train just east of where I had photographed the Sperry Rail Service truck. |
 |
 |
July 22, 2010
| On my way to OK, I stopped at the hobby shop, One Track Mind, in southwest Little Rock. This UP train came by while I was there. |
 |
 |
| I got off I40 at Clarksville where I lived for 10 years to shoot the former MP station. |
 |
 |
| In Van Buren I catch the A&M's tranfers from the UP to the Ft. Smith Railroad passing under the new US 64-71 viaduct from the vantage point of the old US 64-71 viaduct. |  |
 |
 |
 |
| Upon approaching Stillwell, OK, I hear the KCS dispatcher set up a meet. The first train was this local with ballast cars on the front. |
 |
 |
| The Herzog ballast cars are former unit coal gondolas. |
 |
| When the empty UP unit coal train approached, the crossing flashers started to flash. This truck tried to beat the train. The trailer caught the gate as it was going down and it was ripped off. I offered the photo to a KCS crew member but he thought that the KCS had deeper pockets that the driver. Unfortunately this driver needed to learn not to race to a crossing. I have seen videos of trailer demolished in similar situations. A good friend hit the cab of such a truck many years ago and suffered a back injury which made him have to retire from the KCS. He has told me of seeing the truck driver flying through the air over the nose of the unit to his death. |
 |
| In the first photo, the crossing gate blade is seen lying on the ground. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| There are some serious elections in OK this summer. This area of OK is former Indian Territory with many Indian names still prominent such as Four Killer. A recent Principal Chief of the Cherokees died this spring, Wanda Mankiller. Tahlequah is at the top of Lake Tenkiller. |
 |
July 26, 2010
| On a run from Tahlequah, OK to Alma, AR, we spotted the A&M transfer on the lift bridge in Van Buren. So, after dropping Jan at Dillard's in Ft. Smith, I headed toward the river and the Ft. Smith Railroad terminal where I caught the UP to Ft. Smith Railroad transfer. |
 |
 |
 |
| The Ft. Smith Railroad terminal provided a surprise, this Alabama & Florida GP7, another Pioneer shortline. |
 |
| While in downtown Ft. Smith, I shot this OK Feed Mill trackmobile, a big change from the days of their rail wheeled trucks with couplers. |
 |
Back in Van Buren, we missed the headend of an empty unit coal train but shot the DPU as it crossed Main Street. |
 |
July 30, 2010
| For our 33rd Wedding Anniversary, we decided to go to Tulsa for dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant. While Jan was visiting a sick church member in a hospital, I headed to West Tulsa and Cherokee Yard of the BNSF. At the 17th Street crossing I found this intermodal/vehicle train waiting to enter the Avard Sub on its way to the west coast. The train extends across the Arkansas River bridge along side US 75. |
 |
 |
| This leased SW1500 is parked inside the former DX Sunray refinery in West Tulsa along side of the Award Sub. mainline. |
 |
| While waiting for the Award Sub train, I ventured into the engine terminal area of Cherokee Yard. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Our Avard Sub train is now headed west down the Award Sub. |
 |
 |
Aug. 1, 2010
| The DPU of a loaded unit coal train sit at the west end of the Van Buren yard while the lead locomotives get fueled. |
 |
 |
Aug. 3, 2010
| This empty unit coal train is on the NS main stopped short of Cooper St. in Memphis. |
 |
| A taconite train sits on the Shelby Main at Tennessee Yard with its DPU near the north end of the yard. |
 |
| An empty unit coal train has stopped on the hump on its way into Tennessee Yard from the south. |
 |
| This train with NS power is northbound as seen from Knight-Arnold Road in Memphis. |
 |
Aug. 4, 2010
| This eastbound NS train waits in the hole at White Siding. |
 |
Aug. 10, 2010
| This freight with ballast cars on the front is sitting at the S. 28th St. crossing with its DPU just short of the 4th St. overpass. |
 |
 |
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