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So now it is nearing midnight on September 26th and another week at work is done.  No telling at this point how many photos I will take this weekend, but last Sunday the 21st was a pretty good day.  I was up before the sun to feed the dogs, so I took advantage of that and drove the four miles to Iona on the UP Baird Sub.  The sun was just coming up past the farm  at the east end of the siding.

Down at the crossing I got out to shoot the rising sun and the tracks heading down grade towards Fort Worth.  I knew my luck was good when I could hear the sound of locomotives coming towards me in the distance.

A few minutes later two GE’s came into view with a string of tank cars.

As the train headed into the siding I could see it was entirely made up of new empty tank cars.

About ten minutes later three UP SD60M’s with the 4623 leading came into view with an eastbound intermodal train holding the main as the engineer transitioned the units into dynamic braking.

After the meet I headed back home and later took my wife to lunch.  After we got back home I headed out again to run a few errands in Fort Worth, and I took the long way via Iona.  I stopped on top of the cut at the west end of the siding to check out the sun angles and the view.  It was a bit tight and I was thinking of  heading on east end when I heard a K5LLA horn blowing for the crossing down there and knew I had a westbound with an SD70ACe coming at me.  I walked down the cut about 50 feet and only a few seconds passed before the UP 8574 West sped past me with what had to be the ZATLA known as the “Laser” in tow.

I waited a few minutes before heading on towards Fort Worth, and just east of the middle of the siding I quickly pulled over to photograph a 100-car sand train with five units up front and one shoving on the rear.  My first shot included the Fort Worth skyline about ten miles away and I also captured a Cotton Belt hopper in the train.

I drove on to Fort Worth without seeing any more trains, but on the way back I encountered a third westbound leaving Davidson Yard with three SD60M’s pulling the MFWOD Fort Worth to Odessa merchandise train.  I set up for my first shots at the Benbrook house track.

Next I headed on west towards home and caught the train one more train at the private crossing in the middle of Iona siding.  In the train was an older UP hopper and two cars of drill stem for the oil and gas fields near Odessa brought up the rear.

Railfanning over for the day, I stopped one more time to photograph a blooming cactus.

Now to see if I can do as well this Sunday!