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A slight detour before we continue with the photos from my California trip.

Last Tuesday February 9th two photographically attractive rail subjects were in the DFW area.  The first was the UP westbound ZMQLC out of Mesquite before sunrise with three new and clean GEC45AH’s and a SD70ACe for power.  The drawback was the train would be back lit until the train reached a few prime locations west of Fort Worth where the Baird Sub briefly curves to the south.  The second target was the NS 8103 Norfolk & Western heritage unit leading the westbound ASMAR auto parts boxcar train eastbound through Dallas around 10:00 am on its way to Arlington.  Until later in the afternoon the only place to get good lighting on this train would be in east Dallas where the UP runs north to south for 2.6 miles between MP Junction and SP Junction.

The dilemma was that if I drove to Dallas to catch the NS heritage unit I would have to miss the UP “Z” train with the new clean units leading or catch it in bad light somewhere between Fort Worth and Dallas.  On the other hand if I waited and caught the “Z” train west of Fort Worth I would not have time to drive to the well lighted area in Dallas to catch the NS heritage unit and I would have to take my chances for a decent shot at Garrett Yard in Arlington in the afternoon.  Add in the fact that I had an appointment just after lunch at BNSf headquarters to upload the results of my Cailfornia trip and you had the makings of an interesting day.

I decided to roll the dice and go for broke by trying to catch both moves in good light.    First I would go west of Weatherford to Preble where the Baird Sub curves southwest to get broadside light on the “Z” train; then go to BNSF headquarters for my appointment; and finally drive to Garrett Yard in Arlington to hopefully get an uncoupled clear shot of the N&W heritage unit in good late afternoon light.

I left home shortly after 8:00 am just as the westbound ZMQLC was approaching Tower 55.  Heading west on FM 1187 when I got within a half-mile of of Aledo I ran into stopped traffic due to everyone trying to drop their kids off for school.  I should have anticipated that, but even if the train passed me here I could still use I20 to beat it to Judd further west of Weatherford with even better side light and maybe a bit on the nose.  I had the time and it was only a few extra miles using cheaper fuel.  I made a U-turn and headed back to Iona to get out to I20 and decided I might as well stop and get a first shot of the “Z” train headed west.  Now, finally after all this rambling, a photo!

Still back lit even for side light, but acceptable.  Two new units up front means the third one and an SD70ACe would be on the rear.  I set up for the going away shot and was rewarded with the third new unit trailing and even facing east!

I talked to railfan friends in Dallas and learned the ASMAR was behind schedule and sitting in the siding at Marith waiting on Amtrak to pass before making a setout at Mesquite.  This meant I had chosen well by going west because if I had gone to Dallas first by the time the N&W heritage unit reached east Dallas the good 3/4 lighting would turn into nose light.  I drove west on I20 to Judd where I found a westbound stack train hanging out of the east end of the siding.  In a few minutes the dispatcher told the UP 8014 East to pull on into the siding as the “Z” train was out of Brazos coming up behind fast.  I was ready when the UP 2651 West appeared around the curve and scored these two views.

The lighting was as good as you could hope for without driving all the way to Sweetwater, so I happily took one more going away shot.

I still had 30 minutes before I needed to start back for my appointment in Fort Worth, so I decided to jump ahead to Gordon and catch the stack train that was in the hole here at Judd.  The light for a westbound was still back lit in Gordon, but I found a composition I liked including local history and geography.

I had already picked a nearby scene for a better lit view of the DPU’s.

I drove back to Fort Worth where I had a quick lunch and kept my appointment at BNSF headquarters.  I finished up there at 2:00 pm and as I was getting in my Explorer I heard from my railfan friends the ASMAR had fallen down even more and at that moment was in downtown Dallas as they waited on the west bank of the Trinity River.  This was great news for me as I now had an opportunity to catch the train before it entered Garrett Yard and get an uncluttered shot of the heritage lead unit.  I treated myself to a 75 mph run on the I820 eastbound express lane to Highway 360 and then south to old Highway 180 where I started to parallel the UP Dallas Sub eastbound from Arlington towards Grand Prairie.

I knew I had only a few minutes to spare so I found a good location just west of where Highway 180 passes over the George Bush Turnpike and got ready.  Less than five minutes later the train came into view and I nailed two acceptable photos as it rolled by at around 30 mph.

At the last crossing before Garrett Yard there was a railfan contingent waiting and I took a telephoto view of the nose.

The train was told by the Garrett Yard MYO to pull into track 4 in the yard and tie it down.  I had the shots I wanted but decided to try for one more sequence regardless.  As I parked at the yard office three GenSets under radio control pulled out with a cut of cars.

The MYO was an acquaintance of mine, and he modified the crew’s instructions to have them go ahead and pull the locomotives up to the marker at the west end of track 4 so the NS 8103 would be visible.  There was a bit of graffiti on a box car behind the heritage unit, but I did not mind.

Now the day was over for me and I was glad the choices I had made combined with fate had worked out to my advantage!