This morning December 24th I got a call that an eastbound Long Beach to Dallas intermodal train on the UP Baird Sub was passing Weatherford. What made this train interesting is that it was just under 16,000 feet long with five locomotives. I grabbed the drone and headed out the door to a spot near the west end of the Iona siding.
I arrived just as the detector in Aledo signaled the passing of the head end, and I got the drone in the air just in time for this view of the UP 8753 East.
The light was right down the nose, and in retrospect I maybe should have flown east around the outside of the curve behind me. As the saying goes, “hindsight is the best sight” so maybe next time since I was in a rush here. The goal was to show the over three miles of train in the best representation such as looking west back to Aledo with no end in sight.
Three minutes after the head end passed the camera at 9:45 am, the other two units passed by in DPU mode with still no end in sight in either direction.
Another three minutes passed and at 9:51 am the rear end finally passed by on its way to Dallas.
I packed up the drone and drove to the Home Depot in Weatherford for some home repair items. On the way back I decided to take the scenic route via back roads that followed the Baird Sub. About half way to Aledo I heard the detector there sound off indicating a westbound was coming my way.
I turned around and went back to one of my favorite rural spots in this area. At 11:28 am I captured what I later learned was a 13,800 foot Dallas to Santa Teresa, New Mexico intermodal.
This train seemed to also be endless, but then the sound changed as a mid-train DPU rolled by under power.
This shorter train had no rear DPU as it passed the distant approach signal for the siding at Earls.
I heard on the radio that a Marion, Arkansas to Los Angeles “Z” train was out of Fort Worth. I moved to another nearby location where I captured this view at 12:05 pm as four units moved a roughly 8600 foot train past this farm scene.
When I arrived back in Aledo I noticed the eastbound signal downtown was lit up and red indicating another westbound was getting near. I quickly parked behind city hall and walked up the embankment to the sidewalk at the west crossing. A few minutes later at 12:27 pm the head end of a nearly 12,500 foot Fort Worth to West Colton, California manifest train with three units up front graced my camera.
What was earlier a seemingly endless string of loaded well cars now turned into an abundant variety of freight cars. In the middle of the train was a KCS and UP DPU combo.
Checking the camera’s metadata indicated it took four minutes for this train to pass but it seemed a lot longer by the time two more units whizzed by in dynamic braking mode holding back the end of the train on the descending grade.
Four long Precision Scheduled Railroading inspired trains near to home made for an interesting Christmas Eve. The only improvement I could ask for would have been some snow to catch them plowing through. Happy Holidays to everyone!
