UP 4014 McAlester to Fort Worth

Friday the 13th of August 2021 turned out to be a good day weather wise as Troy and I arrived at the McAlester depot before 6:30 am to document the day’s run from McAlester to Fort Worth of UP Big Boy number 4014. A few pink clouds decorated the sky above 4014 just after sunrise. Departure was scheduled for 9:00 am but already a crowd was gathering.

At 6:35 am a southbound grain train led by a single unit stopped next to 4014 to change crews.

Three members of the steam crew were seen taking care of a few minor details at 7:24 am.

Ten minutes later a southbound single-unit manifest train pulled through the yard to change crews before it also departed ahead of the steam special.

The Texoma Service Unit pilot crew arrived and at 8:10 am I recorded this view of a happy railfan who wanted to pose with conductor Mike Pritchett on the left and engineer Clay Arthur on the right.

A few minutes later a northbound empty coal train arrived and pulled up the siding as one of the UP special agents guarded the crossing.

This would be the last train prior to the 4014’s departure at 9:00 am, so Troy and I decided it was time to head out to beat the traffic to our first lineside photo location a few miles north of Kiowa. We had marked this location on the way north due to the big round hay bales and the well cut grass allowing for a relatively unobstructed view of the rail head. A large increase in southbound highway traffic preceded the train and at 9:43 am the 4014 sauntered through our scene.

We fought our way back into the solid line of southbound vehicles on Highway 69 but as soon as the UP Choctaw Sub and the road parted ways in Kiowa the traffic quickly thinned out. We passed groups of people waiting at every crossing, but once again rather than trying to get eventually monotonous 3/4 views of the train at every crossing we were looking for quality over quantity. Not finding anything interesting in Stringtown, we stopped just south of town at the Muddy Boggy Creek bridge where I decided to fly the drone rather than take a chance from the narrow shoulder on the highway bridge.

When I heard 4014’s deep whistle coming through Stringtown I launched the drone and settled into my desired composition. I had plenty of time as the train slowed down to around 20 mph as it crossed the bridge at 10:52 am and started up the slight grade leading away from it.

Our next preplanned stop was the overpass in Caddo, OK a few miles east of US 69. We joined a crowd there and visited with other fans and locals until train time at 12:06 pm. I made a sequence of photos of the train’s passage.

We had at first considered catching the train in or just south of Durant, but on Wednesday’s drive north we found a construction zone on Highway 69 at the casino south of town that was causing long delays. Worried that the extra traffic generated by the train would create a gridlock situation, we opted to play it safe and drive from here directly to Denison where we anticipated either catching the special at the Red River or arriving at Ray Yard.

When we reached the Red River bridge it was a zoo of people and railfans everywhere and I counted at least a dozen drones already in the air. A quick decision was made to continue on to Ray Yard where we used our UP credentials to park a ways down the yard entrance road to avoid the crowd gathered at the grade crossing. We had plenty of time to get ready and kept busy doing UP work by politely telling people to stay on the other side of the no trespassing signs. At 1:03 pm the one unit merchandise train passed us and continued on to the west end of the yard for fueling.

At 1:50 pm we heard the mournful sound of 4014’s whistle coming up the grade from the Red River so I launched the drone and sent it back to the east for this photo.

I had sent the drone down to meet the train intentionally so I could get the aerial view and then pause in flight while I took these ground views a few seconds later.

We heard from friend David Hawkins that the next stop at Pottsboro was a madhouse so Troy and I decided to skip it and moved on ahead checking out spots until we reached our next target area around Tioga. I had considered flying the drone from the boat launch area south of town but that area was already packed with people. We ended up on the west sun side of the track in downtown Tioga where we made more new friends and were joined by old ones who were also turned off by the crowded boat ramp.

The dispatcher chose to hold the steam special at Whitesboro along with the southbound merchandise train that had been dogging it all day for a 10,000-foot northbound train that rolled by our location at 3:56 pm. It would have been more appropriate if the billboard sign read “No Foaming Zone”.

Once the northbound reached Whitesboro the dispatcher let the southbound manifest leave ahead of the steam special for reasons not apparent to us. The manifest passed milepost 696 at 4:17 pm under overcast skies ringing the bell and blowing the horn freely.

After what seemed like an eternity the UP 4014 arrived at 5.15 pm in full sun with a thunderstorm rising in the background. Troy and I had done our best to maintain a photo line here for the previous two hours, but as the train approached an older gentleman stepped right in front of us to shoot a video. We both yelled at him but he was oblivious to our cries and we had to reposition at the last moment to crop him out of this sequence. We probably ended up in someone’s photo ourselves but at that moment it was unavoidable In retrospect it is hard to believe we missed including any of the the hundreds of others in this area. That is Mike Pritchett sitting right behind Ed Dickens.

After the train passed I let my anger get the better of me and went over to confront the older gentleman. When I looked him in the face I realized that was a mistake as he was oblivious to everyone around him and I let it go. I reaffirmed to myself that I should either just ignore these things during steam chases or stay at home. Troy and I got back onto 377 South and quickly encountered stop and go traffic as far as the eye could see.

Luckily for us the train made a scheduled stop in Pilot Point for 15 minutes and we were able to get ahead of it with enough time to check out Aubrey and the country crossings south of there. Everywhere was crowded now that we were approaching the Metroplex so we stopped at Rock Hill Road, the last crossing before Lake Lewisville and Mingo siding. Our plan was to catch the train here and then skip the Denton stop so I could drop Troy off at home in Roanoke before heading on to Fort Worth to see the train put away for the night.

A pretty good photo line had formed to take advantage of the last bit of sun for the day so Troy and I joined it in time to catch the 4014 roll by at 6:32 pm. There was one woman in the left side of our photos who had refused to move for anyone but I was able to replace her with a clump of grass later in Lightroom.

By the time I dropped Troy off at home the sun was setting and I decided to go south on Highway 377 towards Fort Worth rather than going back out to I35. The steam special overtook and passed me when I was just north of Loop 820. Then I heard two critical pieces of information on the radio. The first was that the pilot crew was now dead on the law with the train stopping at FWWR Junction in Haltom City and the second was that the dispatcher had a train tied down on the planned route of Choctaw Main Two (the old MKT / MP main line) so the special was going to have to be routed down Choctaw Main One (the new route paralleling TEXRail down to Tower 60) instead.

I had planned on going straight to the overnight stop north of Tower 55 at Ninth Street but now with the train taking the more scenic route via Tower 60 I diverted to that area. As I drove I listened to the train asking where their pilot was that would take them from FWWR Junction to the parking spot. It was now getting dark so I decided to skip the Trinity River bridge photo in favor of shooting from the Northside Drive overpass so I could get the train going away with the skyline in the background. I made it there with just a few minutes to spare before the train arrived at 8:25 PM and started up the Gauntlet track towards Tower 55.

The going away photo highlighting business car Kenefick along with a sense of place with the Fort Worth skyline turned out just as I had anticipated.

The parking spot on the Gauntlet track at Ninth Street north of Tower 55 was well lit by multiple portable light plants that allowed for several good photos at 8:57 pm as the train was tied down for the night.