On Tuesday October 19th I drove south to College Station and checked in at the Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center. That evening I gave a photographic presentation to kick off the annual meeting of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. A great time was had by all, and after dinner I went back to my room which by no mistake faced the UP Navasota Sub. At 11:44 pm I caught a view through the window of a southbound train on the J Kimbrough Boulevard crossing at Wellborn Road.
In addition to the hotel room’s normal accessories, there were several pairs of earplugs since the nearby crossings are not yet approved as quiet zones. As a full-blown railfan I did not employ them and slept soundly until 5:38 am on the 20th when this northbound train came through.
I took a shower and slowly got dressed before pausing at 7:56 am to record this southbound passing my perch.
As I was about ready to start packing my gear to the car, a northbound could be heard and I raised the camera one more time.
I found my room location to be of great interest as slightly less than a month earlier, I was on top of the parking garage across the street photographing the passage of UP Big Boy 4014 heading in the opposite direction. Here again is that opposing view taken on the morning of August 16th.
After leaving Bryan/College Station in the rear view mirror, I passed Hearne without seeing any trains and decided to take a detour to take a chance in catching a coal train on the Vistra Energy mine railroad east of Bremond. Luck was on my side as after parking at crossing number three for less than 15 minutes I heard the K5LA horn on SD70ACe ex-demo unit number 5308 leading a southbound loaded train.
I like the new more visible paint on the home built control car.
I was very happy with this timely catch as the rest of the trip home was uneventful.
