On February 9th, 2022 , Judy and I got an early start out of Sweetwater, but not before photographing Texas & Oklahoma’s ex-BNSF SW1500 number 3701 parked on the southside of town. The crew told me the evening before the unit was being put back into service to be the contract switcher for the U.S. Gypsum plant on the east side of town.
The morning weather in Sweetwater was obviously full sun, but by the time we left Lubbock heading northwest, storm clouds were on the horizon. By the time we were passing through Clovis at 1:51 pm it was snowing hard and the temperature had dropped into the mid 30’s.
A westbound intermodal was getting a fresh crew in Clovis so we drove a few miles west to a suitable grade crossing to wait for a snow picture that came about at 2:11 pm.
We drove a few more miles west and I pulled over when a distant eastbound headlight was visible in the gloom. I made this sequence at 2:28 pm to put the icing on this snowy cake.
I was glad for catching both trains with falling snow as by the time we got to Melrose, the snow had stopped completely and there was no accumulation in sight. We checked into our motel in Mountainair at a decent hour and had a great dinner at the local cafe.
