On Thursday August 3, 2023, I was doing some exploring in El Dorado for new BNSF photo angles when I stumbled upon two UP units running around their short train of empty tank cars in the old MP yard just east of the BNSF’s elevated tracks through town. I introduced myself to the conductor and explained I was a harmless “foamer” just taking pictures. He told me they had finished switching the customers on the east side of El Dorado but to run around their train to return to Wichita they almost always had to come here to their yard.
He said they were going to stop at the crossing just east of the old depot to eat their lunch and invited me to join them.
This view looking east shows the UP yard in perspective with the BNSF double track Southern Transcon overhead. The UP east out of Wichita now ends at the east end of this small yard, but back in MP days this was a through east-west mainline to Kansas City.
The crew shared some of their food with me and also the information that the local to El Dorado usually ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I had wanted a picture of a train passing the old depot that now belongs to the city for a long time, and this was my opportunity. I shot the following sequence as they headed back east for home.
Mission unexpectedly accomplished, it was time for dinner and a good night’s sleep before heading back to Texas in the morning.
