On Friday October 21st I left home on a business trip to Arizona. Heading west from Aledo on I20, my first stop for a train photo was at 12:30 pm in the small town of Trent, Texas between Abilene and Sweetwater. I composed this view with the city water tower of the eastbound UP local out of Abilene on its way back home after running around its train at Roscoe.
From here I made good time and headed northwest on US Highway 84 towards Clovis. While passing through Lubbock I reacted quickly to capture this windshield view of Plainsman Switching 7007 crossing the street right in front of me at 2:49 pm.
After a late lunch I continued on northwest and got an hour back on my day when I crossed into New Mexico at Farwell. West of Melrose I pulled over at a rest stop on Highway 60/84 to record this eastbound intermodal at 4:21 pm coming out of the sun at milepost 689 on the Clovis Subdivision.
Near Tolar with another eastbound approaching I pulled over on a side road for more of a side view as the train was more and more coming out of the sun. I found an old corral with a Aeromotor windmill where I composed these two views at 4:55 pm.
First marketed in 1888 to use wind power to pump water for livestock, Aeromotor is still in business today.
As I was about to pass LaLande, I heard another eastbound on the radio as it was crossing the Pecos River. I pulled down a side road to a grade crossing where I found this large puddle at 5:25 pm just after sunset. An empty coal train proved to be my last photographic subject for this day.
A few miles further on I checked into the Billy the Kid Motel in Fort Sumner for a good night’s sleep before continuing on to Flagstaff, Arizona on Saturday.
