Earlier in 2024 I had been asked by Corrender Taylor of the Abilene Preservation League if I would be a presenter at the their first Abilene Railroad Festival August 5th – August 7th. I signed up to give two presentations of my photo work (one on BNSF and one on UP) on both Friday and Saturday. I had everything ready to go when I left home on Thursday the 5th for the roughly 140 mile trip to Abilene following the UP Baird Sub.
I overtook a westbound UP intermodal train that took the siding at Clyde. It pulled down to the west end and stopped. The lead unit was one of the Tier 4 Sd70ACe’s.
An eastbound autorack and intermodal showed up after about ten minutes and I recorded the meet.
I headed on west ahead of the westbound train and pulled over in a good spot with nice clouds a few miles short of Abilene.
After checking in at my hotel out by I20, I drove towards downtown to check out the afternoon reception. Along the way I stopped by the Southern Switching Company. Since my last visit they had painted their ex-NS GP38 from NS paint to Southern Switching green.
From here I drove to the old Grace Hotel that is now the Grace Museum across the street from the Abilene T&P depot. After the event reception I walked around the immediate area and took a few photos.
As the sun was getting low in the western sky I drove east to the west switch at Holder Siding to compose this last photo for the day.
On the morning of Friday the 6th while on the way to my first presentation I stopped off to photograph one of the two SD40N’s parked above the Texas & Pacific Railroad sign.
Next I flew the drone to check out my FAA flight clearance by checking out the UP yard office looking west towards the south side of downtown Abilene.
I heard an eastbound train heading my way and I launched the drone again for this view of it on the elevated right-of-way passing the old depot and the Grace museum. Take note of the old head house above the stairs coming up to the platform from the tunnel on the south side of the depot. In about a week a UP crew would show up to demolish it and fill in the stairs as they were deemed a hazard to passing trains.
I gave three of my four presentations in this very nice room at the Frontier Texas! museum.
In the afternoon between sessions I launched the drone again looking west at a not-too-distant thunderstorm.
The radio came to life with a defect detector several miles east of town which indicated a westbound was approaching. Once again I had the drone up and ready when it passed the depot.
Here is a shot of the two rear DPU’s passing the fountain on the east side of the depot.
And a going away view of the scene.
Now that the sun was around to the west, I used the drone one final time to capture both Sd40N’s laying over for the Sweetwater local.
On Saturday the 7th I was invited into the old T & P depot to look around. I took this photo looking out a back window at the pedestrian tunnel under the tracks that led to a parking lot and the two sets of stairs leading up to the headhouse.
This is one of the offices built around the old ticket counter.
Going out to the tunnel, this is one of the two sets of stairs. These are gone now, filled in by the UP. I will take a current photograph from this view the next time I am in Abilene.
This sign at the end of the tunnel has surely survived.
When I stepped back out the sound of motors above me got my attention and i quickly got this photo of a flyover. I don’t know the occasion.
I launched the drone again and took a series of photos of the headhouse for the museum before UP took it down.
After my final presentation for the Festival I managed to catch a westbound train at milepost 407 running through the green belt west of the depot area.
Not wanting to get home late I spent one more night in town and started the next morning to try to get the final shot on my persona; “to do” list of a train passing the fountain on the east side of the depot. It only took a thirty minute wait on a comfortable bench to bag this shot.
After this catch I did not see any more trains on the way home. I look forward to the next Abilene Railroad Festival!