Thursday evening, I started to hear talk of a UP Engineering Department Special somewhere west of Fort Worth. By the next morning on Friday March 7th I learned that one unit pulling ten cars was out of Sweetwater around 6:00 am heading to Fort Worth where it would turn north to McAlester, Oklahoma. I decided to drive west to Annetta to catch it passing one of my favorite spots where the landowner keeps the grass mowed right up to the track.
When I was getting close to my chosen spot, I heard the dispatcher talking to the Special that they would be taking the siding at Earls just west of my location to meet two westbound “Z” trains as there was already an eastbound train at Iona. I was joined here by Paul, John and Nathan Beverung who live just east of this spot along Annetta Centerpoint Road. We did not have to wait long as the first westbound raced past us at 9:07 am with four units up front elephant style.
The second westbound “Z” train came past us 25 minutes later at 9:32 am, also with four units up front.
We heard the Special highball the second “Z” train and ask if its passengers were ready to head east. After getting an affirmative answer the Special with SD70M #4404 leading 10 cars rolled past us at 9:47 am. I took this photo just before getting a sun flare off of the engineer’s windshield.
The temporary antennas on the locomotive and the Fox River aimed at each other are there to relay a live video from a forward-facing camera on the locomotive to a large screen monitor in the Fox River so the passengers in the theater seating can see what is coming up ahead.
With nothing else close by we adjourned to R&K Cafe on Santa Fe for breakfast. ON the way back we stopped off for one more westbound intermodal train at 11:04 am.
Three intermodal trains and an Engineering Special made for a good start to the coming weekend!
