Having caught BNSF 250 not long ago, on July 24, 2026, I got word the United States 250th Anniversary locomotive BNSF 2026 was leading an intermodal train from California to the Haslet Intermodal Terminal. Unfortunately, it was not due to arrive here until well after dark. The news was better the next morning when the unit was assigned to lead an intermodal train back to California the next morning. I was out early on the 25th and got word the train would leave Alliance sometime after 1:00 pm, so I decided to stop and photograph Amtrak 821 passing a BNSF freight from the Northeast 38th Street crossing at 12:24 pm.
The freight train rolled a few minutes later and offered a diversity of power.
I continued on north towards Haslet and learned I might be late to the party as the intermodal train was already leaving the terminal. Luckily for me the train stopped north of the Blue Mound Road crossing to wait for opposing traffic. I made the scene and pulled off FM 157 with an open field between me and the head end of the train. I used my phone and obtained a quick FAA authorization to fly a drone over to the train with the following results at 1:26 pm.
The train started to move south shortly after I brought the drone back to the car. I assumed it would continue south to the Wichita Falls wye in Saginaw and come back north after making the 180-degree turn. I decided for the best light I would head west over to Highway 287 and set up at the curves north of Rhome and south of Herman siding on the Wichita Falls Sub..
I found a good spot and settled in thinking it would not be long before the now westbound BNSF 2026 caught up to me. Just as with the scenario involving the UP passenger train a week earlier, I was wrong when at 2:17 pm the first train to reach me was an eastbound intermodal with more trains to come.
On one hand it now looked like this would turn into another waiting game, but on the other hand the sun angle would only improve to a perfect 3/4 angle with time. The next train was a westbound intermodal at 4:38 pm after a wait of over two hours. I heard my target train was stopped at the crew change point just north of East Bailey Boswell Road still on the Fort Worth Sub. With the light only getting more backlit there I was not missing anything.
This train and a second westbound intermodal at 5:08 pm proved my forecast regarding the improving light angle.
Both of these intermodals met an eastbound loaded coal train at Herman siding that subsequently passed me at 5:48 pm in perfect light. The going away shot of the two DPU’s showed me the light was now ideal for the target train.
Exactly one hour later at 6:48 pm – five hours and twenty-two minutes after my drone photos – I pressed the shutter again to capture BNSF 2026 from ground level in perfect light. In that sense it was worth the wait.
As the train went by and I started after it, I heard on the radio it would be taking the siding at Herman to meet another eastbound. I pulled over just beyond the east end of Herman for this view of the train branching off the main and then once more before parking at the north end of the siding where other railfans were gathering.
The previous photo of the train stopping in the siding at milepost 35 was taken at 7:01 pm, and the eastbound in the form of yet another intermodal train split the signals at 8:17 pm as the sun was starting to set. I ended the day with the following sequence of the meet.
A full day for sure but very productive photo-wise!
