On Thursday, September 1 through Saturday September 3, 2005, I went on a railfan trip across the central part of Arkansas, and into Western Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma. Here's some photographic highlights from this trip. Enjoy!
At Pine Bluff, this Union Pacific caboose was in the former Missouri Pacific Yard, waiting to be scrapped. For a time, it was used on a local which ran out of Pine Bluff.
These two MP15 switchers were making up a train in the former Cotton Belt Pine Bluff Gravity Yard.
This MoPac caboose was next to another former MoPac caboose at Crystal Springs, Arkansas, to the west of Hot Springs. These are on display on the side of US highway 270 near a restaurant.
Two rusty streaks in the weeds... The former Missouri Pacific near Caddo Gap, Arkansas. This was the north segment of what was the MoPac Norman Subdivision near Milepost 480.7. This branch was sold to Arkansas Midland in the early 1990s, then went to the Caddo Valley Railroad. This particular segment of track likely hasn't seen trains in many, many years. Just to the north of this area, the rails have been pulled up...likely during MoPac or Union Pacific ownership.
This coal drag was waiting to get out of Heavener on Friday morning when I arrived. KCS 2009, UP 6017, and SP 192. This train was southbound.
At the north end of the yard, another coal train was waiting to get out of Heavener.
The northbound passes yet another waiting southbound coal train at the north end of Heavener.
The head of the southbound and end of the northbound lined up at Heavener. These are two AC4400CWs
...BNSF 5613, 5617.
The northbound heads out of Heavener toward Howe and Poteau, crossing a country road.
Back at the KCS engine facility, we have HLCX 6112, an SD40T-2 tunnel motor of Union Pacific, and SP heritage.
The standard Rich Mountain shot...KCS 707, 683, 7017, 718, and 726 bring a manifest down out of Rich Mountain and into the siding at Page, Oklahoma.
A little while later, the southbound coal train which was waiting to leave Heavener shows up at Page, barrelling up grade to Rich Mountain.
The mid-train helpers/DPU...KCS 2028 and 2038.
Four Union Pacific locomotives pull a KCS coal train over Rich Mountain, Arkansas. At an elevation near 1,600 feet, this is some of the highest terrain on the Kansas City Southern.
Further up the line, another KCS manifest waits to get up over Rich Mountain.
Back at Heavener, we find a business train, with Southern Belle cars, minus the famed locomotives.
BNSF SD70MAC 9921 and KCS AC4400CW 2043 wait at the north end of Heavener Yard, waiting to bring another coal train in.
The next day, two Burlington Northern (technically BNSF) SD70MACs were waiting to bring another coal train into Heavener.
On my way back home, I caught this Arkansas and Missouri job in Van Buren, crossing the Arkansas River.
