A nice selection of trains passing Union Station in Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday, December 17, 2013, including a two-car stack train. I also included a picture of the NASA Orion test space vehicle, which was on its way to San Diego from Virginia. It was here overnight on December 15 so the Kenworth truck that was hauling it could be serviced.

Included:
1) UP 5021, 8551, 8749, 4272, 3899, 4331, 1944, 1826, 1784, 5167, 9465, 9544, 4235, 4185, 4926, 3811, 6747, 2047, 4300
2) KCS 4055 Belle
3) GMTX 2609, 2152, 2112
4) Ferromex 4060
5) SRN 55096 green boxcar
6) CSXT 180174 blue hycube boxcar
7) DMM 1716 boxcar
8- LRWN 195030 Detroit & Mackinac Railway boxcar
9) SCL 203570 Family Lines hopper
10) CSXT 180668 hycube
11) GTW 126754 Grand Trunk Western hycube
12) CNW 520050 green boxcar
13) CNA 795163 Canadian National hycube
14) GTW 127095 Grand Trunk Western hycube
15) ICG 680117 Illinois Central Gulf hycube
16) Jet contrail closeup
17) MKT 16175 and 16385 red gondola
18) MGNX 10100 shiny small black tankcar
19) NASA's Orion space vehicle being transported from Virginia to San Diego via truck


UP 5021, 9:52 a.m.




UP 8551.


10:04 a.m.


UP 8749 and 4272, 10:04 a.m.


UP 4272 and 3899.




Two-car stack train headed by UP 4331, 10:15 p.m.




UP 1944, 10:20 a.m.




UP 1944, 1826 and 1784, 10:20 a.m.


UP 1784.


SRN 55096 green boxcar.


UP 5167, 10:29 a.m.


UP 9465 and 9544.


UP 4235, 10:36 a.m.


UP 4235 and 4185.


KCS 4055.


GMTX 2609 and UP 4926.


UP 3811.


CSXT 180174 blue hycube.


DMM 1716 boxcar.


LRWN 195030 Detroit & Mackinac Railway boxcar.


SCL 203570 Family Lines hopper.


CSXT 180668 hycube boxcar.


GTW 126754 Grand Trunk Western hycube.


CNW 520050 green boxcar.


CNA 795163 Canadian National hycube.


Another Grand Trunk Western hycube, GTW 127095.


ICG 680117 Illinois Central Gulf hycube.


UP 6747, 2:06 p.m.


UP 6747.


GMTX 2152.


GMTX 2112, 2:09 p.m.


Contrails.




United States Flag atop Union Station.


GMTX 2112, 2:11 p.m.


GMTX 2112 and UP/SP 2047.


UP/SP 2047.






UP 4300, 2:32 p.m.


Ferromex 4060.




MKT 16175 red gondola. These were here just a week or so ago.


MKT 16385.


MGNX 10100 tankcar.


On Sunday, December 15, 2013, NASA's Orion test space vehicle was in Little Rock on its way to San Diego. Here are some photos when it was parked at Kenworth trucking facility in the industrial district near the airport overnight.
   The mockup, called a boilerplate test article, has already been used in a number of tests to ensure that Orion will be ready for its first mission, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), scheduled for September 2014. That mission will take Orion to 3,600 miles above the Earth’s surface before returning it at speeds of up to 20,000 miles per hour for a splash landing in the Pacific Ocean.
   During the underway recovery tests in San Diego, the mockup will be set adrift in open and unstable waters, providing NASA and the Navy the opportunity to recover the capsule and bring it into the well deck of the USS San Diego. While deployed, the team will seek out various sea states in which to practice the capsule recovery procedures. This will help build a knowledge base of how the capsule recovery differs in calm and rough seas and what the true physical limits are.
   The 18,000-pound mockup is a full-size replica of the Orion spacecraft currently being built at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA and the Navy previously used this mockup to practice recovery in calm seas during a stationary recovery test in August where the spacecraft was set adrift in the waters of Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia and recovered into the docked well deck of the USS Arlington. The mockup was also dropped from 25 feet above the water of Langley’s Hydro Impact Basin to simulate different splashdown scenarios. #SpotOrion
   For more information, click on this link:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/#.Uq82g-KGPKd


While the truck that was hauling it was being repaired here, the public was invited to see it firsthand and someone was even handing out brochures. It was on a cross-country journey from Virginia to San Diego for testing. While working for the National Weather Service, I bid on a weather support job for the Space Shuttles in Florida in the early 1980s. 

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