The train passed Marshall, Texas at 12:40 a.m. March 13, so that would mean it'd be in North Little Rock 5-7 hours later if it had no delays, arriving here between 5:40 a.m and 7:40 a.m. It actually arrived in NLR at 7:04 a.m. I knew it would be too dark to get photos that early, since Daylight Savings Time just started (sunrise in Little Rock was 7:22 a.m.). So I decided to head north to Bald Knob, Arkansas on UP's Hoxie Sub to try and catch it there. Bald Knob is an hour drive away. I left about 6:15 a.m. and arrived at the Bald Knob Depot (now housing Arkansas Traveler Hobbies, which has lots of model trains) at 720 a.m. It was very dense fog at Bald Knob and you couldn't see more than a tenth of a mile when I first arrived.
I waited there at the depot for the train carrying Bugs but figured it would be delayed in the UP yard in North Little Rock. I was ready to take a nap, but in the meantime another northbound train passed, which I also got a picture of, and then at 8:44 a.m. the train with UP 4955 and Mr. Bunny arrived. Trains move close to track speed through Bald Knob, so I set my camera to shutter priority (1/400th second) so it wouldn't be a blurr and adjusted the aperture as well. All set.
The 'Bugged' autorack number was ETTX 702888. I also got another rare car on the same train, which had the ID EEC 2398. It was a boxcar with faded lettering something like this: "New Hope Ivyland RR" and "McHugh Bros, IN."
The Bald Knob depot in the fog at 7:23 a.m.
My first train at 7:51 a.m. northbound.
UP 8709, 7:51 a.m.
The Bugs Bunny train arrived at 8:43 a.m. Visibility had improved a little.
UP 4955 headed the mixed train.
The Bugs Bunny autorack, ETTX 702888. (Yes, I know its graffiti or 'crime art', but it was fun to 'chase' it across 2 states. I almost wonder if Albuquerque's tourist department had something to do with it!)
"I knew I shouda taken that left turn at...."
EEC 2398 boxcar. Tom Mickel sent me the following message regarding this car: "The Bugs pics are great, but the last pic of the box car really caught my interest. I found the lease of the boxcars to that railroad. Section 4(A) of the lease shows the New Hope & Ivyland could put "McHugh Brothers Line" on the cars at their own expense and agreed to remove the slogan if it was objectionable to regulators. The lease was signed by a McHugh, and it appears he and his brother owned a heavy-haul trucking company. The first link is the lease, the second link I found that gives some interesting history to the railroad, which today appears to be a tourist line.
http://docs.stb.dot.gov/?sGet&Dl5cTH1WXw1zAAoAS1VdW2ZXEnEBfQICXQEDeR8EZQECDwcGWAQKfxgLHAcCa1FcAEF7XBJXTkRRa0JlCENBUUBdEgAAeQcVC1heXUFSQlUNdQQHVHMXCmpDS1ZtMTI4LzMvMDBNMjMM
https://www.newhoperailroad.com/history.cfm
That's All Folks.....lol