Another stormy day in Little Rock, Arkansas, Saturday June 1, 2013. Flash flood warnings were over much of the state, including here at Union Station. So, naturally I ventured out to the station to get some train shots. Having worked 32 years for NOAA/National Weather Service, I love active weather and love taking photos of rain and trains. There were only two trains, one BNSF northbound oil train with a couple of 'executive' locomotives,  BNSF 9750 (lead unit) and BNSF 9671 (dpu) plus BNSF 9166, and a southbound UP welded rail train, led by UP 5106. The empty welded rail train must have gone out to pick up some welded rail because after it passed at 3 p.m. there were no more trains at least until 6 p.m. when I left. I got some rain and artistic shots of the station area, however. It was 67 degrees, but tomorrow, Sunday, it should be sunny and 82.


MOW truck at 2:03 p.m.


Lots of thunder and cloud to ground lightning strikes, but I was relatively safe under the station's east covered patio. To hear some thunder and see a video of this scene, click on the photo above or on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjDKrdiJNvg&feature=youtu.be


This is where I was sitting.


The empty BNSF oil train passed at 2:25 p.m.


BNSF 9750 in the 'executive' paint.


BNSF 9750. Looks like it had many years of service.


BNSF 9166.






To see a video of the last half of this train, click on the photo above or the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZqzdRsiIaY&feature=youtu.be


BNSF 9671, the dpu.




UP 5106 with an empty welded rail train, 2:53 p.m.






Empty welded rail haulers.


UP 904571 welded rail hauler.




UP 904595 last car M-54.


4:13 p.m. a good downpour started.




4:45 p.m.


I played with a setting on my Sony A77 called "partial color-red" to get this black and white shot with the red signals highlighted.


Ominous-looking clouds moving in at 5:22 p.m.


I went home.

You may contact me by email - thundertrain@gmail.com - or by using this CONTACT FORM  - If you use the contact form, please be sure to type your email address correctly in the form, otherwise I can't respond. Also, please tell me the name or date of the webpage you're viewing so I can better answer your questions. You will also be asked to enter a sequence of letters and numbers to help me try to avoid spam.

My Weather and Scenery website: http://www.trainweather.com/

Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ken.ziegenbein

 If you want to view more of my train pictures over the years, click: http://www.trainweather.com/sunday.html
 
 You can also find my railroad pictures on my Facebook Railroad page: https://www.facebook.com/KenZsRailroadPhotos     
"LIKE" this page and you'll be notified of any new photos I upload.
 
If you want to be notified of my train pictures via email, I'll add you to my notification list. Send those requests to:
thundertrain@gmail.com