Included today:
1) UP 2061, 7848
2) GMTX 2158
3) Big black beetle or roach
4) Large scale train inside Stoby's Restaurant
UP 2061 running light east/southbound about to run past the Russellville, AR depot museum at 10:25 a.m.
A beetle or roach or whatever on a piece of newspaper next to the tracks.
GMTX 2158 stopped with a local just east of the Russellville depot at 11:05 a.m.
A distant train heading west toward me at 11:51 a.m. The Russellville depot is about 2 blocks behind me. This 'train' turned out to be a single engine, the GMTX 2158, which left its train somewhere east of here. The tracks in the foreground belong to the Dardanelle & Russellville RR and curve to the right and go south to North Dardanelle, Arkansas on the Arkansas River. I didn't get a chance to go to the D&R's headquarters at Dardanelle today.
Nice dark blue locomotive...dark, lush green trees and weeds.
GMTX 2158, west/northbound at 11:54 a.m. This locomotive is stored in Russellville. According to Damon Poole, GMTX 2158 is the UP Russellville Yard Switcher. From what I hear on the Van Buren Sub Dispatch Channel, they handle local switching and make the outbound yard cuts for the LVR-56 & 57 locals between North Little Rock & Van Buren, and for run thru trains that stop and make set outs and pick ups. A few years ago, the GMTX units also ran as a Conway Switcher the LVR-06 & 07 jobs, which were discontinued when the economy went south. The LVR-56 and 57 locals now handle Conway area switching.
The purple D is a derail on the D&R.
100 egress at about noon, which has been routine here in Arkansas this summer, as well as lots of the southern and middle parts of the country. The humidity/dew points being in the upper 70s makes it feel like 110-115, but as I type this on August 13, the upper wind flow will be changing next week and let a cold front pass through this area. In fact, parts of Montana will be getting snow next week in higher elevations. (Sorry....the retired meteorologist in me came out...lol)
I had lunch at Stoby's Restaurant right across UP's tracks from the Russellville depot. They have a large-scale train running around the diners.
I finally got a UP real train passing the Russellville depot at 1:05 p.m. The restaurant where I ate is behind those ex-Rock Island passenger cars to the right of the tracks. I'll do a whole separate web page on these cars in a couple of days, plus have some inside shots of the Russellville depot.
I'm on the sidewalk that goes across the tracks, but moved to the left of the fence line, at UP 7848 passed at 1:05 p.m.