Saturday,
October 24, 2009 at Brinkley, Arkansas. Track work on the line south of
Brinkley caused some UP trains to be stopped for the track curfew north
of Brinkley, so only a handful of trains today. Also included a quick
shot of UP heritage locomotives 1996 and 1982 in North Little Rock.
Included:
1) UP 1982, 1996, 7376, 9662
2) Rio Grande (UP) 1355 North Little Rock
3) NS 9015, 8766
4) CSX 8063
Red fall leaves on a shrub next to the Brinkley depot museum.
Before
I left for Brinkley, I got this quick shot of UP 1996 and 1982 on the
YNL75-Pine Bluff local in North Little Rock. They had come in
from Fort Worth the night before. It was about 9 a.m.
Another
shot of the train. 1996 and 1982 were 7th and 8th in the consist and
were not running. This local always moves locomotives around between
North Little Rock and Pine Bluff.
UP (Rio Grande) 1355 was also seen in North Little Rock.
I
hadn't seen a train on the Brinkley sub on Saturdays in months, but
today a mixed train is going around the curve to join the Jonesboro Sub
at 10:42 a.m. The Brinkley Sub runs from West Memphis, Arkansas (just
across the Mississippi River from Memphis) to Brinkley. It uses the
former Rock Island's (SP) tracks. The following is from former Southern Pacific Public Relations head Jim Johnson:
"As you probably know (1) although the CRI&P owned the line
from Brinkley to Briark (junction west pof the Harahan Bridge),
which was part of the line from Memphis to Tucumcari, NM, by way of
Little Rock, Oklahoma City, El Reno, and Amarillo, TX, the StLSW
purchased the Brinkley to Briark portion in 1981 from the Rock
Island trustee for about 2 million dollars
(interestingly enough,
William Gibbons, the Rock Island trustee, spent a lot of time
around Biddle Yard in Little Rock, long enough to develop a
romance with and marry the asst. supt.'s secretary, whose name
escapes me in my old age); (2) the Harahan Bridge was jointly
owned by CRI&P, MoPac and SLSW, but was controlled by the
MoPac, even though, of the three owners, it carried the least
traffic; (3) both the Harahan Bridge and the parallel
Frisco Bridge (just a little better than 100' south of the Harahan
span) were used for both rail and auto traffic, the Harahan having
highway lanes on each side of the double-tracked rail lines, while
the Frisco's auto roadway was right on top of the rail line, and
thus, auto traffic could not proceed when a train was close to
using the bridge; (4) Rock Island's yard provided the best
photographic background of the Memphis skyline of any of the
several RR's which served the city, but was a one-way entry and
departure yard. Trains headed eastbound had to pass by the yard
(via the Southern RR's tracks) and then back their trains in,
while departing trains would have to double and triple to get
their trains together due to the shortness of the yard tracks. I
once had a lot of photos of the Memphis Yard and Harahan Bridge,
but am sure they are all long gone."
NS 9015 and NS 8766 lead the long train and looked like they were using full power on this curve.
UP 9662 and CSX 8063, 12:56 p.m.
Through the former ticket office windows from inside the depot.
String of boxcars on a siding in Brinkley.
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