SP GP20E 4108 Gets Around
SP GP20E 4108 at McAllen, TX on May 30, 1978
We’re just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border at McAllen, Texas. In 1978, McAllen was a sleepy town of maybe 45,000 souls. It was at the end of a short branch that began about 8 miles away in Edinburg, TX.
SP’s line to the Rio Grande Valley came down from Beeville, TX to Edinburg, where it split into two lines: one to McAllen on the west side of the Valley, the other line going to Harlingen and Brownsville on the east side of the Valley.
SP GP20E 4108 at the Hardy Street roundhouse in Houston, TX on Dec. 3, 1988.
10 years later, we see the 4108 amid a sea of scarlet & lark gray at the Hardy Street roundhouse, just west of downtown Houston.
There is no longer a roundhouse, proper, but SP employees referred to the engine service facility here as the roundhouse.
At first glance, the 4108 looks unchanged over the 10 years. Looking carefully though, you will notice numerous minor changes.
Southwest Rails 
A reminder of how back in the day things were in the valley. Impressive!
Keep up the good job!
Thanks for the compliment Fernando. The only thing I would say is get out there and document what’s going on today, because it too will change, or even disappear.
20 years from now, what you document from today, will be a priceless memory of the “good old days in 2010”.
Great photo. I was directed her by someone who referenced the freight depot in McAllen.