Murky Day Military Train

We came across a westbound BNSF military train this evening on our way home. It was just coming onto the UP’s Glidden sub at T&NO Jct.  Even though there wasn’t much light, I chose to get a few shots of it for the record.

I set up for the train at the Scott Street grade crossing, near MP 7 of the Glidden sub. The overpass in the background is  South Loop 610.

BNSF 7863 is westbound on UP rails in Houston, TX on April 24, 2011

It struck me as odd that there was only one locomotive on the train.

The train appeared to be mostly support equipment, no armor. A lot of the vehicles had “AR ARNG”  stenciled on the front bumpers, leading me to believe that this is Arkansas Army National Guard equipment.

So there is more than one unit on the train! I was surprised to see a DPU on a fairly light train like this, but I remembered that having a DPU helps minimize slack action as well.

This train will make a right turn at Tower 17 in Rosenberg to re-enter BNSF trackage. The last BNSF military train I saw through here was headed to Fort Carson, just south of Colorado Springs, CO. That would be my guess for the destination of this train.