Out & About – Oct. 4, 2013

I got word that today’s Amtrak #2 would have a private car bringing up the rear. That was enough for me to get out and try my luck with the partly cloudy skies. As I left home, there were lots of big cumulus clouds above, so I knew it would be a hit-or-miss proposition getting full sun when my photographic quarry arrived.

I headed to West Junction to wait for #2. It’s more open there plus the curve might help get better light on rear of the PV. Several big clouds passed by during my 10 minute wait for the train, but the sun prevailed as #2 approached.

The private car really stood out because it’s several feet shorter than Amtrak’s Superliners.

I was quite taken with the sleek lines the car and its NYC lightning stripe livery. It’s apparently the only remaining NYC Pullman car. It’s owned by the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey.  Click here for the history of this beautiful car.

Interesting fact about this car-it was christened by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in 1948 at New York’s Grand Central Terminal.

Here’s a shot of it during its heyday:

I moved 2 miles west to Ormandy to await the RDTDP (Rock Dittlinger-Dallerup) that was following Amtrak. This is one of the heaviest trains on the Glidden sub, typically  in the 15,000 ton range for its 110 cars or so of aggregate.

A westbound manifest passed by on track 1 seconds before the RDTDP arrived. No way to get a shot of it here, but the DS had instructed it to hold for one eastbound at Missouri City, so I should be able to shoot it there.

I headed another 2 miles west, to Missouri City, to set up for the next eastbound. The westbound that went by me at Ormandy was UP 3778, the MEWEG-4. It was already there , waiting for the LHT44, the eastbound Flatonia local,

By the time the LHT47 arrived, my luck with the clouds had just run out, resulting in these craptacular shots. Nothing you can really do other than take it like a man, then carry on.

I headed to CP SA019 to catch the MEWEG manifest at the end of double track.

As the MEWEG approached me from the east, a huge cloud was approaching from the west. Fortunately for me, the train won the race by an engine length.

There was a lull once the MEWEG got by me due to MOW getting 90 minutes of track and time to dump rock between switches at Sugar Land. I took this time to head home to cool off and get some lunch.

The first thing to run once MOW gave back their time was the LRNRNJ, the KCS local. Its power was 2 GP40’s in Southern Belle colors. It would have been epic had the clouds not made an untimely appearance. Clouds or not, it’s still a nice shot.

There wasn’t anything else running in the area, so I took that as a sign to head home and back into the A/C.