Out & About – April 28, 2014

I had no plans to get out today, but that changed about 5 PM when I received an email that Amtrak  145, its Phase III painted heritage P42DC, was on the point of train #1.

The last time this unit came through was nearly 2 years ago.  I didn’t do too well with it as it was the trailing unit (Click here to view that post.)  and another whack at the piñata was just the ticket.

I originally set up near the Sugar Mill at CP SA025, but I felt that the track would be in shadows by the time that #1 arrived. I opted to head 6 miles east to CP SA019, the west switch at Missouri City, where I could catch the train about 6 minutes earlier, and hopefully in nice light.

My plan almost backfired. About 5 minutes before the train was due, shadows were taking over Main 1, the normal route for westbounds. As I cursed my misfortune, the DS advised #1 that he had to cross them over to main 2 at Ormandy account a tied-down train on main 1. Praise the FSM!

The detector at MP 15.6 announced 36 axles at 7:28 PM. Two minutes later, the westbound Sunset Limited  filled my viewfinder.

A quick pivot to my right captures the head end as it approaches the signal at CP SA019.

Right behind #1 was KCS 3907 leading a QKCNL (Quality Kansas City-Nuevo Laredo) train. It came into view 8 minutes after #1, but during that interval, shadows took over. Too bad, because the 2 SD70MAC’s were putting on a show.

The QKCNL typically has a DPU that’s cut-in between the manifest and a block of Schneider intermodal traffic.

A really short outing, but I’ll take what I can get. Especially if I wasn’t expecting to get out at all!

PS – I’ve been meaning to tell you about Chasing Heavy Metal.  Michael Matalis lives along the BNSF Racetrack and shares his adventures (and great photography). You really should click here to check out his site.