About noon today there was a welded track train pulling out, what was intertesting to me was that the headend power was a NS C40-9W and BNSF Dash9-44CW on the head end, the cars were still Lettered and numbered for SSW, the only Union Pacific logo was on the last car (apparently the anchor car for unloading the welded rail). Also in the yard were 3 stack trains, first time I have seen those kinds of trains running south out of here, and not a coal train in sight (that, in itself was unusual… Possibly a wreck or trackwork somewhere causing a reroute? May one of the Union Pacific guys can shed some light on this.
More than likely it’s track work is my guess. I’ve seen those types of trains all the time in Augusta, KS on the BNSF line. When I say all the time I mean regularly like a few times a year, if you watch the tracks enough. Sometimes they park that train on a siding and leave it for a few days or a week. Replacing rail is an ongoing process somewhere all the time. The railroads probably have a schedule as to when and where each section gets replaced provided it don’t break first, which does happen.
I like seeing those types of trains because they are a bit unusual and break up the monotony of the same old day-to-day business.
One trip I made to southest KS was spending a day watching Miss Katy @ Parsons yd in May 1988 right about the time the UP merger was approved. Have on tape several trains and the old yd slug. The John Deere green sure looked nice. In 1993 went to the Katy Society convention held in Parsons that yr. By then it was all UP yellow. Have always liked southest KS and the history which goes w/it including Katy which I have read several books on the history of. Curious as to the extent of Parsons yd–is there a local based there and how many yd shifts still work?