[8D].I was in Midlothian today.First,I visited Midlothian Hobbies.A little out of the way,but worth the drive.[:D].Bought a Box Car Kit(SLSF.MDC.).Coming back into town,I saw a Trackmobile switching Hoppers at a Fertilizer Dealer off the BNSF Downtown.Saw a BNSF GP38/39/40[?] at the Imported Car Offload Facilty*.(*I couldn’t really make out what particular Model of Geep it was.Basically,with the exception of the GP30,every Geep from the GP28-60 basically look alike from a distance.[^]).I noticed bunches of Auto Racks plus what looked like a couple of Streamilined Passenger Cars [?]in the distance.Since the Import Offload Facility is operated by US Customs,unless you have Official Business,you probably can’t go in.[:(].Drove on up the Street and saw a trio of GP60’s switching Cylindrical Covered Hoppers at a Door and Window Manufacturing Plant.Two of the Geeps were still in Cotton Belt Gray and Scarlet.The third one was painted in UP Yellow and Gray,but had a Leasing Co. Initials on the Cab.[8D].Drove West on Hwy.67 and saw a pair of Texas Central Business U23B’s pulling a string of Hoppers.Got off and got on Hwy.67 East and drove out to Venus.Passed by the TXI Cement Plant and Chapparal Steel Plant.Bunches of Hoppers and Gondolas.No switching going on this AM.Also passed by Southwest Salvage Scrapyard.One of the workers was cutting up some scrap,but there were no Gondolas or Hoppers to be filled with scrap today,so I drove on down to Venus.In Venus,I saw a GP38-2 still in Blue and Yellow at the Yard Office,plus Three UP GE AC4400’s on a siding by the Fertilizer Company.Also,the BNSF MofW Crew was doing some work around the crossing in Venus.Stopped in at Whataburger in Venus and had a #3 Breakfast Combo.FYI:The Venus area looks realitivily easy to Model.A Trailer and Container can serve as the Yard Office.Park a BNSF Geep beside it.Make up a 'Danger:Remote Control Trains’Sign,then add a trio of UP GE’s,then you got yourself the BNSF/UP Operations in Venus.[;)][8D].The Scrapyard a Mile up the road is equally eas
cool aztech, shoulda gone to cleburne and visited the old SF shops there, now taken over by grenbrier/crle i think . also to saginaw in the ft worth area BR 287 parallels the BNSF main and us 287 north as it too follows the main all the way to amarillo. also just south of the us287/br 287 interchange theres a car shop with an old center cab switcher.
tom
Considering I don’t live too awfully far from Cleburne(I live in Mansfield),I don’t get over there very much.Back in December,My Wife and Her Sister and Myself went to Cleburne and took our Xmas pitcure on the Caboose by the Museum. We wanted to take it on the Steam Enginein the Park,but the gate was locked and we couldn’t go in. FYI:A really great place to eat at in Cleburne:The Caddo Street Grill Downtown. Good food,good prices.With Drinks and a tip,it came to right at $30.00.[8D]
guess im gonna have too look ya up next time im down that way.
tom