Western Railroad Discussion > Empty Flat car trains at N. Academy, 25 years apart.

The overpass at the North switch of Academy siding, the next siding North of Colorado Springs on the Denver to Pueblo Joint Line, is a nice place to shoot trains. However, after the events of 9/11 it is a lot harder to access this spot which is inside the limits of the United States Air Force Academy.

1)Back in October of 1989, Rio Grande SD50 5509 leads a pair of Southern Pacific B30-7's (7856 and 7820) into the siding at N. Academy. This somewhat strange power combination is heading South with a train of empty Intermodal flats. Those SP "Baby boats" were not frequently seen on the Joint Line.

2)Yesterday (August 27th) consecutively numbered Union Pacific SD70m's 5106 and 5107, along with BNSF 6949 head South down the main at Academy with empty military flats. This train had a symbol of SLKFC-23 (Special-Lake Yard, OR-Ft. Carson) and will leave the mainline at Kelker, the next siding South of Colorado Springs and head up the short branch to the Army base at Ft. Carson.

Nice to see that the searchlight signals are still intact:}

 

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Very cool.
JB

Nice pictures John. You are giving away your age.

Hermosa45

Oh man, two beauties for sure. 

Love that first shot, thanks for the share on a nice pair.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Always loved the side-hung bell on those later EMD's--looks cool.  And what kind of horn is that on the SD-50?  M-5, P-5, or K-5??

Awesome, of course in 1989 as a youngster crazy about trains I thought things would be like that forever!

Great then & now shots.

Ronda Thomas

Nice pics!!

Nice photo comparison, glad to see the searchlights still standing as well :)

~Ryan