Western Railroad Discussion > 2016 trip report, chasing E-units

Sunday morning October 24, after days of chasing trains throughout the Midwest, we found ourselves far from where we started...Mississippi. This all came about after a seed was planted by fellow TO member CP_M260 in John’s head, that the Iowa Pacific would be running a round trip excursion near the end of our trip over the Grenada Railway from Horn Lake to Batesville, MS. With no plans ever etched in stone, it was originally only a thought but as the week progressed and the weather improved to the south, we decided to give it a shot. After spending the night in Memphis, TN, a short drive across the state line and we found the train parked prior to boarding. E8A 515 facing south, six matching cars and 518 on the rear, sitting in the morning sun was quite a sight. We didn’t know our way around so probably missed some great shots but we still had a fun chase.

1) About 90 minutes prior to departure, the 515 basks the morning sun at Horn Lake.

2) A side cab view of former CNW 5029B.

3) 10AM, time to begin the 48 mile journey south to Batesville as the 515 blows out some built up carbon.

3 more parts to follow
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/16 19:45 by oyw.

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4) The sound of the Nathan P5 horn and the 567 prime movers throttling up, add to that a working Mars light, quite impressive for the year 2016.

5) A friendly wave from the cab as the train cruises through Senatobia. Thanks to several  10 MPH slow orders, there was no problem keeping up with the train.

6) South of Sardis, the train rounding a curve at River Road.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/16 19:35 by oyw.

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7) Arriving Batesville, there was a fair sized crowd assembled on the Highway 51 overpass.

8) The train is now parked in downtown Batesville as passengers prepare for a photo runby through town.

9) After changing ends, the train is ready to highball back to Horn Lake as the properly attired young conductor waves from the vestibule.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/16 19:38 by oyw.

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10) Even though we had done well with the train and despite some high clouds, the train looked so good we chose to follow it back to Horn Lake. With the sun angle favoring the south facing unit, most of the remaining shots are of the train going away like this one at Sardis.

11) An artsy attempt near Coldwater.

12) Coming around the curve at Star Landing Road, south of Horn Lake, was as close as we got to getting nose light on northbound lead unit 518.

This was a great day. Thanks go to CP_M260 for the idea, it was good meeting both you and KCCharlie. Thanks also to “EEE” for this rolling museum, even though we “carpet bagged” this day and only photographed the train, I certainly look forward to riding it someday.

Now, we needed to figure out how to get back to Kansas City by Monday afternoon to fly home. We decided to follow the ex-Frisco line from Memphis to Springfield, making it roughly halfway to West Plains, MO for the night. Traditionally, our last day is pretty quiet but this year it wasn’t bad. Thanks for looking and stay tuned as the 2016 Midwest trip finally ends.

OYW
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/16 22:50 by oyw.

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Keep up the good work.
ALLEN

WOW !!!!
Those are some incredible shots!
Phil

Nice train and great weather! What do we know about that heavyweight? Parlor?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/16 20:31 by CPR_4000.

Good meeting you as well, Bob.  Looks like your trip back to Horn Lake was a good one.  You have some interesting photos of some locations we missed.

KCCharlie

Great shots, Bob... brought a tear to my eye as my dad railfanned Sardis when the trains looked a lot like that.

 

Hope it's okay to put this here - but I've looked at this picture for 50 years - it's my dad's shot probably about where you were.

Also, here's the station that was there.

Pics are August 1952, nine years before I would be born.


 

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Excellent photos, Bob. I had a touch of envy when John texted me a photo of the train at Horn Lake before it departed, what a great consist for 2016 for sure. 

Thanks for sharing,
Ryan

        Carbon is very doubtful, much more like burning oil smoke.

Marvelous...marvelous !     
Thanks for sharing your fine work.

Great shots of a great looking train. I followed that line a few years ago and saw nothing, bummer.
​JB

Wow, a home run!  The City of New Orleans lives on in 2016 with a great photo essay.

Rich

Images of the Month!!!!   Thank you sooo much for posting the results of your trip; just fantastic!  They are all great.  Image # 2 made me dig out my "Our GM Scrapbook" copy and enjoy both your image and Parker Lamb's image at Tolono, Il on page 112-113.  Thanks again for sharing your trip!  And thank you, Mr. Ellis, for snatching a "scrap line" from the jaws of the asset cannibals.

How about the individual cars in the consist?

GREAT pics!!  Thanks....

Great photos, I was riding the train that day. The IC colors are very special.

gmojim

Where is home,for this train,meaning where do they keep it,Thanks Scoob