Western Railroad Discussion > Texas Happenings

Shooting in Texas has turned out to be a real kick in the pants. No mountains to speak of, but plenty of interesting terrain. And even some new power!

BNSF 5875 West, Wichita Falls

BNSF 4038 North, Tower 55

Amtrak No. 22, Tower 55

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schmo Wrote:
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> Shooting in Texas has turned out to be a real kick
> in the pants. No mountains to speak of, but plenty
> of interesting terrain. And even some new power!


Drive out to Alpine in west Texas when you get a chance -- there are mountains to speak of there.
:-)

Great shots BTW!

I'll second FWWR's suggestion to head to Alpine, Marfa,
and Piasano Pass. Still a decent amount of traffic, but
nothing like the days before the T&P upgrade project - now
a lot of those stacks split off at Sierra Blanca and heads
towards Fort Worth rather than the Sunset Route. Still, this
is a good time of year to go (before it gets so #%$^&@* hot!).

Dusk at Tower 55

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Very cool shots


SP7615

I 2ND that, keep up the good work Steve!

At Sierra Blanca you will have mountains and both the old T&P and SP routes. Should see around 30 to 35 trains there in a day.. Go there and you will have the best of both!

tomstp Wrote:
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> At Sierra Blanca you will have mountains and both
> the old T&P and SP routes. Should see around 30
> to 35 trains there in a day.. Go there and you
> will have the best of both!

I'd love to, but given the current gas price, I think I'll likely make about as far west as Iona!

Late afternoon, Tower 55.

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yeah, that trip alone would be about $2.75.

tomstp Wrote:
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> yeah, that trip alone would be about $2.75.

That's about all I can afford. :)

Were you at Centennial yard engine terminal around 11:30 this am? I was there in maroon ext cab chev Pickup.

tomstp Wrote:
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> Were you at Centennial yard engine terminal around
> 11:30 this am? I was there in maroon ext cab chev
> Pickup.

I wish. I was here at work with my face stuck to a monitor. :)

fwwr5007 Wrote:
>
> Drive out to Alpine in west Texas when you get a
> chance -- there are mountains to speak of there.
> :-)
>

Hey, Schmo, just wondering:

You did a desert railroading book, but didn't include West Texas, but DID include (I think) the north slope of the Tehachapis and Cuesta.

Why no Texas in that book? I GUARANTEE you, get out west of Del Rio or Colorado City, and there's nearly 500 miles and miles of Texas desert to the New Mexico line.

Maybe you'll do a book on Texas some day, huh?

What great shots and train action, but I thought the RR cops were hot and heavy around the tower. Can any of us regulars get that close?

donem Wrote:
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> What great shots and train action, but I thought
> the RR cops were hot and heavy around the tower.
> Can any of us regulars get that close?

Do so at your own risk. BNSF sicks the FW police on anybody in the vicinity. And railfan wanna-be cops will report you to the RR (and thus the police) as well. Love those railfans with cell phones!

schmo Wrote:
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> donem Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What great shots and train action, but I
> thought
> > the RR cops were hot and heavy around the
> tower.
> > Can any of us regulars get that close?
>
> Do so at your own risk. BNSF sicks the FW police
> on anybody in the vicinity. And railfan wanna-be
> cops will report you to the RR (and thus the
> police) as well. Love those railfans with cell
> phones!


I'm planning on going to Saginaw, Texas in a few weeks will I be hassled or reported for watching trains on public property.

SP7615

SP7615 Wrote:
> I'm planning on going to Saginaw, Texas in a few
> weeks will I be hassled or reported for watching
> trains on public property.
>
> SP7615

No, as long as you're clearly on public property, nobody should be able to bother you.

Cool I'll be up there in May more than likely the first weekend. I'll be fanning from Saginaw to Gainesville along the BNSF.

Again very nice pictures.

SP7615

ArgyleEagle Wrote:
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> Still, this is a good time of year to go (before it gets so
> #%$^&@* hot!).

Too late... See the first photo, taken Saturday in Big Bend Nat'l Park when the TXPF train out of Presidio didn't pan out...

The only thing I managed to find moving on the TXPF this weekend was a job hauling a few cars back to San Angelo from Rankin on Sunday. Spoke with the conductor - apparently the train the cars all originated at Rankin except one, and the train had been sitting there waiting to move since Wednesday.

Nathan
http://www.drgw.net

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