Western Railroad Discussion > T&P Pole Line Coming Down

The end of an era is coming to West Texas. Today I drove from Midland to Abilene and witnessed the removal of pole line wire and poles. It is completely gone in some places. They were working east of Midland. The T&P has been upgraded with new track and signals over the past few years. Signals were respaced and use commercial or solar power. The system was down to a 7 wire system in most places but with the use of radio and cell phone the telephone line became redundant and the power line was no longer needed. In some ways it makes it look like a little used branch line through the desert but upon further examination one can see it is a very impressive track system. We now see about 20-30 train per day versus about 6-8 before the SP purchase. Only about half of the siding turnouts are remote controlled. Also some of the key storage and industry sidings are getting signals. One in particular in Midland is being signaled that has never had a signal before. The T&P is after only 125 years realizing its potential to save time and money to the UP.

txspec1 wrote, in part:
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> "The T&P is after only 125 years realizing its
> potential to save time and money to the UP."


And to shippers...

There are very few fans of pole lines. After all, haven't we been complaining about them messing up our shots for the last 8 decades.

Now that the lines are dropping, I've actually made a point of working them into my shots.

Bob

I agree. Pole lines can sometimes help set the mood you are attempting to achieve.

This is my most acceptable photo after many attempts: Ex-UP F9m 4159 southbound from El Reno Ok. in the late 1970s.

Yardclerk

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