Western Railroad Discussion > A J train visits Tulsa

There was something interesting happening in Tulsa on Super Bowl Sunday other than the football game.  Two large generators going to the Grand River Dam Authority's new natural gas generating unit at Chouteau, OK, were being transported via 2 20-axle depressed center flatcars from the Port of Catoosa just east of Tulsa, OK.  The generators were built in Japan and had been floated to the Port, then transloaded onto the flatcars earlier in the week.  The Port of Catoosa Railway had spotted the loads and associated idlers and support cars on the BNSF spur, and Sunday was the appointed day of the move by BNSF and UP.  The consist totalled 2 locomotives, 8 cars, and 72 axles.  A GMTX Geep replaced the 2 BNSF units at the handoff point to the UP in downtown Tulsa.  The "J" symbol denotes a dimensional load on BNSF.  Not sure what the UP symbol is, but I'm sure someone can tell us....hint hint. :-)

1.  BNSF Geeps 2105 and 2710 cross the Bird Creek bridge on the port spur enroute to the big loads.
2 and 3.  An hour later the big loads are being shoved back to the main.

Part 1 of 4.  Stay tuned.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/16 11:48 by TTownTrains.

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4.  The head end of the train crosses Bird Creek.

5.  The train is almost all on the main.  After stopping, the attendants on each flatcar advised they need to "shim the loads".  The flatcars have the capability to raise and lower and adjust laterally to accomodate the needs of any particular location.

6.  Train is underway about 2 miles west of Catoosa heading towards Tulsa along Tiger Switch Road.

Part 2 of 4.

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7 and 8.  Loads crossing Mingo Creek. I have this bridge theme going here. ;-)

9.  BNSF is preparing to hand off the movement to the UP at control point Urban in downtown Tulsa.  The UP crew has the GMTX Geep waiting at the switch.

Part 3 of 4.

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10.  GMTX 2133 now has control of the train and prepares to cross 2nd street and enter the bridge over US 75 in downtown Tulsa. 

11.  The track isn't perfectly aligned with the bridge; it makes a little curve on each end. So the car attendants had to adjust the load laterally so it won't scrape the sides of the bridge.  There are controls on both ends of the flatcars to control the hydraulics.  Crossing the bridge was done at less than 5 mph.

Thanks for looking.

Bill Gillfillan
Tulsa, OK

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Look like Schnabel Cars

Great coverage of this special move. Thanks, Bill.

Very nice catch! I really like #6 and #9.

- Jeff Carlson

looks like there's 2 routes to Chouteau from Tulsa ... one via Claremore to Wagoner and the other via Wybark to Wagoner with similar mileage ... what would be the reason the Wybark route would be chose over the Claremore route ??? ...

Great train! Any close ups of the cabooses--shoving platforms?

The only train that uses the Tulsa sub to Wybark is the Muskogee-Tulsa local.  The special move wouldn't disrupt things as much going this way. Also, there were no reverse moves on this route, just a left turn from the Tulsa sub onto the Cherokee sub at Wybark.  If they had gone to Claremore and Wagoner and then Chouteau, it would have required two reversing moves, one at Claremore and one south of Wagoner.  Plus, it would have essentially shut down BNSF's Cherokee sub on the west end and the UP's Wagoner sub, since this move had a 'no meet no pass' restriction.

Bill G.

railwaybaron Wrote:
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> Great train! Any close ups of the cabooses--shoving platforms?

The cabeese appeared to be living quarters for the car attendants (not sure what their correct title is).

Bill G.

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Nice coverage Bill. Photos are great.  Looks like the bridge over Hwy 75 was quite an operation.
Brian Stevens

Any car Reporting Marks / numbers ?

RailNet802, owevaaaah

kk5ol Wrote:
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> Any car Reporting Marks / numbers ?

Why yes.  Yes there are. :-)
 

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Nice catch!!

TTownTrains Wrote:
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> The only train that uses the Tulsa sub to Wybark
> is the Muskogee-Tulsa local.  The special move
> wouldn't disrupt things as much going this way.
> Also, there were no reverse moves on this route,
> just a left turn from the Tulsa sub onto the
> Cherokee sub at Wybark.  If they had gone to
> Claremore and Wagoner and then Chouteau, it would
> have required two reversing moves, one at
> Claremore and one south of Wagoner.  Plus, it
> would have essentially shut down BNSF's Cherokee
> sub on the west end and the UP's Wagoner sub,
> since this move had a 'no meet no pass'
> restriction.
>
> Bill G.

 thx  ... makes sense ...

Great catch and shots! I really like picture #6.

Great catch, coverage & photos Bill.

Ronda Thomas

lloydnet   said,  looks like schnabel cars.  No, they are just 20 axle depressed center flat cars. Schnabel cars can connect themselves to the load or have a flat bed located between the ends. The would look like a bulkhead car. upkpfan