Western Railroad Discussion > Back home through Sooner Nation

For railfans, especially the active photographers among us there is nothing quite like the pleasure of an easy going photo safari while on an equally easy going drive from point A to wherever it stops at point B. After visiting & having dinner with an old friend in Burleson, TX I spent the night a bit north of the Ft Worth area. I was on my way home to Kansas from Texas, with no concrete time of arrival on my schedule. And what-d-ya-know! Between central Texas & the Land of OZ there just happens to be a main line RR with plenty of trains to occupy a railfan photographer all day. The next morning I was up & at ‘em fully fueled with a Sausage & Cheese McMuffin. My first order of railfan business came up at Valley View, TX. Hop in, and ride shotgun with me:

1. & 2. BNSF 5278 coming & going with a southbound unit tank-snake at the Obuch St crossing in Valley View, TX.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/17 10:28 by santafe199.

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3. & 4. BNSF 6316 coming & going with a southbound manifest at the Krahl Rd crossing in Valley View, TX.

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5. & 6. Sneaking up from behind is BNSF 4937 on a northbound stacker at the County Rd 237 crossing south of Gainesville, TX. This train would be a companion of sorts for most of my progress through Sooner territory.

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7. Here’s the 4937 again, trying to dodge some cloud cover at Thackerville, OK.

8. Same as above at Overbrook, OK.

9. I spotted BNSF 2593 + 2 siblings switching at Wynnewood, OK.

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10. Here’s my companion BNSF 4937 from off of old US hwy 77 north of Pauls Valley, OK.

11. Here’s BNSF 4189 rolling south at the E 1530 Rd crossing just south of Paoli, OK.

12. With the sun shining again I reversed gears and chased the 4189 back south to about the same spot north of Pauls Valley where I got my stacker companion in image #10.

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13. & 14. The 4937 stops partially into the siding at Wayne, OK keeping clear of both street crossings until his opposing train gets closer to town. In image #14 the 4937 is just coming to a stop in the clear so…

15. BNSF 5297 + southbound manifest can roll through Wayne on clear signals.

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16. & 17. I catch my companion 4937 for the last time from old US hwy 77 just over a mile south of Purcell, OK.

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18. It’s getting late, but I hung around the passenger platform at Purcell hoping in vain for another southbound train. That’s the iconic US hwy 77 overpass over the top back there. Over the years small army of railfan photographers have used this overpass as a dramatic backdrop for shooting all sorts of Uncle John Santa Fe activity!

19. The end of daylight on this leg of my homebound trek came in Norman, OK. I got a motel room and relaxed for a bit. But I wasn’t about to shirk my final railfan duty for the day. It may only be Amtrak. And a short, bi-directional shuttle train to boot. But it’s still a scheduled passenger train, on my beloved Santa Fe’s old main line. Here is the northbound Heartland Flyer arriving only 5 minutes “off the advertised”. One passenger is at attention, looking down the track at the Flyer’s bright headlight. Another passenger is peering into the window of the beautifully refurbished Santa Fe depot in this telephoto view looking across Main St. Then it was back to my room for the night. As Scarlett O’Hara once proclaimed: “… tomorrow is another day”.
(19 photos taken September 1, 2017)

Thanks for riding along!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/17 10:34 by santafe199.

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super pics

One can see that you had a very, very busy day. I especially like that last picture.
Mark

santafe199 Wrote:
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> 7. Here’s the 4937 again, trying to dodge some
> cloud cover at Thackerville, OK.
>
> 8. Same as above at Overbrook, OK.
>
> 9. I spotted BNSF 2593 + 2 siblings switching at
> Wynnewood, OK.

Very nice collection! I guess you didn't make it to the Winstar Casino in Thackerville?

Great series of photos Lance.

Ronda Thomas

DFWJIM Wrote: > ... I guess you didn't make it to the Winstar Casino in Thackerville ...
No sir, there was still several hours of daylight left. But coincidentally I tried to get a room at the Riverwind Casino/Motel complex near Norman. But they had a country concert that night (Sept 1) and all rooms were booked. I ended up staying closer to downtown Norman. I wanted to sneak down to the Amtrak depot and shoot the Heartland Flyer's station stop anyhow. BTW, I stopped for dinner at Sonny's Cafe on the south side of Purcell. While I was waiting for the southbound train down in Wayne a local police officer stopped to investigate. We ended up in a pleasant chat about Santa Fe history in the area. When I asked about a good place for supper he very enthusiastically put me onto Sonny's, and highly reccommended the chicken fried steak. It was well worth the stop! 

oklachaser Wrote: > ...  Great series of photos Lance ...
Thanks Ronda! I thought abut you during my pass through Oklahoma and considered naming this thread "Cowboy" instead of Sooner Nation. But since I passed nowhere close to Stillwater I had to go with the state nickname... ;^)

Lance

When we lived in Dallas my wife and I would enjoy going up to the Winstar for shows and/or gambling and of course I would have to work in some rail fanning in Gainesville and Ardmore along the way.