Nostalgia & History > SP Houston, Englewood Yard

This is the SP Englewood hump yard at Houston, Tx. Yard is viewed from the air looking over the hump. There are 64 bowl tracks in this yard. Receiving and departure tracks are on either side of the classification bowl. That is downtown Houston in the distance in the upper left of the picture.

To be used as an illustration for MDC #138

mdo

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And I thought Roseville & LA were big.


Thanks Mike.

Nudge

And Englewood Yard, or Tanglewood Yard as some people have called it, could get just as congested, or worse, than LA or Roseville. When I was in Houston, off and on in 1979 and 1980, I never thought things could get as congested as they were but I was wrong.

Nice to see you back, Michael. I can't wait to hear your next MDC.


Steamjocky

Steamjocky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And Englewood Yard, or Tanglewood Yard as some
> people have called it, could get just as
> congested, or worse, than LA or Roseville. When I
> was in Houston, off and on in 1979 and 1980, I
> never thought things could get as congested as
> they were but I was wrong.
>
> Nice to see you back, Michael. I can't wait to
> hear your next MDC.
>
>
> Steamjocky


Yeah, SP's "World War III" during that time, and they worked around it after that, sucks UP took over a year to get Englewood unplugged!

Steamjocky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And Englewood Yard, or Tanglewood Yard as some
> people have called it, could get just as
> congested, or worse, than LA or Roseville. When I
> was in Houston, off and on in 1979 and 1980, I
> never thought things could get as congested as
> they were but I was wrong.
>
> Nice to see you back, Michael. I can't wait to
> hear your next MDC.
>
>
> Steamjocky


I agree John, I loved sitting on trains at Tanglewood, dying on the law and never turning a wheel! Almost as good as making it to the first siding east of the yard going toward Beaumont (for the life of me I can't remember the name of the siding now)having a wait order for a westbound that hadn't left Lake Charles, dying on the law (after asking for a helping order), going back to the hotel, getting my full ten hours, coming back out to the same train, with the exact same orders, including the wait order for the same westbound that STILL hadn't left Lake Charles and dying again on the same spot. What a fun year that was! Next trip out they deadheaded us to China to patch the same train, Ed Guitterez had made it that far before dying. I made it all the way to Connell. That's where that cute readheaded T.O. Operator asked me if I knew you, after she pulled her pistol on me and the head brakeman. Died again that trip.

Never a boring trip...

SOB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steamjocky Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And Englewood Yard, or Tanglewood Yard as
> some
> > people have called it, could get just as
> > congested, or worse, than LA or Roseville.
> When I
> > was in Houston, off and on in 1979 and 1980,
> I
> > never thought things could get as congested
> as
> > they were but I was wrong.
> >
> > Nice to see you back, Michael. I can't wait
> to
> > hear your next MDC.
> >
> >
> > Steamjocky
>
>
> I agree John, I loved sitting on trains at
> Tanglewood, dying on the law and never turning a
> wheel! Almost as good as making it to the first
> siding east of the yard going toward Beaumont (for
> the life of me I can't remember the name of the
> siding now)having a wait order for a westbound
> that hadn't left Lake Charles, dying on the law
> (after asking for a helping order), going back to
> the hotel, getting my full ten hours, coming back
> out to the same train, with the exact same orders,
> including the wait order for the same westbound
> that STILL hadn't left Lake Charles and dying
> again on the same spot. What a fun year that was!
> Next trip out they deadheaded us to China to patch
> the same train, Ed Guitterez had made it that far
> before dying. I made it all the way to Connell.
> That's where that cute readheaded T.O. Operator
> asked me if I knew you, after she pulled her
> pistol on me and the head brakeman. Died again
> that trip.
>
> Never a boring trip...
>


The first siding east of Houston towards Lafayette was called Fauna.

Yes, we had some good times back then and met some great people too. My favorite pool jobs were the ones that went to Echo and Glidden.

I learned all about soda water, gumbo, and crayfish when I was back there.

Who was the redhead? I don't remember her (as he stares at the ceiling and rolls his eyes with a smile on his face). I do remember Carol Thompson though. And don't forget Miss Pat Jordan. I wonder what ever happened to them?


steamjocky

Neat shot! My father-in-law was a yardmaster there for a time, not sure what years. He also worked Strang,Humble, and a bunch of other spots around Houston. In 2002 he had been a superintendent up in Omaha for a time, but my wife and I headed to Houston and so did he to see a family wedding. He managed to get me in both the hump and bowl towers in Englewood, and then drove me into Settigrast (spelling?) for a shot of the UP 2001 in Olympic paint. From there it was out to Strang and the Baytown loop, neat railroading.
From what I was told, my father-in-law was one of only a few that survived from SP into UP around Houston, and had a big hand in clearing out the congestion in the late 90's before heading north to Omaha.
He's retired now from the UP, and working for Network Rail over in the UK. Sweet deal there too.

dschlegel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Neat shot! My father-in-law was a yardmaster there
> for a time, not sure what years. He also worked
> Strang,Humble, and a bunch of other spots around
> Houston. In 2002 he had been a superintendent up
> in Omaha for a time, but my wife and I headed to
> Houston and so did he to see a family wedding. He
> managed to get me in both the hump and bowl towers
> in Englewood, and then drove me into Settigrast
> (spelling?) for a shot of the UP 2001 in Olympic
> paint. From there it was out to Strang and the
> Baytown loop, neat railroading.
> From what I was told, my father-in-law was one of
> only a few that survived from SP into UP around
> Houston, and had a big hand in clearing out the
> congestion in the late 90's before heading north
> to Omaha.
> He's retired now from the UP, and working for
> Network Rail over in the UK. Sweet deal there too.


I bet a lot of those SP people quit because of UP's so called stategy on clearing up Houston was backfiring left and right!