Nostalgia & History > Chessie in Texas -- May 79

Chessie GP40-2 #4242 is in Rosenberg,Tx (about 35 miles west of Houston) on the Southern Pacific. It was working on local service.
Looking East, the long gone SP/Santa Fe station and REA building can be seen in the background. The Santa Fe Southern Division tracks are to the right.

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Is that a Cotton Belt cupola style caboose in the background? How many of those did they have? I think they traveled freely across the system didn't they? Any still around in service?

Milwaukee Wrote:
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> Is that a Cotton Belt cupola style caboose in the
> background? How many of those did they have? I
> think they traveled freely across the system
> didn't they? Any still around in service?


That wv caboose might have very well been a Cotton Belt cab, they were fairly common back in the 70's on the T&NO, system wide. If there are any left in active service on the UP ( former SP Lines in Texas) I'm unaware of such a thing. There are some scattered about around the state in private ownership though. One such instance is a Cotton Belt wide vision ( #7, I THINK) that's owned by a fellow that's associated with the Austin Steam Train Association, and it's kept at ASTA's yard in Cedar Park Texas. I think that they'll operate it occasionally when someone or a party of people will charter it for a trip to Burnet from Cedar Park. There more ex Cotton Belt wv cabs still around I think, but this one is the only that I know of for certain.

Con

Actually,that Cotton Belt caboose is in Temple. Th other caboose he owns is a former ATSF hack that ASTA uses and is in Cedar Park

The Cotton Belt Extended Vision Caboose in Temple is the #37. It is owned by BNSF locomotive engineer Gary Powell. I don't know if Gary owns an AT&SF caboose, but he does own the former Cotton Belt depot in Mound, TEXAS. His cousin owns the former Cotton Belt depot in Ireland, TEXAS.

Cotton Belt #35 is on the west coast at Campo, California.

There were 45 of the Extended Vision cars built for Cotton Belt by Internatinal Car in 1959 and 1963. I expect most are now gone.

Bert Dockall is/was ( didn't he have to retire?) also a BNSF engineer and he also either owns or has owned a Cotton Belt caboose. I thought that its number was #7, but I am not certain of the number, nor am I sure that he still owns a Cotton Belt cab. There used to be one associated with ASTA though, I have pictures of it somewhere or another. It might be gone from the Cedar Park scene by now though, which would/might leave the former AT&SF and the wooden MKT crummy still there?

Con

This is where things are confused.......Bert does own a Santa Fe caboose which is in Cedar Park and used by ASTA for charters. I thought he had a Cotton Belt caboose stored in the BNSF yard near the I-35 overpass,but I might be wrong. The MKT wooden caboose,which was overturned in the Jarrell tornado,was sold to Bruce Blalock ( current UP engineer) and moved to his B&B in Smithville.