I've been deployed to Korea and thus not had much time to update this blog, but I still have high hopes for it. I'd like to share some pictures from my last railfanning trip before I left the states. I was lucky enough to catch a rather obscure and not often used shortline in action, the Blackwell Northern Gateway RR. It was late on a Sunday afternoon in May 2015; my wife and I were coming back from a short visit with family in Kansas. I call my wife the "train whisperer" because it never fails: when she accompanies me, the shortlines stir.
The Blackwell Northern Gateway RR was formed by the Blackwell Industrial Authority to utilize a former AT&SF branch that is now owned by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. It is operated by US Rail Partners. The line connects to the BNSF at Wellington, KS. There seems to be some seasonal grain traffic, but the Blackwell Industrial Park looked pretty dead and it appears that for now, this little operation is kept afloat providing car storage.
When we visited, we found a fairly long train of two bay hoppers creeping into Blackwell. The crew shoved a few of them back into one of the industrial park spurs before tying the operation down for the night. I noticed that they had brought a chain saw with them on the locomotive; makes sense due to the fact a large storm had just passed through and there might have been fallen branches on the tracks. The crew gave me permission to walk down into the small "yard" to photograph the locomotives up close.
Enjoy!
Here's the link to the full album with more pictures and some more detailed descriptions:
Alex,
ReplyDeleteHopefully when you get back stateside, you can get building the layout. Have you started collecting your motive power yet?
Karl
Karl,
DeleteThanks for the comment! I'm back in the US and the layout is well underway again! I have a Walthers Trainline GP9 in Farmrail colors that currently powers the local switching on my shelf layout. I've also amassed four Atlas Arkansas-Oklahoma RR locos and a few MKT pieces (for use on future layouts).
Alex
Karl,
DeleteThanks for the comment! I'm back in the US and the layout is well underway again! I have a Walthers Trainline GP9 in Farmrail colors that currently powers the local switching on my shelf layout. I've also amassed four Atlas Arkansas-Oklahoma RR locos and a few MKT pieces (for use on future layouts).
Alex