Today's Train of Thought- The Jolly Green Giant and the Pumpkin Patch, October 31st, 2011

Today's train of though takes us back to the pumpkin patch for Haloween this year, this time in the Wolverine state.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Craig Williams caught Huron & Eastern's Durand Turn decelerating past a pumpkin patch south of Bay City, MI. The weekday train to the Norfolk Southern interchange in Durand (west of Flint) has an all GE lashup on this October 2008 afternoon. The green paint of previous owner BNSF/Burlington Northern on lead unit- C30-7 #5086- is still visible in the fading afternoon light.

Trailing #5086 is cabless B30-7AB- also purchased secondhand from Burlington Northern- has been repainted into a scarlet and grey reminiscent of the Southern Pacific and a black and white U23B trailing.

Today's Train of Thought- Once Again Whistling Past the Graveyard, October 25, 2011

Today's train of thought seems to have a little bit of everything- some New England Fall Color, 'classic' motive power, clear skies, branchline railroading and- fittingly enough a few days before Halloween- a graveyard.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Brian P Bennett caught up with Guilford/Pan-Am local BK-1 as it makes its way south with light power. EMDs are trundling past the Riverview Cemetery in N. Bucksport, ME in October of 2007 enroute to do some work at Bucksport on a crisp day as the leaves are approaching their peak colors.

Lettered for Guilford/Maine Central, GP40 #381 has the honors today, followed by high-hood GP35 #212. The photographer has traced the lineage of the #381 as far back as 1969 when it was built as Seaboard Coast Line #1577. The trailing #212 is slightly older, being built in May 1964 for the Nickel Plate before their October 1964 merger with Norfolk & Western.

And to the best of my knowledge, none of the headstones in the Riverview Cemetery read 'Gage Creed'.

Todays Train of Though- Change of Seasons in the Hoosier State, October 24, 2011

Granted New England seems to be more renowned for its fall foliage, but with just the right composition, the Midwest autumn can be just as colorful.

Take for instance this local freight on the Indiana & Ohio's Brookville line in Southern Indiana. Here, railpictures.net contributor Michael Beihn caught GP38-2 #3889 from sister Rail America road Chicago, Ft Wayne & Eastern trundling long hood forward past some late fall foliage in Cedar Grove, IN in November 2009. In most of New England, most of the foliage is typically already on the ground by this point.

The freight shown here is traversing the I&O's Brookville branch which connects the southern Indiana town with the Cincinnati, OH area.

Today's Train of Thought- Crossing a Warrior; September 7, 2011

Today's train of thought takes us to one of WATCO's operations in the Heart of Dixie- the Alabama Southern, which operates some 80 miles between Columbus, MS and Tuscaloosa, AL.

Thus portions of the line was originally chartered as part of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, which became part of the Gulf Mobile & Ohio towards the end of the Great Depression in 1940. In 1972, the GM&O merged with the Illinois Central to form the Illinois Central Gulf. By the mid 1980s, the line was part of several hundred miles worth of trackage from Minnesota to Alabama that the ICG had divested, forming half a dozen regionals in the process. The Columbus-Tuscaloosa segment became part of the Mid-South railway, which in turn was acquired by the Kansas City Southern in 1994. However, KCS for the most part seemed primarily interested in the Shreveport, LA to Meridian, MS portion of the former Mid South line and in 2005, leased the 80+ miles between Columbus and Tuscaloosa, AL to Kansas-based WATCO Companies. WATCO began operations under the name Alabama Southern that year and has been hauling steel, lumber, aggregates and other commodities ever since.

Earlier this year, the railway suffered a significant setback when one of the many deadly tornadoes that tore through the region knocked down the steel Hurricane Creek trestle east of Tuscaloosa. The 1909 built structure was one of the largest steel structures in the southeastern USA. According to a local conservation group, they have been in direct consultation with both WATCO and Opelika, AL-based Scott Bridge on guidelines for a replacement structure. Since the tornadoes, the Alabama Southern has been interchanging with CSX in Birmingham, AL via a detour on Norfolk Southern.

However, to the west, the 1898-built combination steel and timber trestle across the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa still stands. Here, railpictures.net contributor Chris Martin caught WAMX (Webb Asset Management) SD40-2 # trundling across the eastern end of the Black Warrior River trestle at a brisk 5 MPH with a trip of SD40-2s and some general freight in February 2008.