Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6, 2008 at Little Rock and Brinkley, Arkansas. Here's some selected photos from both days, including: Trailer on a flatcar at the end of a UPS intermodal with "Texas Agriculture - GO TEXAN" on the end and "Michael Angelo's" on the side *** Rio Grande GP-60 No. 1900, patched, one of only 3 GP-60s built for the DRG *** KCS 4542, 4513, 4534 *** Conrail 8809 *** CSX 8609, 7506, 8837 *** UP 2376, 1822, 5318, 2427, 3527, 2477, 6201, 8586 *** BNSF 5233, 5498 *** New bright green BRIX hopper 97357 *** Artsy black, shiny tank cars reflecting the yellow warning stripe on the Amtrak platform *** Norfolk and Western hi-cube boxcar *** US Coast & Geodetic Survey Benchmark on Brinkley Union Depot *** Cherry and lime candy cigarettes (i.e., a load of pipes with pink and green ends).  (All photos and humor by Ken Ziegenbein)



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LEFT-April 5, 2008, Brinkley, Arkansas: KCS 4542 and KCS 4513, 11:48 a.m. RIGHT-Brinkley, CR 8809,  about 1:15 p.m. off the Memphis sub.


LEFT-CSX 8609. RIGHT-Guard bird keeping watch.


LEFT-Brinkley, UP 2376, 3:17 p.m. RIGHT-Looking north from the Brinkley depot.


LEFT-It's Sunday, April 6, 2008 now, and I'm back in Little Rock at Union Station. New or newly painted green hopper with red on the trucks, a Christmasy hopper! It ws BRIX 97357. RIGHT-8:07 a.m. this southbound train just came off the Baring Cross bridge. Note the KCS and Rio Grande units in the consist.


LEFT-UP 1822, 8:07 a.m. RIGHT-Rio Grande patched 1900. I was told this was one of only three GP60's the Rio Grande bought.


LEFT-The 1900 going away. RIGHT-KCS 4534.


LEFT-UP 5318, 8:39 a.m. RIGHT-CSX 7506.


LEFT-Rusty short CSX hopper with graffiti. RIGHT-UP 2427, 9:26 a.m.


LEFT-9:40 a.m., UP 3527 heads a UPS intermodal. RIGHT-At the end of the intermodal, this trailer with 'Texas Agricultural - GO TEXAN' on the end appeared.


LEFT-Michael Angelo's trailer. As usual, this made me hungry for Italian food! Since the end had 'Texas Agriculture' written on it, I assume this frozen food is made in Texas? RIGHT-
Artsy shiny tank cars reflecting the yellow warning stripe on the Amtrak platform. These were on the train following the UPS intermodal.


BNSF trackage rights train at 10:52 a.m. lead by BNSF 5233.


LEFT-BNSF 5498. RIGHT-The sun started breaking out at UP 2477 came along at 11:12 a.m.


LEFT-CSX 8837. RIGHT-Still April 6, but I'm now in Brinkley, Arkansas at the depot. I had forgotten my jacket there the day before so I drove back Sunday afternoon. The US Coast & Geodetic Survey Benchmark was put on the Brinkley Union Depot in 1933. Brinkley is 212.942 feet above sea level.


LEFT-2:40 p.m. a train approaches in the distance. RIGHT-UP 5201, 2:42 p.m.


LEFT-Norfolk and Western hi-cube. RIGHT-UP 8586, 4:08 p.m.


LEFT-Cherry and lime candy cigarettes (i.e., pipes). RIGHT-
Hi-cube HS 7628. Was this a IC car?


'Bird on Rail'

As a sideline, after over 12 inches of rain during the past couple of weeks in Missouri and the northern half of Arkansas, the White and Cache Rivers were flooding as of this date, including the Dagmar area west of Brinkley. The entire White River and Cache River National Wildlife Refuges are under water, including the old Rock Island grade west of Brinkley. The UP's busy line through the refuge has not been affected, however. Where I normally go to photograph birds is now under 3-4 feet of water and accessable only by boat.  US 70 runs through this refuge and you can see all the water on both sides of the road. Millions of knats and other small bugs are all over the place in this area, and made quite a mess of my windshied. Snakes are also starting to come out, and I saw dead racoons, snakes, skunks, possoms, birds every quarter mile or so on Highway 70, all hit by autos.  (Ken Z)