The KCS Meridian to Jackson – 4 November 2007

[Jimbaux just needs time.]

The only time that I have yet descended upon the railroad junction of Meridian, Mississippi, for the annual Railroad Festival there held by the Meridian Railroad Museum was in November 2007, and that’s not even true, because professional obligations meant that, despite my desires, I did not arrive there until Saturday evening once the festivities were done; a few of us were able to get some night shots that night, though.

However, we wanted to get shots of the Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern F-units that were there, but we were too late.  Would we be able to see the F-units the next day?

My head tr’igga TS arrived even later that night, as he had professional obligations too, and we were awoken in the middle of the night by some loud pounding on our hotel door by some worthless dirtbags who were apparently intoxicated and fortunate that I was unarmed.  We called the police, but they apparently were not smart enough to realize that driving up in a police car would mean that they’d never actually find the perpetrators, who seemed to be in town due to an overrated sporting event across the state border to the east.

Foaming on The Speedway

Lacking much sleep, we got  up the next morning and met with our Ohio Valley foam companions in the hotel lobby where some woman apparently complained about our lack of southern gentlemenliness as the four of us sat down in what eventuated to be the only chairs in the lobby.  Oh well, woman, we’re barely awake, we had not noticed, we’re not going to be here for long, and we didn’t sleep much.  You’ll be okay.

We start on 22nd Avenue – which is foam central in Meridian – where we see an eastbound intermodal train that originated on the BNSF making its way from KCS track to NS track.

That’s the NS at right and the KCS at left.  I believe that BNSF’s use of the KCS Meridian Speedway ended shortly after this visit, and it is now replaced by intermodal and carload business from the UP to the NS.

Make a mental note about that KCS locomotive at the right edge of the frame.

Well, that’s just great, and you see the power set that I had photographed the night before, but what do we do now?

Check Out The NS

That’s the answer, albeit briefly, and here’s the result, a static lineup shot.

Let’s look the other way and see some auto-rack action.

Apparently, there is plenty of great action for afternoon lighting, but it ain’t afternoon.

What Do We Do?

The four of us stood around in the feed store parking lot trying to decide what to do.  We could go north on the KCS’s Artesia Sub, but we might not see anything at all there, and none of us want to go northeast on the NS or even southwest on the NS; that ain’t why we’re here.  Therefore, we’re in a bad place to start some early-morning foaming, but, as more recent events have confirmed, when in such a situation, it’s best to just go west until you intercept a train; the only problem with this strategy is that for this location, with CTC, it’s hard to know where trains are, and the highway doesn’t closely follow the tracks either.

Two Hours Later And Dozens Of Miles To The West

All that we could do is get this so-so shot of the M-SHNS broadside thus:

Yes, that’s one of the “Primer-Belles” leading the train.  Do you remember those things?  Also, check out that woodchip hopper  car.  Here’s another view of the SHNS, which is a solid interchange train to the Norfolk Southern, as its name implies.

Yes, that’s all that we could do, as we went westward in the morning.

Jackson

Yes, kiddies, we’re in Jackson, Mississippi; actually, we’re not, but we’re at KCS’s High Oak Yard just southeast of Jackson and just east of the Canadian National Railway’s former Illinois Central Railway north-south mainline from Chicago to New Orleans.

F That!

Yes, and look at what we see!  There are the F-units, tucked into the yard.

Aren’t they neat?  Okay, great, let’s turn around and look at the powered end of that cut of tank cars behind the F units, this trimmer job with what appears to be a former BC Rail unit:

Well, that’s cool too, I guess.  Now, can you shove back so we can get you with the F units?  Thank you.

Then, though, we were meant by a pleasant surprise that was apparently even more pleasing than the well-photographed and now-meant-to-be-viewed F-units.

The Little Lázaro Cárdenas Train With the Smurf SDP40!

Well, check this out!  Not only do we have the F-units and even the trimmer job in this shot, but here we have a short intermodal train from Lázaro Cárdenas – shortly after service from there started – with a rare SDP40 still in the two-tone blue paint scheme of the Ferrocarrilles Nacionales de México!  This is the TFM 1320 in the lead, much like the KCS 3057, the SDP40 that we saw a few months before.

Just a few short years later, these things would no longer be on the active roster, and their days leading intermodal trains were numbered, but, gosh, I do miss these odd beasts.

You see the other pitufas at the left?  Anyway, the power has come off of the I-LZJA (that means “Intermodal – Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacan, to Jackson, Mississippi) as seen below.

Isn’t that neat?  See the train without the power below, and also see a Z-train off of the UP approaching at right.

That was a memorable experience, certainly.

What To Do Now?

I seem to remember that at some point after satiating our desires for parked and distant F-units and now-parked SDP40s, we had the good sense to go and satiate our hunger, but I can’t remember if we knew that there was this westbound approaching.  Whatever it was, it was the typical artery-clogging stupidity that one eats when out foaming.

Here’s the westbound train at Greenfield, led by the locomotive at the right edge of the first image of this essay.

Whatever.  Let’s get some shots of other transportation devices here.

Now it’s time to head to Rankin to get some unimaginative tree-tunnel shot of another westbound, this one the ATDA, going from Atlanta to Dallas.

This place looks different now, and it started looking different shortly after this picture was taken in November.  By the end of the year, a roadbed for a new or extended siding would be laid, and there would also be signal poles about even with where the front of the train is in the above shot.

I seem to remember that, purely by coincidence, both TS and I had to go and venture into the woods before the train even finished passing to give a new meaning to Rankin’s name.  Yes, I carry appropriate supplies (available at any grocery store) in my truck.  You should do the same.

One More Westbound

The sun is really setting now, and we have time for just one more train, another westbound intermodal train out of Atlanta.

It was around this time that I began to get really good at glint shots and going-away shots.

How’s that?

Our Conclusion

Before we head over to Whataburger, let’s swing by the yard and got another shot with the power set from the I-LZJA and whatever other yard action – including the tail end of the earlier-seen ATDA – is in the background.

Have a good night.

Merci,

Jimbaux