Being familiar enough with the area and how to find a train to shoot, I decided to get up before the sun on Saturday, Aug. 25 and try my luck. Since we don't have a TV in the apartment yet, bedtime has been at a reasonable hour for the 12 days we've been here so getting up early wasn't much of a problem. I wanted a westbound on the Slaton Sub. due to some potential silhouette angles I had found on a previous scouting trip. This just so happens to be the nearest line to us at 3.2 miles away. To start following the line into the city and towards the yard, I go a bit further west to check the West Texas & Lubbock interchange at the intersection of Frankford Ave. and US 84 (Clovis Rd.). As usual on the Slaton Sub., dark signals and no distant headlight. I continued east on US 84 and eventually wound up at Canyon Junction at the Ave. P crossing. I will eventually be posting more details about the area as well as a railfan guide (somewhere down the line) as I become more familiar with the territory but for now all that is important is that Canyon Junction is where the Slaton Sub. (from the west) and Plainview Sub. (from the north) come together. A quick check of the north (RR: west) end of the yard from 2nd St. yielded nothing but more darkness and idle engines (local power). I figured my second best bet would be to check the south (RR: east) side of the yard to see if there was anything there. The best view of the south side of the yard is from E. 33rd St. accessible from Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. or from the overpass itself (no sidewalk or shoulder access). As I went over the bridge, I saw the flash of freight cars underneath heading north!
I quickly, well, okay, I got lost but I got my bearings and headed for Canyon Junction to see which way they'd be going, west on the Slaton Sub. or east on the Plainview Sub. (yeah, confusing isn't it!) I got to 4th St. (US 82) which goes over the yard and provides a view of the junction just in time to see the head end going straight up the Slaton Sub. Woot!
Again, scouting and chasing on the line on an earlier day had come in handy since I knew that while I was doing 40mph and getting stuck at lights, they would be doing no more than 35mph until Broadview (the WT&L interchange) where the posted speed limit goes to 70mph. Thanks to some clouds to the northeast, the sun was just starting to light things up although sunrise was technically some 10 minutes ago. I found a spot where I could place the tracks above the horizon. It wasn't long of a wait for the 4 locomotive manifest who was now starting to accelerate out of town to get to me.
They were soon up to track speed and so was I as we left Lubbock in our mirrors and raced towards Shallowater, 6 miles to the west. With the lack of a stunning sunrise, I was losing interest in silhouettes and wanted to get far enough ahead to get to the north side of the tracks. By the time we got to Shallowater, I had done exactly that and decided to shoot the first crossing east of town, County Rd. 1540 rather than dealing with long shadows in town.
I jumped back into the car and got in line at the crossing since they were doing all of the 55mph allowed. I wasn't paying attention for one reason or another and was surprised to see a DPU on the rear, BNSF 6992, go screaming by. I fired off one frame before getting back on US 84 and continuing the chase westward. US 84 parallels the Slaton Sub. all the way to Farwell, TX where it joins the Hereford Sub. I took a few shots out through the windshield as I caught the DPU. Being from New Jersey and having only limited time out in the prairies and flatland, I still haven't gotten used to this setup. Miles of fields, highway, tracks, more fields.
The towns along the way are all spaced between 10-15 miles apart allowing enough to time to get ahead of trains since the speed limit is mostly 70mph. Since I knew I had two sets of power to shoot, I wanted to be more selective especially for the DPU shot which would be perfectly lit so I aimed for Anton, the next town to the west (excluding Roundup (not even on Google maps)). I had only made it to the outskirts of Anton on a previous expedition so I didn't know what props there would be in town itself. As I got close, I saw the typical skyline of a Texas (or anywhere in the Midwest-ern town) so I bailed at the easternmost crossing, Spade Rd.
The code line along the right away makes shooting on the north side of the tracks challenging but interesting.
After brief contemplation, I decided to go one more town up to Littlefield. Only 11 miles separated Anton and Littlefield so I had to push it to get ahead in time. As I got closer to town, I noticed a small dirt crossing with a set of ex-ATSF searchlight signals right at it so I decided it was better than getting caught by slow speed limits in a town I had never been to. The signals would be the going away shot so luckily, a small farm with one cow and one horse provided the setting for the shot of the head end which was approaching quickly.
I don't know why but I decided to run back towards the crossing and the signals rather than starting the car and reversing back to them. Either way, it was worth it.
It was probably a good thing that I did run because it prevented me from chasing any further. I was already 33 miles from Lubbock and only 56 miles from the New Mexico border. It was still early so I decided to scout into Littlefield and was surprised (and disappointed (that I had not shot it)) to find the Santa Fe depot still standing. I decided to stick around a little while longer just in case an eastbound was holding at the next siding, which are located in every town. No sign of anything so I started heading west towards home.
I decided to do a little more exploring since it wasn't even 10AM and did my best to follow to the WT&L from the interchange to their yard in Lubbock. It isn't the most direct route as they go 5 miles west from the yard, 6 miles north and another 5 miles east to the Slaton Sub, but there were a few spots that I wouldn't mind shooting one day. I eventually wound up at the yard where I was surprised to see not one but two SD90MACs at the west end of the yard. AZER 102 had been brought in sometime after March to join TNMR 113 as the big power on the 107-mile shortline.
I went to see what was happening on the east end of the yard accessible by 43rd St. No F40PHs, but I did find another newcomer to the line, AZER 2501, an ex-SJVR, exx-Kyle, ne-UP, nee-WP GP35.
I got my shots and I called it a day and a successful one at that!
