A 92-car train of TILX empties crosses the UP Waco Sub as it continues south on the UP Austin Sub to McNeil, TX. As an extra-board conductor for the Austin Western Railroad, I often get called to ... (more)

A late evening rock train crosses the Austin Western interlocking and rumbles by the 1903 depot in downtown Elgin. The segregated depot was built with a ticket office opening to mirror image waiti... (more)

A Fort Worth to San Antonio manifest has exited the UP Waco Sub for a southbound move on the UP Austin Sub. The MFWSA-12 is getting a fresh crew as the couterpart MSAFW-12 is switched by the LAW10... (more)

A matched set of 3 former Chicago & Northwestern GP50's work Griffin Industries, crossing the Union Pacific interlocking and passing the 1903 depot in downtown Elgin. While other Watco units on th... (more)

The 121 job spots loads and pulls empties out of CCI on a cool October evening. If you click the photo map, you can see that the spur the train is setting out on used to cross Big Sandy Creek. The... (more)

Entering the through truss bridge span, our 9,170 ton train slowly creeps over the San Saba River. Signs of heavy repairs are evident on the left side following a derailment that damaged the struc... (more)

Its a long and slow ride from Lometa to Brady, the rhythmic 8 mph wobble will continue into the cold night.

Big power leads a former L&N GP38AC and a few cars south toward Eunice, NM on the main track. Such power seems a bit oversized for the light jointed rail and soft roadbed as it wobbles by at 10mph... (more)

It's almost like looking back in time seeing a pair of old geeps getting washed outside the company engine house. These GP7's were recently sidelined by GP38-3's and most, if not all, have been so... (more)

A rested crew prepares to go on duty and take the train to BNSF interchange in Lometa. The engineer is likely to shout out to the hitch-hiker covered conductor returning from knocking off handbrak... (more)

In the mid 1950's, Lehigh Valley sent a few aging EMC NW1's to EMD for rebuild core units. One of the NW1's originally built in 1938, emerged in 1957 as a 600hp SW900M LV 130. The deal was set up ... (more)

A pair of SD60M's lead the local back to Smithville from Taylor passing the historic Elgin Grain & Feed building in downtown Elgin.

The 4146 and 4147 head back west past the 1872 Houston and Texas Central Freight Depot, the oldest building in downtown Elgin.

Shoved into the seldom used furniture track, the morning sun shines on this old unit found surrounded by flowers. It was used in the film "Courage Under Fire" starring Denzel Washington. Unfortuna... (more)

Many shortlines have ended up in the hands of large holding companies and have lost that hometown identity, looking more like an aggressive Class 1. Then you have the Gulf, Colorado & San Saba tha... (more)