This is somewhere between De Queen and Mena with a northbound train I chased all the way, much of it at less than 10 MPH. In the bad old days KCS coupled up everything in Shreveport that was bound for Kansas City and dragged it moaning and groaning northward, usually behind 3 SD40-2s at 9000HP. But cost cutting being what it is, they bought into the EMD hype and concluded they could do the same thing with two units at 7000HP. Never heard such profanity on the radio about the wisdom at the corporate offices. Notice the old style washed river gravel ballast. Old Chinese philosopher say, "If your #1 objective is to cut costs, go out of business!"
