September 2014 Railfan Trip - 8

Hi, After spending the night in Poteau, OK we called the A-OK Road Foreman and were told the coal train would run the next day so we headed south to Heavener.

On the way found this A-OK GP30 sitting at Howe, their interchange with KCS (above and below).  I have seen engines here every time I have been in the area so I would venture the guess that if there is no engine here it is on a train.

After leaving Howe we continued south checking out locations and looking for some sign of a train.  Eventually, we heard a northbound approaching on the radio and set up at Page, OK.

We chased the train north and got it again at Petros, OK about 5 miles south of the yard at Heavener (above and below).

Again on the radio we heard the dispatcher tell a southbound coal train it would leave as soon as the northbound manifest we had just photographed cleared into the yard.  We turned back south and waited at Stapp, OK where we shot the train coming under a high wide detector (above and below).

It was an easy chase and we caught the train at Page,

climbing Rich Mountain (above and below),

at the summit (above and below) and

at Eagleton.  We chased the train to Mena, AR but it beat us due to town traffic.

After lunch in Mena we returned north. Finding nothing to photograph we continued on through Heavener to the fueling pad where we found the northbound merchandise sitting.

A southbound coal train was sitting on the other track and north of the grade crossing here.  Although it would leave later that afternoon we declined to chase it as the power looked awful.

We kept driving back and forth and on one of those passes spotted these units sitting next to the yard office.

Given that the KCS appeared to be dead we decided to drive over to Red Oak to get some sunny shots of the former BNSF B40-9Ws we had seen the day before.  However, when we arrived in Red Oak there were no locomotives and no coal hoppers to be found.  Fortunately, all we wasted was some time and gas.  The KCS was still dead.

Finally about 4:30 PM things began to happen.  First a coal train arrived with these DPUs

with a grain train right behind(above and below).  At this point we headed for Fort Smith, where we spent the night.

Thanks for looking.