MKT (Katy), T&P, Santa Fe, MP Railroad operators???

The High Plains Division of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway Company, represents the ranch country just off the caprock west of Dickens, Texas.  There's one foreign line engine -- an SP Baldwin-Westinghouse AS-616 -- that runs on a local freight by trackage rights, but this is the Home Road otherwise.  I would be willing to have one foreign line train at a time on the railroad, and M-K-T, Rock Island, FW&D, T&P or MP would be fine.  If Sunset/3rd Rail ever does a small steam engine for one of those roads, I might get one.  Or a GP7.  However, I have a few projects to finish before adding more trains.

 

Tom,

 

I love your overpass. How did you make it?

 

Here are some more pics of my Mopac and Katy trains on the Austin Tinplate Trackers.

Diesel Dan, whatever you did to photograph your engines, it brought out the true color of Missouri Pacific blue, which hardly ever happens.  You are awarded five buzz saws.

 

Texas Eagle 77, you have some fine central Texas trains there.  The Katy brought a relative part way from Tennessee to California in 1937, and I have always had a soft spot for it.  In 1956, I saw a MoPac EMD E7 at Kansas City and was absolutely stricken by the beautiful shade of blue.  Thanks for the compliment on the bridge, but I did not build it. It was designed by Roger Farkash and made on the TW Trainworx laser cutter.  It includes a simulated plate on the end identifying it as a government project built in 1936.  Roger does nice work.

You Austin guys love to run LONG trains.  A 63 cars refer train?  That SP train could cover the line from East San Antonio to Tower 55 via Toer 3 in Flatonia!

We just like to run them like the real ones. Our longest was a 72 car reefer train. We did that at WGH San Antonio in 2009. A bigboy pulled it all by itself and then later we double headed a 4-12-2 and a Challenger together. If you go on our website there is video of it. In the pic below you can see it starts in the yard on the left and ends in the crook of the L on the right.

Great thread Steve!  I'm enjoying the photos.  The Texas Special paint scheme is very attractive.  Eventually, I will add and ABA to my roster.

The TS livery, either the REAL one or the Lionel 2245 one, are underated liveries!

I hope the Austin group come back to Houston for the Big Texas Show!

The bridge is somewhere between Paris and New Boston. I got the information from an article in the November Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine. It can be accessed by going to tpwmagazine dot com (I am not sure how to enter a web address into text on this forum. The article is about a rails to trails project and one mans recent journey down the trail.  Can anybody find this bridge and send us some more pictures?

I'm strictly Stanta Fe and Steam Era to early transition.  My layout build in progress is the Raton Pass.

 

 

Keith, thanks for the comments.  I just purchased the MTH Premier TS ABBA set and sent to Boxcar Bill for upgrading to TMCC/RS and LED lighting.  Can't wait to get this set back.

 

Always like your unique O gauge choices.....especially the always great looking "orange & blue" Lionel Lines stuff.  Enjoy your postings.

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

And Amtrak uses the T&P version of the TEXAS EAGLE logo as its own for advertising of its version!

Here are two pics of the bridge in Roxton, TX. I got off Google maps street view.

 

 

Yep. Stand corrected on Sugar Land. Saw the aerials and you can see where parts were, then when I saw the facility up close and personal it was pretty obvious the facility hadn't operated for some time. They were having a Farmers' Market there when I was down there last July. The track configuration of the area lends itself to being turned into an Inglenook switching puzzle or a through-track module.

 

Ricky: Nice looking MoPac and Katy Geeps. Was out in Katy this week and saw the remnants of the branch that ran along I-10.

 

Since the title of this thread has been expanded, here you go:

 

First locomotive weathered. The Apprentice did most of the work as he was instructing me on the technique.

 

Scale-wheeled Blue Goose. Still need to hunt down some appropriate passenger cars.

 

I renumbered this "patch" GP35 as I received three with the same road number. I'll get around to weathering this and the others. 

 

 

Just got this one last week.

 

I have read abut the "Katy Trail" which runs through Texas and Missouri.  Quite an extensive trail system following the path of the railroad with historical sites, stations and trains along the way.  Has anyone toured this trail?

 

Steve, Lady and Tex

Those are interesting pictures.  I will go by Roxton the next time I am near it and try to findthe bridge.  For any of the Forumites in the Austin area the Elgin(Texas) museum has an excellent collection of railroad books.  They are from a private collector who willed them to the museum, over four hundred volumes with a heavy emphasis on Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific. The museum is in an old train station which by itself is worth a look.  There is also an 1890 railroad station that the chamber of commerce uses.  Two nearby restaurants are the City Caffe which has been in business for over a hundred years and Maxines which has a more modern menue. Elgin is so small you don't need directions.

Tom - I too am a big fan of your scenery.  I know you that you give the credit to TWTrainWorx and they did a fabulous job.  It captures the look and feel so well in my opinion.  Never get tired of seeing pictures of your beautiful layout.

 

Art

Live in south central arizona, I run SF, SP and some UP on the layout

 

And the MP ran lines in TX:  MP, T&P, I-GN, Cane Belt, Houston-Baytown interurban, GCL, part of the HB&T, and others......

Steve, here's a map showing the entire "Katy Trail" in Missouri. It runs 240 miles!

That's one L--O--N--G park! 

Here's the Missouri website that explains many things about this State Park.

Someday I'd like to bike ride a portion of this trail as I live near it but so far that day remains elusive.

There is a similar trail in Texas however I believe it's a 3.5 mile portion of the MKT line that ran through Dallas, TX.

Mark

 

The section to the Katy from Shepherd Dr. to UofH Downtown is now part of a City of Houston hike and bike network.