Texas has lotsa shortlines. I live along the trackage of the longest one, the Austin Area Terminal Railroad (Fort Worth Western RR is a Class 2). Don't know what I'd do without my RR! (not counting UP) The Georgetown RR is pretty cool, too. They have innovative technology (one of the biggest fleets of Ortner 3-bays in the world!) Shortlines carry on the RRing tradition in many towns that no longer have Class 1 or 2 lines running through them, sometimes they're close to the only thing keeping a town alive. So... Do you live near a shortline? SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION! Have stories? , tell them please.
Here's a link to a Austin Area Terminal RR (AUAR) roster: RRpicturearchives.net AUAR Roster Wikipedia Article on AUAR
I can show more pics later, but one of my favorites is the Aberdeen, Carolina, & Western here in North Carolina. It runs on an old line leased from Norfolk Southern. They run from Aberdeen (outside of Pinehurst) west to Charlotte. Here is an old picture of one of their "variety" powered trains....: Harold
The Appalachian & Ohio! This 158-mile shortline rosters 20 SD50's (17 UP, 2 Conrail, 1 C&NW) and 4 GP38-3's (B&A). The Appalachian & Ohio is owned by WATCO and interchanges in Grafton, WV with CSX. Coal makes up 90% of the route traffic. The A&O's base of operations is in Buckhannon,WV. CSX CI in Jacksonville controls signaling for the A&O from MP0.1 at Berkeley Run Junction to the last signal at Burnsville, WV (around MP 47) where the A&O operates the remaining 110-plus miles with trainorders. I do not have any up-to-date photos of the A&O, but am planning on doing a little bit of railfanning over the Thanksgiving holiday.
This'll have to do until I get some photo hosting of my own up. Shortline Profile: Kendallville Terminal
I have a long time N scale friend, whose son went to work for the AC&W this past summer. Boxcab E50 </font>[/QUOTE]That's pretty cool! It's only about an hour away from where I live (the Aberdeen end). Harold
Here in Sherman we have the Dallas, Garland & Northeastern (DGNO, or "Digno"). Actually, the part of Digno that exists here is a remnant of the Texas Northeastern (TNER, or "Teener") that operated the ex-MP line from Whitesboro east to Texarkana; only a segment from Sherman to Bonham, and a segment from New Boston to Texarkana, still exist. Teener is considered a subsidiary of Digno. Digno is one of RailAmerica's family of shortlines, as is evidenced by the SW1500 seen here at Sherman getting work done. Fomr Sherman, Dingo trains either run south on trackage rights over BNSF, or west on the ex-T&P to Bells, TX and south on the ex-MKT Greenville line to Garland, TX. The latter line is the route for a rock train to Royse City that is operated in conjunction with UP. The rock comes from a quarry in Oklahoma, and is handed off to Digno in Denison at Ray Yard. HATX SD45 913, ex-CSX, see SCL, on the inspection pit at Sherman. This diesel, as well as another SD45-2, and SD40-2s, an SD45 and SD45T-2 (the latter two ex-SP) are used as power for the rock train. Back in 1991, I shot this Teener locomotive plus a GP9 from a stillborn shortline at the Paris, TX depot. Teener ran turns each way from Paris to Bonham and Nash, TX, due to the rough track (FRA excepted in placed, mostly Class 1, some Class 2). In 1995, the line was given up from PAris to New Boston, and UP (the owner of the track) had it taken up in early 1996. Digno has embargoed the line east of Bonham, which is still intact. Kiamichi, wihc is based in Hugo, OK, (and is another RA line) is the sole provider of rail servide in this community. The depot has since been restored, and is now a restaurant & private club. TNER GP7 115 (an ex-MKT GP7) and an ex-Santa Fe GP7R at the Bonham Yard, Bonham, TX. Sorry I don't have any newer shots of Digno power, but (yuck) I did shoot two LLPX GP38s the line uses- thing is, they're in plain-vanilla colors. LLPX GP38s 2609 and 2610 in Sherman, swithcing out Sherman Wire next to the ex-T&P yard. Most all if not all of RA's locomotives are leased from such as LLPX, Helm and CEFX, and except for the SD20-2s, all are equipped woth EMD 645 prime movers. For more info, go here to Wes Carr's Southwest Shorts website
I like this unit: It appears to be an SD45-2 from CSX, maybe rebuilt, maybe not. CSX did replace the 3600 hp primer movers with 3000 hp ones in a couple units and reclassified them as SD40-2's. Harold
Yep. As mentioned earlier, it's an ex-CSX, perhaps original SCL. I DO know Clinchfield had SD45-2s as well. Not sure if this was remotored, but if it was, it'd be thriftier that the 20-645 prime mover it once had.
Born and raised near the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, currently living in Vancouver while I work for CN, we have the Southern Railway of BC that runs through the Fraser Valley.
Tyler- How is the SRY doing these days? Have they been able to grow their customer base any? Solid for the future? Boxcab E50
I figure it's time to reviltilize this thread. Here's some AUAR photos from Railroad Picture Archives: AUAR GP40 #190: AUAR SD40-2 #3002:
It seems that AUAR is doing good right now, with a lot of aggregate hauling on the line which centers around McNeil (where Austin White Lime & the UP interchange are) with trains going by where I live at least 3 times a day. Pretty good for a shortline?
Another, picture isn't the best as it was a spur of the minute over the shoulder thing. BTW that tower is still manned!
