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The BNSF Seligman Sub Photo Gallery
(and Railfanning Report)

Photos by Ken Buckman

The photos on these pages are protected under U.S. Copyright Laws.  I have no
problem with their use on personal computers for wallpaper and such.
However I would appreciate anyone using these photos on another website
 giving me a credit and a link to the homepage of this Website.
http://www.bkvp.com
Any use of these photos resulting in profit without my permission is strictly prohibited

October 15, 2004

Headed toward Ash Fork

So this is why The ATSF built
The Crookton Cutoff!  Of course
the railroad never had 6 percent
grades, but the curvatures needed
to avoid them, created an operational
headache on their own.

   Welcome to Kaibab!  Even up until
a mile before the Ash Fork exit, I
wasn't sure if I would visit Eagle Nest
on this trip.  However, the car
mysteriously made the turn.  From
this spot, it's seven miles of dusty
dirt road away.

 

 
H KCKBAR9 13

 Eagle Nest  MP 407

Upon arrival I discovered a herd of maintenance
people, out here in the middle of nowhere.  They
had track two closed, and the speed on track one
reduced to 25MPH.  This sequence of one train
featuring 2 lead engines and 2 DPU's on the rear
was shot from a spot where I was out of the way
of the track gang.  The trailing DPU is the #5841,
the third highest numbered C44-9W
on the roster.
 

 


Q CLORIC3 14
66-00-4663-6101

 I photographed and/or videotaped 3 trains from the
previous location, but when I heard the fourth get
permission to go through the work area, I needed
something different.  As I drove to a new spot, I
came face to face with more track workers than
I had ever seen before.  I stopped to talk with one
who looked to have some authority.  From our
conversation,  I  gathered it was OK to hang around
and photograph, but I should stay out of the way.
It didn't matter.  After I photographed this train, I
made myself disappear.

 


S LHWCHI1 14
80-00-5994-7439

 Peach Springs  MP 466

My plan was to be in Kingman by nightfall, but I wanted to cover
some spots as I traveled west on Route 66.  I had already killed some
time by stopping just east of Seligman, where I waited for and
videotaped an eastbound.
Now as I was passing through Peach Springs, a look to
the left showed an eastbound which was stopped.  I pulled a U-turn,
and got to the south side of the grade crossing just as the train was
beginning to move.  With barely enough time, I managed to set up the
videocamera, and take some photos.

 


Z LACALT1 14
79-0-5706-7682

 Hackberry Rd Xing  MP 486.8

Leaving Peach Springs, I wanted to
find a decent spot where I could hang
out for awhile, have some lunch, and
have decent angles to photograph &
videotape the action.  The Hackberry
Road Grade crossing did the trick.  I
had barely got out of my car when the
sound of an eastbound was heard.

 


Q CLORIC3 14
66-00-4663-6101

 What a nice shot of westbounds.
The Sun still needed some time to
swing around though.  Heck, I'll
wait awhile and catch another
when the lighting is better.
This is the same train as the last
one I saw at Eagle nest, which
indicated how the track work had
slowed things down.

 


M BARALT1 15
17-56-4263-4557

 Four eastbounds in a row were
manifest freights.  Very uncommon
on a line where intermodal is King.
This was the second, and the
GP60M on the lead and GP60B
trailing made it a nice catch.

 


P LACCHI2 14
85-00-7777-7728

 Things were busy, and I barely had
time between trains to keep up with
my notes.  To make it somewhat
frustrating, as the light for westbounds
improved, a parade of eastbounds
occurred.   The eastbound fleet
managed to block westbound trains
on 3 occasions!  For now I would
settle for a shot of the DPU's on an
eastbound "P" (Premium) train.		  

What's this... a lull?!  I had caught
up on my notes, and I was still
determined to get that perfectly
lit westbound.  This scene of The
Hackberry Rd. warning system
caught my eye.  I recorded it
with my digital camera.

 


Z LACKCK1 15
71-00-4355-6565

 Yet another eastbound, but the
 BNSF passenger cars tacked
 onto the rear were pretty cool.
 from front to rear, the cars were...
 SNOQUALMIE PASS
 ROLLINS PASS
 RED RIVER
 GLACIER VIEW

 


Z WSPRIC1 13
60-00-3578-5599

 Finally... moments after a friendly
local Rancher had stopped and
struck a conversation with me,
the signals activated.  My
westbound had arrived, and I
departed right after it passed.

 


Z WSPSBD4 13
51-0-2824-4766


Z WSPLAC9 12
56-0-4064-5496

 Hackberry  MP 489

A dirt road off of route 66 begged me to explore it.
In a few moments after driving in an area that no
doubt sees flash floods during downpours, I arrived
here.  The deck bridge though this ghost town
hosted 6 trains in 54 minutes!

 

As I drove back to Route 66
I couldn't help notice the
wild rock formations.
Geology was never in my
blood, but it doesn't take
much to appreciate how
nature created this over time.		   The Hackberry General Store
right before I continued west.

 

Berry  MP 510

(Or close to it)  As I approached Kingman, the headlight in the
distance beckoned my attention.  I was getting tired, and for a
moment had the stupid thought that it was just another train.
It was time to call it a day and just get to my motel.
Yeah right.  I pulled a U-turn so my car would face the right way
on the right side of the road, and waited a few minutes.
These were shot with my digital camera.  I like the way they show
the grade involved while traveling on straight track.

October 13th  October 14th  October 16th  October 17th  October 18th  October 19th  October 20th  October 21st

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