ABOVE: All four of the road’s six-axle units soar above Mustang Creek with a heavy FWDU train on February 6, 2011. Concrete piers support the 250-foot long deck girder bridge. LEFT: On March 3, 2011, Job 402 passes the former Santa Fe brick station at Comanche. This location also sports one of the few Santa Fe-era station signs remaining along the line.
the FWWR blue and yellow and al- lowed for the return of all leased loco- motives. By late 2000 the GP35s were tired iron and their failure rate was climbing. With growing traffic levels a more re-
upper Midwest and transloaded into trucks for final delivery to the drilling sites. Up to 75 cars of sand are brought into Cresson six days a week to be dis- tributed to transload facilities by the Cresson-based crews. In addition, sev- eral unit trains of sand have been re- ceived from the BNSF at Fort Worth and operated with run-through BNSF locomotives.
Motive Power
During the company’s early years a variety of smaller GP7s and 9s and
CF7-type units were leased and pur- chased as traffic levels dictated. With the purchase of the Dublin Sub addi- tional locomotives with greater horse- power were needed to tackle the saw tooth profile of the former Santa Fe line. At first three GP20s were leased from the BNSF, and these were later replaced by four leased ex Norfolk Southern GP38-2s of Illinois Terminal heritage. A longer term solution for mo- tive power came in February 1999 with the purchase of three former Canadian Pacific GP35s. They arrived painted in
liable motive power fleet was needed. Arriving in late 2000 were four over- hauled GP35s of Southern Pacific and Rio Grande heritage. They were bought from Omnitrax and designated as GP38-3s. Carrying numbers 2000 through 2003, they arrived in the classy blue and yellow paint scheme and began a tradition of placing a de- cals on locomotive flanks with the out- line of a longhorn steer and names com- memorating people and places of local interest. These first four “named” units were 2000 (Miss Molly), 2001 (Niles City), 2002 (Cowtown) and 2003 (Gen- eral Worth) .
Since the arrival of GP38-3s in 2001,
the roster has continued to grow. Next 35
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