LEFT: One crew coming, the other going with the van as UP 8201 West waits to depart Big Sandy in the late afternoon on December 10, 2012. BELOW: As UP 4019 West departs Big Sandy on March 26, 2012, it passes a crew re- pairing a broken rail at the crossing of the Corsicana and Mineola Subs, and the work- men will watch carefully as the westbound’s wheels tread the interlocker.
crosses the Sabine River; Highway 155 follows the railroad. If photographing south of town, be mindful of the fact that the forest tends to deaden the sound of an approaching train and even a powerful locomotive horn. Trains ap- pear almost without warning around tight curves in the forest, making oper- ations around Big Sandy both interest- ing and ominous. I speak from experi- ence. Staying constantly alert of your
surroundings is therefore a wise policy. Speaking of the forest, these are the famous Piney Woods of east Texas. They contain a wide variety of trees, from tall shortleaf pines to stately broad-leafed sycamores — and every- thing in between. Some of the trees that abut the rights of way near Big Sandy are simply enormous, and dwarf the trains. Because of their height, they throw their shadows across the tracks
for a good part of the day. UP regularly trims the trees along the right of way, especially those that are already en- croaching, sometimes doing a shaped cut that allows a train to pass just bare- ly untouched. In some places in these woods, it’s as though a train is passing through a tunnel formed by tree branches. Except for rare times of drought, most of east Texas in spring and sum-
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