Memorial Day 2011 - Day 1
May 27-28, 2011
|
After the great time we had at RailFest earlier in May, I made the decision to try and attend the Memorial Day Armed Forces Tribute. Fortunately things worked out (at the last minute) and I was able to go. Michele sat this one out, so I was flying solo for 2 days.
I left Spring at 0700, Friday morning, and got to Rusk in 2.5 hours, arriving in time to catch the departure of Extra 300 West and her consist of TSR coaches, Lt. Gen. Patton's personal car, and 3 flatcars of WWII military equipment. Using TopoUSA on my laptop with a USB GPS receiver, I was able to chase the train to several back-road grade crossing. My thanks once again to Everett Lueck for making this possible. Everett showed me the program and then provided the custom-made map files containing all the active and abandoned railroads in Texas. This makes chasing and researching VERY EASY!
Chasing with me were 2 other people. About the 3rd time we crossed paths, one of the 2 introduced herself as Jan Townsend, the wife of Tom Townsend who owns the WWII equipment on the train. After chatting for a few moments she invited me to ride along that afternoon when the train left Palestine for the Jarvis Wye (the "battle site") to do a walk-through of the battle re-enactment. THANK YOU, Jan!
Shortly after arriving in Palestine, Jan pointed out the other person that I had been chasing with. It turned out to be John Price, the Founder of the Texas State Railroad Society (a support group for the railroad). I've been trading emails with John for about a year and even assisted with the Society's website. However, as John pointed out 30 seconds after we met, I had yet to officially join the group. So, I promptly fixed that! John and I chatted for about 2 hours while waiting for the train to leave for Jarvis. He's a wealth of encouraging information and the future looks very bright indeed for the TSR. |
|
|
|
|
|
Extra 300 West departs Rusk, bound for Palestine |
||
|
|
|
|
|
The re-enactors on board played their part, even though only a handful of die-hards were chasing |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
My faithful truck in Maydelle |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TSR 300 and train depart Maydelle after a brief stop to check the equipment |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mewshaw Siding at the grade crossing on FM 747 |
|
|
|
|
|
Mewshaw Siding - MP 11.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Racing West to get ahead of the train |
||
|
|
|
|
|
This is the best of the "roads" I traversed into the woods |
East Texas is surprisingly hilly |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Looking East towards Rusk |
Looking west towards Palestine at MP ~17.0 |
My truck at the CR398 grade crossing - MP ~17.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Looking west at MP ~17.0 |
TSR 300 roars across CR398... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
... and leaves a cloud of dust on her way towards Palestine, TX |
Arriving in Palestine - MP 25.5
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note the white crosses on the fence |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Turning 300 on the wye |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Engineer Scott |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Backing into the Engine House for the night |
A wig-wag signal and Gen Patton's car |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just in case the Nazis show up... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Later that afternoon I rode along as the re-enactors went over the "Rheinhausen" at the Jarvis Wye (MP 17.5) for a walk-through. This location was built to serve as the "North Pole" for the annual Polar Express trains. It was in the upper 90's this day and Santa was no where to be found. Perhaps the Nazis got him... |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TSR 7 (ALCO 1947) was our power on this trip. #300 was put in the shop for the night. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Departing "Rheinhausen, Germany" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TSR 7 on the Palestine Wye |
|
|
|
|
|
|
After arriving back in Palestine, I bid farewell to John and fulfilled a long-time curiosity. Just what was around the bend at the west leg of the wye heading towards the UP connection in Palestine? I've wondered this since my first ride on the TSR a quarter of a century ago... |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Actually, I knew already. John told me a few hours earlier that the TSR was storing equipment back there. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heading back to the yard |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back in the TSR Palestine Yard |
|
|
Two Mission Objectives were now complete: 1) chasing the train and 2) exploring the west end of the Palestine Wye. Two more Objectives to go and I could call it a day. Objective 3: follow the line into Palestine. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
Looking west from FM 323 |
Looking east from FM 323 |
Looking east from SR 256 |
|
|
|
|
|
Looking west from SR 256 |
Looking east from Redwood Dr. |
Looking west from Redwood Dr. |
|
|
|
|
|
UP Palestine Sub just south of Palestine. This is the northern end of the line that runs just beyond the back fence of my house in Spring |
This is where the TSR trackage interchanges with the UP.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Looking east towards the TSR Palestine Yard |
My truck at the TSR / UP Junction |
With Objective 3 completed I moved on to Objective 4: trace the TSR RoW into Rusk proper. Unfortunately, there is nearly NOTHING traceable or even discernable today. Here is a photo of the Cotton Belt (SSW/SP) RoW between the TSR Yard and Rusk, along Lloyd street. |
|
|
|
|
|
This has no railroad connection that I know of, I just though it was neat. |
This is the only discernable section of TSR RoW I found in Rusk, located on Jarred Street, just south of Cherokee Street, looking west. |
The Rusk State Hospital. I believe this was once the prison and the reason the TSR was built in the first place. Prison labor built the line to haul ore from the mines near Maydelle to the foundry in Rusk. |
|
My mission complete, I checked into the Weston Inn & Suites in Rusk, got a pizza, and started sorting through the 700 photos I took that day.
|