Red dirt day trip

A week ago Sunday (April 29), M joined me for a daylong trip to Black Bear, Oklahoma. Located about an hour north of Oklahoma City, Black Bear features an interlocking where the BNSF Red Rock Subdivision (former Santa Fe from Gainesville TX to Arkansas City KS) crosses the BNSF Avard Sub (my current dispatching district, the former Frisco from Tulsa to Enid to Avard). It's a neat place to spend a couple hours or a whole day, and we saw plenty of trains. It was a lot of ground to cover in a day, though... we drove over 600 miles! Maybe next time, we'll find a motel room and drive back the next morning.

Eastbound H BARTUL (Barstow, California to Tulsa OK) on the Avard Sub approaches the Black Bear diamond. April 29, 2007

M's photos of the BARTUL were a little bit more "interpretive".

BNSF 914 northbound on the Red Rock Sub at Black Bear.


Grain hoppers rattle across the diamond on the Red Rock Sub. Track in foreground is the connecting track from the Red Rock Sub to the Avard Sub.


A portrait of backwoods Oklahoma - the Avard Subdivision southwest of Black Bear

the same crossing - with a train

We found aptly-named "Railroad Avenue" in nearby Morrison.


Also on hand at Morrison was this backhoe in a hopper, part of a work train that was unloading ties on the Avard Sub during late April and early May.

M enjoyed a visit with the crew of this eastbound before they headed for Tulsa.

Live music report

Well, I missed Ray Wylie Hubbard at Love & War in Texas (Plano) this past Sunday. He played at the "Shiner Sunday" event, but I was busy taking the kids to a birthday party for one of the neighbor's kids, so I wasn't able to go. Too bad -- I really enjoyed Ray Wylie's show when we caught him in Waxahachie a couple years ago. Hopefully I'll have another chance to see him sometime soon.

Wayne Hancock will be playing at Dan's in Denton on Friday, but I'll probably have to skip out on that as well... I'm signed up to ride in the North Texas Classic (bike ride) at Saginaw on Saturday morning. Eleven Hundred Springs will be at Dan's on Saturday, though... if I'm not too tired from riding, maybe I'll go check that out. I haven't seen them "long-hair tattoo hippie freaks" in quite a while...

See ya next time...

I'm pretty much all caught up on my backlog of material. It might be a week or two before I post again. Until next time... take care of yourselves -- and each other.

WSC

np: Mr. T Experience "Alternative is here to stay" (single)