return from west Texas

Still working through the November backlog... today I have 5 more shots from November 13, as I worked my way back to Fort Worth from Slaton...

Santa Fe depot at Snyder

Santa Fe circle-cross emblem at Snyder

Bodine Bros Drive-In Dairy near Colorado City

7-up fading ad near downtown Colorado City

BNSF 1733 on the Texas & Oklahoma Railroad in Sweetwater

On November 17, M joined me for another short trip to Argyle to try my luck at another silhouette shot at sunset. (See January 4 entry) A southbound arrived at just the right time...

Fourth time's the charm, as well... UP southbound near Argyle at sunset on November 17.

Check back in a day or two for more...

WSC

np: Led Zeppelin - "Bring it on home"

April trains, Wayne the Train

A few photos from what we've seen and done out along the tracks during the month of April...

M practices a balancing act on some surplus rail sections...

UP 6936 leads an officers' special south out of Denton on April 5.


A "Star Wars" themed moniker on a tank car west of Weatherford.


UP 7829 climbs upgrade on the Baird Sub at Preble.

Never too busy for a self-portrait... Whiskey on the UP Baird Subdivision on April 13.


Some aggressive high-speed driving yielded this view of UP 7829 approaching Judd on the UP Baird Sub.



Wayne Hancock at Dan's Silverleaf - April 26

I've seen Wayne"the Train" Hancock more times than I can count, but he never disappoints. Last Saturday night after work, I hurried up to Denton to catch his show at Dan's Silverleaf.

I was glad to see that Wayne had found another steel guitar player. He has been without one since the departure of Eddie Rivers, who is now with Asleep at the Wheel. Wayne announced that the new guy, Tony Locke, has performed with him in the past, but not for several years. This was his first show since joining the band on a full-time basis. At times, he seemed to be a little "out of sync" with the rest of the guys, but still did a good job.

Wayne Hancock & his band at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton TX - April 26

In addition to numerous Hancock originals ("Highway 54", "Tulsa","Kansas City blues"), Wayne and the boys threw down a number of covers such as Hank Thompson's "6-pack to go", Johnny Horton's "Honky tonk man", and Johnny Cash's "Big river." And of course they included a handful of obligatory Hank Williams covers such as "Lost highway", "Your cheatin' heart", and "Lovesick Blues".

It's fun to see the reactions of folks in the crowd who have never been to a Wayne Hancock show before. One guy standing near me was excitedly telling his friends how Wayne sounded "just like he does on the cd" but didn't look anything like what he had imagined. (He was expecting "some old guy with a beard".) And a couple of older women were amazed at the voice they heard coming from the guy on stage with the slicked-down hair, rolled-up jeans and Chuck Taylor high-tops. "He sounds just like Hank Williams!" one of them squealed. Indeed.

Huck Johnson, Wayne Hancock, Tony Locke, Eddie Biebel

Wayne likes to make sure the rest of the band works as hard as he does, and he gave steel player Tony and guitarist Eddie Biebel plenty of opportunities to show their stuff as they cranked out lengthy solos during many of the songs. Wayne just stood off to the side of the stage and grinned as Tony and Eddie dueled back and forth with their solos. The solos during "Kansas City Blues" lasted so long, I forgot what song they were doing! Even bassist Huck Johnson got to pound out a few short solos on his upright bass.

Famous for playing up to (or even past) closing time, Wayne was threatening to leave the stage early... he and the band had a long drive ahead of them the next day for "Bob Wills Day" in Turkey (about 3/4 of the way to Amarillo). But when 2 a.m. rolled around, they were still on stage, giving the fans every last dollar's worth until the sound man turned on the house lights and asked everyone to leave. Fun times!

Check him out if you get a chance...

WSC

np: Townes Van Zandt - "Darcy Farrow"

December trains in Fort Worth

Sometimes I neglect Fort Worth in favor of places like Saginaw or Haslet. There's still plenty of interesting stuff to see and shoot here in the city. Here's a small selection of recent shots...

Eastbound Trinity Railway Express crosses the Trinity River on December 3

The hole in the building -- TRE westbound from Dallas passes through the Tindall Storage building as it enters downtown Fort Worth

Skirting the southeast corner of downtown Fort Worth between the T&P station and the Intermodal Transit Center

Southbound rock train waits to get past Tower 55

Gensets at Ney Yard

Northbound freight meets a switch job at the south end of Ney Yard

Closer to home - southbound freight on the Choctaw Sub passes the Watauga water tower

WSC

np: Mark Davis - WBAP morning show

nr: Cormac McCarthy - No Country for Old Men

Ghost signs - Denton, TX

Scenes from a visit to Denton on Tuesday, November 27...

Evers Hardware Co.

Beall's

"Happy Motoring" lettering above a service station garage. How long has it been since Exxon used this slogan?

Not a ghost sign, but interesting nonetheless. Can you spot a railroad reference?

Texas & Pacific lettering on railroad bridge over US-377.

A closer look. I'd love to see someone touch up the lettering and diamond logo...

four levels of construction workers

NFC 10-1 showdown

Tonight's the big night... the 10-1 Cowboys vs. the 10-1 Packers. Someone will be going home with a second loss. I think the Cowboys can win, IF Romo doesn't make too many mistakes. And it would be nice if Roy Williams could actually provide some pass coverage to keep Brett Favre from throwing for 400 yards. Go Cowboys...

WSC

np: the Gourds - cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice"

nr: John Steinbeck - East of Eden

trackside in Denton County

On Tuesday morning, I spent some time along the UP Choctaw Sub between Roanoke and Denton. I had planned on going all the way to Whitesboro, but I got distracted in Denton working on vegetation control and looking for ghost signs during a break in the train activity. Whitesboro will have to wait. I'll post the ghost signs in my next entry. Meanwhile, here are some train pics...

Crossing signal and empty coal train

UP 7331 leads coal loads south out of Denton, with the landmark "Morrison Corn Kits" sign in the background. (A "corn-kit" is a box of corn muffin mix.)

This Western Pacific boxcar still looked pretty good...

UP 8029 leads a grain train south of Argyle.

M-K-T hopper with lettering still visible

former Rock Island hopper stencilled for another fallen flag (C&NW)

Grand Trunk logo on a boxcar at Roanoke

a buZ blurr drawing

Illinois Central Gulf boxcar at Roanoke

That's all for today... stay tuned for a few shots of Denton's ghost signs.

WSC, postponing Christmas shopping as long as possible

np: Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet home Alabama"

nr: John Steinbeck - East of Eden