One Response to SD45s 934 and 918

  1. Mark Davidson says:
    May 5, 2018 at 12:09 AM

    Train is approaching the road grade crossing with North 4th Street. At this date it is westbound on the Perry Subdivision. Interesting to note the Frisco’s Beaumont Subdivision used the Perry Sub between Steen and Enid (1.8 miles). Enid is just ahead at mile post 544.9 (Beaumont Sub MP 585.7).

    The locomotives have just passed the railroad crossing at grade, with automatic interlocking, with the C.R.I.P. (Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad) at mile post 585.0. The diamond is four to five cars back under the last tank car and gondola. This is just southeast of the large Pillsbury Company flour mill and elevator. The photographer is northwest of the diamond crossing.

    The tracks in the lower foreground lead to the east and west side of the Pillsbury mill. Approaching from the southwest a switching lead to drill these mill tracks and the Rock Island connecting track is north of and parallels the Frisco main track. The drill track starts just east of Beaumont Subdivision bridge 585.5 (Perry Subdivision mile 544.6) over Boggy Creek. The drill track turns northeast and becomes a connecting track to the Rock Island main, north of their SLSF interlocking.

    In the distance on the left is Union Equity Cooperative’s Elevator A complex. The complex consisted to two parallel elevators. On the south wall of the work head house of the south elevator is their green and yellow corporate herald with three hexagons and bordered by wheat stalks. These elevators have a capacity of 7,600,000 bushels.

    Union Equity had its headquarters in Enid. It also has three other major terminal elevators in town. These included to the east its Elevator B, with a capacity of 11,000,000 bushels, and to the north their Elevators Y and Z, with capacities of 16,300,000 and 15,300,000 bushels.

    Across the tracks on the right are a couple of trucks belonging to Halliburton Oilfield Services. They had a substantial fleet of red and gray company owned vehicles and railcars. These units appear to be for a well materials pumping crew. The left vehicle is a pumping truck and the right is the cement or “mud” material tank truck.

    This section of track has seen several changes of the years. With Timetable 2, effective September 7, 1973, transcontinental trains in connection with the Santa Fe were shifted off the Floydada, TX through Oklahoma City to the Avard, OK gateway through Enid. Then with Timetable 3, effective January 1, 1975, the subdivisions between Steen and Enid flipped in recognition of the importance of the shifted transcontinental trains. The Perry sub was now predominant, with the Beaumont Sub running over it instead of the reverse.

    The Santa Fe had long enjoyed trackage rights from their 10th Street Yard in northeast Enid westward across the C.R.I.P. crossing. This was between Santa Fe mile posts 61.9 and 62.1. The Rock Island crossing is MP 62.0. They then got back on their line, paralleled the Frisco past their depot and freight house. Then just east of Frisco’s Enid, ATSF MP 61.0, they again used trackage rights westward on the Avard Subdivision to Blanton, ATSF MP 58.2.

    In 1960 the Rock Island also gained trackage rights. They had abandoned their track across southern Enid and the southern end of their Geary Branch between Geary and Warren. They then accessed their Warren branch, Subdivision 25 B, off the Frisco’s Enid / Hobart Subdivision. Also, the Rock abandoned the southern end of their Northern Branch line between Okeene and Augusta. They then used the Frisco’s Avard Subdivision westward to MP 582.7, Rock Island’s Augusta, to access their Alva branch line, Subdivision 25-C.

    View is looking northeast.

    Hope this helps.

    Thanks!

    Mark

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