“On a cold December morning in 1980, frost covers the roadbed as Santa Fe SD45 #5575 leads a westbound trailer train through Henrietta. The Santa Fe is in process of converting their TOFC equipment from 89′ flatcars to “Fuel Foiler” articulated spine cars, which reduced train weight and improved fuel efficiency. Note the long string of 89′ flatcars in the siding.” Below – “Seen from the Highway 13 overpass, caboose #999167 brings up the rear as the train speeds towards Kansas City. More 89′ flatcars in storage stretch almost the entire length of the siding.” Both photos – Dale Hearn

 The text and photos above can be found in “Rails Around Missouri”, Chapter Two – Northern Missouri. The going away shot with the caboose is also found on the rear cover of the Frisco front cover edition. “Rails Around Missouri” was released on May 10, 2013 as a 224-page, hard cover book with over 500 all-color photos like the ones above. Your copy is available for $47.95 plus shipping and will come signed by the author. Choose between the KCS or Frisco front cover. Don’t delay! The Frisco cover has less than 100 copies remaining and is expected to sell out before Thanksgiving.

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As a comparison to the shots above, particularly the caboose shot, the photo below was shot from the same overpass by the author in Henrietta in October 2008. Notice how much has changed since 1980: the grain silos and bins are gone, along with the siding. Missouri Highway 13 has been re-routed to a point further east, in what would be the background of the shot at the top of this post. The old overpass is now a local road, but still a great spot to photograph the action on today’s BNSF.