Cabs

[SP 9811]

Post Cotton Belt cabooses here!

[SSW9389]

It rained 9/27/72 in Commerce, TEXAS. I stood under the eve of the station and photographed the Sulphur Springs Switcher yard its train. The SSW 37 is an International Car built in July 1963.

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt #37 exists today in Temple, TEXAS. It is owned by my friend Gary Powell. Gary is a native of Gatesville, TEXAS and saw the last Cotton Belt train leave Gatesville. He is currently employed as a locomotive engineer for BNSF out of Temple. Gary is working on the restoration of this caboose and hopes to have it painted.

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt #6 was used on the Commerce-Greenville Dodger train in 1972-1973 by Conductor Jacob Blankenship. Photo from April 1973.

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt #66 is on the fly westbound through Wells, Nevada back in August 1987. The car is currently on display in Campbell, Missouri in a park off U S 62.

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt #2332 is at the Age of Steam Museum in Dallas, TEXAS. Seen here in this June 2004 photo.

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt #83 is preserved at the Arkansas Railroad Museum. Seen here in this April 14, 2007 photo during the Annual Train Show in Pine Bluff.

[espeelover]

Took this on my birthday in 1979, near Tehachapi summit; the built date reads 5-74 and the class is C-50-5.



Corrected typo....

[SSW9389]

The Cotton Belt C50-5s were built in 1974. They were the very last SSW class and were road numbers #78-93. What you have is a photo of the highest numbered of the Cotton Belt steel cars. Data from Strapac's Southern Pacific Review 1981-the caboose issue.

Jun 8, 2008 1:46:48 GMT -5 espeelover said:

Took this on my birthday in 1979, near Tehachapi summit; the built date reads 5-79 and the class is C-50-5.

[espeelover]

Yeah, I was trying to read the date off the car side, now that I look at it again, I have to wonder how I got a 9 out of that 4!
Must have spent too much time staring at my old notes, looking for the date and gotten 79 on the brain, good catch!

[SSW9389]

Cotton Belt steel cabeese are well covered in the above mentioned Strapac Annual and on the Cotton Belt Yahoo Group there is coverage of the steel cars and the wooden cars were done by Joe Locke before he passed away.

[espeelover]

OKAY! I am officially bummed out by the lack of variety in railroading in my area!

There is just nothing that catchs my eye anymore. I guess it makes perfect sense,
when I had so-so cameras and no money for film, I was surrounded by neat things;
now I got a nicer camera and virtually free unlimited film, and have to drive to other
states to find things that interest me. I thought it was bad when ATSF and UP had
mostly SD40-2's, now I even miss that.

Oh well, here is a crummy from a better time; enjoy.

[espeelover]

Photo taken at Rosamond CA, in September of 1980.

[SSW9389]

I got an email from Gary Powell last night. He hopes to have #37 painted this coming Spring. He got the Mound Depot painted back to original colors and has another caboose (non-SSW) that he has to get moved. He is evaluating the purchase of another Cotton Belt caboose in the near future. Stay tuned, Gary is a Cotton Belt preservationist. It must run in the family because his cousin owns Ireland Station.

Ed

Jul 24, 2007 19:47:04 GMT -5 SSW9389 said:

Cotton Belt #37 exists today in Temple, TEXAS. It is owned by my friend Gary Powell. Gary is a native of Gatesville, TEXAS and saw the last Cotton Belt train leave Gatesville. He is currently employed as a locomotive engineer for BNSF out of Temple. Gary is working on the restoration of this caboose and hopes to have it painted.

[espeelover]

That is great news! I feel that keeping the SP/SSW heritage in the best condition possible is very important. I do hope he will take some pictures and record what he does in the restoration project; this will become part of the legacy of that waycar.