[Dennis Faircloth]

Here is a photo of locomotive 946 being raised from the Intracoastal Canal at Morley, Louisiana.
From the MPHS archives.

Written information on the back of the photo as follows:

Train NF-16 (New Orleans-Ft Worth of 9/16/1973)
48 loads, 61 empties
35 mph
Incident occurred at 11:55 pm (9/16/1973)
2 units, 11 loads, 4 mtys into the canal
$620,000 damage

[Dennis Faircloth]

The car kind and STCC load kind are interesting. BNSF uses a different car kind code, and places the L/E information after the car kind, but I’m assuming the STCC code and descriptor are universal. Is there a master list of car kinds and STCC codes available for browsing?

Ryan,

STCC code lists can be found through a Google search. They are universal. As for car kind code, MP developed their own car types I assume internally when developing TCS. They are not quite the same as the UMLER codes, but do have similarities. I was given a master list back in the 1990’s by a former MP trainmaster, I will search over the holidays to see if I can find it.

[Dennis Faircloth]

How about a shot of a TCS screen for this discussion……

This image was cropped out of a slide used to illustrate either a presentation or an annual report. It has some pixelation from application of a sharpening filter in Photoshop. Disclaimer: I am a student of TCS, not a practitioner. Hopefully Kevin and Charlie can correct me where I derail, and fill in any holes.

The screen is a car inquiry screen showing origin, destination and its trip plan. The top line shows the car initials and number (MP 253558), L=loaded, L50 is a car type code for a boxcar equipped with load restraining devices. It is carrying “BRICK”, but the more descriptive STCC code follows that, 3255110 being the STCC code for Fire Brick. (STCC is Standard Transportation Commodity Code, and this is the classification that matches up with the proper rate for billing the cost of the movement.)

The second line shows the waybill number, date waybill created, and location where the car was waybilled. Next lines show origin station and shipper, destination station and receiver. Company names made up for demo purposes. OFF indicates the car goes offline, in this case interchanged to FW&D at Ft Worth. ETA=I/C is the interchange ETA at TP250 (station code for Ft Worth).

Next is the trip plan. Each line is an event. SA=station arrival, SS=station setout, SD=station departure, SP=station pickup, RL=released. The trip events are read from bottom upwards, with past events under the dashed line, and scheduled events above the dashed line. This trip plan shows the car released at ZTS location 04-851-01. It is scheduled to be picked up by yard job YM38-16 (Job M38 of the 16th of the month), then it leaves Memphis on train MLS-17 (Memphis-Little Rock-Southern, a runthrough off the Southern Rwy at Memphis), and at Little Rock it is classified to Train LF (Little Rock-Ft Worth) for the trip to Ft Worth. Scheduled dates and times for each event.

I have been working with JMRI to see if I can duplicate the MP train consist formats generated from TCS, for use on my model railroad. Still a very early work-in-progress.

[attachment=0:3o696nns]Demo TCS screen.jpg[/attachment:3o696nns]

[Dennis Faircloth]

Hi Ryan,

MP used ZTS (Zone-Track-Spot) system and published books for each territory covered by a particular customer service center. They were all in 4.25″ x 11″ format with orange covers. After the UP merger, the books continued to be published, with a UP herald replacing the MP herald on the covers.

The MPHS digital archives group is working toward offering a set of ZTS diagrams, probably on CD, that covers the entire MP system. We are currently compiling what is in the collection, and what portions of the system we are missing.

Ted Ferkenhoff
Flagstaff, AZ

[Dennis Faircloth]

Charlie, thank you for the additional info. The export process was and is pretty interesting, and still sometimes frustrating.

[Dennis Faircloth]

Charlie, I have studied many Circular 61 freight schedule pages that indicated southbound Mexico traffic was set out at San Antonio “to be manifested”. Several different blocks from several different trains, set out, then to be handled later on trains to Laredo (DM, DMZ, etc.) Was this practice a response to the congestion in Laredo from too many cars waiting for release on too few tracks?

[Dennis Faircloth]

TAZ = Texas Autos/TOFC

Established Feb 3, 1981.

Originated at 37th St, Chicago, and was switched at Yard Center.
34 hour schedule from 37th ST to Ft Worth.

As of July 1982 it ws assigned 3 GP50s for power, and cycled power with northbound FCZ.

Out of Yard Center carried TOFC (multiple blocks) and GM auto parts for Arlington and Reisor assembly plants. Picked up Arlington parts at Villa Grove. 500 mile inspection at Gorham, set out TOFC for New Orleans and Memphis for train DV. Set out San Antonio and Laredo TOFC at Texarkana for train DMZ. Picked up Arlington traffic from DMZ. Set out Shreveport/Longview/Texarkana TOFC for ramp at Texarkana. Shreveport non-TOFC moved on L933 to Shreveport/Reisor. Set out at West Dallas and worked Arlington before slinking into Centennial Yard.

[Dennis Faircloth]

My profile book shows a Rough Creek bridge between M.P. 99 and M.P. 100 west of Weingarten. The note says:

Rough Creek
Br. #11
Steel Viaduct 615′

That’s it for details. My book looks to be 1954 or later, based upon the rail installation dates.

[Dennis Faircloth]

Steve,

St Louis to Pueblo is a large stretch of railroad, encompassing 7 crew districts in the late ’70’s. Rough count about 10-11 locals and roadswitchers covering this territory. Most of the traffic was overhead, moving between Pueblo, KC and StL. I hope you are trying to select a portion or one subdivision to focus on, otherwise it is close to “boiling the ocean”.

1. For on-line industries, and guessing what “more interesting” translates to, here are the more significant traffic generators for the time period you are looking at…..Starting on the east end at St Louis, and going west:
a. Lime plant at Pacific, MO – switched by the St Louis-Jeff CIty local, probably spent the most time at this location during tour of duty
b. Union Electric coal-fired power plant Labadie, MO – received unit trains of Illinois coal from the east, and Utah and Wyoming coal from the west
c. Central Electric Co-op coal-fired power plant Chamois, MO – a small plant, received blocks of cars set out by the local and/or a through train
d. Jeff City had a fascinating group of industries along the remnant of the Bagnell Branch.
West of Jeff City, we have two mainlines, Sedalia Sub and River Sub, that were mostly directional running with some exceptions.
e. Sedalia featured the MP shop complex, and a Kelsey-Hayes steel-wheel plant (opened 1978).
f. General Motors auto distribution ramp at Lee’s Summit
g. Allis-Chalmers equipment plant on the Pixley Spur in Independence.
h. Over on the River Sub, Lake City Army Ammunition Plant at Lake City
In Kansas City proper, after turning the corner at Southwest Jct from the Sedalia/River Subs onto the Kansas City Sub…
i. Armco Steel plant. Not a large integrated plant with blast furnaces, but shipped many cars/day of grinding balls, grinding rods, wire rod, railroad spikes, and bar stock.
j. General Motors Assembly Plant at Leeds, Missouri. Large enough to have its own support yard and multiple switch jobs per shift.

In Kansas, MP served a salt mine on a branch out of Geneseo, but otherwise it was all about grain gathering in terms of volume. A lot of grain trains originated in Salina, directly on the MP from a local elevator, and also interchanged from UP.

Crossing the border into Colorado, MP served the Transportation Technology Center and the Pueblo Army Depot near Avondale. The TTCI featured large loops of track for testing rail equipment, and MP often moved locomotives and rolling stock to/from TTCI as railroads would loan equipment to the facility for testing.

2. Industry track diagrams were assembled into ZTS books (Zone-Track-Spot). These diagrams were mostly hand-drawn and not to scale, but showed track arrangements and often gave track capacity or number of spots. They show up from time to time on Ebay, and the MPHS archives crew is working to digitize these books. If you narrow your search down to a certain area, I am sure we can come up with diagrams among the forum group.

5. The hotshot auto train between St Louis and Pueblo was the CSP (Chicago-St Louis-Pueblo). During certain months of the year, MP also hosted the FFT (Ford Fast Train) between Kansas City and Pueblo. After 1981, MP originated the FFT at St Louis in its waning years. There were several trains handling auto traffic between St Louis and KC.

[Dennis Faircloth]

Also interesting that UP 2429 is on both trains. Makes me wonder if these were the #174 (northbound) and #173 (southbound) trains that ran KC-St Joseph in the early 1980’s. The northbound was either 174 or an empty grain train, and the power turned to 173 with the Conrail unit added.

[Dennis Faircloth]

I found a tidbit of info while perusing an excellent piece on railroad logos entitled “On The Mark: The History and Symbolism of Railroad Emblems” by James A. Ward, in Issue 153 of R&LHS Railroad History, Autumn 1985.

Page 69
“When the Missouri Pacific decided to update its buzzsaw in 1969, its designer, D’Arcy Advertising Company, melded tradition with novelty…”
He goes on to describe the screaming eagle/buzzsaw logo, then ends with this:
“Though the new emblem first appeared on the MoP’s 1969 annual report, not until five years later was it stenciled on a locomotive.”

The footnote for this paragraph: “W.A. Fussner, Director of Special Projects and Public Relations, Union Pacific System, to author, 1 February 1985; de Vries, Dictionary, pp. 152-54.”

[Dennis Faircloth]

Yes Kevin, same Brandon.

[Dennis Faircloth]

This is good info….The Eagle has not shown up in Arizona either. I assumed from the first post that the issue was “newly received”, but seems it has been “out for a while”.

[Dennis Faircloth]

Search the thread I started in this same section entitled “Morley Bridge incident”.

When & where: Morley, LA, on September 17, 1973

I do not know what position 630 was in when the pair of Geeps went into the canal.

[Dennis Faircloth]

The video description says this footage was shot around Claremore (OK) which accounts for the Frisco action, and also on the southern Illinois joint line, which would be the MP-SSW Dupo-Illmo route.

The red & white 3-silo car is a Halliburton car for transporting dry bulk ingredients for oil well drilling mud.

There was and is no restriction on having tank cars next to a caboose…the restriction is if cars contain certain hazardous materials.

This is indeed great footage….kudos to the filmographer for capturing freight cars as well as locomotives.

[Author]

Posts