Central Oklahoma "Winter Blast '06" Trains Part II of V

THIS VIDEO IS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF JAMES B. TRACHIER, COPYRIGHT © 2006.

December 1, 2006 9:20 AM CST
BNSF Railway Red Rock Subdivision, MP 401.93
Norman, OK

Train: Amtrak 821 "Heartland Flyer"
Motive Power: Amtrak 172 (P42DC) & Amtrak 90229 (NPCU, former F40PH, trailing)

Today is the first day of December and yesterday's (Nov 30) heavy snow has moved on into the eastern US.

A beautiful but bitter cold day (temperatures in the low 20's) is underway as the southbound Amtrak Heartland Flyer pulls into a snow-covered Norman.

Although much has changed on this line over the decades - everything from the locomotives to the rolling stock to the company who owns the tracks - seeing the classic scene of a passenger train pulling into an old train station depot (built 1909) takes us back in time to an era when life was slower and a little bit simpler, and the train was the way to travel.

After a brief stop in Norman, we see Amtrak P42DC No. 172 lead her train away as she heads south for Ft. Worth, TX, where there is an interchange with the Amtrak Texas Eagle. Next stop, Purcell, OK.

Please excuse the minor glitch that occurs near the beginning of the video. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was recording over some older video, so it had a little bit of a hiccup there in that part of the recording. (At least I had already made copies of the other video that I was overwriting!) And yes, I do move around quite a bit in this video, but keep in mind that I had to take my gloves off to get the view screen open where I could control the camera, and the temperature was in the upper teens or right around 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) - not pleasant on my hands!

This is the second of a five-part "Central Oklahoma Winter Blast '06" railfanning series.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• BNSF
• Burlington
• Northern
• Santa
• Fe
• Railway
• Red
• Rock
• Subdivision
• Amtrak
• Depot
• Norman
• OK
• Oklahoma
• railroad
• crossing
• Eufuala
• St
• trains
• passenger
• train
• Heartland
• Flyer
• 821
• station
• rail
• P42DC
• Genesis
• 172
• NPCU
• F40PH
• 90229
• 73069
• 73072
• Milepost
• MP
• 401.93
• 402
• 401
• BNSF Railway
• Freight
• Line
• Bryan's Rail Channel
• James
• Bryan
• Trachier

[ponchthered]

My all time favorite is the Heartland Flyer, probably because I live and work here in Norman and it was the first train I ever rode on. I see you were shaking, that'll teach ya to forget your tripod! LOL! Keep up the good work! - Ponch

[theup3985]

@ponchthered Thanks. I no longer freehand for newer videos, strictly tripod now. My philosophy has now become that if I can't get a good stable shot with a tripod, it's not really worth shooting. Check out my Norman "Snowpocalypse 2011" Railfanning videos if you haven't already.

[theup3985]

It was very cold, believe me (and I was dumb enough not to have the tripod...). Yeah, my fingers were letting me have it by the time I was done filming here. No stove that I know of in that station.

[fnm9908]

Love how that hybrid K5 sounds,it has a nice effect after the train leaves and that phase IV cabbage is a nice plus

[brianalexi]

Now this must be a General Signals Type 1 Electronic Bell!

[SgtDonuts]

AMTK #172/90229

[werksdesign]

Great video.... but for that kind of cold I would've been in the station backed up to a pot belly stove!!! if they even still have such a thing... do the younger ones know what that is??

[bnsf4]

at a point i thought the amtrak was a gevo or somethin!

[rwhitenight]

That does look cold. Is that a combination of snow and ice on the ground?

[Cchrisbud813]

Very nice hybrid horn. How do you know if it's on a high-profile manifold?