.... deres eget land!

Primo 1972 sendte FLV mig på et 9 ugers kursus på Sheppard Air Force Base (SAFB), små 10 kilometer uden for byen Wichita Falls, tæt på delstatsgrænsen til Oklahoma, i kvæg-, olie- og tornadoland.

For en ordens skyld havde jeg kamera og Agfa CT-18 diapositivfilm med, og se, ikke langt fra Visiting Officers Quarters var der hul i hegnet til et forbindelsesspor til basens Supply Depot. Sporet betjentes af Missouri-Kansas-Texas Lines (MKT):

MKT-shunter (sandsynligvis MKT #11) passerer gennem hegnet til SAFB.

"MKT #11, type NW2u, was built by Electro-Motive in January 1947, #4587, FN E813-5, as 1030. It was renumbered 11 in 1958 and rebuilt by Electro-Motive in March 1960 - http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr696.htm ."

Ved forsyningsdepotet rangerede basens egen "44-tonner":

USAF "44-tonner" #7439 ved SAFB Supply Depot.

"USAF #7439, 44 Ton, was built by General Electric in January 1943, #15764. It later became Department of Transportation 002 and then to Cadillac & Lake City Ry as 44. It was sold to Evans Railcar Co as 44 - http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1205.htm ."

Wichita Falls var jernbanebetjent af "Burlington Northern", og en dag i marts 1972 besøgte jeg byens "Burlington Yard" - for at fastholde nogle amerikanske jernbaneindtryk.

Wichita Falls med den typiske GMC-Bus til/fra SAFB.

På "Burlington Yard":

Godstog med 4 lokomotiver klar til afgang.

Burlington Northern (C&S) #906 (EMD SD40-2), spritnyt lokomotiv.

"C&S 906 (SD40-2) Serial Number: 5812-7, Order No: 5812, Frame Number: 5812-7, Built: 3/1972, BN #6354 - http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=12499 ."

Burlington Northern (GN) #9851 (EMD SDP40, FNr. 31593/May 66, +May 89).

Burlington Route (FW&D) #854 (EMD SD7).

"FW&D 854, SD7, was built by Electro-Motive in March 1953, #17125. It was renumbered 6083, Class SD-7, in 1979 and became BN 6083, Class SD-7, in January 1982. It was retired in July 1983 and sold to Iowa RR as 6083 in July 1983. It was later sold as Wyoming-Colorado RR 6083 in December 1987 - http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1965.htm ."

Burlington Route (FW&D) #859 (EMD SD7, FNr. 17922/Oct 53, +May 83).

De 4 lokomotiver endnu en gang.

Wichita Falls, div. godsvogne på "Burlington Yard".

Burlington Route (C&S) #883 (EMD SD40).

"C&S 883, SD40, was built by Electro-Motive in April 1968, #33922. In August 1979 it was renumbered 6343, Class SD40. It was wrecked and retired in August 1980. It was scrapped by BN in March 1981 - http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr362.htm ."

Fort Worth & Denver "Caboose" eller "Waycar" #5.

Div. godsvogne ved usikret overkørsel.

Burlington Route (FW&D) #608 (EMD SW1200, FNr. 25044/Mar 59, +May 83) rangerer ved overkørslen.

Burlington Route #608 rangerer.

Stemningen i en sådan nordtexansk by gjorde, at man følte sig som statist i en amerikansk film, f.eks. "The Last Picture Show" fra 1971, jeg netop så i Wichita Falls for 1. gang.

Wichita Falls, Scott Ave. tidlig eftermiddag.

Supplerende Link: BN Lokomotiver 1970-1997: http://www.trainpix.com/bn/ROSTER.HTM

OT: I mit kvarter delte jeg dagligstue med en major fra Bundesluftwaffe, som skulle etablere en tysk træningseskadrille på SAFB. Denne eskadrille blev senere grundlaget for Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT), hvor også danske piloter blev uddannet.

Mer' OT: På SAFB var bl.a. også et stort militærhospital, hvor man uddannede Flight-Nurses, kvindelige sekondløjtnanter på 14-dages kurser. Så var der liv i messen!

Blandt læserne er der nok mange, der er vidende om GM-EMD lokomotiver; jeg imødeser meget gerne supplerende info og fotos.

Bedste hilsener
Niels

PS: Indlægget blev 2010 vist på Drehscheibe-Online, men p.g.a. billeddatabasen ImageShack's utilregnelighed fordampede billederne.