ATSF SD40-2 5104Boys Ranch TX Boys Ranch

Due to the short but significant grades on the Fort Worth & Denver Railway and the Colorado & Southern Railway (both subsidiaries of BN until January 1984 when they were completely absorbed into the parent railroad), coal trains always had five or six units for power. This was before the days of distributed power, so all of the locomotives worked from the head end. Broken couplers were common on these trains, which could weigh 12,000 tons or more. This desolate location is just north of the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle. A great place to watch trains if one can put up with the buffalo gnats!