Pecos! 1978-1984

By B. Smith

I feel really fortunate to have witnessed the PVS when it was still a true short line, serving quite a number of customers receiving one or two cars at a time.  Sure, the gravel quarry was its main source of income, but it didn’t neglect the occasional rail shipper/receiver.  A shadow of itself by the 1970s when the cotton fields had ceased producing, it was still a going concern.  It is the sort of rail operation I attempt to capture with my model railroads.

(Editors note: My proto-freelance Presidio & Northern Railway serves a Pecos similar to what is shared in these great photos! –CE Hunt, (All images (c) B Smith, 1978-1984))

Team track by the old Pecos Airbase.  Conrail gondola with asphalt, 40’ LOVX (American Colloid) box car.  What’s a Conrail gondola loaded with asphalt doing in Pecos, TX?  June, 1978.

Old Pecos Airbase buildings re-purposed for other various industries that received rail shipments.  In the late 1970s it was a very active area, oil field drilling mud being the primary product being shipped in by rail.  June, 1978.

Saragosa, TX on the PVS.  Picking up a gon loaded with river rock.  Abandoned structures tell of a more active time.  I caught the PVS at the end of its true short line existence.  June, 1978.

Departing Saragosa with the gondola loaded with river rock.  June, 1978.  One car being pulled by an engine.

Spotting empties and picking up loaded hoppers at the gravel quarry.  June, 1978.  Still running with a caboose and a five man crew.

The cotton seed oil plant in Pecos, TX.  June, 1978.

A couple of pictures inside the cotton seed plant.

Train to the MP interchange.  Two tank cars loaded with cotton seed oil, three empties from the old airbase, a bunch of hoppers loaded with gravel, and a gondola of river rock.  We had really covered all the PVS tracks today.  June, 1978.

Interesting industrial spurs in Pecos.

Setting out a Frisco box car at the feed dealer.  

The two open top hoppers and caboose continued on to the gravel quarry.  Dec., 1978.

Loading open hoppers at the gravel quarry.  Dec., 1978.

The feed dealer received rail shipments in box cars, tank cars, and covered hoppers.  I saw only one car at a time ever spotted there.  Dec., 1978.

Bagged cow manure from a cattle feed lot to be loaded into a B&O (Chessie) box car. Interesting that it’s a B&O empty rather than a MP.

Feed dealer with a lone tank car spotted for unloading.  Feb., 1980.

Those interesting industrial spurs again with a car spotted.  I once (and only once) saw an anhydrous ammonia tank car (large whale belly type) spotted behind where this box car is, back by the white tank.  Track running off to the left is the track back to the track leading to the airbase tracks.  April, 1984.

Covered hopper being unloaded at the feed dealer.  April, 1984.

I hope you enjoyed this trip to Pecos many years ago! How I miss this brand of railroading!

(Editors note: This is the kind of railroading we both try to model and share on RailsWest. –CE Hunt)

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Note from CE Hunt. I partially write for a living. If you like RailsWest and like novels, you might like my books. Check them out. Scroll over them to the link to order them. A Moveable Marfa and The Sommières Sun are available now.

I have another book coming out soon, Twilight in the Quarter.

Coming soon…