Frenchman Creek, a tributary of the Republican River, flows through southwestern Nebraska. It is also the inspiration for a series of grain elevators in the same part of the state. The Frenchman Valley Farmers Cooperative elevator in Chappell, along the Union Pacific's Sidney Sub, which has a former Pennsylvania Railroad GP9 (PRR 7038) for their switcher. Built by EMD in November 1955 (that was a very good month and year!), then locomotive became Penn Central 7038 with the creation of that railroad in 1968, and them Conrail 7038 when many northeastern US railroads were merged in 1976. Conrail rebuilt this diesel into a dynamic brakeless "GP10" and assigned it a new number – CR 7558 – in the early 1980s. Today, this locomotive switches covered hoppers at the FVC’s elevator in Chappell, numbered FEIX 7558. (Don’t let the FEC on the cab fool you, that is not this locomotive’s official reporting mark … the mark is actually FEIX, for owner Farmer’s Elevator Company. Also, inexplicably, this locomotive also has two stickers with the number 2716 on this side. Confused? You should be!) The engineer (yes, no remote-controlled operations here!) has just started backing two covered hoppers, just loaded with grain, into their small yard. (Chappell, Nebraska – July 15, 2022)
