Proving that there's more to the Texas panhandle than wheat farming and cattle ranching, the Celanese Chemicals plant southwest of Pampa is one of BNSF's largest sources of traffic in the area. The plant produces acetic acid and many related products. In order to handle the switching of the dozens of chemical-hauling tank cars which pass through the plant during a typical week, the Celanese plant has three Omnitrax locomotives on its property. When they are not in use within the confines of the plant or locked up behind a fence, they can sometimes be viewed from public property as they sit on a service track along Farm Road 2300 south of US Highway 60.

In addition to the tank cars which are constantly entering and leaving the plant, Celanese also receives occasional unit coal trains from BNSF, usually with run-through UP locomotives. The coal trains carry a BNSF symbol of CPUEKMH (Coal load, Pueblo CO to Kings Mill, TX) and EKMHPUE (Coal empty, Kings Mill to Pueblo) and are commonly referred to -- in unofficial BNSF parlance -- as the "Puke 'ems".

For more information on Celanese Chemicals, consult the following website: http://www.celanesechemicals.com/main.html

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All images on Wes Carr's Southwest Shorts © 2000, 2001 by Wes Carr. All rights reserved.
Wes Carr claims no affiliation with Celanese Chemicals, Omnitrax, or with any shortline or industrial railroad.