Today I’m returning to the Mississippian Railway, featuring the sister locomotive of the #76, the #77, a Baldwin built 2-8-0 that the road acquired, along with the #76, from the Frisco in 1947. And as mentioned in a previous post, a day’s run would start in Amory, Mississippi, and head up to Fulton, Mississippi, the northern terminus of the line. Since there are no means to turn a locomotive in Fulton, the locomotive would run tender first for the northbound run.

Photographer Phil Kotheimer recorded this view of the #77 with her train on an overcast day in March of 1967. And as usual, running in reverse, something that was simply routine on this line. To my eye, this image could pass muster to have been any time from the prior 40 years with perhaps the exception of the hopper car.

Note the doghouse on the tender of the locomotive. For those unfamiliar with the term, the doghouse is the structure on top of the tender behind the coal bin. In locomotives with small cabs, it gives the head-end brakeman a sheltered place to ride, especially useful in inclement weather. In the case of the Mississippian, it also gave another set of eyes with an unrestricted view during those reverse running movements.