Almost a year ago I posted some photographs taken at the ICG railroad facilities in McComb, Mississippi by my late friend Ron Findley. You can view that post here if you’d like to review those images and learn a bit more about the area. That trip was in February of 1988. Just days after those images were taken, the ICG Industries divested themselves of their railroad interests, and a new railroad was created under its former name, the Illinois Central Railroad.

In reviewing the photos that Ron had recorded in McComb at various times, I discovered that we had also visited McComb in late June of 1988 to see if things had changed very much since the new IC had been created. One of Ron’s images was similar to one captured back in February, and it caught my eye because of the nice assortment of power sitting in the locomotive servicing area. Shown are locomotives wearing three different paint schemes, two from the ICG era and a couple in the new “retro” black paint from the original Illinois Central. Back during the IC/GM&O merger the railroad had sold off its rights to the green diamond herald, so the new paint substitutes the name Illinois Central under the cab window where the green diamond used to be. <sigh>

This image is zoomed in a bit closer than the one from February, and the turntable pit just beyond and left of the sand tower is more visible. The turntable’s bridge is still laying upside down just beyond the pit. Soon after the pit would be filled, and four tracks installed leading up to near the three doors of the shop building. And to my satisfaction, the old steam-era wooden water tank (at upper left) was still in place.

Ron had noted on this photograph that the ICG GP38 numbered 9522 (at far left) was originally the GM&O #703.