railroad explioits
It’s been a while since I’ve shared a train watching story on here, so I figure it was time to do so.
My last trip train-watching was a productive afternoon on the first weekend of January. The only regret was the fact that I did not realize that KU had a game that afternoon (a home loss to Texas)
For me, Labor Day weekend would not be one without me going out and taking pictures of something railroad related. This year, I decided to head out to Camden, Missouri on the joint BNSF Marceline Sub and Norfolk Southern Kansas City District. I was last here on Labor Day weekend in 2018.
My exploits capturing a series of late Amtrak trains in late June and early July of 2020
Following up from my trip to Wedel Acres a couple of weeks ago… after leaving Wedel Acres, I pointed my Subaru west on US 50 and headed toward Newton.
While in Newton, I went browsing through the local antique dealerships (mask on, of course). The first one happened to be trackside, and just as I was entering the first store, I heard the familiar sound of a crossing signal activating. I turned back outside to catch a westbound manifest with a little bit of color within the power.
This past weekend, after seeing pictures and discussion on Facebook about Wedel Acres in Peabody, I finally decided to check it out.
Peabody is located just northeast of Newton in Marion County just off of US 50. It is also where the BNSF La Junta Sub crosses the UP [née Rock Island] Lost Springs Sub.
A fellow railfan named Dwight Wedel was able to acquire a small tract of land on the southeast side of the BNSF/UP crossing and has constructed a replica train station.
Although “Outdoor recreational activity” was allowed here in Kansas under the state’s “Stay at Home” order, I didn’t really feel a reason to get out of the house until last Saturday, when I headed out to Pomona to check out an old spot that has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there.
Recently, BNSF replaced the truss bridges over the Marais des Cynges River between Pomona and Quenemo. The eastern bridge at MP 69 is right next to the Arkansas Terrace crossing.
After chasing the Union Pacific steam train from Neodesha to Paola on Sunday, November 17, I followed that up by catching the train twice more on Tuesday, November 19, at Linwood and Newman.
To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike, the Union Pacific Railroad restored on of their biggest locomotives, “Big Boy” 4014. During 2019, they have been touring as much of the UP system as possible. On November 17, I followed 4014 from Neodesha to Paola.
Right before Halloween, I wanted to head down to Uncle Warren’s pumpkin patch (AKA, the BNSF Southern Transcon) to catch some action. Let’s just say I was not disappointed.
I woke up on a Sunday Morning and got wind that BNSF was running eastbound trains through Lawrence on the Topeka Sub.