Western Railroad Discussion > Third Time's the Charm

While fellow TO member 'santafe199' has posted a more complete Day 1 trip report, as seen here: (http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3090799) I have decided to focus on the main chase of UP 6470 across the Hiawatha Subdivision. In the past year and a half I have visited the UP Hiawatha Subdivision twice, hoping to nail westbounds in good light. Both the light and the trains have proved elusive, with neither trip having sun nor trains. All that changed on Thursday, after motoring all around Kansas City, we were attempting to get into position to shoot 'UPTRAIN' on his transfer over to Knoche Yard in the West Bottoms. After a couple of wrong turns, we were headed across the river towards Kansas, when I noticed an OGEX coal train rolling just to the north of us. With a little luck I was able to take a quick grab shot of the train off the ramp to the Fairfax Trafficway, at this point we let the train roll off north. 'santafe199' and I headed over to the Bottoms to shoot three trains in a row and then took off north for the Leavenworth and Atchison areas, at Atchison I immediately noticed the same coal train rolling west through town, without a second thought the chase west was on!

1) UP 6470 on the 2CFGNA9-29 (Coal Empty, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma - North Antelope Mine, WY) rolls across the Kansas River in the area the railroad calls Edgewater, just to the left of the bridge the Kaw River flows into the Mighty Missouri.
2) After catching up to the train at Atchison, we motored up to Lancaster and caught the train rolling west out of town.
3) At the east end of Willis siding, 6470 rolls underneath the cantilever signal bridge and west towards Hiawatha, KS.

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4) With the head end of the train on the Hiawatha Sub., 6470 rolls across Kingfisher Rd. north of Hiawatha, KS. This photo was my first official Hiawatha Sub train photo.
5) Splitting the elevator complex at Oneida, Kansas, the UP 6470 continues west...in a few minutes the sun will be behind the clouds and some very dramatic cloud formations will set in.
6) Just after crossing US-36, UP 6049 pushes the train west into Seneca, Kansas.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/13 12:57 by nwkrailfan.

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7) Preparing to cross US-36 again, UP 6470 heads west under a very defined set of clouds at Baileyville, KS.
8) Nearing Home City, the 6470 creeps along held up by the train running ahead.
9) As the train passes, the sun flashes through between the OGEX coal hoppers as the train heads for Marysville and a crew change.

Thanks for looking! The fourth time also proved to be a charm, but that chase is for another thread...
nwkrailfan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/13 13:00 by nwkrailfan.

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Your shooting angles at both Hiawatha & Oneida are great. Good job. I'll keep that in mind next time I'm in the neighborhood.

LFG

NIIIIICE set of pics!!!! Thanks for sharing.

All nice pics. Shooting off the bridge in the 1st pic is one I've scouted before, but haven't tried yet. Too many crazy drivers in that part of town come around the corner on two wheels from the intersection that is to your right from POV.

Russell Honey
Springfield, MO
My Flickr page

Thanks for calling on your way to KC...

That shot you got coming off the Omaha Main in KC took some guts, too.

- Jeff Carlson

Great series of photos.

Ronda Thomas

Technically, the location coming off the Omaha main is Minnesota Avenue, but I only know that because I go over this track every day I go to work. Shooting there only works if you time it right and if you are the passenger with someone else. I was just thinking that I should have told you guys that Oneida would have made a great photo spot, but I guess you already figured that out. There is also a spot about 2 miles west of Axtell that will work great once the corn is 6' tall and green. But, you'll need to either stand on a step ladder, or the top of your van! Fantastic shots all around!

Fantastic pictures! Another good location to shoot trains is two miles west of Beattie where the mainline runs right along the Beattie Road over by the rock quarries.

Mike

Posted from Android

Atomicpunk Wrote:
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> Fantastic pictures! Another good location to
> shoot trains is two miles west of Beattie where
> the mainline runs right along the Beattie Road
> over by the rock quarries.
>
> Mike
>
> Posted from Android


Santafe199 Lance got some pictures from that location and posted them over a year ago. It is a neat location. Here's the link to Lance's thread:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2677514,2677521#msg-2677521