Western Railroad Discussion > I sure could use a train (vol #6)

During last week’s Santa Fe convention in Wichita I met up with old TO friend Nick Tharalson to go chasing the special SKOL passenger excursion over ex-Santa Fe trackage between Winfield & Grenola, KS. It was a 98 degree type of day, but Willie III’s AC was working admirably. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said about the 3 ex-Boston & Maine RDC cars the convention passengers were riding in. I talked later with a couple of the riders and learned their ride was a bit on the warm side. It was decided to take the passengers off at Burden, a couple of stations east of Winfield and bus them back to Wichita.

Earlier in the day my regular chasing partner and part-time weather buff ‘mg8711’ had texted me from Manhattan about some possible heavy rain headed down our way. A nasty-looking bank of clouds arrived about the time they were putting passengers on the buses at Burden. Nick & I hung around, waiting for the now empty train to proceed west. The sky got darker by the minute. We shot the train and decided to head for Wichita ourselves over a back road. When I saw lightning in the distance behind this silo, accentuated by evil black clouds I begged Nick’s indulgence. Contrary to my thread title there actually was train here. The returning empty equipment was hidden by the distant trees. I really wanted a lightning-laced photo instead. I shot several images. But alas, I just couldn’t capture the shocking evidence...

1. SKOL 4156 leads the empty passenger excursion back toward Winfield, crossing US hwy 160 on the west side of Burden, KS. (Hi Matt!... ;^)

2. Rural scene @ 112th & 161st Rds in rural Cowley County, just NE of New Salem, KS. Just another Kansas rain cloud…
(2 photos taken June 23, 2016)

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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Lance, your silo photo is awesome. You captured the contrast of the situation perfectly. Thanks for posting.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

 # 2 is one heck of a shot.  The only thing it needs is a " 30 " in there.

That was an interesting day, I have to say.  In fairness to Lance, I undoubtedly drove him nuts, but it was 
never intentional.  I hadn't heard however, that the air failed in any of the former RDC's.  And at least we
had Willie's air between our waits for some action.  Incedentally, Lance, they did do a photo run at Grenola
before they headed back west, which is why it took so long for them to get to our location.  

Lance tried hard to get some lightning, and there was plenty of it, but as you can tell, didn't score.  I sat that
out.  I've spent too many years sitting at the base of a big iron stick in the sky to mess around with lightning.  
What Lance didn't tell you was that when we arrived in Winfield, there was some minor street flooding and the
gutters were running full.  On our way back to Wichita,  we drove through what I thought was some four (4) inches
of water on US77.  However, much it was, it covered the road curb to curb and got really interesting when you
were behind someone.  

Had some luck on the way home, good and bad, but overall, a good trip for me and a good convention.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/16 08:22 by ntharalson.

ntharalson Wrote: > ... they did do a photo run at Gerard(??) ... which is why it took so long for them to get to our location.

I'll wager you're thinking of 'Grenola' for the photo run-by. Girard, KS is -was- over on its namesake Girard District that used to run between Chanute & Pittsburg, KS. And that weather was one of the times where Kansas gives you some unexpected drama, especially driving through that flash flood in lower Walnut St (US hwy 77) in Augusta. The Santa Fe convention in Wichita was a blast! And I'll see you next year in Tulsa...

Lance/DJ Sir L

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ntharalson Wrote: > ... they did do a photo run at
> Gerard(??) ... which is why it took so long for
> them to get to our location.
>
> I'll wager you're thinking of 'Grenola' for the
> photo run-by. Girard, KS is -was- over on its
> namesake Girard District that used to run between
> Chanute & Pittsburg, KS. And that weather was one
> of the times where Kansas gives you some
> unexpected drama, especially driving through that
> flash flood in lower Walnut St (US hwy 77) in
> Augusta. The Santa Fe convention in Wichita was a
> blast! And I'll see you next year in Tulsa...
>
> Lance/DJ Sir L

Yeah, Grenola.  I fixed it.  Looking forward to Tulsa.

Nik Tharalson,
Marion, IA