Western Railroad Discussion > Railfanning Around Central-Missouri In Style

Yesterday I went on a 300-mile ride around Missouri on my Harley. The weather was perfect for riding. Of course it wouldn’t have been much of a ride if I didn’t try to get in some railfanning along the way. Here are several pictures I managed to take while I was out.

The first few pictures are of the MKT (Katy) Sedalia Station. The Katy ceased operations through Missouri I believe in 1986. Since that time about 225 miles of former Katy right-of-way from Clinton to St. Charles have been acquired by the State of Missouri to form the Katy Trail State Park. The Sedalia Station is one of several original stations restored for use as museums, etc. along the Katy Trail.

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That’s my “railfan vehicle” parked there. 2005 H-D Ultra Classic Electra Glide

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As I was looking around the Sedalia Station (and stretching my legs), a UP westbound empty coal train came roaring through on the nearby UP Sedalia Sub. There was also one AC4400 DPU pushing on the rear that I did not get a picture of.

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Finally I arrive at Jefferson City, the capitol of Missouri. Here we see where the UP River Sub (left) and Sedalia Sub (right) split. The River Sub roughly follows the Missouri River to Kansas City, where it joins back up with the Sedalia Sub. I’m not positive, but I believe UP mostly uses the River Sub for eastbounds and Sedalia Sub for westbounds. This area is known as Cole Junction on the map, but UP calls it River Junction in the timetable.

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Here we see an eastbound coming off the River Sub.

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Here’s a picture of the power going by my ride.

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Another shot as the train goes by.

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And another as the train goes by.

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This bad order Bi-level Autorack was bringing up the rear. Can’t see it in the photo, but the panels on the other side were damaged pretty badly.

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As I pulled into the Amtrak Station in downtown Jefferson City, I saw several people waiting near the platform. Since I figured the train would be arriving very shortly I quickly grabbed my trusty Canon Digital Rebel P&S rather than mess with digging my D100 out. Sure enough, within seconds Amtrak train #303 pulls into the station enroute to KC.

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Another view of Amtk 31. The unit was very clean and appeared to be very recently painted.

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Finally getting near the end of my journey in Dixon, I see the signals lit for a westbound along the former Frisco BNSF Cuba Sub. The sun was pretty low in the sky but I managed a shot anyway.

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And last, but not least, here’s the train just after cresting the famous Dixon Hill. The engines are still working hard pulling the rear of the train up the hill even though the front of the train is on a short down hill section. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. :)

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Interesting pictures and a good looking bike. Thanks for posting since this site does not get many Missouri RR photos.

Really nice scoot!!! Harleys and trains---two of my three hobbies; amateur radio is the third. I like to combine all three when I'm out on my 2001 Road King.
John, K4YS

sgtfhrn Wrote:
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> Another view of Amtk 31. The unit was very clean
> and appeared to be very recently painted.

That was the second unit on the California Zephyr that hit a huge boulder and derailed in western Colorado on 11 Jan 2005 [Train 5(10Jan05)]. At the time, damage was estimated at $175k. It's good to see that it's back in service in just three months.

Where are you at now Leonard Wood? Some good shots in there, I second the above post, it is nice to see some shots from some where different.

Ed_Gyptian Wrote:
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> Where are you at now Leonard Wood? Some good
> shots in there, I second the above post, it is
> nice to see some shots from some where different.

Yup. I'm at good ol' Lost in the Woods. The duty seems to be good here if you can get over being pretty much in the middle of no where. Since I got my Harley shipped here from my parents' house in Oregon a few weeks ago, time has been going by a lot quicker!!

How much longer do you have in Korea?

Sweet shot at Dixon! Nice to see some Cubs sub stuff. Have you explored the area between Jerome and Dixon and west of Dixon yet? Some pretty cool shots can be had on Dixon Hill next to the Gasconade River.