Western Railroad Discussion > Places to watch trains in Kansas City

Hello

I will be in KC for a few weeks and was wondering the best places to watch trains. I'm new to the area so directions from major interstates would be helpful. I'd like to see the transcon, and the flyovers downtown. Thanks for any help.

Pinlifter-out

The Sheffield Flyover is east of town and a bit tough to get to for photos. The east end is next to a steel mill and virtually inaccessible. You can drive right to the west end, but there are few good photo angles. This flyover carries the Kansas City Terminal mainline ("the Transcon") over UP's Coffeyville Sub and the KCS main line.

There are several spots where you can get good shots of the UP and KCS lines, on opposite sides of Big Blue Creek, and in some you can work in the flyover structure.

A more promising location is the "West Bottoms" of Kansas City, west of Broadway along the Kaw River. There are several rail lines through here, with some good photo angles, but the most interesting is the Santa Fe Junction flyover, which carries the Transcon way up in the air over Santa Fe Junction (itself a two-level affair) and the Kaw River. Head south on Broadway and look for streets to the right when you seen the flyover structure (hard to miss), and you'll find some good spots. It's an industrial/warehouse area. We weren't hassled by anyone.

I wasn't able to find any photo locations at the west end of the Santa Fe Junction flyover, which ends up high on a hill on the west side of the Kaw River. All our photos were taken from the West Bottoms.

Check these links for more info:

S. Fe Jct.
http://members.tripod.com/mopac1/map1.gif

KC area map
http://trainpixsnet.netrulon.com/maps/railfanningKC_flash.html

KC rail info
http://trainpixsnet.netrulon.com/maps/railfanningkc_index.html

billywa

The websites are amazing. Also, thanks for the directions and tips guys. This should keep me busy for a while. I'll post pictures later.

Pinlifter - out