Western Railroad Discussion > 38 Minutes On The KCT Mainline

Yesterday I had to go to "North of the River" to drop a friend off at the airport, and on my way home, I decided to stop at Union Station to see what trains were running on the Kansas City Terminal mainline. The time stamps on my photos tell me from the first to the last shutter drop, was a total elapsed time of 38 minutes - 0723 to 0801. In that 38 minutes, I saw (technically) 7 trains - Not a bad train/time ratio!

My 1st stop was just to the West of Union Station, at the Southwest Boulevard Bridge, where I saw the majority of the trains.

1. BNSF 5962 leads an "average" consist West towards UP's 18th Street/Armourdale facilities in Kansas - Not sure if this was a BNSF or UP train
2. UP SD70AH 8804 East meets the grain train on the lower-level flyover
3. Another "average" consist heads West toward Argentine on the BNSF line

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4. BNSF 5872 leads a grain train East, passing the stack train on the BNSF main
5. At Union Station, a WB Z train passes AMTK 40 (4 - Southwest Chief) and AMTK 66 (314 - River Runner)
6. AMTK 40 departs Union Station on time at 0744

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After getting AMTK 66 at Union Station, I relocated to Pleasant Hill, MO to catch the train headed East, on UP's Sedalia Subdivision

7. A closer view of AMTK 66 at KCUS
8 & 9. Taking the "hogback" near CP M248 - E. end Pleasant Hill

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10. A closer view of AMTK 66

You can't tell by the photos, but at 20 degrees air temp with a stiff North wind, a train making 60-65 MPH can really make you feel "chilly" when it passes!

Photos 1-7 taken on The Kansas City Terminal Mainline - Kansas City, MO

Photos 8-10 taken on UP's Sedalia Subdivision - Pleasant Hill, MO

(As a side note - I didn't count the AMTK photos at Pleasant Hill in the '38 Minutes' - I know, I cheated!)

Thanks for looking,
-Dalton

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Very nice photos young man! "KC" and I enjoyed them.

Thanks for the photos and narrative, which provide additional evidence why the KC area is a great place for railroad photography. The first spot, the 27th Street overpass, is one of my favorite locations.

Carl Graves, Lawrence, KS

Question. When I was at Santa Fe Jct. my first time there was this great hill you could go up on and look down at the whole jct. Back then (late 70's early 80's) when I was a teen from back east I thought it was the penultimate train watching spot as many pre merger roads passed by in what seemed like non stop action. Fast forward to the mid 2000's when I tried to get up there with my rental car I was confronted by a gate. Just wondering if there is one person that owns that hill or is it a gated community? The bridge I accessed crossed the old ATSF main south of the Jct so I'm assuming the locals know where I'm talking about.
Steve B.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/14 16:49 by stevelv.

Nice shots Dalton! Always a good, steady flow of trains on the KCT.

GOOD stuff...!!! Thanks for sharing.

Steve,

I believe the bridge I was standing on is the one you are referring to, though based on my understanding, it crosses the ex. Frisco, not ATSF. The gate on the West end of the bridge signifies the KCT property line. Beyond the gate, the road is used by the KCT for various purposes.

There is a large hill just beyond the bridge to the West, but going up onto the hill would entail trespassing on RR property.

-Dalton