Western Railroad Discussion > Uncle Pete comes home (for a while)

Sometimes just hanging around Abilene, KS can produce some interesting action for a patient railfan! The town can be quiet for hours. Then a flurry of action can arise, seemingly out of nowhere. Sometimes both RRs (BNSF & UP) will come to life, and sometimes a single train action will involve both RRs. Even the K&O will come from Salina for a visit now & then…

Here is a UP train running through Abilene, coming off the BNSF line from down SE way. After an unknown delay at Jeep Rd crossing just east of town this grain empty rolled into town and passed right by the old Santa Fe depot. It has stopped to hand-line the switch at SA Jct and is now drifting toward its own railroad at West Abilene. The rest of this maneuver is described in the captions below:

1. This is the view looking generally NE at the BNSF ~ UP crossing in west Abilene, KS. The UP train crew (6665) on the BNSF Strong City Sub (formerly AT&SF Strong City District) in the process of hand-lining their train onto their own UP (KP) mainline in the foreground for further westward movement. This train has come north from Wichita, accessing the BNSF at Lost Springs, KS. The train will stop in a few car lengths and wait for the conductor to walk forward and open one more switch.

2. All necessary switches are lined and UP 6665 slowly nears…

3. …then enters the UP main at west Abilene. The entire train will be pulled clear of this switch while the conductor will be in a crew van relining all switches [behind their train] back into their normal positions. The crew van will then haul the conductor out west of town to get back on his train.
(3 photos taken in Abilene, KS on August 1, 2015)

Postscript: I intended to chase this grain empty chase on into Salina, but Uncle Pete threw me a major league curveball. I got a few shots of the train stopping to pick up the conductor, then I drove over to get the elevator complex at New Cambria for my next location series. But the sneaky train made a right at Solomon, KS and went up the KYLE (UP’s old Bennington-Minneapolis-Beloit branch). So just as quickly as the wayward Uncle Pete came home to his own rails, he left them again. It was the first time I became aware that UP power runs through with the KYLE at Solomon. Looks like I’ll have to put yet another future chase project “iron in the fire”…

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/15 08:26 by santafe199.

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