Western Railroad Discussion > Mental Health Day in KC

On Wednesday November 11, I had to get the brakes on my car worked on, and since I was already out of work, I decided to take the rest of the day off and do some fanning in Kansas City.  Every now and then, it's nice to just take a day off for yourself, and this was a nice reminder of that.

Photo 1: Before heading out of Topeka, I ran up to the UP Kansas Sub and came across the UP 7321 as the DPU on the rear end of an eastbound coal load.  This is a recently repainted AC60 that was painted without the flag on the hood.  I first came across it in September '14: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3523927,3524432#msg-3524432

Photo 2: As I pulled up to Holliday junction, I found a westbound manifest that had the one of a kind FEIX 100 hopper in the train.  This car is lettered for the Farmers Elevator Inc. of Grace City, ND, and from what I've seen, it is a semi-frequent visitor to KC.

Photo 3: The next train that I'd run into was this westbound BNSF local at Holliday Junction in/near suburban Shawnee, KS.  With the solid Santa Fe bluebonnet power on it, one doesn't have to squint terribly hard to pretend that it's the mid-90's again and that the merger hasn't yet come to be.

- Jeff Carlson

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Thank you---Thank you--thank you for getting this ultra-beautiful, CLASSIC Blue and Yellow unit.
The ATSF or Santa Fe Railway was a real class act and a joy to railfan from the 1980s onward.
I sure wish with all of my heart that the mergers of the 1990s had not taken place.
-----Daniel

Photo 4: This is a repost, but its worth putting this shot into context.  Moving east from Holliday, I shot Erman Corp's GE 65-tonner pulling a cut of Airslide hoppers out of the plant, alongside BNSF's Emporia Sub mainline.  You can see video and much more of this unit here: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3887176,3887967#msg-3887967

Photo 5: While hanging out near Erman, this Argentine hump job came running by me with a pair of ex-Santa Fe SD40-2's on the point.  These two are the snoot-nosed BNSF 1891 and the BNSF 1721.

Photo 6: After a fantastic lunch at Danny Edwards' Blvd. BBQ, I ran back by BNSF's massive Argentine Yard to catch up with the Q-KCKSAG (Roadrailer) that I knew was on its way towards me.  Before its arrival, I shot the BNSF 7168 west on what I believe was the CHILPK.  Second out was the relatively new Tier IV GE #3842.

- Jeff Carlson

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Photo 7: NS 6989 and another SD60E pull through the west end of Argentine yard on November 11th on their way back to the diesel shop after dropping off their train.  They had come in on the point of NS Train #112, a daily manifest from Knoxville, TN.  The dust that's kicking up in the background is a testament to the day's 50+mph wind gusts that were causing High Wind Warnings for everything on the main between KC and Wellsville, KS.

Photo 8: Just after shooting the NS 112 power, I was able to photograph what I had come out for, the soon to be defunt KCKSAG.  Foreman Carlson (no relation) had been holding up the west end of the yard here, and as soon as it was cleared up, a trio of westbounds came off of the fuel pad, ready to head out, all of which can (almost) be seen here.  

There's an awfully good chance that this'll be the last of these Roadrailers that I'l see in these parts, and if it is, it was good while it lasted!  Off you go to join the Super C & Schneider Flyer as just one more cool, defunct intermodal train.

Photo 9: Speaking of those three westbounds that all took off simultaneously, here's the third to arrive, yet first to depart BNSF 8387 west leading one of the many intermodal trains that the Transcon is famous for.  In addition to the nice looking leader, the last unit in this consist is one of the leased GECX ET44AC Smurfs.

Thanks for looking, and take a day off if you can,
- Jeff Carlson

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Not a problem!  I may have had to backtrack a bit to get this shot, but you don't often see consists like this, so it was certainly worth it. 

Thanks,
- Jeff Carlson

daniel3197 Wrote:
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> Thank you---Thank you--thank you for getting this
> ultra-beautiful, CLASSIC Blue and Yellow unit.
> The ATSF or Santa Fe Railway was a real class act
> and a joy to railfan from the 1980s onward.
> -----Daniel

Glad you could take a day off -- and your
photos are nice, especially the third one.
I also realy live #4 and #5 -- #4 is quite 
artistic -- really, really NCEI! -- and #5 is
a great view of a really classic Satna Fe
yellow-bnnet which still proudly says
"Santa Fe" on her flanks!

I LOVE the Santa Fe yellow-bonnets!  Nice
to be able to pretend the Santa Fe is still
around -- even with the new signal lights
on that signal bridge.

All your photos are ncie --- I just really like
#s 3, 4, and 5.  GREAT views of that yard, too!

Santa Fe all the way!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/15 21:18 by Margaret_SP_fan.

Great bunch. Boy does five leave no doubt about the "snoot" unit.
JB

Absolutely!  The 10mm lens has a habit of doing this sort of thing and I like it!

- Jeff Carlson

3rdswitch Wrote:
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> Great bunch. Boy does five leave no doubt about
> the "snoot" unit.
> JB

Thanks for all of the kind words, Margaret!

- Jeff Carlson

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
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> Glad you could take a day off -- and your
> photos are nice, especially the third one.
> I also realy live #4 and #5 -- #4 is quite 
> artistic -- really, really NCEI! -- and #5 is
> a great view of a really classic Satna Fe
> yellow-bnnet which still proudly says
> "Santa Fe" on her flanks!

> Santa Fe all the way!

GREAT stuff....!! Thanks for sharing.