Western Railroad Discussion > A 2x2 U.P. manifest train on the Parsons Subdivison

A watched yesterday, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, as a southbound Union Pacific Railroad manifest train began to move over a long downgrade south of Paola, KS, as it started to approach the Maris des Cygnes River valley on the Parsons Subdivision a couple of miles away.

Photo One shows the train passing under U.S. 169 highway while its consist is still pulling out of the nearby Ringer siding.

The second photo is a closeup that was taken seconds later.

Photo Three shows the No. 2 engine in the front-end power consist.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/17 09:50 by JoCoLB.

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I jumped ahead of the train about 1-1/2 miles and caught this photo of the rear two units.

This is on the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad route between Kansas City, Kan., and Parsons, Kan. The grades on both sides of the Marais des Cygnes River are rather steep. Does anyone have track profile charts showing the steepness of the grades?

The U.P. experienced two major derailments on this downgrade 14 months apart a few years ago.

There was a 22-car derailment at the very site where the last picture was taken. It occurred June 4, 2011. The second mishap occurred on the Marais des Cygnes River bridge on Aug. 15, 2012. The bridge was heavily damaged when another 22 cars derailed. The south end of the bridge was rebuilt and trains were moving again after about six days. It was amazing.

(Photos by Larry Byers)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/17 09:57 by JoCoLB.

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I learned from a fellow TO member that the train was symboled MDMFW-17. It was en route from Des Moines, Iowa, to Fort Worth, Texas. The 17,753-ton train had 133 loads and two empties. The train measured 8,150 feet in length. A total of 67 cars were set out at Parsons.

For those who have time, here is a video clip of the front portion of the train moving through the 347th Street grade crossing. The traction motors were in dynamic braking mode and seemed to be really howling.

(Video by Larry Byers)

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Frac sand for Texas, Probably west Texas and San Antonio area since train was split at Parsons.

Mexrail