Western Railroad Discussion > One dog from every town

Acting on a heads-up yesterday I decided to ignore the crappy weather and give chase to a westbound coal empty with a very interesting consist coming over the good ol’ KP. This train had a colorful consist of 4 units from 4 different RRs. In live poker parlance when the dealer turns over the flop (first 3 cards) and it is 3 widely spaced numbers in 3 different suits it’s often nicknamed “One dog from every town”. This train had a CP leader followed by a KCS Belle, an NS Stallion & one of the cleaner Uncle Pete units I’d seen in a while. So it was worth a look-see despite the weather.

But I got more than I bargained for! Before I marked the target 4-dog coal empty I intercepted the train right ahead of it. It was another coal empty running with all-UP 2x1 power. After I finally got the right train the weatherman tricked me into thinking those clouds might break. So I went on the standard hop-scotch chase. Then, while driving past Junction City I looked over at the KP main line and spotted a westbound manifest, which turned out to be the Salina ~ Junction City turn (local) heading back to Salina. I now had 3 (count ‘em, THREE) trains in a row over my normally quiet hometown KP. As if that wasn’t enough: as I drove a secondary road into Abilene I spotted the Abilene & Smoky Valley making an excursion run over to Enterprise over their old Rock Island segment. Golly jeepers, Wally! If I could have just seen some sunshine…

1. By this CP 8766-led shot from the US hwy 24 overpass at Belvue, KS I had already gotten this colorful consist at Silver Lake & St Marys.

2. Another shot of the 8766 rolling over the east siding switch at Wamego, KS.

3. One more time off of the 56th St overpass east of Ogden, KS.

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At this point I almost abandoned the chase and headed home. But then I looked to the west and thought I could see a break in the clouds. This being Kansas, I knew I could easily end up with some blue sky type action by the time I reached Chapman or Abilene. So away I went, westbound…

4. Here’s UP 6817 on that local I spotted back at Junction City. The sky was only giving a half-heated attempt to clear up here at Chapman, KS. But it got no better than this west of here…

5. Cruising into Abilene, KS on rural ‘2200 Avenue’ I paused to shoot the Smoky Valley gang on another excursion. That’s A&SV 4 up front, the ex-Hutchinson & Northern Alco of the same number.

6. Here’s UP 7388 on the lead coal empty I first shot way back at Rossville, KS. The train is crossing over the BNSF (ex-Santa Fe) line up to Superior, NE here at West Abilene, KS. That’s the Hotel Sunflower sticking up way back there, one of Abilene’s iconic skyline sights.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/17 11:45 by santafe199.

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7. 8. & 9. One last look at CP 8766 & Co, the 4 kennel escapees! They are crossing over Cedar St in downtown Abilene. The train is trotting toward Elm St & the Mud River bridge. The yellow signal is an advance to the next signal which governs the BNSF crossing at West Abilene.
(9 photos taken July 26, 2017)

Thanks for the tip!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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Great catch and coverage, Lance. Looks like another fan taking a picture in #7.

Rich

Great catch in rough conditions there Lance.
Not sure if I could have done as good a job as you did!!!

Phil Maton
Villa Rica, GA

PasadenaSub Wrote: > ... Looks like another fan taking a picture in #7 ...

I did notice that guy standing right at Cedar St. But not until I posted this thread did I notice the second guy (fan?) in image #8. He's about half-covered behind that tan colored building wall. Evidently "dogs" running loose on the KP will attract a lot of attention...  ;^)

Lance/199

Woof - Woof! Did Daisy get to go along?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/17 13:52 by bmarti7.

bmarti7 Wrote: > ...  Did Daisy get to go along ...

No, and she's still hacked at me... ;^)

Very nice chase and shots! Thanks for going out on this foul-weather foaming trip. A rainbow consist definitely adds some excitement to the otherwise mundane Kansas countryside.

jmf1910 Wrote:
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the otherwise mundane Kansas countryside.

Obviously you haven't spent much time in Kansas. It's hardly mundane and in fact has many very photogenic locales as demonstrated by santafe199 and many others. If you want true mundane how about the Mohave Desert? But even those lands have beauty in places. One other thing: Chances are you have eaten some food today which originated in the Sunflower State.

BB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/17 19:35 by bmarti7.

Neat chase of such a multi-territorial consist. Sure is a lot of pleasing locations in this bunch--great photos.
Brian Stevens

Very NICE and interesting series!

Larry

Great stuff, what a consist! My only question is who won Best in Show?

Tom Trent
Eugene, OR

CBRL Wrote:

> Great stuff, what a consist! My only question is
> who won Best in Show?

If it was a race, the stallion would have easily outpaced the other dogs. For Best in Show, I'd have to guess Belle would win out over Clifford and Old Yeller.

Great series despite the tough conditions!