Western Railroad Discussion > Kansas is FLAT, dontcha know! (vol #2)

I haven’t poked any fun at all of the flat-earth types lately…

1. Looking SW down the BNSF Emporia Sub between Ridgeton & Lebo, KS. Ridgeton is generally considered to be the highest point in elevation between Argentine & Emporia on this part of the Sub. That’s BNSF 4015 way back there coming at us from underneath the I-35 overpass.
Photo date: December 4, 2016.

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/17 18:40 by santafe199.

---

Optical illusion? It appears to me the higher point may be where the train is under I-35. Do you have a track profile listing the elevations east of Lebo?

JoCoLB Wrote: > ... Optical illusion?

Of course. You're looking through 250mm worth of telephoto glass. Just pretend you're looking down a roller coaster. I don't have a track profile handy. But no way I'll question the word of numerous Eastern Division trainmen who have said Ridgeton is the high point between KC & Emporia.

Per our current track charts, the little hill near the I-35 overpass tops out at 1178 feet while the hill at Ridgeton tops out at 1155 feet.

Posted from iPhone

Sorry, Lance. News guys always like guidebooks, charts and solid facts. Don't want you to get caught up in "fake news."

I haven’t been down there in a long time, I may have to change that this winter!
mg8711

Awesome photo! I really like the effect you have captured of how hilly Kansas really is. As one who bicycled many miles in eastern Kansas in my younger days, I can attest to the lack of flatness!

According to the track chart, the high point of the Emporia sub between Kansas City and Emporia is 1,178 feet at milepost 92.3, which is 1.5 miles east of Lebo and 1/4 mile west of (beyond) the I-35 bridge in the photo. Coming toward the photographer, the track dips down to 1,124 feet at milepost 89.5, then rises to 1,149 feet at milepost 88.7 before descending to 1,138 feet at milepost 87.7, the Ridgeton crossovers. The track rises back to 1,155 feet at milepost 86.9 east of Ridgeton. The track eventually descends to 900 feet at Ottawa, milepost 57.5.

Thanks for all the track data. Truly educational and informative.

Milw_E70 Wrote: > ... the I-35 overpass tops out at 1178 feet ...

Aha! I will stand corrected! I guess those Eastern Division hoggers never saw a track profile either...

Lance/199

posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/17 17:17 by santafe199.

JoCoLB Wrote: > ... caught up in "fake news."

"I NEVER undercut anyone!" , "... the likes of which you've NEVER seen!" , "...and I can tell you that!" , "...believe me!"
(All pathological witticisms courtesy of any old news channel, including fox ;^)

posted from Android

I still trust you, Lance. I've been caught in some hearsay generalities (not specifics) myself.

Lance ---
That is a beautiful photo! I love the undulating
hills there, and the beautiful sky. (That sky does
resemble our skies here in northern California with
all the smoke from those awful fires.)

(I know very little about Kansas, and had thought it
was more or less just barely rolling countryside.)

Kansas actually has a wide variety of terrain depending on what part of the state you visit. I can be quite hilly in places and then there are the flat places where you might be able to see a grain elevator 25 miles ahead.

You want hilly, try the Topeka Sub west of Topeka down to Emporia.

Posted from iPhone

Agreed. It's willy, willy hilly.

Posted from Android

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Aha! I will stand corrected! I guess those Eastern
> Division hoggers never saw a track profile
> either...

That's because Eastern Division guys didn't know how to read <G>

I kid, I kid...

The state with the most land in the flat, flatter and flattest categories is, perhaps surprisingly, Florida. Illinois, North Dakota, Louisiana, Minnesota, Delaware, Kansas, Texas, Nevada and Indiana round out the top ten.

Posted from iPhone

As Sammy kinda once said during the Van Hagar years, "I've got the Best of Both Worlds" in this thread. Some heavy metal double main imagery with a Solid Gold undertone. And czephyr17 interpolating the steel rail sheet music to deminsions of elevation, distance, peaks, valleys, and points. The photo and accompanying dialogue rock...

The only thing missing is a flock of Prairie Chickens on the horizon heading for dinner. ; > )
BB

Right, Lance, and Iowa is flat too! LOL

Didn't yo and I have a discussion about the high point of the trackage
between Kansas City and Chicago at one time. I had thought we decided
that the "summit" of this line was . . . Emporia! Just asking.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA