Western Railroad Discussion > Kansas City Railfanning

I'll be in KC on a Friday/Saturday in December, and have a few questions that aren't covered in the archives here. To preface, I'll note that my main goal essentially is to get as many jobs with older power as possible, regardless of railroad:

1.) I see lots of coverage of various BNSF/KCS/KCT/NS/UP transfer runs, and I'm curious if any/all are consistent time-wise or operate as needed? If any are consistent, where they they run to/from, and what's their general time slot?
2.) Same question, but for traditional locals around the City.
3.) What time does the MNA train typically arrive at Neff Yard?
4.) Are the searchlight signals still active on the KCT? And are there any other lines around the city that still have interesting signals?
5.) For KCS/CP, are there any consistent moves on their line(s) out of KC?
6.) Lastly, for everything mentioned above, what runs on Fridays but not Saturdays (or vice versa though I presume that's less likely).

Thanks for any/all assistance! As always, I'll be sure to post any results and findings.

My favorite place is Holiday, where the Amtrak line and the Emporia sub split on the Kansa City. Lots of train traffic but few people.

rbmn5022 Wrote:
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> My main goal essentially is to get as many jobs with
> older power as possible, regardless of railroad:

Luckily, there's plenty to be had around here.

> 1.) I see lots of coverage of various
> BNSF/KCS/KCT/NS/UP transfer runs, and I'm curious
> if any/all are consistent time-wise or operate as
> needed? If any are consistent, where they they run
> to/from, and what's their general time slot?

The transfers tend to run at all times of the day, so no matter what, keep your scanner on, be ready to move and you'll be able to find something. NS' D70 is a consistently running afternoon train that runs to Argentine Yard with older power. In the morning, it's worth hanging around the west end of KCS' Knoche Yard at N. Kansas Ave. to get inbound transfers with the KC skyline in the background.

> 2.) Same question, but for traditional locals
> around the City.

UP's Bonner Springs (KS) local runs mid-day and typically uses a UP caboose #25881 as seen here ( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3331537 ).

On the more eclectic side of things, the Kansas City Space Center runs a few days a week in the afternoons out of a CAVE in Independence, MO with an ex-MP SW, as seen here ( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4063804,4064229#msg-4064229 ).

BNSF's KCKEMP/L71 runs westbound out of KC towards Topeka & Emporia 6 days/week in the afternoon, and while it typically runs with bland leaders, it shuttles power to/from the Topeka shops, so its consists can be rather large and colorful.

To the south, BNSF's Spring Hill local frequently runs with cool power and you can usually find it hanging around Olathe or somewhere.

> 3.) What time does the MNA train typically arrive
> at Neff Yard?

The MNA typically takes off from UP's Neff Yard in the afternoons. You'll hear them talk to Neff Yard before hitting the road, typically and your best bet is to catch them down in the SE suburbs like Lee's Summit, although Independence has some nice views as well.

> 4.) Are the searchlight signals still active on
> the KCT? And are there any other lines around the
> city that still have interesting signals?

I could be wrong, but I don't believe there are any left, however, don't take my word on this. I don't pay that much attention to signals typically.

> 5.) For KCS/CP, are there any consistent moves on
> their line(s) out of KC?

For CP, trains 474/475 are the go-to trains to get, and the best place to find them is up at Birmingham Jct. on the NE side. This is where the CP/UP Spine Line crosses the NS and BNSF Brookfield Sub.

KCS trains run fairly consistently throughout the day. Just listen to the radio around Knoche and you'll hear them talking. SW Jct./Airline Jct. on the east end of Knoche and Neff is a good place to go to find these. You'll also see some transfers head out of that end of Knoche, along with UP trains off of the Spine Line.

The classic concrete arch bridge over Blue Parkway on the city's south side is absolutely worth shooting if you know of something coming. Park on the street's shoulder, wait and listen. They won't use any horns around there, so you have to react quickly, though the results are well worth it.

Hopefully this helps,
- Jeff Carlson

It's also worth mentioning that with the colors changing this time of year, two of your better shots for this sort of thing would be over on the west suburbs.

In the morning, you may want to try out Bonner Springs on the UP, shooting from Swingster Rd.

In the afternoon, you can find some nice shots along BNSF's St. Joe Sub in Parkville, Waldron, Weston, etc.

- Jeff Carlson

At what times of day do the CP trains 474 & 475 go through Birmingham Jct.?

rbmn5022 Wrote:
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> 1.) I see lots of coverage of various
> BNSF/KCS/KCT/NS/UP transfer runs, and I'm curious
> if any/all are consistent time-wise or operate as
> needed? If any are consistent, where they they run
> to/from, and what's their general time slot?

Just to elaborate a little on what Jeff said, these contracts swap around between participating railroads every few months, so the railroad the provides crews, power, and the call times change quite a bit when this happens. NS D70 has been running with modern power a lot lately, I guess because BNSF is short on transfer power. UP stole a set of the transfer engines almost a month ago now. KCT will almost certainly be running a transfer somewhere. They visit UP Armourdale with an industry/yard job sometime after 1100 most days to pull cars. The transfer job has two shifts, and goes wherever they need to take cars, or to wherever will take them that day. Usually this job goes to Blue River Yard and back near Sheffield first thing in the morning. The afternoon typically includes a run to a foreign yard. The evening shift almost always goes to foreign yard (or two). Channel 6060 is one to listen to, they will tell the dispatcher where they're destined for when reporting themselves.

> 2.) Same question, but for traditional locals
> around the City.

UP's River Local leaves out of Neff for Jeff City between 0730-1000 most mornings. The Sedalia Local comes into Neff usually between 1400-1700. The Lee's Summit Local works the Pixley Industrial Lead in Independence about 2 or 3 times a week in the early morning. The LMC51 leaves 18th Street Yard and heads for Topeka usually about 1700-1900, do December isn't too great for that.

> 3.) What time does the MNA train typically arrive
> at Neff Yard?

They can get into Neff as early as 0900 or 1000, or as late as 1500. If they get into Neff too late in the day, they may not leave in daylight, or even that day. This crew comes out of Harrisonville, MO, the Carthage crew lays over in the hotel while the H-Ville guys bring the train in and out of the city. If they die at Neff, and there's something more pressing to be done, they don't necessarily cab the Carthage guys to KC to get the train. Sometimes it'll sit there all night. Sometimes, they get on the train at Neff first thing and leave town. Sometimes, they bring the next day's train into KC, and combine the power, and pull two days worth of cars. You really never know. This job does run Mon-Fri and goes on duty at 0700 at Harrisonville. Best I can say is check Neff around the Manchester bridge in the morning and see if they're there. Power can be anything from UP painted SD40M-2's to BN paint SD40-2's, SP speed lettered tunnel motors, some of the remaining RailTex red/gray power that's still around, or one of the few (for now) G&W orange units. Sometimes they even borrow UP units if their pull is too big to take out with the power they bring to town.


> 4.) Are the searchlight signals still active on
> the KCT? And are there any other lines around the
> city that still have interesting signals?

Around Santa Fe Jct. and Adams Street is pretty much all that's left. Just about every other location that I can think of has been changed out over the past 3 years.

> 5.) For KCS/CP, are there any consistent moves on
> their line(s) out of KC?

KCS, yes, fairly. Usually a couple manifest leave town in the early morning, plus a couple come in. These are obviously influenced by other traffic. There's always a multitude of unit coal and grain trains that come in/out of town mixed in.

CP? Well, no not really. For a while this year their northbound train was leaving town almost like clockwork around 0900, but this has pretty much stopped as of late. I've seen it leave at 0700, 1130, and 1900 just within the past two weeks, so good luck! The southbound is just as inconsistent, especially since this power usually flips, and if the leader facing north isn't equipped with PTC, they often wye the consist.

> 6.) Lastly, for everything mentioned above, what
> runs on Fridays but not Saturdays (or vice versa
> though I presume that's less likely).

I can't really think of anything off the top of my head that won't run both days besides the KCT. Saturday is a pretty light day for them, only one industry job works at Mill Street, and sometimes doesn't leave the yard at all.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask if you have more questions.

Pump

Thanks all, great info!

bnsfsd70 Wrote:
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>

>
> In the afternoon, you can find some nice shots
> along BNSF's St. Joe Sub in Parkville, Waldron,
> Weston, etc.
>
The St. Joe sub still has some searchlights. Jeff's recommendation is a good one!
BB

Just spent two days camping near Rushville, MO along side the BNSF St Joe Sub. I saw lots of old style searchlights from near the Iatan Power Plant, through Rushville and on into St Joe.

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO