Western Railroad Discussion > First GSR weekend of '18

I got out this past weekend for my first trains of 2018. All of them were on UP's ex Rock Island Golden State Route (GSR) here in Kansas. I was also able to make chase of my first foreign leader of the year, that being on Sunday.

1) My first train of the year, this empty grain train with UP 8556 leading, rolls east at Maple Hill towards a meet with

2) UP 6273 with westbound loaded autoracks, both trains at Waterman Crossing Road.

3) I moved east a couple of crossings to Willard Road where I caught UP 3854 racing east with a stack train.

---

---

---

4) Still at Willard Road almost an hour later and now under overcast skies, I caught UP 5794 leading the Long Beach, CA to Dupo, IL intermodal east with

5) UP 7007 as DPU.

6) I went over to the UP Kansas Sub NW of Topeka and busted, hearing a train on the GSR, I raced east, thinking it was an eastbound, to Calhoun Bluffs Road, first seeing a westbound, then the KLBDU again minus a car. None of those shots turned out so I went west to Willard and shot the westbound from the new overpass there, UP 7462 leads the counterpart Dupo to Long Beach intermodal west.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/18 17:32 by mg8711.

---

---

---

7-8) My first foreign power leading of the year, CP 8535, takes UP train MDMHN-07 west at Alma, KS. Completing my personal quest to catch power from all 7 Class I's leading here, something I've tried to do since I was 10.

9) I beat the train to 1700 Road west of Dwight where I was teased by the sun trying to poke out from the clouds to the west.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/18 17:35 by mg8711.

---

---

---

10) Tired of the cloudy skies and certain the sun would come out and stay out, I went west, observing the train taking the siding at White City, then seeing an opposition for a meet. I set up at Latimer with almost storm light and saw or heard no signs of the train coming. I gave in and went back to White City where CP 8535 sat, waiting for a spot for its huge train in the yard at Herington.

11) The sun quickly disappeared for the day and I went home...

Images 1-6 taken January 6th, 2018, images 7-11 taken January 7th, 2018.
Thanks for looking!
mg8711



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/18 20:27 by mg8711.

---

---

Well done report! Thanks for sharing!

Carl Graves, Lawrence, KS

Nice chase Lucas--really like #2.
Brian Steens

Nice shots!

Randy Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Nice series! I really like the low light shots. Thanks for sharing.

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

You set the bar high for the rest of the year.

Awesome shots and Great catch on the CP leader! I really like shot #9.

Congrats Lucas on the IOTD! Excellent effort! It may sound weird but I really like no. 7 regardless the cloud cover.

BB

Nice shots, Lucas!

Nice work! I made my first trip as a qualified locomotive engineer on CP 8535.

Nice pics!!

CPengineer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice work! I made my first trip as a qualified
> locomotive engineer on CP 8535.

That's awesome! Glad I could get a shot of it outside its normal turf for ya.

Thanks everyone else for the kind words!
mg8711