Western Railroad Discussion > How to park a monster!

The day before Christmas BNSF became a parking lot attendant on a rather large scale west of Emporia, KS. Out on the little 3-main ‘raceway’ between Merrick & Ellinor I stumbled onto a looooong train tied down for (I presumed) the holiday. There were a total of 4 trains tied down, with one of them at Strong City. The first shot I got of this train was of the DP units because they were handy: right off a rural (Rd A) crossing. But once I realized what was going on I went back and shot every crossing this monster had blocked. It may have taken a slide-rule, but kudos to whomever dug out the county plat maps (both Lyon & Chase Counties), and figured out it was possible without blocking any vital crossings. The crossings that were blocked basically provided access to farm fields only, with no residential worries.

1. NSF 7514 leading the monster, parked behind behind another train with its own blocked crossing issues. Seen from old (original) US hwy 50.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/19 12:19 by santafe199.

---

2. Rd D crossing

3. Unnamed farm field access crossing (also access to a well-known abandoned barn photo-prop!)

4. Rd C crossing

---

---

---

5. Rd B2 crossing

6. Rd B crossing

7. BNSF 5812 dp unit(s) just clear of another farm field access crossing approximately 2 miles behind the head end.
(7 photos in the loose vicinity of old SFe location of Plymouth, KS taken December 24, 2018)

And if you hurry on into Google Maps satellite view you’ll catch 2 westbound trains, one on main #2 and the other on main #3. Have a nice day…

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

---

---

---

Nice shots. What's with the reduced font size when using brackets though - just makes it harder to read?

exhaustED Wrote: > ... What's with the reduced font size ...

Well, it's just like the man said "you just cannot please everybody". Although I've recieved many dozens of PMs and other communique in praise what I write and how I write it, some gutlessly nameless jackass troll accused me of being overly verbose, among other things. So I guess my small font (within parenthesis) provides the reader the option of passing over that part of a sentence. I've been posting this style for quite a while. I'm sorry to cause you any inconvenience, but I am under the impression that all PCs and cell phones have adjustable size options for reading text submitted/supplied/posted/presented/published by others...

Lance/199

I just asked why you were doing it - no-one else seems to do it and I can't see an obvious good reason. Bit of a shame if you can't take a comment/question without accusing people of trolling or getting all shirty...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/19 12:49 by exhaustED.

Lance, did you by chance get an axle count?  Thanks for sharing the monster.

Kent in CArmel Valley

That’s a lot of train. So if I had those plats (both Lyon & Chase Counties) I could figure out how many feet of locos and rolling stock you had there. No problem as long as they get on the move before plowing season.
Typical great post.
Go
 

exhaustED Wrote: > ...  without accusing people ...

I'm not accusing "people", nor am I accusing you of being a troll. I'm referring to a recently posted REAL reply to one of my threads, by one individual who hides his real ID behind a screen name. From what I've read about trolls, much of it being here on TO, this is the true definition of troll. And while we're at it, there is a TON of unseen work I do to make things easier for my fellow TO members.

1) I bust my patoots to post a thread with proper grammar, punctuation & spelling. Something that seems to be totally lost with today's social media whiz kids. Not to mention some older people who should know better. I regret being human, saddled with a huge tendency to let errors and other silly goof-ups slip through the cracks. But as I've said countless times I cheerfully accept any & all corrections and amendments, so long as they're provided in a respectful manner.

2) When I cite someone's text to submit a response I cite ONLY what I am responding to. I DO NOT cite the entire bazillion word thread just to post a short response. It's my opinion this is a horribly lazy way of communicating with fellow railfans. WHY would somebody cite 900 words just to make a short 1 or 2 sentence reply? WHY would someone make it so annoyingly difficult to even find whatever it is they want someone to read?? I simply refuse to do this to my fellow TO members. I want my posted replies to be read, so I bust my patoots to make it as easy as possible for them to be read. 

3) When I post pictures I bust my patoots to provide accurate info, especially date & location to fellow TO members downloading my posted images. I even work extra to provide date & location info in the downloaded captions, something maybe 2 or 3% of TO members do. 

I don't see very many TO members doing the stuff I just described. But I do all this stuff because this is how I want my work -words & photography alike- to be remembered when my ride aboard this planet is over...

Lance/199



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/19 13:28 by santafe199.

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
.
.
.
> Lance/199

Well said, Lance.

DynamicBrake Wrote: > ... did you by chance get an axle count ...

No sir, I sure didn't. But with the help of a "measuring stick" and the Google Maps legend I can estimate the train length to come in at just over 2 miles. I would hate to have to walk this beast looking for a reported defect. I guess this is one reason to be glad to be 'old & retired'... ;^)

Lance

Don't let it get you down, Lance.  I'm sure many members appreciate the work you put into your posts, as I certainly do. 

You can't please (or be too concerned with) the 1-2% that have gripes anway, so keep your format how you see fit.

Rich

PasadenaSub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't let it get you down, Lance.  I'm sure many
> members appreciate the work you put into your
> posts, as I certainly do. 
>
> Rich
Ditto
BB

Lance, you are doing a fine job.  Just keep doing it, with all the great commentary and images.....

Ronnie
Amarillo TX

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> exhaustED Wrote: > ...  without accusing people
> ...
>
> I'm not accusing "people", nor am I accusing you
> of being a troll. I'm referring to a
> recently posted REAL reply to one of my threads,
> by one individual who hides his real ID behind a
> screen name. From what I've read about trolls,
> much of it being here on TO, this is the true
> definition of troll. And while we're at it, there
> is a TON of unseen work I do to make things
> easier for my fellow TO members.
>
> 1) I bust my patoots to post a thread with
> proper grammar, punctuation & spelling. Something
> that seems to be totally lost with today's social
> media whiz kids. Not to mention some older people
> who should know better. I regret being human,
> saddled with a huge tendency to let errors and
> other silly goof-ups slip through the cracks. But
> as I've said countless times I cheerfully accept
> any & all corrections and amendments, so long as
> they're provided in a respectful manner.
>
> 2) When I cite someone's text to submit
> a response I cite ONLY what I am responding to.
> I DO NOT cite the entire bazillion word thread
> just to post a short response. It's my opinion
> this is a horribly lazy way of communicating with
> fellow railfans. WHY would somebody cite 900
> words just to make a short 1 or 2 sentence reply?
> WHY would someone make it so annoyingly difficult
> to even find whatever it is they want someone
> to read?? I simply refuse to do this to my
> fellow TO members. I want my posted replies to
> be read, so I bust my patoots to make it as easy
> as possible for them to be read. 
>
> 3) When I post pictures I bust my patoots to
> provide accurate info, especially date & location
> to fellow TO members downloading my posted images.
> I even work extra to provide date & location info
> in the downloaded captions, something maybe 2
> or 3% of TO members do. 
>
> I don't see very many TO members doing the stuff
> I just described. But I do all this stuff because
> this is how I want my work -words & photography
> alike- to be remembered when my ride aboard this
> planet is over...
>
> Lance/199

In the words of Groucho Marx... "he hasn't stop talking, when he was born he was vacinated with a phonograph needle." 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/19 16:45 by 69440.

I'm surprised they have full protection gates/flashers at those low traffic roads though. Seems expensive.

Andy

Yup and out on the very busy Hwy 183 crossing (the highway was busy), pretty much blind in both directions on the NKC there
was nothing but crossbucks. Guess they figured the train would stop and flag the crossing.

Out

 

AndyBrown Wrote: > ...  I'm surprised they have full protection gates/flashers at those low traffic roads ...

Same here. There may be an inhabited house at the end of Road D, but most of the land between the main line & the Cottonwood River between Merrick & Saffordville (a mile+ east of Ellinor) is arable farm land with no houses. Road A is the only one that goes on to cross the Cottonwood. And there are houses straight south of the main line at Saffordville. The ol' memory is a bit fuzzy, but I don't recall any gates/flashers in place at any of the crossings in that stretch when I had to quit the Santa Fe in 1987...

Lance/199

AndyBrown Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm surprised they have full protection
> gates/flashers at those low traffic roads though.
> Seems expensive.
>
> Andy

That's exactly what I was thinking.  What determines the type of crossing protection anyway?

And, I always enjoy your writing style Lance, every post tells a story, not just "look at this train".

Cole42 Wrote: > ... What determines the type of crossing protection anyway ...

Thank you, sir.
I would presume the RR powers that be are thinking about all of the potential farm equipment episodes over the various crossings...

Lance/199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/19 19:40 by santafe199.