Western Railroad Discussion > Hangin' around Hutch

After some frustration with my GSR chase, I wound up in Hutchinson, KS. I had not been in Hutchinson for over forty years. I have fond memories of the area. In my high school days we competed in a debate tournament every year. In fact we were at a debate tournament at Hutchinson High School when we received the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated. Do you remember where you were that day? The Hutchinson airport is also where I shot a lot of touch 'n go's during my pilot training in nearby Wichita.

Hutchinson is on top of huge salt deposits. Morton Salt and Hutchinson Salt (formally Carey) have plants there. The salt caverns now host massive underground storage vaults and even tourism. Hutchinson also has a large number of terminal grain elevators and petroleum production.These local industries generate many carloads for rail business. As I was there on a Sunday, not much local rail traffic was moving. so here's a brief tour of the area.

BB

1. BNSF 2323 & 2357 are switching the South Hutchinson Yard which handles petroleum products
2. Morton Salt's plant is also in South Hutch and a rail customer
3. UP local operations are based at the former Rock Island depot
more......



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/19 12:19 by bmarti7.

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4. The former Santa Fe modern depot - still a stop for Amtrak 3 & 4
5. The world's largest terminal grain elevator - the Russian Mennonites brought the hearty winter wheat to Kansas in the 1800's

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Great pictures of a great town.

Hutch's #1 claim to fame, at least among aerospace aficiandos, is the Kansas Cosmosphere. Most rank it as the #2 space museum in the world behind the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in D.C. 

I'm enjoying your Kansas exploits.

Any more photos of the Hutch CRIP depot? They had some very interesting depots in Kansas - must have cleaned house in about 1946 and put up modern ones. Glad some still survive.

Thanks Bill for the interesting Hutchinson, KS tour. I used to stay in a little town of Arlington, KS a few miles south of Hutch at a trackside 
Motel 61 on the RI then SP back in the early 1990's. Used that motel as home base for chasing trains(SP and ATSF into Hutchinson. They had a great eating place in Arlington run by I believe the Mennonites. The best homemade dessert and fresh food, Not sure if it has changed there.

Larry

King_Coal Wrote:
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> I'm enjoying your Kansas exploits.
>
> Any more photos of the Hutch CRIP depot?

Glad you're enjoying the tour-many more from Kansas in the coming days.
Sorry - no on the Stoney Point depot.

BB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/19 12:24 by bmarti7.

> They had a great eating place in Arlington run by I believe the Mennonites. The best homemade dessert and
> fresh food, Not sure if it has changed there.
>
> Larry

Could be Carolyn's Essenhaus -still there.
B

Nice photos and narration.  We are all enjoying your trip.
Brian Stevens