Western Railroad Discussion > Mr. Cloud and #6

Seeing santafe199's post on the Western board about Mr. Cloud reminded me of this series of shots taken of #6 at La Platte, Nebraska (north of Plattsmouth) a couple of weeks ago.

To make a long story short, the eastbound California Zephyr (#6) was already 6 or so hours late when the lead locomotive developed problems.  The train was stopped at Ralston, just west of the Omaha station while the "uh oh" squad was called.  As it wound up, BNSF 7430 had to be added to complete the trip to Chicago.

My vantage point for the photos was an access road bridge over the BNSF and UP at La Platte.  That's the UP's ex MoP Omaha - Kansas City line in the background of the 2nd and 3rd photos. 

It was a typical hot July afternoon with those puffy clouds that usually show up around midday so I knew that they could be a problem if timing wasn't right.  These shots were taken at around 3 PM so the train was over 11 hous late now.  Sure enough, just as the now VERY SERIOUSLY late 6 arrived, the clouds stepped between the scene and the sun.  (dirty word, wordy durd, expletive, and so on).  

Oh well, ya pays yer money and takes yer chances!  The real reason that I stubbornly waited so long was that the 301 was being towed in this train.  So, it was worth the wait after all!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/21 07:31 by twjurgens.

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Nice series Tom. That location hasn't changed much since I worked in Omaha 50 years ago.

Bismarck Bill

In that last photo:  4 entirely different AMTRAK paint schemes, all on modern equipment.

It just amazes me.  Imagine UNITED or DELTA having 4 different schemes all at the same time.

That's a very interesting location I've not seen before (that I remember). And that new unit is even more cool than you described to me on the phone. It would be great to catch in person some time! Without the notorious Mr Cloud, of course...

Willie W