Western Railroad Discussion > Chasing Uncle Pete

Shortly before lunchtime on the 25th I got a phone text tip from “mg8711’ about loaded coal buckets coming through Manhattan. I was at a convenient break point with my endless photo-editing & filing chores, so I grabbed the camera gear and made a run for it. It would be the 2nd of 3 days in a row that I would escape the house for a KP train and end up chasing either the Topeka ~ Marysville main up north, or the ex-Rock Island GSR down south.

With “high noon in June” sunlight in full effect, I had to get creative with the first few shots. And then it clouded over a bit. But I was already out there burning $4+/gallon gas. So...

1. Here’s UP 8394 on a coal load east of Belvue, KS. With high sun a bit backlit I used this handy irrigation system as a photo prop. This is the Peddlicord Rd crossing, which I’ve never shot from before. US hwy 24 is just out of frame to the right.

2. I beat it on down the road and got ahead of the coal train for a series at St Marys, KS. Here is the 8394 + entourage passing in front of the St Marys (Catholic) College complex, taken from the “Our Lady Cir” crossing.

3. My trusty Willie IV beeped at me, telling me I was about to start running on fumes. So a pit stop was necessary at Casey’s in Rossville, KS. I barely punched through all of the bleeping computerized prompts at the gas pump in time to grab this “scene” shot...

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From St Marys I let the coal train go and headed north to go snooping around my northern “backyard’, the KC ~ Topeka ~ Marysville main line. I had no train line up, so I just did the usual signal observation thing along with a lot of by guess & by golly intuition...

4. I got a couple of routine train shots at Delia and near Cook (siding), KS. By this time ‘mg8711” was able to tip me off about a couple of WB trains in the area. So I traced the main line further NW and set up for the first one at Aikins, KS. Overcast weather be damned, we’re looking SE at UP 8087 leading a WB manifest. I kinda like the signal framing here. I believe this is known as the Middle Jeffrey crossover plant at Aikins where coal loads headed for the Jeffrey Energy Center diverge from the main line and run straight north for about 4 miles...

5. I dropped back to intercept the 2nd westbound. Starting from the boonies NW of Emmett I picked up UP 7947 on another WB manifest and ended up giving it quite an extended chase. Here we are back at Aikins. looking mostly south from parallel Aiken Switch Rd. The overcast allows me to take softer shots...

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6. & 7. Further north by compass here’s the 7947 passing under the KS hwy 16 overpass at Onaga, KS.

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8. I had to haul assets on a square-corner course to reach Lillis, KS while the 7947 ran a direct route. I reached this Bobcat Ln crossing viewpoint with less than 5 minutes to spare.

9. It took the same square-corner effort to reach this farm field access vantage point ahead of the 7947 crossing Utah Rd just SE of Frankfort, KS. BTW: The sun is showing signs of returning to the party...

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I took a hydration/snack break at Marysville. After a quick crew change I saw that the 7947 would be heading right on out of town, so...

10. ...I ran out into the sticks NW of town and set up at a favorite little niche for my next-to-last series of the 7947. This shot was taken about 2 miles east of Herkimer, KS.

11. Saying goodbye to the 7947, there it goes meeting UP 6628 east on coal loads stopped just east of Bremen, KS. The crew is waiting for an open crew-change track down in Marysville.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/22 14:35 by santafe199.

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Knowing it was getting close to the golden hour I chased the 6628 into Marysville, and took another look around. I could see another train rolling east, departing town. So I spurred Willie IV into a gallop...

12. ...down to the Matador Rd overpass east of Upland (jct), KS. We didn’t quite get there in time to catch a stacker, but did shoot UP 8554 as its DP.

13. 27 minutes later here’s UP 5332 lugging an eastbound manifest up the hill. It’s 8:29 PM. This should have been my last shot of the day...

14. They say “patience is a virtue”, but I plumb forgot about the 6628/coal train and went all the way back into Marysville. I even shot the sun-glint Penny’s Diner, a frequent eating place for UP’s away-from-home crews who stay in the Travelodge right behind it. Then I saw the 6628 leaving town and had to scramble right back to Matador. I screeched to a halt and jumped out in time to get the real “last shot of the day” climbing out of the pretty pastel Artwork in the sky above Upland. It’s now 8:58 PM.
(14 photos taken June 26, 2022)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/22 14:37 by santafe199.

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What’s that you say? One more??? Ahhh, OK...... :^)

15. From the Matador overpass I doubled back to 16th Rd to go south. I would pick up rural Pheasant Rd (aka Winifred Rd) to run west and get on US hwy 77 for the 50” jog home. But the Master Artist had more work for me to do! After going 2-3 miles I found this combine silhouette shot for my real “last shot of the day”, right???

16. WRONG! Another mile (give or take) later, also on Pheasant Rd I had to stop and shoot this windmill. No rest for the weary... ;^)

Thanks for the heads-up!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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Nice sun/shade on photo 2, the windmill shot would look good blown up and framed.

Lance, your vanity plate is great! Not sure if you've shared that before, but I like that your online persona transfers to your automotive persona or vice versa.

Sean

Nice series, Lance!!

RC Lundgren

broken_link Wrote: > ... Not sure if you've shared that before ...

It's really much simpler than that: Santa Fe train 199 (Chicago ~ Richmond, CA) was the HOTTEST train I ever rode during my 9 year stint in train service with AT&SF. And "ATSF199" squeezes onto the car tag because it has the maximum number of characters the State of Kansas allows...

Lance/199

#13 is simply stunning . Great job,  Lance . I think it could be the image of the day.  Thanks for sharing. 

Quite the NICE chase and ending!

Larry

Good series of images. Those locomotives don't look as hammered as the ones here in the PNW that tend to burn themselves up the tunnels creeping uphill with over-tonnage trains.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Really nice set of images, Lance.  I like the first one with the center pivot irrigation prop.  Is that a Valley or a Zimmatic, I wonder.  And your sunset photos are always top notch.

Scene #7 would be nice with an EB.

You keep tryin' at this . . . you're gettin' pretty good.

Bob Willer​

Wow, Willie sure looks a lot cleaner than when I saw it earlier this month!  Nice chase and shots, BTW.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Oh yeah, I got the reference to Santa Fe's 199 UPS train to North Bay. I've photographed its BNSF incarnation many times over Tehachapi and in the Bay Area.

Sean

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> broken_link Wrote: > ... Not sure if you've
> shared that before ...
>
> It's really much simpler than that: Santa Fe train
> 199 (Chicago ~ Richmond, CA) was the HOTTEST train
> I ever rode during my 9 year stint in train
> service with AT&SF. And "ATSF199" squeezes onto
> the car tag because it has the maximum number of
> characters the State of Kansas allows...
>
> Lance/199

OSWishram Wrote: > ... I like the first one ...... Valley or a Zimmatic, I wonder ...
Thanks pal! And I can't help you on the sprinkler...

>  ...You keep tryin' at this . . . you're gettin' .........
Yeah... I figger in another 30 years I'll have it down to a science...

;^)

Nice pics!!  I like the last 4!!