Western Railroad Discussion > The KP should always be this easy!

Whenever I run into town for groceries I always take my camera along. Once in a while it pays off. Earlier this month I walked out of the east side Dillon’s and heard a horn. I waited for a few seconds to determine the direction. Eastbound! Without knowing what train it was I threaded traffic over to US 24 highway and ran east. We have a go-to spot we call “the Swamp” about 4 miles east of town.

1. At 1:10 PM UP 7621 leads a unit tank car train east in front of the CK Processing complex at the Swamp Angel crossing east of Manhattan, KS. The sun is hazy at best, and cloud cover threatens. But hey... this is Kansas. I opted for a short chase east

2. At St Marys, KS I took up a position in the alleyway just east of the N 6th St/KS hwy 63 crossing.

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With thoughts of a brightly lit train against a dark bank of clouds I would have chased this train further east. Instead I found the westbound local waiting in the St Marys siding. About-face! Now I would have a westbound subject that will be fully lit! IF the sun would just come out to play...

3. & 4. I did a temporary double-park thing in the drive-up to the St Marys Academy & College on the east side of town. The local, with UP 1125 up front came right on out of the siding. But I still had sketchy sunshine. Hmmm... the diffuse sunlight actually helped make these shots a bit better. Let the chase back home begin...

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5. I caught & passed the train east of Belvue, KS. I thought I had to hustle because I had a specific shot in mind on west of town! Turns out I didn’t have to hurry at all. The local stopped to switch the Ag Partners Cooperative and I had this view from Camp Creek Rd, way outside the perimeter. Nice clouds...

6. & 7. After about 30” of work the local finally started getting much bigger in my viewfinder, leaving Belvue in the background. Nice clouds! :^)

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8. Another standard westbound shot is this one at the Dutch Mill Rd crossing in Wamego, KS. For you hardware fans this is the east end of the siding. And there is the eastward ABS signal for an added bonus. UP 1125 is slowing way down, probably for some more station work. Nice clouds...

9. I took the opportunity to go grab something at Mickey D’s with a lot of ice in it! Then I pulled of a highly technical maneuver called “parking out of the way”. I’ve already photographed this crew switching the spur east of Ash St a couple of times, so I didn’t want to wear out my welcome. Huh...... it led to this shot of the local NOT switching this un-used car wash. Nice blue sky...

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Getting closer to Manhattan I still had that sack full of groceries and was thinking about supper. I would need to..................
Aw, what the heck. I’ll just go for one more shot...

10. At 3:11 PM UP 1125 + scant local cars pass by the same CK complex at Swamp Angel, right where my chase started! Nice clouds...
10 photos taken September 16, 2023.

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/23 06:43 by santafe199.

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Sorry if I lost a few of you over on Nostalgia. Just as I finished the post I realized I was on the wrong forum. I guess my hi-octane cuppa joe hasn't kicked in yet... ;^)

Lance

I'm guessing there wasn't any ice cream in your grocery sack. I couldn't tell you how many times I've heard a train horn while putting groceries in the car after grocery shopping. However I'd never catch the train as the supermarket is a mile and many traffic lights away, the trains are at track speed (40mph) and, there are no parallel roads.
Nice chase.
Go

Very nice post. Great you got the local too.
Regards, Jim Evans

Gonut1 Wrote: > ... I'm guessing there wasn't any ice cream in your grocery sack ...

Nahhh.... just regular pantry type stuff. I learned that lesson long ago. The grocery runs for frozen/cold storage items only happen at night. (Mostly... ;^)

Lance

Nice series, always good to see Locals in action!

Thanks guys! Chasing a puny local like that is partial fulfillment for all the times in the 70s and 80s when I did not chase locals that I coulda shoulda woulda… ☹️

Posted from iPhone

Nice pics!!