Western Railroad Discussion > Some time around Kansas City October 18-19

After spending some time with UP 4014 between Kansas City and Topeka on Thursday October 17, I had a day and a half to do some rail photography around Kansas City Friday and Saturday morning before my return flight back east.

I started off Friday morning at Santa Fe Junction where a few other fans had gathered.  I got there just as a freight had passed State Line Rd heading into Argentine Yard led by BNSF .   It had an SD40-2 (1813) labeled for remote operation as it's second unit, with 5020 as the rear DPU.

Once it cleared, then a pair of NS units - 4602, 4525 departed the yard, I guess heading back to their Avondale Yard. 

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Next up at Santa Fe Jct was a 5 X 2 double UP stack train on the bridge with 8997, 8225, 2750, 8607 and 8004 leading then 5361 and 7850 in the middle.

Before they could clear a BNSF oil train (or empty oil train) - 8263 ,7683, 3865 DPU - headed into Argentine. 

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Not having seen Argentine Yard when I was here last year, I put it on my list of to-dos for this trip, so after I had gotten enough of Santa Fe Junction, I headed across the river to the Kansas side to check out some locations I had scouted out ahead of time.   Those of you familiar with the area know that Argentine doesn't have a whole lot of public places to view The action, at least from what I could tell, but I was able to pass over the yard on a  couple overpasses, and was able to briefly stop on the 42nd St bridge (no traffic at the time either way) and grab a couple overview shots.

I also found a location near 55th St where you could get down to a levee where I was able to view the hump job and a yard job working.   I didn't want to overstay there, so I moved to my next location further along the Emporia Sub at 78th St where I caught a couple of eastbounds starting with this 1 X 1 Autorack led by 5707.

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The DPU on the rack train - 4395.

Then a pretty good sized general freight with 175 cars followed led by 7234, 5088, 4447.

After that, it was about noon, so I ordered barbecue from Jack Stack Barbecue at the Fright House downtown across from Union station which I took back to the hotel to recharge a bit prior to heading out for the afternoon.

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The first hour or so in the afternoon were spent scouting around different areas that I hadn't visited last year.   There was a yard job by the CPKC Knoche Yard with KCS 646 that was worthy of some pixels.

I decided that the 2nd half of the afternoon would be best spent just sitting somewhere taking the action in, and what better place than the Main St overpass by Union Station.   Much of the traffic was westbound with BNSF stacktrains and UP coal movements dominating the action.   Here is an eastbound 2 X 2 stack train with 5481 and 5036 leading and 5178 and 5358 working hard on the rear

 

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One of the hi-lights while there was this CPKC job, I'm guessing a transfer run with the 4-axle in the lead - KCS 2831, 3942, 4534.

I mentioned coal trains, the first UP coal train through was a monster 285-car double job with 7861 and 6850 leading, then its DPU 2740 tied onto the head end power of the 2nd train - 7916 and 5383 as mid-train DPUs, and 5438 shoving hard on the rear.  The noise was deafening as this thing came pounding through.

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Here are the middle and rear DPUs of the monster coal train, and then as a contrast, this 14 car BNSF local or transfer with 1974 and 1452 came through.

 

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The Missouri River Runner (Amtrak 316 - which was difficult to photograph and not posted here) finally got a chance to head east after another BNSF eastbound stack train (8071/5084/3275//DPUs7213/7178), then a pair of UP coal trains came east one after the other not doubled-up.  The first one had 7183,2751, with DPU 7303; followed by 5649, 7149 and 8395 as its DPU.  

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After the third coal train headed east, there were a couple more moves through the station area, a UP mixed freight and a UP stack train, but the shadows from the surrounding building really started to cover the tracks and make any additional photography difficult so I called it a day.

One other note, I had spent a little time at this location last year, and was able to photograph the Kansas City street cars on the Main St overpass in between train traffic.  This year, there was a project occurring on Main Street, which is the start/terminus of the street car system, which I understand is to expand the route and reconfigure (or move) the crossover at this end of the line.  It was supposed to be completed in one month, and I guess was about 2/3 complete at the time I was here.

I had the morning Saturday to get trackside a bit more, as my flight back home was scheduled for mid-afternoon.

I did a little exploring around NS's Avondale Yard - two of the trains I often photograph arriving and departing from Harrisburg, PA's Rutherford Yard - 258/259 - are Kansas City trains.  (I understand the NS KC intermodal and auto terminal is a few miles to the east of here).     I did get a yard job / local with NS 3363 (former Conrail 6416, which my noted tell me I photographed several times on Conrail around Harrisburg in the 1990s, and in Helper Service around Altoona, PA in the early 2000s.)

I also did a little more investigating of the BNSF's Murray Yard (I had stopped by briefly on Friday).  There was quite a bit of yard / local power working and sitting around, and multiple Coal trains waiting to move.  Here we see 6183 leading one train, and 5638 and KCS 4964 on another.   A little further down in the yard were two other coal trains waiting to be recrewed - one with KCS 5005 and a CP unit, another with BNSF 6279. 

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With about an hour and a half left before I needed to head to the airport, I decided to go to the freight house overpass at Union Station to spend my final time this year.  Six trains in that time including intermodal, mixed freight, grain, and autoracks evenly split between UP and BNSF.   Also, another of these doubled-up UP coal trains with UP 6350 and 7723 up front, 6572 as its DPU (I guess) coupled to the head end of the next train 2567 and 6855, with 6659 pushing on the rear here.  This one checked in at 286 cars total.

And with that I bid farewell to KC again, though I'm hopeful to make it back again in another year or two.

A favor to ask as I usually do when I post on the Western Board, if there is anyone who could help me with train symbols please message me.    I'm interested in operational details as much as the photography.  With NS and CSX, they almost always announce the train symbol when communicating, and I miss that whenever I'm on the UP or BNSF.  Thanks.    

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It looks like you found a nice little smorgasbord of action! Lots of nice images... :^)

sscannella Wrote: > ... I didn't want to overstay there, so I moved ...
That's a good policy to have. A long time ago I developed what I call a "hit & run" style. For 2 reasons: I can cover a lot more ground in a given day. Plus if I'm in a spot where the RR might consider it trespassing, I can get a few shots and just move on. I think the average RR security people would rather concentrate on protecting their employer's property (equipment & lading, etc) over chasing away the occasional photographer.

Lance
 

Lots of interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.
Hit and run always seemed a good way to stay out of trouble. But once I got "caught". I shot the last frame of a roll of 35mm and paused to reload and BAM! Gotcha. A railroad gumshoe drove up and asked if I was an employee. Although it wasn't a horrific experience, he did request I.D. and he took down my info in his little black book. He said if I showed up again I'd be arrested. I was a bit miffed as I had parked on the shoulder of the entrance to the yard and not in a dangerous or harmful location. I was baited by the presence of the Conrail OCS parked there. After NS took over their parts of Conrail they posted every square inch of property everywhere and got downright militant about railfans.
Gonut