Western Railroad Discussion > Seeking fall color in the Flint Hills

In the past I’ve seen years that were more colorful. But all things considered, this year I did pretty well year chasing the annual fall color change. It helped a bunch having unlimited time to invest. In a 4 day span I covered 5 general areas in my “home turf”. I covered my old Santa Fe working territory, the Chase County Flint Hills on the 25th. With no more dialogue needed, let’s get to the color>>v

1. & 2. When I head south to the Flint Hills I always stop at Alta Vista to see if something might be lined up on the GSR. Sure enough, the eastbound signal for main #1 was lit up clear. And I didn’t have long to wait. UP 6673 is solo on an eastbound autorack train. I’m shooting off the ancient Sea St overpass in Alta Vista, KS.

---

---

3. & 4. The ‘away’ shots show the rear end rolling through the Alta Vista crossovers with FRED hangin' on for the ride.

---

---

I finished my southward trek into the ‘Hills’. After consulting with a reliable source I bypassed Strong City on the La Junta Sub and got my day started on the Emporia Sub at the bridge(s) over the Cottonwood River.

5. BNSF 7267 is westbound over the original bridge just east of the old siding location once called Gladstone, KS. The recently completed double tracking project eliminated the name Gladstone from the timetable.

---

6. & 7. BNSF 7375 leads an eastbound intermodal through old Bazaar, KS.

8. BNSF 4675 is westbound coming through Bazaar. In the background is the new crossover plant called ‘Flint’.

---

---

---

As the day wore on I settled on the Flint (KS) area for a small rush of trains.

9. BNSF 5044 is westbound with unit hoppers approaching the Flint crossovers. Looking the opposite direction...

10. ...BNSF 4165 is one of the DP units running behind the 5044.

11. When the train above cleared BNSF 4006 was able to proceed east with an intermodal.

---

---

---

12. & 13. BNSF 8111 is westbound elephant-style with a westbound Z(?) train.

---

---

14. & 15. BNSF 7515 is westbound with a unit tanker.

---

---

16. & 17. BNSF 5339 is westbound with a manifest. And holy moly, what is this in image #17??? Eight real, live box cars in a row... I should go buy a lotto ticket!
Images 9-17 taken at or very near the Flint (KS) crossovers.

---

---

18. And this should have been the grand finale fall color shot of the day west of Bazaar. Instead, here’s what happened: ( Classic fall color scene skunked! ).
18 photos taken October 25, 2024.

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/24 05:25 by santafe199.

---

Good ones from good old Bazaar , KS in  autumn colors. Thanks, Lance, now I don't need to take my own photos in the Flint Hills this year , just enjoy yours. 

Three 👍 for all, well done!
Bryan

Nice bunch in great weather. The leaves had more color than that UP leader...

JG

jgilmore Wrote: > ... The leaves had more color than that UP leader ...

Yeah I saw that, too (heh heh). I was just happy there wasn't an American Flag on the side looking like S**T like so many of them do nowadays...

Lance

Nice outing. UP used to operate empty rack trains to the NS at Kansas City. Not sure if this is the same move.

King_Coal Wrote: > ... Not sure if this is the same move ...

I know working railroaders on both the BNSF & UP main lines throughout Kansas. I could easily be getting train symbols for everything I shoot. But I only rarely do so. Having been in train service myself, I'm quite leery about pestering any of them at home and possibly interrupting their rest (sleep) time...

Lance 

Great time out.

Bob

My favorite is Pic 16!!