Western Railroad Discussion > Samson of the Cimarron

Samson of the Cimarron is the name of this bridge 13 miles northeast of Liberal Kansas. At 113 feet above the riverbed and 1269 feet long, it was considered an engineering marvel at the time it was built in 1939. Constructed by the Rock Island railroad and still in service today as an important Union Pacific mainline on the former Golden State Route of The Rock.
On 4-28-25 I was on my way back from San Diego CA and took US 54 from Tucumcari NM to Pratt KS just to follow the Golden State Route. I saw this train ready to depart Dalhart TX as I drove by and saw the signals line up for him all the way up into Liberal. I figured I could catch him coming over the bridge as I had the jump on him.
I pulled into what is left of the rest area and set up for him. Head light appears and I'm ready to shoot this 70-mph speedster to come flying across this bridge. NOT! A detector got him, and he came to a halt short of the bridge. Just my luck! I returned to my truck to get the scanner and after a half hour the train crept across the bridge at 10mph while I shot several frames before proceeding onto Hutchinson for my 10-hour break. This was the third time I caught a train on this bridge since I rode over it in 1974 on train 01 of the Rock Island and will try to capture more when the opportunity presents itself.  Dan Tracy

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You and I passed each other somewhere between Dalhart and Pratt.  About what time was this train crossing the bridge?

Ted Ferkenhoff
Flagstaff, AZ

tferk Wrote:
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> You and I passed each other somewhere between
> Dalhart and Pratt.  About what time was this
> train crossing the bridge?  Around 130pm.

Nice catch Dan. Been by here many times only caught perhaps 2-3 trains.  Ben

That's a spectacular bridge. Glad you were able to catch a stack train on it.