Nostalgia & History > Bridging the Heartland....Going to Kansas City

Confession time...I never railfanned St. Louis. Hard to believe now that I just kept missing it. The drawling power of Chicago was too strong, and at my most active points, I seemed to wind up everywhere but the land of the big arch. Actually, it was the other side of Missouri that was the magnet of the midwest. I wound up hitting Kansas City twice, once in 1973, and then ten years later in 83. Both times I was able to capture railroads that I had no shot of seeing in the east. The area at the time was pretty easy to move around, and for an urban environment, fairly safe. It also was a haven for great steak, and that always satisfied my carniverous lust for red meat protein. Out of the two trips, the 73 was by far the best from the variety standpoint. Rock Island,ICG/IC/GM&O power, C&NW, Milwaukee, Road, BN, N&W, MP, Katy, KCS,Santa Fe, UP, Frisco, Amtrak, and the terminal railroads were all in the mix at that point. There were still Alcos and Fairbanks Morse units, F units, and the bit UP U50Cs and U50s to immortalize. It truly was a railfan candy store. 

In downtown KC there was, and I am sure still is a series of bridges by the Union station. The station itself, though as with many monuments to the passenger train, in decline, offered some of the best trainwatching spots I ever found. In 73 I spent one entire day going from bridge to bridge just shooting a constant parade of road freights and transfer runs from many of the city's rail residents. The images here are just a small sample of what rolled under me in those two visits. And yes, the steak was just as good in 83 as it was in 73!

top...eastbound one bridge east of Main Street bridge, 1973

middle...westbound passing Kansas City Union Station... Main Street bridge, 1973

bottom... eastbound Frisco transfer run, 1973

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 03:32 by Roadjob.

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Ten years later... 

top...one of the less attractive paint schemes of that era. Eastbound

middle...I'm sure the tanks will draw attention. Seems we have some of those folks in our midst. I preferred flying over them in my military days, LOL! Eastbound

bottom...slowly fading away, but still a working facility. The KC Union Station was and hopefully still is, a magnificent structure.

 

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 03:31 by Roadjob.

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Inpicture two I'm pretty sure you also got a look at the Nebraska Zephyr set that was sold to Saudi Arabia under the platform sheds in the background.

John

First photo, nice.  Is that a set of red/silver war bonnets pulling a freight train?  I've seen a few photo's of that but not common.

This is a nice series - definitely rail fan candy!

Cheers, Jim

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
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> First photo, nice.  Is that a set of red/silver
> war bonnets pulling a freight train?  I've seen a
> few photo's of that but not common.
>
> This is a nice series - definitely rail fan
> candy!
>
> Cheers, Jim

Yes.  The 300 series had the freight gearing.

Photographic time travel.
Thanks for taking us into the past with you.
Bob

Those are some really great B&W photos!  The old Main St. bridge with the all the arched iron work is neat.

Always loved visiting KC area back then, seemed like trains everywhere and your pics brought back a lot of memories ... and a tip of the hat to Wilbert Harrison .... still have his 45rpm tribute to KC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UonBS_mvW-E



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 06:39 by valmont.

What a GREAT bunch! Actually looks like a coal train behind those Santa Fe F's! Never have I seen that before.
JB

Great stuff!  Thanks for sharing these here.

- Jeff Carlson

Korigaoka1811 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Inpicture two I'm pretty sure you also got a look
> at the Nebraska Zephyr set that was sold to Saudi
> Arabia under the platform sheds in the
> background.
>
> John

I'm not sure, the last 3 passengers cars are not articulated like the Nebraska Zephyr sets and I can't make out the others to see if they're or not



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 07:26 by Spoony81.

Really nice set of pictures !
Gary

I think those cars were part of a Texas Zephyr set.   In the mid 70's, one of the local KC tv stations had a slide show to start their noon broadcast, and one pic featured the observation car shining in the sun, like it was ready for boarding.   Part of my summer vacation ritual was to park myself in front of the tv, just to get a glimpse of that shot.   Great pics...thanks for posting them.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 07:42 by NineHourLimit.

Nice shot! Photo#6 Old MP RR passenger train and engine crews based in Jefferson City, MO and worked to and from Kansas City, MO.
 

Here are some better photos of that Saudi bound Zephyr set.   I took these in March of 1976.  (again, when I was with the AFT)  I had no idea why they were there at the time I took these-  there were many mysteries in the pre-www world!
SR

BTW:  The last photo with the F40 & Amfleet cars would have been later than 1973.  The F40's came in early 1976.  I'm not sure how much earlier the first Amfleet came, but it wasn't a whole lot earlier- 1974 maybe? 
I hired out with Amtrak in 1984 and my first training trip was on #4- I'm pretty sure we stopped here at Union Station, but it must have been closed soon after.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/19 09:36 by BoilingMan.

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Loving the '73 stuff around KCUS!

Lance/199

Think what you have there is a former Denver Zephyr / Texas Zephyr trainset. Too many non-articulated cars for a Nebraska Zephyr set, some window patterns suggest the DZ / TZ.

I wish they had kept a few tracks that went under the station!!!!!!

The cars seen under the shed are from the original Denver Zephyr (later the Texas Zephyr), including "Silver Flash" Parlor Observation Lounge.  The gap between the car windows is the area of the partition between the front parlor area and the rear lounge area.

It was a couple of years later that Mr. Alex Barkett bought the former Nebraska Zephyr train set, which was spotted on a former station track as well.  

All great photos in this thread!

Hubert

Korigaoka1811 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Inpicture two I'm pretty sure you also got a look
> at the Nebraska Zephyr set that was sold to Saudi
> Arabia under the platform sheds in the
> background.
>
> John

If it is a coal train, it might be going to Sibley Mo? I do know that the ATSF hualed coal to this plant, but i have no idea when it started up, i think it is closed now or soon to be. KCRW287