AUGUST 10, 2012:
We had a stop in Kansas City for a couple of days. Charles had a family wedding to attend and I had some college friends to visit. We spent Friday morning chasing down trains in "The Bottoms" and nearby areas. I picked up a couple of other shots while I was with my friends.
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
We needed to decide where to start. The hobby shop known as Doc's Caboose was as good a place as any to start. We hoped to find literature or something about "The Bottoms" area of Kansas City. Actually we simply parked at the shop and we were in the heart of the spot we sought. Unfortunately the shop was closed, but it did have tracks off the back bumper of my car parked there. The first train came along before we could pull out. It was westbound.
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
The actual train came by and we decided that we were on the wrong side of the tracks for this spot. Before long another westbound came along. We were now on the opposite side from my car. No biggy for us but another fan came along moments before and joined us. His car was parked in a less than ideal spot with windows down. We all figured the train would pass and all would return to normal. Wrong! The other local fan was hoping to find a known train with GP15's and an old D&RGW car. This wasn't it and the train slowed to a stop and dumped the air. It was going to be here a while.
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
Meanwhile, we chatted and watched the locals climb over the train to get by. Apparently the UP does this nonsense all the time. It was around 40 minutes before the train moved out. We weren't that foolish and stayed put.
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
We didn't know the neighborhood but apparently it was safe enough though the local told of a half-way house around the corner. The place was becoming gentrified. Yet another westbound was sneaking through before the idle one moved. This one had a single unit up front and another DPU on the end. We were still stuck in place.
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
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| "The Bottoms" - KCMO |
When the idle train finally got going, we began loading the car. However, another train approached before we got going. We, and the now relocated local fan moved back to our same spot. This final train turned out to be the one the local sought. It had a GP38-2 up front and trailed 3 GP15's and an SD70-2.
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| Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO |
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| Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO |
Our next spot was one I had been too many times before. It is a pedestrian/trail overpass at the end of Main Street where it meets the river and the trail system. This was among the last places I used a film camera too.
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| Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO |
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| Main St. overpass - KCMO |
The overpass and stairway is literally surrounded on four sides by railroads. The BNSF goes north and south over a swing bridge. The UP follows the river under the bridges. To the east, the BNSF has a lift bridge (silver) which connects to the lower UP line. Across the river in North Kansas City is a series of industrial tracks connecting the two north/south lines and feeding the industries including a former National Starch plant (a friend works there).
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| Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO |
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| End of Main St. - trail system overpass - KCMO |
The brown bridge was always busy but the silver bridge sees far less traffic. I felt lucky to get this shot of a BNSF coal train crossing the lift section.
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| Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO |
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| Union Station WWI Monument. |
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| Union Station WWI Monument. |
We moved on and called it a day. Charles needed to be dropped off with his relatives and I eventually needed to show up at my friends'. This did not end my railfanning in the city. On Saturday my friends took me to the WWI museum which is under the monument opposite Union Station. A museum ticket includes a ride to the top of the monument. There I was able to look into Union Station's yard and see the private car "Federal" which we were able to spot earlier at La Plata.
The final view is a memorable one. At one time there were only two layers of bridges over Santa Fe Jct., just west of Union Station. Here everyone tries to get from one yard to another, creating a bottleneck that the bridges relieve. There is now a newer 3rd layer that tops all of them giving direct access to Argentine Yard from Union Station. A tour of the city with friends, including one friend in the industrial security business, took us to the apex of that bridge's far access ramp before the rails were in place.
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| Santa Fe Jct. area from the top of the WWI Monument. |
BC
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