North Platte or Bust: Part 6, Kansas City

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.

"The Bottoms" - KCMO

"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.

"The Bottoms" - KCMO

"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.

"The Bottoms" - KCMO

"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.

"The Bottoms" - KCMO

"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.

"The Bottoms" - KCMO

"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. 

 Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO

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.

Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO

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). 

 Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO

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. 

Main St. - trail overpass - KCMO

Union Station WWI Monument.

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. 

Santa Fe Jct. area from the top of the WWI Monument.

BC

Indy Incidentals

This particular trip involved a mini-van full of students and chaperones to go to Indianapolis  for the National Forensic League's National Speech and Debate tournament.  As usual, we visited a place or two with railfan potential but alas I could take no time to do such frivolous things.  There were a few things that came my way with little or no effort however.

The league saw fit to have it's massive party at the Indianapolis Zoo.  I saw on the website that they had a train, so I had a side-mission.  These things are usually a bit of a disappointment but this one was a bit more so.  Though I could ride for free on the league's dime, I chose not to.  The tracks seemed to circle it's own secluded part of the zoo and didn't show off much.  While on this quest, I found "abandoned" tracks in the pathways and sidewalks of the heart of the zoo.  They appeared to be roughly 3' gauge and much heavier than the toy now running.  They took people around like a service rather than an amusing ride.  A couple of sidings were present and the tracks went places I'd like to have seen from a train.  But alas, it appears that either cost or insurance or both brought it down.  I have to do more research on that one.  White River Jct. is actually named for the river that runs through Indianapolis and has nothing to do with the one we passed through in Vermont.

As competition wound down and we found ourselves sightseeing, the group went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  Here I ran into a gem with PRR roots.  In the basement levels of the museum is the actual Reuben Wells, a locomotive that pushed cars out of the Ohio River valley town of Madison and up to the rest of the rail network.  Apparently the 8.5% grade is one of the steepest in the country.  Over time the line fell into PRR control and the unique loco stayed in good shape.  It was promised and delivered in 1968.  The museum had it's work cut out for it when it tried to get title from the Penn Central however.  That financial fiasco led to endless paperwork that tied up ownership until 9 years after PC died as a railroad.
The museum has a neat O scale model of the line complete with scale grade, but I missed the operating session I guess.   The locomotive was hooked up with lights and sound for the kids but I just gave it a look anyway.  It had one drive rod but two sets of driver wheels, front and rear.  Apparently this custom arrangement aided traction. 

Included with the Reuben Wells was a former PRR "tool car" which apparently got caught in the paperwork fiasco too.  They have photos of the delivery to the present location 1985.



The Lego exhibit was one of the last one's I checked out at the museum and wouldn't you know it...








I had previously assumed that the trade name for Pan Am was owned by Guilford Transportation Industries.  Here is a tower across from the Indiana Convention Center that is known as the "Pan Am Tower".  Apparently it is named for the Pan American Games held in 1987, but there is a rail connection.  This building is a "re-interpretation" of the nearby Union Station tower.  Nice looking building anyway.


Indianapolis Union Station was near, if not connected to the Indiana Convention Center where we spent a lot of time.  As we walked back from Lucas Oil Stadium we walked under the end of the train shed, which is now part of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  I did not walk over because time was short but I could see the imposing building.

A CSX double stack entered the still used steel portion of the train shed while we were emerging from the ICC.  Another passed while we milled around the stadium and returned to the ICC.  When I saw this, I became interested in the train shed and building so we returned to our venue using the sidewalk under the bridge.  It was actually cleaned up and bright under there. 

Although there was plenty to clutter the photo, the brown masonry of the main building stands out.  At least you see enough to compare to the Pan Am building to examine the "re-interpretation".




After we left Indy, we headed back to Maine via Cleveland.  While I can think of railfan things to do, my team had other ideas.  We spent the less rainy day at Cedar Point Amusement Park.  This gave me another chance to visit the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Ry.  Since I'd already photographed it before, this one vantage point was the only new item worthy of note.  I had to dangle the camera a bit to get this but you can see the intricate placement of several rides as the train passes over a grade crossing.  Cedar Point is known world wide for its roller coasters.  I'm known locally for not riding them.


The last shot is from the Cleveland waterfront, in the literal shadow of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I include it because ships like this shuttled the iron ore from ports in Minnesota and Wisconsin to Ohio ports like Ashtabula, Conneaut or Cleveland. Railroads took the ore to the likes of Youngstown, Wierton and Pittsburgh for the once mighty steel industry.  Plus, I just like the way they look.


BC

Annual Accidental Railfanning

Every Memorial Day Weekend since 2008 my speech and debate team has traveled to a national tournament in some major city where time to chase trains was non-existent.  I've also managed to find something rail related despite the odds each time.  Here are a few photos from this year's trip to Baltimore.

Here is the team's first encounter with the light rail system.  We would ride from the Timonium (Maryland Fair Grounds) station to the downtown Convention Center station three times.  Each trip had its own adventures involved.

Next to the Convention Center stop is the Hilton Hotel Baltimore where our tournament was headquartered.  Next to that was Camden Yards ballpark and the former Camden Station. 

I was somewhat surprised at what was left of the old B&O around the ballpark.  The massive warehouse building still dominates the skyline of the ballpark.  It appears that the building is being restored for various commercial applications. 

We happened to be in town when
Camden Station was being restored.  That meant staging all over the place around the front of the building.   The back side was open as part of a museum complex featuring sports and local subjects.

The lower photo shows the two buildings together.  The very end of the warehouse, under the awning is the Orioles ticket offices where we bought our tickets to see them play against Kansas City that night.  (KC lost 8-2 Orioles)


A brief lull in the day's action meant I could hang out at the station with one of my team members and take a ride south.  I didn't take many photos but I saw a few sights.

Catching a couple of passing light rail trains was about as good as it got in that place.  These two didn't have the obnoxious plastic wrap advertisements that some cars had.


Late in the evening at the ball game.  I had to grab a shot or two of the ballpark interior to show the links to the railroad history here.


The warehouse is seen past the outfield.  At this particular angle the top of the Camden Station can be seen.

At the Timonium Station this historical marker notes that this piece of line was originally the Baltimore and Susquehanna, built on iron rail with marble sleepers.  It later became the Northern Central line to Buffalo and later an important part of the Pennsylvania RR.  I think Conrail did away with the line.  It used to be big time PRR commuter rail territory and a vital passenger link to Baltimore.

On Saturday night we were at the Hilton for a late night party which gave me the time to use the skyways by the light rail station at Convention Center.  The shots aren't great but not terrible for just pointing and shooting.

I did play with the aperture override to get the station.  It was washing out in the light.  The lights on the far right are from the ballpark.



Back at Timonium on Sunday.  Trains don't begin running until about 11am so I actually had time to shoot these bicycle lockers.  I didn't examine them to see how they were used.  Timonium was the temporary end of the line while repairs were made north to Hunt Valley.  The bus loop was filled with shuttles that rode in circles to the remaining stations on the light rail system. 


Somewhere around Timonium station was this sign describing the marble ties originally used by the B&S.  Many were quarried in Cockeysville, where our motel was located.  The ties were simply buried by subsequent layers of ballast.

I returned to the skyway to see what I could see.  Some of that was the artery of light rail heading north.


Our tours included the World Trade Center of Baltimore.  The top floor is an awesome observation deck.  Well worth the $5 elevator ride.   Aside from being able to spot old stations, the B&O museum and port facilities, there are signs describing many of the things you see.  There was even an N scale model of a container facility.

My last photo was something that semi-surprised me.  I knew Baltimore was more or less a southern sympathizing city during the Civil War.  What I'd long forgotten was that the first bloodshed of the war was caused when some Union soldiers got off the train at one station and marched to Camden Station.  The good citizens of Baltimore didn't like that and started antagonizing the soldiers.  Four days of bloodshed followed.  I suppose that's a bit more trouble than getting between North and South Station in Boston.


Who says I can't find railroad content in a purely school activity!

BC