I will be starting a job (doing same thing…Engr) with a shortline in Idaho and giving up my job in Michigan. My family and I will be loading up the family truckster and heading west. What my question is, can there be any railroad related items to be seen on the way? We are taking I80 most of the way and cutting north in Wyoming to Montana and then into Idaho. We dont have a lot of time to spare but enough to snap a pic or two. Thanks in advance.
Starting with the eyefull coming across the river (Kennefick Park) into Omaha you can see plenty. You might want to consider US-30 as a substitute for I-80 (about 10 miles apart much of the way) …all the way to Pocatello.
In Illinois, consider (at the proper time of day/week) taking I-90 into town, and I-290 out west to I-88. Get off 88 at DeKalb (Peace Road), head north to Illinois 38, which you can take through DeKalb and Rochelle and to Dixon, where you’ll get back to 88 and eventually rejoin 80. You want trains? This one’s virtually guarranteed!
Yes, last time I drove US30 I saw 44 trains, just between Shelton and North Platte NE. Not TOO much slower than I80, maybe a half hour extra if you took 30 between Gibbon and NP.
If you take Hwy 30 thru Nebraska, (Personally I would find somewhere after or just before Gibbons, since that would be triple track then) After North Platte, take the hwy to the northwest a few miles west of North Platte and thatll follow the UP coal line out of wyoming. Many trains to see there. That will meet up with another hwy in wyoming to take you to interstate 90/94 in Montana. Thatll follow the MRL for awhile. Many places to get off the interstate and get some nice shots/videos.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8AnPcjeviFM
When the train crosses the bridge, you can see the interstate in the background. When you get between Bozeman and Belgrade MT, theres a quarry there, give a blast of your horn, my buddy works there and hes usually outside somewhere.
Paul
the hwy west of of NP which is in Ogallala is hwy 26 which meets up with hwy 85 in Torrington Wyoming and goes north again out of Lingle Wyoming. Hwy 16 goes northwest out of Newcastle and meets up with I-90 in Moorcraft.
Let me say that, until the rockies, trains will be the only interesting thing…
This from a guy who’s driven from Calgary to Toronto via Nebraska and the #2, in seperate trips.
Boooring…
You’ve already received a lot of good advice so I’d just like to reinforce a couple of thoughts.
If you do have time to make the detour past Rochelle, IL, make sure you leave several extra hours to visit their railroad park where the public shelter sits at the diamonds where the UP and BNSF main lines out of Chicago cross.
In Nebraska, you have really good trackside viewing from U.S. 30 all the way from Columbus to west of North Platte. If conditions for taking good photos are critical to you, consider that highway 30 makes a large arc through central Nebraska. From Columbus to Grand Island, the tracks are on the north side of the highway, while from Grand Island to near North Platte, they are on the south side. So your opportunities to illuminate the side of the train depend on both location and time of day.
In my opinion, the biggest “bang for the buck”, so to speak, would be to jump off I-80 and up to Grand Island – then stay on 30 to North Platte. You’re in luck this time of year, because by mid-summer the corn growing in the very short distance between the highway and tracks will mess up the view.
And by the time you get to North Platte, you may never want to see another loaded/empty coal or intermodal train again! (Just kidding)
Good luck with the new job!
hey
good luck with the move.might see some interesting stuff from the iowa shortlines too.
stay safe
joe and matt
I thank everybody for the tips but I think Rochelle is out of the question. We have to make 700 miles a day to make it there on time. Is Bailey yard ( UPs North Platte monster) near the highway and can the Cheyenne roundhouse be seen from public properity?
YOu are going to have to have one person sleep while the other drives and switch off every 8 hours.
Otherwise forget the 700 miles per day.
Maybe 400 per 10 hours is reasonable and nothing needs to delay to be able to do that.
You are in for a treat. That West isnt the same as the midwest… no sir!
You will probably need 5 days to finish the trip. Montana alone needs two minimum. The further west you go, the more challenging your efforts to find civilization is going to be.
Enjoy your trip and best of luck for your future.
Do not forget to fill up when your tank gets to the halfway mark, never know where the next gas station will be.
I looked at the map and figured out the hwys that my friend from Bozeman took to north platte, i put it at my earlier post
Paul
700 miles in a day is feasable if you average 65 mph its only about 10hr 45 min which is easily doable I drove from Northern IN to Atlanta in about 10.5 hours which was 784 miles and was stopping 3 times for gas and drive thru food it all depends on the time of day you travel
I used to put away 1200 miles every 24 with a wife team driver. Absolutely no stops except fuel. Cooking and body waste eliminated on the move. We would leave LA on sunday be in Jersey Wedensday and back in LA by Sunday am.
BOY are we tired.
At some point you gotta take a balance on overland trips of more than several days. Sleep is a necessity. It is easy to stay awake between Baltimore and Atlanta in a pax car… Ive done it in a single day.
But once you get out there in the wild west and the reaches of God’s country… you are going to have problems if you dont pace it.
I still call it 400 per day, 10 hours run with time for meals, fuel, and a few stops here and there with a good night’s rest every night.
Otherwise just ship the vehicle to the new residence by car carrier… and fly. It might cost less.
The fact that you plan to head north into Montana before reaching Idaho tells me you must be heading toward Lewiston or St. Maries. If so, you and your family have made a good choice. Gorgeous scenery, good living, great railroading. I could bore you with tales of my drive from Idaho to New Jersey in 1988 and my drive back to Idaho in 1996, but I’ll just focus on your trip, with the understanding that you’ll have family with you, a long drive ahead of you, and probably a big truckload to manage. Coming north through Wyoming on the interstate, you hit some interesting BNSF coal action beginning around Sheridan, which by the way is a good town to grab a motel, if not further along at Billings. A back highway heading southeast out of Sheridan will take you to a couple of nice hills and mine branches, but that might be too far off-course. The coal-carrying main is close to the interstate most of the way from Sheridan to Billings. Probably one of the best and easiest places for you to pull over and enjoy some trains will be MRL on Bozeman Hill just west of Livingston. Be sure to grab one of the exits before reaching the summit. At Three Forks, the main line heads north toward Helena while I-90 goes west through Butte. Some short line opportunities west of Butte, but only if your drive through there times out perfectly with some daily local. You pick up MRL again at Deer Lodge. Exit here and make your way to nearby Garrison and you may find short line power, or MRL helpers waiting for their next shove, or an eastbound train waiting for its helper. Decent canyon/river valley scenery Deer Lodge to Missoula. If you’re bound for Lewiston, it’s U.S. 12 from here over the mountains. If St. Maries, you have a bit more MRL to parallel until it curves away from I-90 at St. Regis. As you cross Lookout Pass, pay attention to the old 4% grades of NP’s branch that used to vault the mountains here to reach the mineral riches around Mullan and Wallace, Idaho.
Yes. There’s a bridge over the yard that provides a view of the backside of the roundhouse. The roundhouse is the building in the upper left hand part of this shot:
There is a road that goes to the roundhouse that I’ve been on during Frontier Days. It’s marked no trespassing, so I probably wouldn’t go there alone during non-steam event days. You might make a call to see if you can get in touch with anyone in the steam program, though. The views on that side, and in the roundhouse are much more interesting:
Hope this helps!
If you are headed to Sand Point, ID, you might consider the High Line…in Montana, go up to Great Falls and follow US2 across through Glacier Park along the BNSF, through White Fish. If you are pressed for time, from Kailspel, stay on US 2 all the way to Bonners Ferry, ID, then down to Sand Point. US 2 is good road, even if it is 2 lane most of the way.
If it is Lewiston, ID you are headed for, even though US 12 from Missoula over LoLo Pass is without trains untill you get half way to Lewiston, it iw well worth the effort…spectacular scenery, and along the Lewis and Clark trail.
Nice pics of Cheyenne.
When are you packing up and heading out West?
To answer your question about Bailey Yard – the answer unfortunately is “no” from either I-80 or US-30. Here’s a link to a map of North Platte taken from the Golden Spike Tower and Visitor’s Center website.
http://www.goldenspiketower.com/location.cfm
I-80 is roughly 2 miles to the south of the yard, and I can tell you from experience that you can’t see much of anything from US-30 except that there are “some trains over there”. In downtown North Platte, US-30 goes over the tracks and, if someone else is driving, you might be able to see the yard throat to the west.
You haven’t indicated how soon you will be making this trip. The Golden Spike Tower is due to open in “Spring, 2008”. I don’t see from the website that it has happened, or how soon it might. Could be worth a phone call just to check. [Edit: Didn’t have anything better to do so I made the phone call for you. Doesn’t open until May.]
That is quite an ambitious schedule you have; however, Sylvania to Omaha – or beyond – should be possible your first day if you don’t make any side trips. West of Omaha you will find a good selection of chain motels every 40-50 miles on I-80.
If just 1 to 1-1/2 hours of train watching will satisfy you, I’d suggest jumping from I-80 to US-30 at Exit 263 (Odessa, just west of Kearney) up to Exit 190 (Maxwell) and thus avoiding going through large (for Nebraska) towns while staying close to the interstate.
Happy travels!
Are you planning on going north from Cheyenne through the PRB, or elsewhere in Wyoming? Depending on your route, I may be able to give you some neat places to go, even some that really aren’t rail related. The Road back to the steam shop is the access road to it, and as long as they know you are coming, and they are not on an excursion, they welcome you to come and visit. Just call first. PM me if you want the phone number. When are you planning on moving?
Back in the late 70’s I got off of I80 and paced the UP on US 30. It was busy then. I cannot imagine the level of traffic now.
Here is a little side tour in Iowa that always is enjoyable for me…in fact I just mentioned it last week. Right past the Mississippi River on I280 (south side of the Quad Cities), take Rt 22 west towards Muscatine. The ICE follows the Mississippi River. Within a few miles there are several industries and one can usually find a train or two. You can exit and go west to Buffalo (5 miles or so), fill up at Casey’s, stretch your legs, walk down to the river, crossing the tracks, get a pork tenderloin sandwitch and head back. There are a couple of industries along the way between I280 and Buffalo with industrial switchers if that is of interest.
Good luck on your new career.