My brother and his wife will be going to Kansas City in September and would like to do a little weekday railfanning.
They’ve already researched Union Station and the Midland Railway in nearby Baldwin City, KS.
Any ideas on places to go (or to stay away from)?
Anyone know of any web-based railfan guides to KC?
Thanks for your help.
Mike R.
-Tinley Park, IL
I was told that Overland Park is a great place to railfan. I was also told that there are tons of KCS, and BNSF traffic there. Also UP.
Hello Mike,
I would have recommended Santa Fe junction in the West bottoms, but BNSF has posted more “No Trespassing” signs and barricaded some areas close to the tracks. However there are still a couple of places to park safely from the tracks. There you can see BNSF, UP, CSX, NS, Amtrak’s “Mule” turns around there, and KCS. The junction is just South of Kemper Arena. Also it’s not a safe place to be at night.
Since your brother and his wife are going to be there during a weekday, they should avoid parking in the lots of the business around there.
Union Station is undergoing some renovations to their parking area by adding a parking garage where the yards used to be, and a passenger train exibit. They just reopened the parking area closest to the fence that seperates the parking lot from the tracks. BNSF and UP traffic pass by.
The Midland Railway in Baldwin City operates an excursion train featuring historic equipment. Their website www.midland-ry.org lists their operating equipment and excursion times.
Hope this is of help to you [:)]
Take care,
Russell
Parkville MO along MO 9 highway can have some good railfanning on it. It is the BNSF line from Lincoln into North Kansas City. Mainly coal drags but also freight and some intermodal. There are several places to eat and watch the trains. I would recommend the powerhouse brewery.
The just opened parking lot at Union Station that Trainnut spoke about is a very good place to watch, have seen 7 to 10 movements per hour there.
go to the midland railroad it is awesome!!! i am a member there and i volunteer and work there on sundays it is awesome, i ride in the cab of the Rs3m #142 Katy loco all the time
Thanks to everyone for their input so far. They have about a month till they leave, so keep those ideas coming!
Bumping this thread back to the top. Welcoming any info on KC railfan spots. Thanks!
Sheffield Juction used to be a pretty good place to shoot pictures with tons of trains coming through. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve lived in KC and I highly doubt if you can even get down to Sheffield Jct. anymore. Another good spot which comes to mind is on the south side U.P.'s Neff yard. There’s an public access road you can drive down and catch trains coming from the east and the Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad comes into Neff from the south from Carthage, MO.
Pierpont’s Restaurant in Kansas City Union Station is really superb! Pricey, yes, but the food is prepared well and the menu features a wide variety of fresh foods. It’s my favorite dinner spot in Kansas City. And yes, Arthur Bryant’s is still there but it’s just “'Q,” beans, and fries. Sure wi***hey’d do a good vinegar-based, non-creamy cole slaw too!
Immediately north of K.C. Union Station is the four (?) track Kansas City Terminal mainline. It sees somewhere around 80 to 100+ freight train, transfer, and Amtrak movements per day. There are several street bridges east of the station that span these tracks, so some good photo opportunities may be had there.
Also north of K.C. Union Station is the old Milwaukee Road freight house building that now houses a first rate barbeque joint. The parking lot abuts against the north edge of the KCT mainline, so this might be a good place to be watching trains and sipping suds during the early evening hours.
Have fun!