In late September early October we are travelling by rail from New York City to San Francisco with stop overs in Chicago, Omaha and Denver. My interest is freight trains and I hope to see as many as possible on this trip. I would appreciate ideas for good safe viewing spots in and around these cities.
Thanks, Murray NZ
It may be worth it to extend the amount of time to go from NYC to SF so that you can take a detour to North Platte, NE.
Almost 30 years ago we had a couple from New Zealand staying at our house for a week or more. John was a locomotive engineer for NZR. A few years after that, a group of four NZ railfans got in touch with us, and stopped by to show the results of what they’d gotten (they had to provide their own electrical adapters).
More information needed–what lodging plans do you have for the Chicago area and how much time do you wish to devote to it?
I would guess that if you are stopping over in Chicago you would bored a Metra dinky and head west out to the stop Route 59. I guess the platform there is a great place to view trains, on the, once BN, now BNSF Chiacago Racetrack. I know this because the Ultamate Rairoading DVD Series’s last installment was BN’s Chicago Racetrack. They reccomend it, it’s an editor’s choice edition. Enjoy youre trip! ps. how you view the racetrack depends on where you stand. So venture out other places becides the platform.
Omaha:
There’s almost no way to see a lot without renting a car. There are good downtown hotels within walking distance of the passenger station. If I had a car, the places to go are Pacific Junction/Plattsmouth to see the BNSF main line, Missouri Valley-Blair-Fremont to see the busiest part of the UP, and just wander around Council Bluffs though you probably won’t see many if any trains moving. Omaha itself has very little that’s highly accessible; the UP crosses the river from Council Bluffs and goes uphill and leaves town; most traffic on this line is eastward.
Denver: It’s possible to see something riding the light rail south to Littleton, but not much. There are good downtown hotels within a very quick walk of Union Station, but not much in the way of trains to see there. If you rent a car, places to go are south on the Joint Line toward Colorado Springs, and west on the Moffat. You may not see more than 1-2 trains on the Moffat in a half-day, or none, but the scenery is stupendous. Colorado Highway 71 takes you along this line and crosses it in many places, and many county roads provide access to more remote locations. There’s traffic coming in on the Brush Subdivision on BNSF from the east, but not a lot of scenery. The UP north is thin on traffic.
Not sure if you’ve traveled much in the U.S., so you may know all the general stuff, but here goes anyway:
Don’t drive into yards or engine terminals, or park a car right next to the track. Someone will come see what you’re doing and ask you to leave the property. If you’re in a city, park along a street where there are parking spaces, or in a business parking lot, and walk over to the grade-crossing to take photos and watch trains. Generally you can park along the shoulder (or do you call it verge?) of any two-lane country road, gravel-surface or paved, so long as your car is safely off the pavement, and no one will bother you.
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Ditto Carl’s (CShaveRR’s) remarks …and he has a much more busy “backyard” than here. Please heed RWM’s sage advice and also: (1) the other part of “we”, is into what? (2) the reason for the layovers in each locale might affect what we would tell you. E-mail Carl offline and if some of us can help, he’ll let us know.
I traveled across country on Amtrak in 1988. It was a spur of the moment thing but an amazing trip. Even better I am guessing if you have a sleeper. But I enjoyed it, stayed over in New Orleans, Los Angeles (spent the day in Hollywood, Awesome!) and Chicago, though only a few hours there. You see things from a train you won’t see from a car or certainly a plane, and if you don’t mind being on the train for a couple of days at a time ( I certainly didn’t) it will be quite a trip. You pass a lot of trains, but can’t see them much from inside the train. There are always places to get off where you can maybe catch some action while en route.