I thot the proposed North Platte Observation Tower went bust over 2 years ago. Fortunately not:
http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=14133&pageID=3
I have been waiting for this to open. It was so dismal when we were there a couple of years ago. This looks a whole lot more inviting! Savin’ mah pennies!
Experienced railfans know how paraniod UP train crews are. I wonder if the tower will become the new symbol of AK47-ville.
Sorry folks, but I just can’t use the phrase “ultimate train watching site” to describe this new venue. I am personally much more enamoured with places like Rochelle or my own spot at Eola Yard in Aurora, IL than a cold and impersonal tower like this. I like the sounds and smells of “at grade” railroading and all the other railfans hanging around for company and spirited conversation…all of which I doubt this tower will offer on a regular basis. If I want to watch trains from a quiet, air conditioned spot I will use my own home and watch the various Internet based web-cams. Just one man’s opinion.
[tdn]
I’ll have to agree this isn’t what I’d consider the ultimate railfan spot. How many other railroads, besides UP are you going to see? Plus you’ll need a telephoto lens to get a decent shot. If they built such a viewing stand, say, at Pigs Eye Yard in St. Paul, you’d see:
CP, SOO, UP, BNSF, TCW, ICE, AMTK, possibly MNNR
That’s variety. You have sort of a natural viewing stand in the shape of Dayton’s Bluff, from the city park, but the only time I was up there I saw three trains and two girls in a car injecting heroin.
(Note to self: Bring polarizing filter when visiting.)
(Note to self: Send note to CopCarSS requesting cc’s of his notes to self.)
Title aside - I have been to the site before it was rebuilt. It was awful, but you know - I enjoy watching trains so much that just watching the hump work and the movements of the trains that we could see from the ground, fascinated me. And I am only blocks from constant movement of trains in and out of our yard 24/7.
We were pretty much alone in the area, had some great weather, were able to drive back and forth parallel the hump to get a different view and just had a great time watching an ever changing yard.
I think some of you are missing the thrill of watching a train no matter where it is in favor of variety and constant motion. This isn’t a video game or youtube or texting where everything is constant motion. Sometimes the thrill is just in enjoying small changes in the scenery. Something about stopping to smell the flowers.
It is a busy yard and while I am not a big UP fan - hey, it is trains and I will trek up there to watch!
Mook
I don’t have a cellphone, nor any video games in my house, and I ignore YouTube. Hey if it’s fun for you to watch a lot of UP action from that crow’s nest - do it! I’ll certainly agree that watching even UP movement is better than no trains at all (I’d stare down an abandoned branch line before watching YouTube).
I am sure I came across as argumentative, but that wasn’t my intent. I am just trying to present another viewpoint for some of the younger people on the forum that seem to want everything fast and right now. Sometimes slow is better… [8)]
I wouldn’t make a special trip to go, but if I sohuld happen to be in NP I would stop for a bit… I still like the Green River Yard on a busy day… Then you are literally in it cause you are on the bridge in the middle of it all…
There is a really nice railfanning platform at the old T&P station in Marshall, TX. It sits right smack in the middle of the wye and you can see trains from all directions.
I think there’s a difference between watching trains and just looking at them. Mookie, I’m sure you’ll make it up there and enjoy it–once. Then you’ll realize that you’re getting an overview of railroading, but no real train-watching. No “whoop!,” no rolling thunder, and yellow engines that could be almost anything.
I will go to that tower sometime, probably as soon as next year–just to see what can be seen from there. I have a similar train-looking-at site closer to home, and get to spend 40 hours a week there. Trains move around no matter in which direction you look–and I’m not talking about the work that I happen to be doing (which usually interferes with good train-looking–missed the weekly perishable train Sunday while earning my keep).
I’m with Jim–he plunks himself down at the end of a busy yard (Eola), and watches trains move into, out of, and through it. I do the same thing when I can, but find Elmhurst to be closer and offer more amenities than Eola–but I still go to Eola sometimes for the variety. And variety is what I get–those are completely different freight trains at Eola than at Elmhurst. And still more variety can be had by visiting Camp Mookie in Lincoln, or the passenger station in Elkhart, Galesburg, Catlettsburg, or anywhere.
Of course, there are people who perfer their action slightly more fast-paced. These are the train-hunters, and would prefer their trains moving at track speed or better. You might be able to stop or slow the action with your photographic weapon of choice. Folks like these prefer locales such as Rochelle, Grand Island, Porter (oops, Chesterton–we’re still not allowed at Porter!), Cajon, Altoona, Tehachapi, or points in between–just about any place photogenic.
At North Platte I’ll go up to the tower and look at the trains once. Maybe another time if I’m bringing someone else
Truth be known, I had originally meant to put a “?” at the end of the topic title. But no matter.
Unlike many of you, I’m not a fan of downtown railroading at all, variety or not. I don’t see the draw of sitting on a hill staring at Northtown. When I lived in Nebraska the trackside park in Kearney held way more excitement for me than Bailey Yard. But having said that, I wouldn’t turn down a chance to visit that new tower. I’m definitely with Mookie on that one. And if Trains were to put a webcam up there, I’d watch it, & all of you would as well, altho some of you wouldn’t admit it.
And something just occurs to me: The NP tower will likely be a bigger draw than Rochelle, by virtue of the fact that it’s targeting regular tourists on I-80. The tower is not technically a railfan site, it’s a “world’s biggest something” site. Rochelle & similar are appealing to railfans only.
Kansas City’s Union Station, from what I hear, is a pretty neat place to watch trains. Amtrak, BNSF, Union Pacific, and Norfolk Southern trains all pass through here - something like 110 trains a day. They also have a new pedestrian overpass right across the tracks.
North Platte sounds interesting, being the largest freight yard in the world, but I wouldn’t say it’s the ‘ultimate’ train watching spot. But, it does look cool.
Jim:
That’s is your opinion! Are you jealous for the guys to be in a chair (climate Control) watching trains with a cup of coffee? I think its a great idea.
I agree 100% sorry whats the point of sitting in a tower you wont be able to have the sights and sounds of railfanning
I can’t wait for some wag to install a dummy transformer up there so guests could “control” their model railroad!
The pictures I have seen show a open balconey one floor below the enclosed viewing level.