Having sufficiently straightened out the BNSF Railway, I am thinking of tackling the UP.
Weather permitting - we may make a trip out to North Platte’s Bailey Yard over Thanksgiving holiday.
Anyone have any bits of advice - besides mind my p’s and q’s, don’t tresspass and probably don’t wear my BNSF pin that Houston Ed gave me?
La Mook
I hope you have a great trip. Are you sure BNSF can do without you? [;)][:D]
I have about 4-5 days - I will split my time equally! I need to cut apron strings sometime, you know!
mookie
maybe your resident brother can send some info to you.good luck on your trip.
stay safe
Joe
Mookie
Sounds like fun. Somebody here should know-Doesn’t Bailey have a visitor center in a tower with a good view?
Jay
I heard the tower never made the light of day. That’s why I was wondering if there was someplace else that would worth checking out.
I will let this marinate over the weekend and check back in on Monday.
Home on the range…
Mookie
If I remember right some NIMBYs fought against it, something like that, it’s been a while. As to the yard, I remember watching the hump when I went down there in 2001 (I think I actually went late Sept, so it was post-9/11) and that was a cool sight. Besides that, I remember nothing.
I believe the old observation platform is still there, though it’s probably the worse for wear. Plans for a “Golden Spike” observation tower aren’t dead yet, from what I’ve heard, but you won’t see anything along those lines by next month!
About the only advice I can give you is to use Route 30 from Grand Island west–80 doesn’t go as close to the tracks.
Take your train count through Rochelle and/or DeKalb, and roughly double it west of Gibbon Junction.
And, yes, spend some time at Grand Island, near BNSF’s flyover. It will remind you a little of home.
Take something Canadian Pacific, tell them you’re part of the advance operations analysis team.
That should crank up the rumor mill in North Platte.
I’ll second these recommendations most heartily.
Yesterday I drove the 310-miles from Pine Bluffs, Wyo. to Grand Island, Nebr. along U.S. 30 and was mightily entertained. I bet I saw a freight train moving every 8-to-10 minutes or less. The highway wasn’t crowded at all and is certainly a lot more entertaining than nearby I-80. The mix of trains was maybe about 45% coal, 35% double stack, and 20% mixed merchandise.
40-miles west of Grand Island is Kearney, Nebr. The Whiskey Creek Steakhouse located north of I-80 serves a very good New York strip or ribeye that’s reasonably priced. Downtown, and about a half block north of The Overland Route mainline, is the Alley Rose restaurant - a reasonably priced, yet delicious, continental-style dining establishment.
While at North Platte I recommend lodging at the Quality Inn located on Jeffers Blvd. The North Platte Canteen (?) restaurant located inside this facility is the best restaurant I’ve ever sampled in town. Applebee’s located maybe three blocks away ain’t half bad either. Merrick’s, found on U.S. 30 a short ways east of downtown, serves a cheap yet satisfying fried chicken dinner. And if you drive just a little ways west of North Platte, to the town of Hershey, there’s Butch’s Restaurant. Butch’s is located immediately south of
Had me worried for a minute Mook. I thought you signed up with the Borg…lol…
Then I woke up…
LC
The tower of which you speak…it’s a moderately rickety wooden thing which is the equivalent of two storeys high. Nice view of the hump. A few random wires hanging down here and there…a lot of faded, barely legible signs around. Worth a look. Pair of passenger cars there. I didn’t have a lot of time to spend there, but I’d say take a good look at the loco facility…and I agree with rrboomer, cranking up the rumour mill sounds like a smashing idea! [}:)]
One of the city parks has a mini-railroad museum (full size railroad, just not real large). When I was out there in 1998 there was a Challenger and a Centennial, plus other equipment on display.
Jeff
Jeff is thinking of Cody Park located on the north side of town, along the east side of U.S. Hwy. 83, just south of the North Platte River. Within its confines is a DD40aX, an Alco Challenger (UP 3967?), a heavyweight R.P.O. (painted in post-war passenger colors), a caboose, and an old wooden depot. The display is surrounded by a chain link fence, and the entrance gate is generally locked shut from September through early May.
Year around most evenings the headlights and running lights of the locomotives are usually lit up.
mookie, there is a nice high platform from witch to watch the yard. I have been there twice and enjoyed myself both times. Wish I were going with.