It all began back in 1959, at the age of 4½. My family and I were heading up to Cape Cod and somewhere along the way I saw this railroad bridge with these huge boxcars on top of it, wondering what they were. A few years later I was at my Nana and Nunu’s summer cottage in Niantic, Connecticut and come to find out that the New Haven Railroad was right down the street. In fact, there was this green house with a back yard that was near the tracks and it made the perfect place to watch the trains as they rolled by. From that year on, I was hooked.
Fast forward to present day and I am in the town of Columbus, Nebraska. According to the mile marker at the grade crossing near the Sleep Inn where I am staying, we are 83 miles due west of Omaha, what was then the eastern terminus of the great Transcontinental Railroad. It was built west from Omaha by the Union Pacific and built east from San Francisco by the then Central Pacific and joined together in Promontory Point, Utah, north of Salt Lake City.
But I digress.
With that being said, welcome to my journal, or blog as the young kids call them these days. To those of you who followed me via email on my journey back in October of 2008, it’s good to see you again. For those of you following me on Facebook, nice to see you around here for your first time.
And I have asked you all to come along with me and see what makes this railfan tick. As before, this journal now blog will be more than just trains. I’ll be covering some new areas and planning some new side trips. We will once again visit some items from the past and we’ll visit some new destinations. The pictures will be better and it will be easier to read. All you need is the following link:
Emails and a note on Facebook will go out around 10pm EDT each day letting you know when the next chapter will be available.
So let’s begin. The day started today at my home airfield, Bradley International Airport, formally Bradley Field, in my hometown of Windsor Locks, Connecticut; know to the airlines industry as Hartford-Springfield. I flew with the folks of Frontier Airlines, based in Denver, Colorado. Frontier is a combination of 2 separate airlines, the original Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines, the latter that was based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Frontier’s slogan is, “A different kind of animal”. That you can see by the placards attached to the tail of each airplane which shows a picture of various animals; from foxes to bears to rabbits and many more. You can learn more about the airline and their “animals” at http://www.frontierairlines.com/ and look for the story behind them.
After transferring in Milwaukee, I land in Omaha, Nebraska at Eppley Field, which truly reminds me of Bradley Field. It is a quaint midwestern airport in this railroad city. The Union Pacific Railroad has its headquarters here and is home to The Bunker, the main dispatch center for most of the railroad’s 23,000 miles of track. Some of the UP trains originate, terminate, or pass thru Council Bluffs Yard just over the Missouri River in Iowa. More on the UP and the other big player here in the Midwest, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, as the days go on.
From here, we’ll slowly work our way west towards North Platte, Nebraska, home of Bailey Yard, the world’s largest classification yard. Then up north to Pierre (pronounced “pier”), South Dakota to visit my friend Jenn and her 2 daughters with a side trip to Mount Rushmore near Rapid City, South Dakota. We’ll also head to the Power River Basin in eastern Wyoming where an over 300-year supply of low sulfur, bituminous coal exists. Scotts Bluff in Scottsbluff, Nebraska is on the agenda with trips down to Denver and Greeley, Colorado. And then we will work our way back east to Omaha.
And speaking of pictures, here are a few. First, the 2 below from Omaha:
These are 2 major intersections in Omaha. The first is looking north on S. 72nd Street at U.S. 6/Dodge Street and the second is looking west on U.S. 6/Dodge Street at N. 84th Street. These intersections are 6 lanes wide each with an additional 2 turning lanes towards the middle of the medians. These traffic light structures are about 100 feet across and carry all of the traffic lights needed to keep these intersections fluid. I just find these very fascinating and quite an accomplishment in traffic control.
And the next 2 pictures are the main reason I am here:
An eastbound empty unit auto carrier train at Ames, Nebraska with one 4200 horsepower GM diesel pulling 85 cars. And:
A westbound empty unit coal train at Columbus, Nebraska heading back to the mines in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. More on that next week.
So hang around, grab a cold one (keeping it a safe distance from the computer keyboard), and come along for the ride.
I thank my daughter Caty and my son Chris for putting together the blog from my trip 2 years ago and for the help in getting this one started. And thanks to my younger brother Paul for the title of this journal/blog. I’m sure Charles Karault would approve.
I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Columbus, Nebraska.
No comments:
Post a Comment