Part Twelve

“A Kodak Moment”

Today was just one of those days. You could not ask for anything better. Blue skies and temps in the low 70’s (considering 2 years ago it was freezing cold and there was some snow).

I left Scottsbluff, Nebraska at 9am MDT and you can’t avoid seeing the bluff from about anywhere in the city:

Even above the car dealership across the street from my hotel.

And then the piles are back:

And with good reason. A big Western Sugar processing plant is also across the street. And as I got on the highway this morning, they were building a fresh pile of sugar beets. Like Tribbles on Star Trek but on a much LARGER scale.

About 20 miles out of Scottsbluff, you come across a another famous but smaller bluff in Nebraska called Chimney Rock:

Another 20 miles and I arrive in Bridgeport; which is a main interchange between the UP and BNSF. Both railroads cross each other at a diamond in one corner of the interchange. But here, each railroad has the ability to be switched onto each other.

If you look at this map from Delorme Mapping Systems:

The UP runs left to right (West to East) on the lower portion of the screen. The BNSF is the centerline running bottom to top (South to North). You will notice curved sections of track called wyes, which make the connections to each railroad. For example: remember the UP train with the green natural gas pipes from last week?? Well, those pipes were found at a storage facility just east of Newcastle, Wyoming when I went thru there on Monday. The train ran right thru the Bridgeport interchange, as this sequence of pictures will show you. First, BNSF crosses the diamond coming straight at you:

Just to the left of the diamond, the UP train enters part of the wye that takes it from UP rails to BNSF rails. Then the train goes through the straight sections of the double switch:

On the track in the lower foreground:

And then following the track that the empty BNSF coal train takes:

And as seen from U.S Route 385:

Again, an easy means of transporting large items with the cooperation of both railroads.

And remember the auto graveyard at Brady, Nebraska?? Well how about this: Bridgeport Tractor parts:

This is the farmer’s equivalent of an auto parts junkyard but this is for tractors.

Only in Nebraska, I guess.

Further southeast and we run into:

By gosh, resplendent with lovely fall colors.

Then you enter Lemoyne, where the northern end of a very large lake appears, known as Lake McConaughy. Clear blue water with many beach and marina locations along the way:

And the UP keeps on running with a westbound empty coal train near Martin, Nebraska. And on the point, a fallen flag of a railroad gone by that the UP purchased – the Chicago Northwestern:

And after the train passed, check this out:

Need your house moved??!!

And about that hill:

Yup.....easy!! And I thought they only did this on Ice Road Truckers.

And before we leave Lake McConaughy, a few more shots:

Out of Ogallala and it is west thru Brule:

Until we reach our 4^th and final state of our trip:

Ouch.

I stop in downtown Julesburg and find the store that has these fantastic homemade grinders. And there it is: Julesburg Family Market:

On Cedar Street off U.S Route 138 at the cross street of 3rd Street. The store is half supermarket and half general store. Get the nuts and bolts and whatever hardware you need while you grinder is made up. Place your order for your grinder and watch it being made up. Get it cut in two, wrapped in red and white checkerboard paper, and then it’s all put in a clear, zip-lock plastic bag.

After getting my lunch, it is over to a local park. And within minutes, the entertainment begins:

After lunch, it is westward through this small slice of Colorado. And I stop at a bridge near the corner of U.S. Routes 138 and 385. Two years ago, I shot a UP double-stack train in snow and with a wind chill of about 15 degrees.

 What a difference 2 years makes:

A manifest freight, complete with a specially decorated locomotive for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, home ground to the UP:

Just blue skies. 72 degrees. And within 20 miles, we are back in:

And then we stop at Lodgepole, which has a nice park and this fine looking gazebo for train viewing.

And behold some fall color and train color:

Once this freight passed, it was time to do what this railfan came to Nebraska for:

In the true sense:

Train Chasing!!

This was the same train that had just passed through Lodgepole:

I followed 8083 for about 10 miles at about 45 MPH. No one behind me to hinder so it was just 8083 and me. Fresh air. Blue skies. Thousands of General Motors' finest horsepower. Did I happen to mention it doesn’t get any better than this??

Soon we approach Point of Rocks.

A butte of rock which pretty much just juts out there. So the railroad and U.S. 30 make a swing to the left and to the right and back to the left.

And then this interesting spot. On the borders of Kimball and Cheyenne Counties between the towns of Potter and Kimball, you are within a stone’s throw of I-80 on one side of U.S. 30:

And the railroad on the other side.

Cool, eh??

A few miles down the road at Kimball, Nebraska, I catch up with the freight from earlier, 8083:

And just west of Kimball, a meet with a double-stack heading east. And from my stopped car along Route 30, I get this:

“Timing is the essence of everything.” And David P. Morgan is yelling, "Bravo!!"

And after almost 6 ½ hours of driving, we again reach:

And then it is up onto the combined raceway of I-80 and the Cheyenne Subdivision:

Road speed: 75; track speed: 60.

And at 4:10pm MDT, we arrive in Cheyenne, 6060 feet above sea level. A good day for the road with many Kodak momemts.

Thursday, we do a round trip over Point Crawford at 8900 feet into Laramie. Lunch in Cheyenne and then south to Denver. We’ll visit THE hobby store for all model railroaders. And…..we’ll see what else happens. More to come.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Cheyenne, Wyoming.