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Golden Spike Tower
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<P mce_keep="true">[quote user="Bob-Fryml"] <P><FONT face="courier new,courier">Getting to the Golden Spike Tower is fairly easy. From downtown North Platte, Front Street parallels the southside of the Union Pacific mainline. Drive west on Front Street and it'll take you right to the driveway that's just south of the Tower.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Courier New">All freight car classification activity flows west-to-east. The "eastbound hump" is closest to the Tower, the "westbound hump" is further north. North of the westbound hump's departure tracks is the coal yard where many different types of coal empties are kept on hand to fill trains.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Courier New">One of the more conspicuous features of the whole operation appears to the west. Called variously the "Sheep Jump" or the "Kenefick Skyway," it's a north-south flyover that is used for power transfers between the diesel shop and the westbound hump and coal yards.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Courier New">After you visit the Tower, continue west on Front St. and the road eventually turns north to Birdwood Crossing. The six or seven yard leads on the east side of the crossing connect to the 4-track mainline to the west. It can be a nice place to watch trains arriving and departing North Platte.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Courier New">On U.S. Hwy. 83, north of the mainline about a half mile, is Cody Park, 1400 N. Jeffers St. At the southeast corner of Cody Park is a small railroad display featuring UP 3977 (Challenger-class steam locomotive), UP 6922 an EMD DD40AX, a cupola caboose, a baggage car, an R.P.O., and the restored Hershey, Nebraska depot. It should be open during your visit.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Courier New">The city's best restaurants (and Starbucks) are clustered around the intersection of I-80 and U.S. Hwy. 83. One of my two favorites is The Canteen located inside the Quality Inn. The food there is pretty good, and the place has many large b.& w. photos of the activity that was part of the famous World War 2 era North Platte Canteen operation housed in the Railroad's downtown depot. Unfortunately, both the depot and the Canteen are, as the late author Margaret Mitchell might put it, "gone with the wind." </FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Courier New">The Lincoln County Museum located on the far northwest side of North Platte has a room devoted to the North Platte Canteen. </FONT></P> <P>[/quote]</P> <P>I just returned from my visit the Golden Spike Tower. Your advice was excellent. </P> <P>I had a great time. I spent all day Saturday in the tower, with only a short break for lunch. Charles and Dick, retired railroaders who were volunteering in the tower when I was there added immeasurably to my visit. They were able to answer all of my questions about the yard. Charles had been a dinning car steward and dispatcher, amongst other things, whilst Dick had spent more than 35 years with the railroad as a conductor. </P> <P>The next day I rode my bicycle along U.S. 30 from North Platte to Maxwell and back. The U.P. parallells the road for most of the distance. I must have seen more than 20 trains in approximately three hours or thereabouts. It is a great train watching spot. </P>
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