diningcar The Kansas Historical Society museum in Topeka (25 miles from Valley Falls) has a wonderful exhibit of Santa Fe's artifacts including an 1880's full size train set up inside. Perhaps your family knows of it but has not been there. Many other historical displays and the grounds have locations for a picnic. Also the former Union Pacific depot in Topeka has been restoted (called the Great Overland Station) and is worth a two hour visit. If the weather is bad both of these are indoors and have many RR artifacts, plus only 25 milesfrom VF.
The Kansas Historical Society museum in Topeka (25 miles from Valley Falls) has a wonderful exhibit of Santa Fe's artifacts including an 1880's full size train set up inside. Perhaps your family knows of it but has not been there. Many other historical displays and the grounds have locations for a picnic. Also the former Union Pacific depot in Topeka has been restoted (called the Great Overland Station) and is worth a two hour visit.
If the weather is bad both of these are indoors and have many RR artifacts, plus only 25 milesfrom VF.
Thanks everyone for the info. If anyone has further ideas or thought feel free to post/PM.
Dan
CNW 6000 US151 from WI to Cedar Rapids (Best Western downtown) Thurs PM. I80 to I35 to KS4 on Fri AM. Reverse order for trip home on Mon. In Cedar Rapids, IA I can see (via Yahoo! Maps) what seems to be some kind of yard between the Cedar River and Cedar Lake. Looks like Stickle Dr. NE may provide access or at least possibly a view. Whose tracks are those?
US151 from WI to Cedar Rapids (Best Western downtown) Thurs PM. I80 to I35 to KS4 on Fri AM. Reverse order for trip home on Mon. In Cedar Rapids, IA I can see (via Yahoo! Maps) what seems to be some kind of yard between the Cedar River and Cedar Lake. Looks like Stickle Dr. NE may provide access or at least possibly a view. Whose tracks are those?
Cooper's Mill, eh? Right in the heart of Flood Damage USA. Hope they got it fixed back up real nice. Nice view of Quaker Oats and the UP bridge across the river from their front door, though. That yard near Cedar Lake is actually a conglomeration of yards- combination UP/Iowa Northern next to Quaker, veering off to the northeast is CNIC, and going straight east is more CNIC and UP- and I've seen CRANDIC running through there as well, as they service all of the local industries, especially down in the SW side of town. The yards are pretty accessible; in fact, there's a bicycle/walking trail that runs around the lake right next to the yards.
CNW 6000 Just outside of Tiffin, IA (seems to be an easy, fast detour from I80 at Ireland Ave.) looks like a mainline running E/W. Whose tracks are those? Traffic? Frequencies? Looks like we come near the same (?) line near Malcom, IA and possibly again past Grinnell, IA along with a N/S running line that intersects the E/W line in Grinnell. Would it be worth my while to listen in on RR freqs in these areas?
Just outside of Tiffin, IA (seems to be an easy, fast detour from I80 at Ireland Ave.) looks like a mainline running E/W. Whose tracks are those? Traffic? Frequencies? Looks like we come near the same (?) line near Malcom, IA and possibly again past Grinnell, IA along with a N/S running line that intersects the E/W line in Grinnell. Would it be worth my while to listen in on RR freqs in these areas?
The line near Tiffin would be Iowa Interstate's main line, maybe 4/6 trains a day. Couldn't tell you the frequencies, though. You might consider signing up with the IAIS Yahoo group, they're pretty active and will give you the frequencies pretty quickly. And yes, you do come close to the same line near Malcom; in fact, you get a pretty nice view of it there and in a couple of other locations from I-80. In all my trips to Des Moines and back, though, I've never been lucky enough to see anything running on it. The N/S line at Grinnell is UP, I think. I have seen traffic on that one a time or two. In our area, UP is on 161.040, and CRANDIC is on 160.550, I think. The IAIS line swings south at Newton, but you'll only catch a glimpse of it ducking under the freeway, as it's going through a wooded area.
CNW 6000 I'd love to hit up Rochelle on the way down...but that would add too much of a detour for Aedan and Misty (probably) to tolerate. Little birdies have told me that just S/SE of Dubuque, IA along with St. Joseph, MO and Topeka, KS are good places to keep eyes open.
I'd love to hit up Rochelle on the way down...but that would add too much of a detour for Aedan and Misty (probably) to tolerate. Little birdies have told me that just S/SE of Dubuque, IA along with St. Joseph, MO and Topeka, KS are good places to keep eyes open.
Yeah, Dubuque's big railyard is right next to US-151 as you're headed past downtown, and there's usually some motive power sitting right across the highway from the convenience store/hamburger joint (I think, I know there's fast food of some sort there). Note, as you're headed south on the elevated portion of US-151, you can see the CNIC bridge across the river and the tunnel on the other side that brings the line around to connect up with the BNSF in East Dubuque, IL- one of my favorite hangouts.
I'll PM you with rendezvous possibilities.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
mudchicken Which way is the cheesepicker going between A & B?
Which way is the cheesepicker going between A & B?
I know of that KDOT map...have looked at it in the past but I think my C drive may be hiding it from me presently.
CNW 6000Hey folks, I'm driving from Oshkosh, WI (54901) to Valley Falls, KS (66088) over Memorial Weekend. I will have a bit more time to stop on Friday on the way down to "see some stuff" as we go than I will on the return trip on Monday. Any advice for places where I'm likely to see something? I have a scanner too...so any frequency help would be great as well. Feel free to PM/email me if you'd rather not post things publicly here. Thanks in advance!
Hey folks,
I'm driving from Oshkosh, WI (54901) to Valley Falls, KS (66088) over Memorial Weekend. I will have a bit more time to stop on Friday on the way down to "see some stuff" as we go than I will on the return trip on Monday. Any advice for places where I'm likely to see something? I have a scanner too...so any frequency help would be great as well. Feel free to PM/email me if you'd rather not post things publicly here.
Thanks in advance!
I'd invite you to swing through CR (US 151 to I-380/I-80/I-35 is probably your most direct route to Kansas), but alas we won't be here, as we're heading north to Minnesota that weekend.
Valley Falls, was a stumper for me.
Looks like you are NW of the North part of Kansas City and NE of Topeka. The Levenworth area is more or less due east. I thought while you are still at home,some Internet research might be in order:
Here is an easy place to start: http://www.kansasheritage.org/research/rr/ This site has a number of links to different railroad site with information about the various counties involved in their operations. I'd recomend you start with the Kansas Pacific link for the area of NE Kansas info.
If I find some more I'll post here, or hopefully if others can add to it they will as well.
EDIT: This link may be of use to you. Admittedly it is a KDOT map from 2005, but still should be accurate. A PDF file that can be enlarged to suit your needs. Shows all existant rail lines, and owners as of 2005 in different colors: http://www.ksdot.org/burrail/rail/publications/rrmap05.pdf
Baldwin(museum), Marysville (UP), Smoky Hill/Abilene(steam) within a short radius of Valley Falls.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
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