TRACK SIDE IN KANSAS CITY

[Anonymous]

[8D] Kansas City home of the KC Royals & Chiefs and a lot of fallen flags
A.T.S.F. now B.N.S.F. ran through here from O.K.C. to Chicago
Yds KC KAN Argintine yd
connections with SP,MP,UP,MKT,GM&O,KCS,NW,C&NW,SOO,MILW,IC,-
BN,&SLSF
Santa Fe had a lot of miles befoer the merger [:(]it was a great rail line
bn had a lot of trackage but not untill the slsf merger did it get some miles
when up merged with every thing else it took its toll on the railroad
soo line ran on the old milw road line from davenport IA before the merger and then the line was sold to IMRL [:D](IM REALLY LOST)[:D] it lost a good line then
who can forget the GM&O line which IC got and made ICG that old line became
gateway & western now part of KCS at least they didnt abandon it
n&w merged with SOU to become NS at least they found a name that fits
KCS has so far seen a good life they are getting bigger
but all those days are gone but at least they rebuilt union staion its cool as hell
its got the old school touch i gave it 2 thumbs up and the bull 2 middle fingers up[8D] well thats all i can remember for now

[ironhorseman]

No doubt about, Union Station is the best.

What's the best train watching spot in the area? Is it:
1 The lower parking lot behind the station?
2 The upper parking lot at that office building on the other side of the station where the Amshack used to call home?
3 From high a top the Liberty Memorial?
4 From one of the bridges over Argentine Yard?
5 From the downtown airport parking lot?
6 Or somewhere else?

My dad doesn't know beans about train chasing. When the Challenger was there he thought it would be neat to chase it all over the (*gosh darn*) city. We were told it would go through Independence, the route Amtrak takes. Well, we were told wrong. It took the river route all the way to St. Louis. Well, here it was over an hour after it had left Union Station, there was no way of catching it in the area now. So what's he do? He goes north looking for the river route! I didn't want to go. I had to wake up at 6 AM just to get to the station in time to see it off and hadn't had breakfast yet. So he dilly dallied around north Independence and got lost out in the middle of somewhere. Finally, after using the dirtest restroom in the dirtest truck stop in the dirtest part of Missouri I convinced him to head back into town. Somehow we came across the NS's autorack yard. There was more razor wire on those fences and more video surveillance than at Leavanworth Penitentiary. I don't know what convinced him to get the heck out there more: the cops or my growling stomache. I don't know what happened next becaused I passed out. When I woke up we were somewhere in north KC. We stopped at a Waffle House where I had breakfast at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Mmmmm.... waffles. So finally somehow we wound up at the airport on the other side of the river by downtown along about sundown where I saw two train run side by side.

The moral of the story is if you want to go to KC to see trains PLAN YOUR EXCURSION IN ADVANCE! Don't just go running around willy nilly to places randomly. After leaving Union Station that was the worst trip I'd ever been on.

Oh, and if you plan an doing any driving around the city you better hope your insurance is paid up. Mad drivers everywhere.

Kansas City is a great place to see a variety of trains.

If you want hamburgers or just a chocolate shake for lunch may I suggest Fitzes (or is it called Fritzes?) in the mall across the street. They deliver your food to your table via a model train. Very fun. Also you can see a street car named desire turned restaurant right there in the mall. It's all on the lower level. Somewhere up stairs is a model train store.

Also, if you want to see model trains go to the Kansas City Museum. It's over there around Cliff Drive and Gladstone Blvd. It's in an area called Kessler Park. From Union Station take Main St. north to Truman Blvd. From Truman Blvd go east to Paseo Blvd. Follow that north around Cliff Drive to Gladstone Blvd. It's a history and science museum that used to be a mansion, but there's a model railroad in the basement. Just get out of there before dark because it's rumored the place is haunted. From that bluff you can see more trains but be sure to bring your binoculars.

P.S. - get one of those Rand McNally Greater Kansas City city maps because they have the most detail.

[millerdc]

Best spot in town is the BNSF Crossing west of Union Station. There is an old, unused auto overpass that can be reached off Southwest Trafficway at the corner where the KCT roundhouse is located (has been preserved). There is action on the BNSF main, the UP (ex MOPAC), BNSF (ex Frisco), UP (ex Katy), UP (ex Rock Island), KCS transfer runs and NS transfer runs. This is also the area the new flyover is under construction. It will run next to the existing old KCT flyover that served the Rock Island Golden State/Texas route. I would send picture but don't know how to attach on this forum.

[Anonymous]

[8D]Millerdc [8D]is the fly over you mention near the east end of the ex mopac (neff) yd?
or are they builing a new one near argentine yd i remember when the BNSF
& UP Crossed at grade but in 2000 they built a fly over mainly for amtrak so they could be on time but up has a short fly over e-w bound from the hump tower in
neff yd the fly over im thinking is about 3-4 miles east of union station also i do remember the KCT round house Bn's Ex frisco line go under 12th st far west of downtown and theres evidence of the old round house there ..
the unused auto bridge is a old wrought iron with concrete floor i think it spans up and bnsf i have old pictures of bn from 92 going under the north end of broadway were it deadends at the river that bridge was used in a movie i cant remember what its called [8D][8D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ironhorseman

No doubt about, Union Station is the best.

What's the best train watching spot in the area? Is it:
1 The lower parking lot behind the station?
2 The upper parking lot at that office building on the other side of the station where the Amshack used to call home?
3 From high a top the Liberty Memorial?
4 From one of the bridges over Argentine Yard?
5 From the downtown airport parking lot?
6 Or somewhere else?

My dad doesn't know beans about train chasing. When the Challenger was there he thought it would be neat to chase it all over the (*gosh darn*) city. We were told it would go through Independence, the route Amtrak takes. Well, we were told wrong. It took the river route all the way to St. Louis. Well, here it was over an hour after it had left Union Station, there was no way of catching it in the area now. So what's he do? He goes north looking for the river route! I didn't want to go. I had to wake up at 6 AM just to get to the station in time to see it off and hadn't had breakfast yet. So he dilly dallied around north Independence and got lost out in the middle of somewhere. Finally, after using the dirtest restroom in the dirtest truck stop in the dirtest part of Missouri I convinced him to head back into town. Somehow we came across the NS's autorack yard. There was more razor wire on those fences and more video surveillance than at Leavanworth Penitentiary. I don't know what convinced him to get the heck out there more: the cops or my growling stomache. I don't know what happened next becaused I passed out. When I woke up we were somewhere in north KC. We stopped at a Waffle House where I had breakfast at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Mmmmm.... waffles. So finally somehow we wound up at the airport on the other side of the river by downtown along about sundown where I saw two train run side by side.

The moral of the story is if you want to go to KC to see trains PLAN YOUR EXCURSION IN ADVANCE! Don't just go running around willy nilly to places randomly. After leaving Union Station that was the worst trip I'd ever been on.

Oh, and if you plan an doing any driving around the city you better hope your insurance is paid up. Mad drivers everywhere.

Kansas City is a great place to see a variety of trains.

If you want hamburgers or just a chocolate shake for lunch may I suggest Fitzes (or is it called Fritzes?) in the mall across the street. They deliver your food to your table via a model train. Very fun. Also you can see a street car named desire turned restaurant right there in the mall. It's all on the lower level. Somewhere up stairs is a model train store.

Also, if you want to see model trains go to the Kansas City Museum. It's over there around Cliff Drive and Gladstone Blvd. It's in an area called Kessler Park. From Union Station take Main St. north to Truman Blvd. From Truman Blvd go east to Paseo Blvd. Follow that north around Cliff Drive to Gladstone Blvd. It's a history and science museum that used to be a mansion, but there's a model railroad in the basement. Just get out of there before dark because it's rumored the place is haunted. From that bluff you can see more trains but be sure to bring your binoculars.

P.S. - get one of those Rand McNally Greater Kansas City city maps because they have the most detail.

[8D][8D] been there the restuarant is cool as hell but i know kc like my hand that was the biggest auto prison in kc thats what i call it NS & BNSF both use it and UP but thats nothing compared to UP'S Livonia yd in plaquemine parish Louisiana
about 10-15 miles n of the town of plaqemine the yds 5 miles from the nearest pay phone in the middle of a sugar cane its also a small over the hill hump

[Trainnut484]

The BNSF crossing west of Union Station is called Santa Fe Junction. At any time of day you can see trains from all US major roads and even some short lines. Due to the construction of the new flyover, BNSF police are keeping close patrols around the area. Around 12th street is another good spot to watch trains, but it's a bottleneck and trains do sit there for a while. For modelers, there is Doc's Caboose closeby. He's next to a busy UP mainline. His website is www.docscaboose.com It'll have driving directions and maps.

Take care,

Russell