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Kansas City Area March 1st, 2003
The club left Ames at 6am and arrived in the Kansas City area around 9:30. After taking the scenic route through KC, the club went southwest, ending up at Olathe, KS. The weather was bad at this point, and it never seemed to get better. The first train caught was BNSF 4903. Next was BNSF 7579, which had a nice string of AutoMax cars. FURX 8107 made an appearance shortly after. Next stop was Argentine Yard, where the National Academy of Railroad Sciences' BNSF 1610 was found sitting in the same line with SDP40 BNSF 6326. BNSF 1299 was found in the yard as well. From the overpass, TM, KCS, and Oakway power was spotted among a sea of BNSF power. After grabbing lunch, the club moved on to Birmingham Junction, MO, where quite a bit of action was found. NS 4745 was leading a train consisting of a switcher, WATCO 1211. UP 9106 waited for a signal to cross the diamond thereafter. A light power move to nearby Voltz Yard was next, with NS 8987 in the lead. After this move, the club proceeded east to Henrietta. After patiently waiting a good half hour or so, UP 5076 came through. The action picked up a bit, consisting of NS 8845 on the "the third main", BNSF 4917 by the old ATSF station, and an oncoming BNSF intermodal from the overpass. With darkness approaching, the club moved east and found BNSF 7050 leading a manifest with trailing units of Conrail, WC, and CSX heritage. On the way to Carrollton, an ex-Conrail, NS 8384 train was spotted and finally at WB Junction, NS 9238 with autoracks. Last stop for the trip was a quick look at UP's Short Line Yard in Des Moines, where the IAIS 627 was leading the BICB (Blue Island - Council Bluffs). The weather definitely could have been better, but its hard to beat the variety of power to be found in the KC area.
***Additional Shots*** BNSF 1041 Olathe, KS NS 6740 Birmingham, MO NS 6740 in B/W Birmingham, MO BNSF 1023 Henrietta, MO BNSF 5471 Henrietta, MO NS 9238 ex-CR West of WB Jct IAIS 627 in B/W Short Line Yard, Des Moines, IA |
