German railfans in America (vacation tips anyone?)

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WileeCoyote

Eatibus Almost Anythingus
Hey everyone:wave:

In the more-or-less latter half of March I'll be venturing back to the US for the first time in a long time, I'll be in Kansas (Leavenworth and possibly Wichita) and maybe Pennsylvania (Scranton) from the 8th to the 25th. Or at least thats when I have planned to visit, whilst there I'll hopefully get my drivers license and see a few relatives. But I know there will be long boring bits inbetween in which I'll have to entertain myself, I know also that America (Kansas especially) is loaded to the gills in the way of railroads. So I'm looking for suggestions on what to see, rail yards, stations, museums, preserved lines, good spots to take pictures (and maybe a paper or two to take with me to show to the railway police to show I'm not a terrorist)... you get the idea;)

WileeCoyote:D

EDIT: If anyone says Steamtown PA I'll be the first to show them a town loaded with more steam than one with a nuclear power plant.
 
Altoona PA

If you have a long stay in Scranton it is definately worth the 3 hour trip to Altoona PA they have a railroad museum, the Horshoe Curve, and lots of railfanning opportunities.:wave:

Here is their website check it out: http://www.railroadcity.com/
 
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If you'll be out Scranton way--oh, nevermind. ;)

If you wind up on the NE Corridor, I'd ride the Acela just to say you did (and so you can say how lousy US hi-speed rail is compared to Europe! :hehe: :o ).

Oh, and if you find yourself by some series of unfortunate events in the greater Birmingham area on a Saturday, drop by the train museum in Calera--chances are, I'll be there. :D
 
K4driver said:
if it is open it is worth checking out the East broad top RR, located in orbisonia.
Click to expand...
EBT is closed for the winter but they normally allow you to walk around the yard. June 7 is the scheduled opening and trains run only on the weekends. The workshops are closed to visitors except when they run special shop tours during the operating season. The equipment in the shops is all driven by belts from overhead shafts powerd by a central steam engine. The shops were in continuous operation from when they were built in 1900 up until the rr closed in 1956 and inside looks pretty much like it was when they went home for the last time. The owner and the FEBT have been making some progress on maintaining the structures but it takes more money and manpower than is currently available to put them back in the condition they once were. If the roundhouse is open you might be able to see the steam locos and gas electric. There are a number of hoppers and freight cars stored in the yard.

The FEBT will have work crews in the yard on Mar 1, 2, 29 and 30 which kind of brackets your stay unfortunately. Lee Rainey who is in charge of the work crews for the Rockhill yard is a great story teller and knows the history in great detail.

Always worth a plug.

Bob Pearson

PS forgot to add there is a trolley museum located in the same area. I don't know it's operating season but there's a link if you visit www.febt.org.
 
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Ride the Amtrak out of Kansas City (or other points in Kansas) heading west a ways and back. See lots of train traffic, some great scenery, and soak up a little "Old West" history while you're at it.
 
of course if you are in colorado by some chance, the colorado railroad museum, the pikes peak rr, the galloping goose museum, The durango and silverton, the alamosa train, the cumbres and toltec, and there are TONS of more things to do.
 
i visited kansas city last year and it was CRAZY!!!!!:D sooooo many trains! i recommend visiting santa fe junction and union station. there are many other places to go but those are the biggest ones
 
If you do ride the Amtrak out of Kansas...dosen't it go to Denver? If so, it would worth your while to take Amtrak to denver. Then ride the former Rio Grande "SKI train" up thru Moffat tunnel to Winter park. It's just a day trip.
If you don't get that far west. My vote would also be for Altoona, & Horsehoe curve. The "curve" may not sound like a big deal until you stand at the bottom and watch a train go around it.
Just a very short drive thru the woods from the museum at "Horseshoe
curve, is the portage museum in Galitzin. ( watch the video) Cresson is just over the hill from there. Johnstown is down the hill. All this is in the same area. An added bonus is the road that goes thru Hershey, PA on the way...
My 2 cents worth....Durff
 
I lived in Kansas last year....for one year......about 30 miles south of Kansas City. I enjoyed taking the ride up the highway that takes you right over the BNSF yard, just south of KC if I remember right. You can go over the bridge, exit off the highway, pull into the yard and get permission to take pictures. If you ask, the security officers will give you directions to another bridge that you can walk over, that will give you great overhead switching views for pictures. It is massive yard with lots of activity. A worthwhile trip is to the railroad museum in Osawatomie, located in east-central KS and it is free admission. You will see lots of grain silos, miles of coal cars, BNSF and Union Pacific locos all along the drive.

Two recommended movies before you go. One is, as mentioned, The Wizard of Oz, and then rent "Twister". During the springtime, when the clouds darken the sky you will have visions of flying cows. I got a little tired of the tornado sirens going off several times a week last spring so moved west back to Colorado.
Enjoy your trip!
JD
 
Oh, but the tornadoes are why JCitron is headed out there this summer and why I will eventually follow suit! :D
 
I lived in Kansas last year....for one year......about 30 miles south of Kansas City. I enjoyed taking the ride up the highway that takes you right over the BNSF yard, just south of KC if I remember right. You can go over the bridge, exit off the highway, pull into the yard and get permission to take pictures. If you ask, the security officers will give you directions to another bridge that you can walk over, that will give you great overhead switching views for pictures. It is massive yard with lots of activity. A worthwhile trip is to the railroad museum in Osawatomie, located in east-central KS and it is free admission. You will see lots of grain silos, miles of coal cars, BNSF and Union Pacific locos all along the drive.
Click to expand...

Since I'll be in KC a lot of the time (so my mum can see what a real mall is like:hehe:) this sounds pretty worthwhile, if you could provide me with some instructions on where the yard is (and the security office so that they know I'm not a terrorist) and how to get to it, I'll probably go there.

EDIT: Do you know of any good places to take lineside shots?

WileeCoyote:D
 
BNSF Kansas City

First, put this address in Google Earth and scroll to your left (north west):

2325 Argentine Blvd, Kansas City, KS

This is a massive yard for all your midwest USA photo needs.

Take Highway 635 north. Highway 35 runs into it, and you can take
Highway 169 north, which will also connect you with HWY 635. From
635 heading north, you will see the BNSF tower elevated over the highway
just the east. You can't miss it. The security office is in the same building
complex as the switch tower. They have security patrolling regularly through the yard so you need to check in with them.

Here is another link for local Kansas train location pictures.

http://gatermannt.homeip.net/gallery/BNSF-KC

There are so many lineside photo spots in that region. Some of my favorites are in towns of Osawatomie, La Cynge, Paola, Hillsdale, Ottowa, Gardner and up to Kansas City. The silos in La Cynge are a really neat photo shot.

Fortunately for you and your mum, there a lots of malls in the Overland Park, Oletha, and KC areas. They have some of the best malls and worst malls you will ever see.

BTW Ferrous, I experienced the excitement of being in tornado country at first, but when those sirens are going off at 4 o'clock in the morning it gets old real quick, especially when your alarm clock is set to off at 6am. The only time my snake ever bit me was when I was rushing to get him out of the cage in the middle of the night to get downstairs when the sirens went off.
Those thunderstorms in Kansas are beyond fun!
 
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Holy cow, that place makes Maschen (biggest yard in Germany and I believe the second biggest in Europe) look like a drop in the bucket, this place kicks the bucket aside and goes straight for the 40000 liter tanker!:hehe:

I'll make sure to pay this place a visit, good thing its so easy to get to as well, otherwise my mum would probably never go anywhere near the area. Out of curiousity what is that yard on the other side of the river for?

WileeCoyote:D
 
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