We got to Runnells around 8:00. The crew had split the train at the derailed car and pulled up so that the head end was near the elevator. We drove in and had a visit with the conductor, who told us that they'd dragged the grain car, with one axle and wheel set derailed, for almost three miles before they noticed smoke and dust from the defect. They had a fairly long train and three units, BNSF 816 (I think that's the number - the paint's pretty well gone from the ex-Santa Fe loco), BNSF 2969 and BNSF 4167.
We went back to the grade crossing just west of town where they'd split the train and walked in to get a better look at the broken axle and the configuration of the wheel sets. Remarkably, the whole affair had been bouncing along the ties without doing much damage. It appeared that the bearing end of the axle had been partially broken for some time before it finally fell off. BNSF personnel at the scene said that they would be waiting until a truck that could lift the end of the car arrived from Fort Madison. We directed them to a nearby restaurant.
Wondering about the grain cars I'd seen, I went back north out of town and took the first gravel west. By this time, the scanner conversation was about recrewing a train, and I found it stopped just short of a grade crossing. They pulled (or let the train roll down the Pleasantville Hill) at 8:18. On the point were BNSF 6812 and KCS 670. On the "far" side of the train for better light, I watched them head down the hill before heading back out home.
We looked around town for a little while and then went out to the "Packing House" crossing to watch a coal load come up Albia Hill. The train, with distributed power and a set of FSTX/PSTX cars, appeared at 8:50. The lead unit was BNSF 8820 and bringing up the rear was BNSF 9920.
After intercepting the coal load we went to Ottumwa to continue our day "off". At an antique mall in downtown Ottumwa I ran into an old friend and retired Amtrak engineer, Bill Greenley. Bill ("Billy Whittle") was in the book store area of the upper level of the mall, carving away on Santa Claus figures.
I'd called "Julie" and learned that the California Zephyr was something over 6 hours late today. Interestingly, there were two Amtrak trucks at the depot. I'd not seen these before. When I inquired of a large African American gentleman in an Amtrak uniform as he boarded one of the trucks, he told me that we'd be seeing more of them. At 10:10 I caught a FURX empty coming through the depot with plenty of power. BN 9704, BNSF 9649, BNSF 8839 and BNSF 8812 on the head end and BNSF 8824 in the rear.
We spent some more time checking out the town. I visited the hobby shop while Susan did some shopping and then we went to a "Pupusaria" on the south side of town for an El Salvadoran lunch before heading back toward home. If you've not had a pupusa, a Central American, stuffed masa pancake served with slaw and a mild sauce, you should try it. They are delicious!
We left early and at 8:30 I managed to intercept a coal load struggling up Whitebreast Hill west of Chariton in the rain. They'd called the dispatcher to say they were going to make this hill, but definitely would need the helpers at Albia. Leading the new BNSF "swoosh" hoppers were BNSF 9807 and 9586.
On Friday afternoon we had lunch (Thai) and Stan and Lisa helped me search the bottoms for Doc's Caboose Hobby shop, so that I could find my way back on Saturday. We toured their new condo and had dinner (with a little anniversary celebration) at Lidia's, an Italian place in a refurbished freight house north of the KC Union Station.
On Saturday morning Lisa and Susan went to the Old Market and I set out for Santa Fe Jct. for some train-watching. I got there just in time, about 8:30, to see the Southwest Chief rounding the corner at the bottom of the bluff. On the point were three units, running elephant-style, AMTK 65, 91 and 55. We'd stayed at a Fairfield Inn on Main St. and had spotted the Amtrak personnel at the motel's continental breakfast this morning. Stan, out for his jog, had seen from an overpass the same people boarding the train. The Chief now stops at Union Station again - a much nicer venue than the AmShack they'd been using in KC.
As always, there was a great deal of activity at the junction. This was my first visit since the construction of a new bypass up on the bluff southeast of the tower. This double track line was occupied constantly with intermodal traffic. At 8:45 a BNSF unit grain train came north past my parking spot beside 25th Ave. This train had BNSF 7752 and 752 on the point and a distributed power pusher, BNSF 4183 on the rear.
Someone honked and waved at me as they drove by on 25th. I've no idea whom, but if you read this, send me an email!
Trains move every direction at SF Jct., and also move on three different levels. A bridge across the river here carries train traffic on two levels. Here's a shot of a grain move, around 9:00, powered by UP 6349, CR? 8450 and UP 2925 on the old "High Line". A few minutes later a short drag of miscellaneous cars pulled by UP 1818 and 789 came east on the lower level of the same bridge.
About 9:30 I headed back to the motel for a quick pit stop and then navigated myself to Doc's Caboose Hobby, buried in the bottoms just north of the 12th Ave. viaduct. This is a great shop for one reason - they do trains, just trains! I was a bit spendthrifty, I admit. Here are some of my acquisitions, idling noisily on a length of flextrack in the train room.
After my visit with Doc, I went back and picked up Stan. We'd planned to go to Union Station and check out the Kansas City Rail Experience exhibit, but I first showed him Santa Fe Jct., which turned out to be just a few blocks from Stan and Lisa's favorite Mexican restaurant. At the junction just after 11:00, we saw another line of grain cars come north with a matched Heritage paint set of BNSF units, 6341, 7890, 6366 and 7327. A FURX coal load was stopped above on the High Line. I'd been a bit surprised to find no one else at the junction earlier, but there were a couple of "buffs" in attendance by this time.
Union Station was a busy spot by the time we arrived. On the way down the stairs there is a wall of railroad signage, including some items from the Rock Island, at one time an important tenant of the station. Displays included a CTC panel for the "Joint" line from Polo, MO, down past the Truman drawbridge. This territory is now controlled by the bridge operator, using a video display setup.
The Rail Experience also includes a model railroad - an N scale project that models some of the Kansas City area, including the roundhouse and several other landmarks that are currently being constructed. We finished up our visit by going outdoors to walk through a boat-tail observation car, "Going-To-The-Sun Mountain" that once served on the Empire Builder.
That's It!
