Thanks Skid Row Joe for posting this info, we visited the tower on our way to Yellowstone last month.
They were still putting the finishing touches on the parking area which is not very big BTW.
Very interesting watching all the trains moving cars around.
We were amazed by the number of coal trains in NE & WY - we found out they were coming out of Gillette. We guessed the trains were just a couple miles apart and they just kept coming!
Ken & Kathy
Stella(the dog who now belongs to our neighbor )& Ruben(the cat)& Tiadora (nother cat)
2003 Chev 3500 D/A Dually
2002 Jayco Eagle 300fss TT
sirdrakejr wrote: When I worked in Cheyenne and Omaha, I loved it when they brought the big Challenger loco out. The chuffing and the power was awesome. Diesels may be great but the sounds and "romance" of the big boys isn't there.
Frank
I'll do 'ya one better than that.....
I photographed Challenger UP3985 a few years ago on a cold February day on it's way down to the Super Bowl. It came through Illmo MO, and I was able to take off work to see it.
What was really significant about this is the fact that the steam trains very rarely run in below 32F weather anymore. But on this day it was in the upper 20s. The steam plumes coming from that locomotive were awesome. This is something that you wont see when the weather is in the 80s.
Add the clouds of steam to the "chuffing" and that really adds to the romance.
To cure your love of trains, just camp in one of the campgrounds on the Northside of Lake "Mac" just North of Ogalalla, NE. They come by every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, blowing their horns!
realter wrote: To cure your love of trains, just camp in one of the campgrounds on the Northside of Lake "Mac" just North of Ogalalla, NE. They come by every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, blowing their horns!
My home in Omaha was near 99th & West Center Road, built on a high-point cul-de-sac. From an upstairs bedroom window, I had a clear view of the Kellog's cereal processing plant at 96th & F Street. The mainline UP railroad bed was just in front of Kellog's, across F St., and just on the south side of Interstate 80. As the crow flies, I was about 2-miles I'd estimate from the RR bed UP roared through on. The rumbling-roar of the trains were soothing.
In Memphis, Tenn., I lived about 6-blocks from the Norfolk Southern mainline through the center of Memphis. This was almost too close.
Now, I live quite a piece from The UP/Amtrak east-west mainline, but I can still hear the train's whistles in the wee hours of the morning, and late, late at night, when out in the driveway, or with windows open at night.
I have a sweet tender nature, however I enjoy sharing my thoughts and opinions.
When I worked in St. Paul, MN, I took a train for a day trip and diner that they used for tourists. It was great fun and I am not sure they do it anymore. The old diner cars are neat and take you back. When I joined the USAF in 1957, the method of travel to Lackland AFB from Los Angeles was the "Sunset Limited" stream loco. That was a two day trip and made the trek fun. I still miss them even though I was never really old enough to appreciate all they did.
Frank
I live about 4 miles from any tracks and can still hear the whistles at night with the windows closed. Thank goodness it's far enuf away that our house doesn't vibrate too! That would be so cool to be a grownup and end up buying the whole RR.( or 5%) Only Warren and Monopoly players have that opportunity! BTW, Skid Row Joe, why don' t you turn on your PM option so somebody can PM you?
Offline
)& Ruben(the cat)& Tiadora (nother cat)
