Hi gang,
I'm going to be in the Kansas City, Missouri area for a week in August and I would love some suggestions or rail fanning and photography. I was out there last year for a very brief time and saw lots of trains but I had great difficulty finding good spots from which to shoot. I can travel up to 75 miles in any direction from Kansas City.

Many thanks to all of you train folks.

eliot

quote:

Originally posted by scherbear57:
Hi gang,
I'm going to be in the Kansas City, Missouri area for a week in August and I would love some suggestions or rail fanning and photography. I was out there last year for a very brief time and saw lots of trains but I had great difficulty finding good spots from which to shoot. I can travel up to 75 miles in any direction from Kansas City.

One easy spot is the old Union Station. They moved an old iron bridge over the main tracks especially for railfans. Another spot is underneath the Broadway Bridge, south bank of Missouri River. There's another spot off of Southwest Trafficway, near a restaurant called "Nutters" or Nuttys" or something. You go a block or two east and then turn north towards a restored round house. You follow a little road just west of the old roundhouse and there is a dead end bridge over some tracks there. The tracks are also very accessible in downtown Lenexa, a KS suburb. There's an old hump bridge on the south end of Gardener KS that has lots of action too.


Kent in SD

Howdy Eliot,

I live about 25 miles southwest of downtown KC and have done quite a bit of railfanning the past couple of years. In addition to Union Station, which is where the Kansas City Lionel Club has their layout, there are two places near the station where you can see a truly large number of trains per hour. Which one would depend upon what type of photos you want to take.

The first location, the West Bottoms, is located about 3/4 of a mile west of the station, and is actually below the area described in the previous post. If you go to Google maps, select the satellite view, find the station in KC and follow the tracks west you will see this first area. From what I can tell there are four Union Pacific lines that come over a double decker, dual track bridge over the Kansas River from the north. There are BNSF yards to both the east and west of this area with connecting tracks and diamonds. There is another dual main that heads southwest out of downtown that is used by both UP and BNSF that starts in this area. BNSF also built a flyover for this interchange several years back in order to keep trains moving through KC. All of thses tracks have access to the main trackage that runs behind Union Station. I usually see 20-30 trains in a couple of hours at this location.

The second location is the BNSF engine facility about 3 miles further west of downtown in the older Argentine yard. The yard is so big it's hard to get close to much of the action. However, there are usually a number of older diesels parked on a siding near the engine house.

A little north of downtown is another BNSF yard and the Norfolk Southern and KCS yards and engine facilities.

I've posted a couple of pictures in the photo album to give you an idea.

If you want to take a short trip I recommend a drive to Atchison, Kansas, about 45 minutes. There is a nice rail museum with a fair sized collection at the old depot. There are a couple of industrys that use a large number of freight cars and UP runs a lot of traffic through, usually headed westbound. McDonald's has a parking lot that butts right up to the tracks just east of the museum.

Feel free to get in touch when it's closer to the time. I'd be more than happy to provide more detailed information and a map.

Bob

Fellows,
Thanks for the information. I'll let you know what I get and offer some photos.

eliot

hey I will be there also in August. The 11 through the 15th. I doubt I will have any time for rail fanning though since it will be for work. What week will you be there because if it is the same time maybe we can meet up for some rail fanning in the evening.