The Many Trains of Kansas City; Afternoon Railfanning Action at Kansas City Union Station! скачать в хорошем качестве

The Many Trains of Kansas City; Afternoon Railfanning Action at Kansas City Union Station!

Hello everyone! Back in May 2022, I visited Kansas City for the first time while on a road trip across the American Midwest. I stopped in Kansas City for a couple of days to visit Kansas City Union Station in anticipation of some high-quality railfanning. Kansas City Union Station did not disappoint, and its location is one of the busiest places in terms of train traffic in the United States. Kansas City is one of the great railroad towns of the United States and historically, was one of the busiest railroad locations in America. At one point in time, twelve railroads connected to Kansas City, including some of the most important railroads in the United States. These railroads included the likes of Union Pacific, The Burlington Route, Missouri Pacific, the St. Louis-San Francisco, and most of all, the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe. Today, five of the seven major Class I railroads connect to Kansas City; BNSF, Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, Canadian Pacific, and Norfolk Southern. Over 150 trains pass through Kansas City on a daily basis, but not all in the same location. Kansas City has three great railfanning locations, and Kansas City Union Station is one of them. The other two great locations are Santa Fe Junction and the West Bottoms neighborhood. I sadly did not have enough time to visit the other two locations, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I had at Union Station. Kansas City Union Station features three mainline tracks shared by the two major Class I railroads of the American west: Union Pacific and BNSF. The BNSF mainline at Kansas City Union Station is the famed Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe (Santa Fe) transcontinental route between Chicago and Los Angeles. The Union Pacific mainline at Kansas City Union Station is the Missouri Pacific mainline between St. Louis and Kansas City. Though BNSF outnumbers Union Pacific at this particular location with two BNSF trains per every one Union Pacific train, both mainlines are vital to their respective railroads and the combined train count between the two railroads is at least 90 trains per day. Based on train traffic alone, Union Station is the best place to see the trains, and its location is certainly a major bonus, as Union Station is relatively close to downtown Kansas City. On this Monday afternoon in Kansas City, I caught an impressive 27 trains in a seven-hour period. With a train rolling by Union Station every 15 to 20 minutes, you can never find a dull moment in the flurry of train traffic. One of the best perks of railfanning at Union Station is the opportunity of the triple-meet, when three trains pass each other at the same time. Train-meets are amazing in general, but this is one of just a handful of locations where three freight trains can meet all at the same time on the mainline. This happened just once in the late afternoon, but it was certainly my favorite moment of the day to see an eastbound BNSF intermodal passing a pair of westbound Union Pacific trains. There were plenty of other meets throughout the day as well, each adding to the magic of this wonderful place. Another great aspect of this day of railfanning was a decent variety of motive power and uncommon locomotives. I saw four Kansas City Southern locomotives, a pair of Union Pacific Tier-4 EMDs, an SD70MAC, and a BNSF Warbonnet (aka, Fakebonnet). As you probably have guessed by now, Kansas City has won me over as one of the best places to watch trains in not just the United States, but possibly the world with the sheer number of freight trains every day. For my first time here, I had a great time and one of the best afternoons of railfanning in a long time. I hope to return to Kansas City sometime in the future and spend more time railfanning here at Union Station. Thanks for watching; I hope you enjoy the video! -N&W475.