BLOG 2 -- THE NEWFIE 3 DO TRAINS!

We left you at Cabela's in Sidney, Nebraska.  We traveled on to North Platte, Nebraska, a town famous for its World War II Canteen with volunteers meeting every troop train every day for 4 years coming into the North Platte Railroad Depot and giving the troops food, drink, candy, conversation, even dancing all in a 15 minute train stop!  It's also Buffalo Bill Cody's home and his Scout's Rest Ranch along with the largest railroad yard in the world, the Union Pacific Railroad's Bailey Yard, and the Golden Spike Tower for visitors to observe the workings of this huge yard.  There's a lot to see in North Platte!

We went first to the Union Pacific Railroad's Golden Spike Tower with plenty of room to park the 3 RVs.   There is a good introductory film in the lobby then up to the 3^rd floor open air observation area where you can see and hear the hundreds of locomotives and cars being moved around the yard.  

The locomotive shop can service 150 locomotives a day!  Cars are sorted and trains made up at two “hump” stations where the cars roll down a slight grade to hook up with its train!  It's all controlled from a yard tower and a huge dispatch center by radio and voice!  We saw a diesel locomotive painted with Southern Pacific colors; interesting because Union Pacific bought Southern Pacific back in 1992!  A number of tracks had coal unit trains and oil unit trains—whole trains dedicated to that one product!  A retired UP employee was on the enclosed 4^th floor observation deck and provided some good insights into what we were seeing below.  Many exhibits told more about the operations here.    

Bailey Yard Locomotive shop

Trains everywhere!

Then we went to Buffalo Bill State Recreation Area next to Buffalo Bill's Ranch and alongside the North Platte River to set up our camp. We had electrical hookups and water.  The dogs and even Woody, the kitty, enjoyed walks along the river! 

North Platte River

 

Buffalo Bill's House

Paul had some clutch problems along the road and wanted to take the truck to a Dodge dealer and get it checked out so we decided to go on the next morning to Omaha where a larger dealership should have parts and do the work on Monday morning.  We had a nice dinner at a local steak house then back to camp to get a good night's sleep.

Sunday 4/12 as we drove east, we passed under the Great North Platte River Road Archway Monument and continued toward Council Bluffs, Iowa just across the Missouri River from Omaha and parked at the Bluffs Run RV Park at the Harrah's Horseshoe Casino for the night.  A Camping World is a  few blocks away for a few needed items along with many fuel stations and propane.  We were parked on the I-80 frontage of the casino so it was a little noisy but tolerable.  Good showers, laundry and a dump station too.  Some of the others sampled the buffet at the casino; we ate “in!”   The dogs again had plenty of space for walks and the weather was in the low 70s and nice blue skies! 

Golden Spike monument in Council Bluffs

On Monday morning, Paul got his truck into the dealer for clutch service but in the afternoon got the bad news that the whole clutch assembly needed to be replaced—major job and another day!

Big Boy Steam Locomotive                                                        Centennial Diesel Locomotive

Nick, Emily, Maryke and I went to see the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) locomotive display in Kenefick Park up on a hill just as you cross the bridge over the Missouri River into Omaha.  The highlight is a 1944 huge “Big Boy” coal-fired steam locomotive and tender 133' long beautifully maintained weighing 1,250,000 pounds together!  25 Big Boys were built by UPRR during World War II and were the largest steam locomotives ever in service!  8 Big Boys survive today with seven as stationery displays but Union Pacific is currently restoring to service #4014  for its Heritage Fleet in Cheyenne, WY!  These engines produced 7000 HP and could move as fast as 80 MPH! All Big Boys went out of service in 1959 with most being scrapped, and replaced by diesel locomotives.   On an adjacent display is a “Centennial” diesel locomotive, the largest and longest diesel locomotive ever built at 99' in length weighing 545,000 lbs with 6600 HP and capable of 90 MPH speeds!  Centennials were built in 1969 for the 100^th Anniversary of the Golden Spike.  They were retired in 1986 with 13 preserved as static displays and one operational in the UPRR Heritage Fleet.  There are a number of historical plaques along with the specs of each locomotive. Really a spectacular display! 

We did some shopping afterward and visited a huge Scheels sporting goods store.  Outside the front entrance are bronze sitting poses of 4 U.S. Presidents along with tablets containing quotes from their speeches—very patriotic!   Besides dramatic displays of equipment and clothing for every known sport, the store contains a working Ferris Wheel and a float plane hung from the ceiling!!  

They make fudge from scratch too!  What a concept!  Speaking of food, we went to an excellent Chinese dim sum restaurant for lunch.  We love dim sum and so do Nick and Emily so this was a real treat!  Back to the campground and Paul told us they needed more parts and more $!  With all this unexpected time on our hands, we cleaned up the RV and did 2 loads of laundry. 

Tuesday morning the truck repair was promised to be ready by early afternoon so Paul, Nick, Lin and Maryke drove into downtown Council Bluffs to visit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in the beautifully restored 1905 Beaux Arts-style Council Bluffs Carnegie Free Public Library Building.  

Boy, what a treat this place was!  This UPRR Museum opened in 2003.  The 1^st floor starts with the Union Pacific's Lincoln collection including furniture from Lincoln's rail car.  

President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862 setting in motion the building of the transcontinental railway from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.   Next is the “Building America” gallery showing 150 years of American (and Union Pacific Railroad) history from the 1880s to the 21^st century!  It starts with a series of historic train paintings. 

Displays show the building of the transcontinental railroad, the Golden Spike ceremony in Promontory, Utah and the surveying, track building in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. 

One of our favorite things in this Museum was in several places, a distinguished 19^th century gentleman narrator appears on a vertical panel TV that appears amazingly lifelike and holds your attention while telling some railroad history story!  On the 2^nd floor, a very friendly railroad ticket seller appears in his very realistic barred window and with smiles and gestures urges you to buy a ticket!  Very innovative visitor engagement technique combined with motion detection! 

The 2^nd floor was divided with half “America Travels by Rail” passenger train service gallery and half “Working on the Railroad” railroad operations gallery.  The passenger service area was fascinating as we still remember riding steam trains as well as diesels and the dining cars, porters, posters for the railroad lodges, railroad tours and more.

There are full size displays of passenger coach class cars, dining cars, lounge cars with a realistic steward asking for your bar order and a display of railroad silver service and china!  Union Pacific built many of the western National Parks lodges and of course had passenger service to the National Parks, even tour guides!   Union Pacific's Sun Valley Lodge and ski complex in the Idaho mountains was also featured—a place we are familiar with from the Sun Valley Jazz Jamborees we have attended!   A Cecil B. DeMille movie called “Union Pacific” was also playing!  Wow, that's real history!

The rail operations section had a working locomotive simulator and displays of dispatching and train control historically and modern day operations.   A terrific museum and free too!   

Here's a summary of what the BUILDING AMERICA * section of the museum shows:

“The completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, has had an enduring impact on the growth of the United States. Traveling from the East to Pacific Coast, previously a dangerous trip with many hardships that took as long as six months was reduced to just seven days’ time. Water stops marked the route every 25 miles – the distance a steam locomotive could travel before needing to refill. And each station held the opportunity for a new community to grow, for immigrant families to settle and for commerce to flourish.

Today, nearly everything that American families and businesses depend on is carried on trains – raw materials such as lumber and steel to construct homes and buildings; chemicals to fight fires and improve gas mileage; coal that generates more than half of our country’s electricity needs; produce and grain for America’s food supply; and even finished goods such as automobiles and TVs. After 150 years, Union Pacific now serves a global economy and more than 7,300 communities across 23 states.”   * from Union Pacific Railroad Museum Website

At 5 PM Paul learned that a wrong part had been sent so his truck wouldn't be ready until Wednesday early so we began work on this blog after several days of procrastination.  Maryke got all the photographs together and Lin began writing the text.  It's now 11AM on Wed. 4/15 and Paul and Charli have just made their triumphant return to the campground, hooking up to their trailer and we're hitting the road for our next destination, the Amana Colonies in eastern Iowa just off I-80 near Iowa City.    That'll be the subject for the next blog—coming soon!

 

Oil train passing alongside a river