Westward from Omaha

I have just returned from a nearly three-week trip to California, and so there will be plenty of trip reports coming up.  So don't say I didn't warn you.  I have 683 stills and videos to work through, so it may take a while.  And while some of them cover the same ground as Frank and David have been reporting on, I'll try to focus on other locations.

The first places we stopped on our way west were in Council Bluffs and Omaha.  The Railswest Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs is a static collection housed near the old Rock Island station.  Like most of the static museums we visited, it was closed at the time because we were on a tight schedule.

And the collection is well protected by a chain-link fence, so these pictures had to be taken through the fence.  Sorry!  And we could see only a part of the equipment in the yard.

Probably the pride of the collection is the UP 814, an FEF-1 with elephant ears and a pedestal tender.

 A good part of the collection is Burlington equipment.  Here's #915, a K-4 class 4-6-0, built in 1903 at Havelock.  This is a newer model but similar to our 637, a K-2.

This is a solarium obs car, the Omaha Club.

 And a wooden waycar.

 Finally, a modern UP RPO. 

Across the river in Omaha is Kenefick Park, with a Big Boy and a Centennial on display on a hillside.  It's very spectacular when viewed from the westbound interstate, but my picture timing was off.  It looks something like this:

Farther west, in Kearny, Neb. is a small railroad museum with  UP locomotive 491 on display, along with a couple of cars and a depot building.  The museum was closed, but this chain link fence was one I could shoot through.  This 2-8-0 appears to be similar if not identical to our 428.

Finally, we have North Platte, Neb., the busiest railroad yard in the country, they say. 

The Golden Spike museum has an impressive observation tower overlooking the yard, which includes two humps, the locomotive and car shops, and I don't know how many tracks.  We weren't able to stay very long, but it was well worth the visit.

The Golden Spike, a former diner.

Looking down from the tower, we see the diner.  Over in the field, there are two long parallel tracks not connected to anything.  Evidently used for handcar races, in case that might give anybody an idea for IRM.

The scale of the operation is very impressive.

Driving west, we saw some UP trains that appeared to be five miles long.  This is where they are put together.  Just the employee parking lot is huge!

This is the locomotive shop.

In the foreground, I believe we have 14 units coupled together, moving through the yard.

The North Platte Canteen!   Where have I heard about that before?

The museum and tower are operated by a non-profit organization and staffed by volunteers, who all seem to be UP enthusiasts.  Not too surprising, I suppose.  I overheard one docent telling a group of visitors that the UP has no single track lines; the entire railroad is double track or more.  Well, who am I to argue?  In any case, you can't argue with this: