ABOVE: This northbound empty grain train is about to arrive at Knoche Yard late in the evening on July 13, 2008. The KCS train will cross the UP’s grade-level line into Neff Yard in moments and swing around the curve to the west and enter Knoche Yard. RIGHT: A two- car northbound local freight behind GP38 No. 2040 is crossing the UP diamond at Air Line Junction at the entrance to KCS’s Knoche Yard on September 9, 2011. The GP38 was built as Penn Central 7800, and became Conrail 7800, then Chicago, Missouri & Western 2040, Gateway Western No. 2040, and finally KCS 2040. KEVIN EUDALY PHOTOS
Following the Pittsburgh Sub A good scanner is vital to help you
track and shoot trains, especially those with Retro Belle motors. I use AAR Channel 10 (160.260), where I hear the dispatcher as well as hot box detectors. Unlike most railroads, the KCS has a separate frequency (AAR Channel 16, 160.350) for crews to talk to the dispatcher, but it is much less useful. Important information flows from
the dispatchers, many of whom have Southern accents that reflect the days when the dispatching center was in Shreveport. The dispatcher identifies every train by the lead locomotive’s company and engine number as well as the direction of travel. They also authorize the departure of every train heading south from Knoche Yard. One can identify the southbound Q-train because the dispatcher will tell the crew, as it approaches IFG, that it has permission to occupy the business track and to make a mainline back-up move to grab intermodal or auto cars. Added tips come from trackside
hotbox detectors and KCS employees. Broadcasting on AAR Channel 10, On Channel 10 you hear train crews calling wayside signals, such as “KCS 4042 North. Clear North Jaudon. Out.”
36 NOVEMBER 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
In the last few years, I have noticed
that there are fewer photo opportunities on the Pittsburg Sub north end (Kansas City) than there were in past decades. Due to increased security and safety concerns, foliage, and fences, I no longer attempt KCS photos in Knoche Yard and from the main line south to Swope Park. Although one can get photos of trains rumbling over Swope Park viaducts at 63rd Street and Gregory, parking and vistas are tighter than they used to be. There is a decent shot from the small 86th Street overpass farther south, but for me an easier place to wait is Grandview. The Main Street crossing (milepost 23.5) is the north end of a long passing siding and the south end of the sustained .5 percent grade out of Kansas City. Often a northbound is sitting at Grandview, waiting for the dispatcher’s permission to head toward Knoche yard or tracks of the Kansas City Terminal (KCT). Empty
KCS coal and grain trains often use the KCT to exit the Kansas City metro area, bypassing crowded Knoche yard. From the Thunderbird Road exit off Highway 150 south of Grandview, I once got a grab shot of the IVNKC arriving at the IFG yard. The exit ramp is not a good place to linger, however, because there is very little extra room here, and close by there is a Honeywell nuclear component factory with tight security. A good place to wait on the south edge
of the Kansas City metro area is near the Highway 58 overpass in Belton. From the bridge one can get decent elevated photos in either direction, especially looking north to the South IFG signals on the intermodal yard’s south end, which is approximately milepost 29. East of the overpass, you can drive north on Prospect Road, which will give you a chance to photograph the switcher without trespassing, as well as one spot
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