Where is the Omaha Posse?

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Usually mid to late October here...

The locust trees are starting and so is a little bit of sumac, but that's about it. It will be interesting to see what happens with all the rain we have had. There are some trees that just don't look good.

Opposite problem out here with our warm, dry "California" summer. I can't tell if the leaves are changing color or just wilting from the lack of rain.
 
Almost Fall Colors

Not Quite Fall Colors. It was 90 deg today. I think it will be a little more seasonable this next week. Here are some from the evening light and the sound of a flaky BNSF horn on a wb empty coal in the cool evening of yesterday. Looks like the second UP loco got kind of hot.

Melia_101015.jpg New Melia Signals

UP4261PapioCreek_101015.jpg UP over the Papio Creek south of Offutt Air Base(SAC)

UP4261Plattsmouth_101015.jpg UP just about to cross the BNSF at Oreapolis

View attachment BNSF at Amtrak_100715.MP3 BNSF Downtown Omaha (Sound)
 
Kalmbach has published a special edition of their Classic Trains magazine titled Trains of the 1970's. The special edition consists of reprints of articles in Trains magazine from the 70's. I subscribed to Trains back then and recall reading most of the articles when they were originally published.

I am enjoying the special edition as forty years has given me new a prospective on some of the articles. One such article is Flight of the Falcon, which discussed the C&NW's Falcon Service between Chicago and its UP connection at Fremont, Neb. None of the locations were familiar to me when I first read the article in in the Feb. 1979 edition of Trains, but I now recognize many of the names from Posse photos of the Omaha-Council Bluffs area. I assume the old C&NW mainline from Chicago to Lincoln has been upgraded during the past 30+ years of UP ownership.
 
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The C&NW mainline across Iowa from Chicago to Fremont is in much better shape than it was in the 70's. I never did see it in the golden age but now it is double track welded rail. The UP is double track all the way into Omaha and the UP is getting close to double tracking the CNW from Fremont to Missouri Valley. Even with the last of the single track between Fremont and Missouri Valley and the Council Bluffs to Missouri Valley single track, the line is really good. The speeds through Council Bluffs have improved. The CNW and UP both came into Lincoln on smaller lines. The UP was the better line. Single track meandering through the Platte river and south up and over many hills. That line saw 4-12-2's in the steam days and U50's in the diesel days. Now the UP ends at Lincoln and they use the Marysville Sub from Gibbon Jct and the Missouri Pacific Falls City sub for trips to and from Kansas City. The line to Lincoln, I think, for the CNW was just another branch. It's gone now. Not even a bike path. I only saw trains on it a couple of times. I remember the CNW and UP crew changes at Fremont in the late 70's. Very efficient. The trains didn't stay in town for very long.
 
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I remember the CNW and UP crew changes at Fremont in the late 70's. Very efficient. The trains didn't stay in town for very long.

That was covered in the article. The cab signals of CNW & UP units were incompatible, so a UP unit always led westbounds out of Fremont and a C&NW unit always led eastbounds. The new lead unit would sit on the mainline waiting for the incoming train, which would stop about fifty feet short. The new crew would back the new lead unit onto the old lead unit, couple up, run the necessary MU and air tests, then leave town. The entire process took only a few minutes.
 
Here a some from a trip to western Iowa in search of the elusive fall colors. I see a bunch of colorful trees have already lost their leaves and a bunch are still green. I'll try again this weekend. Not a lot of orange other than the BNSF locos. These are all from west of Red Oak Iowa.


BNSF8321_101815_v1.jpg WB on the double track west of Red Oak

Railfan Trip_101815_30_v3.jpg WB Up hill round the bend

Garret Landing_101815.jpg Not sure what this. A small gravel area about level with track. Maybe a crew change point. But seems awfully far out from either Pacific Jct or Red Oak

Sunset_101815.jpg Sunset. For Bill
 
Here is the long view towards Red Oak and the end of the double track. After looking at Google Earth it looks like the single track still exists where the ROW needs to go over creeks and rivers. An expensive bridge would be needed over Silver Creek and the Nishnabotna River.


Railfan Trip_101815_18_v1.jpg
 
As the sun pulls away from the shore and our boat sinks slowly in the west (Spike Jones) we go to Council Bluffs. Boy it gets dark soon and most of the trees are bare. Here is the IAIS tranfer and some parked UP locos at 17th st and 11th Ave.

UP4988_112115.jpg

IAIS601_112115_v1.jpg
 
I was wondering what had happened to you guys. While some may bemoan the loss of leaves, I think bare trees can create some very artistic shots with the right lighting. I love that IAIS master/slug set.
 
Thanks to the Omaha Posse for the recent photos and threads of winter railroading in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area. I always look forward to your photos of railroading in America's Heartland.
 
It was -5 with a -30 wind chill and another 2" of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning. I am not going out to take pictures unless it is a steam locomotive or F unit. And you can't make me!!! Tom
 
It was -5 with a -30 wind chill and another 2" of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning. I am not going out to take pictures unless it is a steam locomotive or F unit. And you can't make me!!! Tom

Based on my four years living in Chicagoland, I dare say that your extreme cold is probably accompanied by bright sunshine. This year's super El Nino is shrouding the Puget Sound region in constant rain, gloom, and doom. This explains the paucity of new photos in my two regular threads in the Western US subforum.
 
It was -5 with a -30 wind chill and another 2" of snow on the ground when I woke up this morning. I am not going out to take pictures unless it is a steam locomotive or F unit. And you can't make me!!! Tom

Funny you mention that... Apparently two of UP's E9s were on a Little Rock to Cheyenne train yesterday. I saw a couple photos of them heading through KC.
 
Oh darn it. I am going to have to put my scanner antenna back up so I can listen to the outside world while I'm under the quilt. I am planning to go out Wednesday morning after the 2 or 3 inches of snow we are supposed to get Tuesday unless it is 10 inches like the last time the weather man predicted 2 or 3. It'll be warmer like 20 degrees. Spring is only 10 weeks away.
 
Here's the power on a 2x2x2 eb BNSF coal load this past Monday at Ashland NE. Temp was in the low-mid teens.
 

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