Trains of La Plata, Missouri: Railfanning on the BNSF Southern Transcon
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- Hello everyone! Some of you may have been wondering where I was at the last two weeks since it has been that long since I uploaded my last video. Well, answer any questions or concerns, I took a railfanning-based roadtrip. During the week of June 8th, I ventured west to Missouri to visit and railfan the northern portion of the historic Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (ATSF or Santa Fe) transcontinental route. This route is the Santa Fe's historic main line connecting Chicago to Los Angeles via Kansas City. Today, the route is often referred to as BNSF Railway's Southern Transcon and the home of the Z-trains (the high-priority intermodal trains BNSF operates). Much like in the days of the Santa Fe, the line continues to see dozens of intermodal trains each day, with intermodal trains accounting for sixty percent of all trains.
This portion of the Southern Transcon is known as the Marceline Subdivision, and sees about 65-70 trains in a typical day. The Marceline Subdivision gets its name from the town of Marceline, Missouri (fun fact: the hometown of Walt Disney), and extends from Fort Madison, Iowa, to Kansas City. As mentioned before, the bulk of the traffic on the route is the intermodal traffic with some manifest and autorack traffic. Curiously, unit trains are far and few on this route, with the only unit trains being unit grain trains in these parts. This is perhaps one of a few mainlines in North America which does not feature a large presence of unit trains.
Perhaps there is no better spot to railfan in Missouri or to railfan along the northern half of the Southern Transcon than La Plata, Missouri. Many of you probably have heard of this quaint little town thanks to Virtual Railfan and the UA-cam livestream. Though watching trains on the livestream can be pretty entertaining, watching them in person at La Plata is much better than seeing it online. The town itself is a railfan's paradise: a viewing platform just 100 yards east of the train station, a friendly station staff, a railroad-themed hotel in the town itself, and excellent lighting at the station for those who wish to railfan at night. On this day of railfanning, I spent time at both the station and the platform to view trains. Both are excellent viewing areas; the platform allows for a great sightline to the west and features an ATCS monitor for the railfan's convenience about the distance and duration before the next train, while the station allows good sightline in either directions.
Now with all that said, this day of railfanning on the Marceline Subdivision was a, well, interesting one to say the least. A derailment occurred at Argentine Yard in Kansas City in the early morning hours, thus causing all BNSF traffic to be rather limited. Between 7:30 and 3:30, there were only about 11 trains. Those trains included the usual manifest and intermodal, and the most notable catch of the afternoon was the "land-barge." For those wondering, a "land-barge" is a lengthy intermodal train of 12,000 or more feet, and usually features multiple engines throughout the train. This particular train featured 4 or 5 engines in the front and 6 engines in the middle, a rather remarkable sight.
After 4:30 p.m., the derailment was cleared and the action improved. Between 4:30 and 10 p.m., there were 20 trains, including a pair of Union Pacific intermodal trains and the catch of the day: a BNSF SD70MAC featuring the Burlington Northern Executive Paint Scheme on an eastbound manifest. Other notable catches included the daily Amtrak train, the westbound California Zephyr, and a Union Pacific intermodal land-barge. Other than that, the catches weren't all too noteworthy (even with a Kansas City Southern locomotive), but the action was spectacular after such a slow start.
I hope to come back to La Plata some day, as I more than enjoyed my day of railfanning despite a slow start. But if the late afternoon and evening proved anything, La Plata is the place to be when the action is good and the time is right.
Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!
-N&W475
I love it when those freight trains fly by at 50 to 70 mph.
It’s always great seeing trains running at that speed.
Stunning to see that 4 by 6 stack train, what a monster! Legendary!
Those trains are the best part of La Plata!
Didn’t even realize until I rewatched the video, but there’s a ‘Cause Container’ on the top row of the doublestack at 27:00.
Awesome video!
Good job pointing that out, I didn't even notice it while railfanning out there. I'm glad you liked the video!
Great epic video...I like IT!!!! All the best from Romania!!!!
I’m glad you liked it, thanks for the comment!
I looked at a lot of videos about railfanning at la Plata, Missouri this video is awesome. I like trackside videos up close and personal. They're the best. Thanks for this video.
Thank you for watching, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
that second train with the 6 helpers in the middle was an absolute behemoth. great catch! i'm always amazed to see that many engines up front and even more in the middle, but trains are increasingly long these days as the Class I railroads look for better logistics. "land barge" lol. also, nice massive burn scar on the side of 4018 at 29:27!
Thank you for commenting! BNSF has about 1 or 2 daily land-barges each direction on this line.
Belle vidéo merci beaucoup 😊
Merci d'avoir regardé!
Love La Plata!
La Plata is the place to be!
Awesome Catches!!!
Thank you very much!
Great video man keep em coming next time 2 hrs long lol
Thanks for watching!
Imagine sitting there at the crossing. That one monster of an intermodel comes through in the second vid then right after another one comes flying through lol
Brilliant
Thank you!
6 Mid-DPUs?! Amazing!
6 Mid-DPUs indeed.
Wow😎
Thanks!
Great job Patrick!
Thanks Caleb!
Hey man I think I was the one on the platform with you great videos keep it up!👍
Cool man, thanks for the comment!
N&W475 no problem man
Oh hey UP Man3880! Ive seen u before lol
Really awesome video!
Thank you very much!
Very nice video. 20:25 : This is the ptz cam of Virtual Railfan?
Yes it is, thanks for commenting.
Very nice 👍
Thanks man!
Ở nhà ga tàu tại thị trấn La Plata, thành phố Missouri, của nước Mỹ.
27:00 cause container
Nice video
Thanks man!
I was there just a few weeks ago
Very cool. It’s a great spot.
Yeah I know although it was pretty unusual sleeping in a hotel room and hearing horns every 10 minutes
Excellent catch just subscribe you
Thanks man, I appreciate the support.
You’re welcome,
Tàu hỏa chạy nhanh thế
What subdivision is this again
This is the Marceline Subdivison, which runs from Fort Madison, Iowa, to Kansas City, Missouri.
Đoàn tàu chở hàng dài nhất ở Mỹ.