NS Out West
I've always had a bit of a fascination for the oddities of railroading, so what makes this seemingly mundane shot fascinating?
This is just some unidentified Norfolk Southern switch job or local seen at the east end of NS' North Kansas City Yard beneath the Block 222 signals at MP S271.9 on NS' (ex NW, new Wabash) Kansas City District. This is joint trackage with BNSF's Brookfield Sub the ex Burlington mainline to Galesburg extending east all the way to Maxwell where the lines separate.
But while all that is interesting enough, the fascinating part to me is just that NS operates this far west. It is as odd as thinking about BNSF having a major terminal in Birmingham, AL and once reaching all the way to Pensacola, FL. Western Class 1s aren't supposed to be in Birmingham and eastern Class 1s aren't supposed to be in Kansas City, the Mississippi is the demarcation after all, isn't it?!
But just like the 1980 acquisition of the Frisco put the Burlington Northern and successor BNSF into those exotic locales so too did the Norfolk and Western's 1964 merger with the Nickel Plate and Wabash extend what would later become NS into places you'd least expect. The Wabash was a 3400 mile system stretching from Buffalo through the imaginary boundaries of St. Louis and Chicago and reaching decidedly 'western' road locations such ad Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City. The modest facility here known as Avondale Yard was the Wabash's western anchor and continues to serve as an important gateway for NS to this day.
NS 3228 seen here is a former Southern Railway high hood SD40-2 originally blt. Sep. 1973 and rblt. Jun. 2014 with this low knose 'admiral cab' at Altoona.
North Kansas City, Missouri
Monday September 6, 2021
NS Out West
I've always had a bit of a fascination for the oddities of railroading, so what makes this seemingly mundane shot fascinating?
This is just some unidentified Norfolk Southern switch job or local seen at the east end of NS' North Kansas City Yard beneath the Block 222 signals at MP S271.9 on NS' (ex NW, new Wabash) Kansas City District. This is joint trackage with BNSF's Brookfield Sub the ex Burlington mainline to Galesburg extending east all the way to Maxwell where the lines separate.
But while all that is interesting enough, the fascinating part to me is just that NS operates this far west. It is as odd as thinking about BNSF having a major terminal in Birmingham, AL and once reaching all the way to Pensacola, FL. Western Class 1s aren't supposed to be in Birmingham and eastern Class 1s aren't supposed to be in Kansas City, the Mississippi is the demarcation after all, isn't it?!
But just like the 1980 acquisition of the Frisco put the Burlington Northern and successor BNSF into those exotic locales so too did the Norfolk and Western's 1964 merger with the Nickel Plate and Wabash extend what would later become NS into places you'd least expect. The Wabash was a 3400 mile system stretching from Buffalo through the imaginary boundaries of St. Louis and Chicago and reaching decidedly 'western' road locations such ad Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City. The modest facility here known as Avondale Yard was the Wabash's western anchor and continues to serve as an important gateway for NS to this day.
NS 3228 seen here is a former Southern Railway high hood SD40-2 originally blt. Sep. 1973 and rblt. Jun. 2014 with this low knose 'admiral cab' at Altoona.
North Kansas City, Missouri
Monday September 6, 2021