BNSF 7711 - Argentine Connection - Santa Fe Junction Flyover

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BNSF 7711 Thumbnail
BNSF 7711, BNSF 670, and BNSF 4308 lead a stack train east over the flyover at Santa Fe Junction.
Argentine Connection - Flyover at Santa Fe Junction

BNSF 7711, BNSF 670 (an ex-Santa Fe Warbonnet), and BNSF 4308 lead a double-stack train east over the Argentine Connection flyover at Santa Fe Junction, in Kansas City. The train will soon be passing by Kansas City Union Station, as it makes its way east toward Rock Creek Junction. At Rock Creek Junction the train will get back onto BNSF rails, and travel east across the Marceline Subdivision to Fort Madison, Iowa. The Argentine Connection's tracks, as well as the tracks between the flyover and Rock Creek Junction, are owned by the Kansas City Terminal Railway (KCT).

The photograph was taken from State Line Road, which is on the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. The view of the photograph, from this perspective, is showing the portion of Santa Fe Junction located in Kansas City, Missouri.

Highline Bridge

The lower bridge is the eastern approach to the upper deck of KCT's Highline Bridge. The track in the foreground is one of two tracks that lead to the lower deck of the Highline Bridge, that diverge from the north-south tracks that run between Santa Fe Junction and the West Bottoms area (to the north). The Highline Bridge crosses the Kansas River at Kansas City, Kansas. The two ground level tracks, just past the track in the foreground, run north-south through Santa Fe Junction, and carry trains between BNSF's Argentine Yard, to the southwest, and the West Bottoms area.  

Argentine Connection

According to Progressive Railroading, the Argentine Connection flyover was built as a joint project between the KCT, BNSF Railway, State of Missouri, and the cities of Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas. After its completion, in 2004, the Argentine Connection allowed trains on BNSF's busy Transcon route to bypass the at-grade junctions of Santa Fe Junction. In particular, the busy ground-level crossing of KCT's double-track main line and BNSF's double-track Fort Scott Subdivision at BN Crossing, which is behind Holmes Drywall (the building on the left of the photograph).

Photo taken: August 27, 2005. Kansas City, Kansas.

Post sources and updates:
  • 2019-Nov-20: Updated to clarify the parties involved in the building of the flyover.

Comments

  1. Shelly GNovember 20, 2019 at 9:05 AM

    Another great shot and more interesting info! Great to see details after watching the cams.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tom G.November 21, 2019 at 8:21 AM

      Thanks a lot, Shelly. Glad you found the information helpful.

      Delete

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