T.G.'s Photography Blog

 On Memorial Day Weekend in 2007, I was in Kansas City, Missouri, visiting friends. While visiting, one of my friends and I ventured out to the West Bottoms of Kansas City for a photography outing. There we happened upon a northbound BNSF train hauling newly built Boeing 737 fuselages. The Boeing 737 fuselages The fuselages on this train are B737 Next Generation (NG) models. The B737 NG was first produced in 1996.  Boeing's 737 fuselages are built at Spirit AeroSystems' (SA) plant in Wichita, Kansas. According to SA's website, the company was founded when Boeing sold its Wichita plant to SA in 2005. SA then continued building fuselages at the plant for Boeing. After the fuselages are built by SA they take a train ride to Boeing's assembly plant at Renton, Washington. Looking south toward the 12th Street viaduc t, as the Boeing train rolls north through the West Bottoms. Route of the fuselages BNSF uses specially modified flatcars, like the ones seen in the photographs h...

BNSF 4424 and BNSF 5671 - Kansas City, MO BNSF 4424 and BNSF 5671 lead an empty coal train under the interchange approaches between Interstate 35 and Interstate 70 in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City. The train is heading north and will make its way through the " Goose Neck ", which is just around the bend ahead, and then across the Hannibal Bride over the Missouri River. After crossing the river, the train will arrive at BNSF's Murray Yard in North Kansas City, Missouri.The train came up through BN Crossing at Santa Fe Junction , on BNSF's Fort Scott Subdivision. Photo taken: Kansas City, Missouri. September 26, 2005.

UP's KC Metro Subdivision The view in this image is looking toward the southwest, down Union Pacific's K.C. Metro Subdivision from the old Santa Fe Avenue crossing in the West Bottoms area of Kansas City. The nearest railroad crossing in the photo is Mulberry Street, and the furthest crossing is Hickory Street. In the far distance are two railroad bridges that cross over the Kansas River. The road bridge is the James Street bridge, and it is where the Kansas-Missouri state border intersects the rail line. Photo taken: November 9, 2007. Kansas City, Missouri.

BNSF 5722 and BNSF 637 - Kansas City, MO BNSF 5722 (on the point) and BNSF 637 (trailing) are leading an empty coal train north through the West Bottoms of Kansas City . The train was heading toward the Goose Neck , and after going through the Goose Neck would cross over the Missouri River on the Hannibal Bridge into North Kansas City, Missouri. BNSF 637 was a former Santa Fe locomotive, which at the time of this photograph, was still painted in the famous Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme. Photo taken: September 26, 2005, at Kansas City, Missouri.

Block Signal - West Bottoms - Kansas City, MO The block signal controlling a connector/interchange track between the Union Pacific and BNSF near Forrester Road in the West Bottoms . The highway bridges seen here are the interchange ramps between I-70 and I-35. Photo taken: September 26, 2005. Kansas City, Missouri.

BNSF 847 leads train out of the "Goose Neck" in the West Bottoms area, as another train takes the interchange track to Union Pacific's KC Metro Subdivision. Photo taken: May 31, 2006. Kansas City, MO.

BNSF 856 - Gooseneck - Kansas City, MO BNSF 856 leads a train off the Hannibal Bridge, and into the Gooseneck, as another train heads north out of the Gooseneck and onto the Hannibal Bridge. The Gooseneck is a short section of track, with tight curves that leads from the Hannibal Bridge to the West Bottoms . Not seen in the photograph is the Union Pacific's KC Metro Subdivision , which runs under the southern approach to the Hannibal Bridge, next to the Missouri River, about where the third autorack car is on BNSF 856's train. Gooseneck BNSF 856's train is entering the Gooseneck on Main 2 of BNSF's St. Joseph Subdivision, while the other train is on Main 1. The St. Joseph Subdivision's southern end is just ahead of BNSF 856, at the southern end of the Gooseneck. The Gooseneck itself is only about 2,000 feet long, when measuring from the southern end of the Hannibal Bridge to the Interstate 70 overpass to the south of here. The Hannibal Bridge and the ...

Crossing Signals under the 12th Street Viaduct A railroad crossing signal under the 12th Street viaduct in the West Bottoms of K.C. Photo taken: November 5, 2008. Kansas City, Missouri.

KCS 2016 - UP KC Metro Subdivision Kansas City Southern 2016 (a GE AC44CW) leads a train of covered hoppers west on Union Pacific's KC Metro Subdivision , as a BNSF freight train rolls across the southern approach to the Hannibal Bridge . In the background is the ASB (Amour-Swift-Burlington) Bridge which is also a railroad bridge. Both the Hannibal Bridge and the ASB Bridge cross over the Missouri River between Kansas City, Missouri, and North Kansas City, Missouri. Both bridges are owned by the BNSF Railway. The ASB Bridge is a lift-span bridge, while the Hannibal Bridge is a swing-span bridge. Photo taken: May 26, 2004. Kansas City, Missouri.