The South Riding RV Travels

725

24th September 2012 - Sterling CO to North Platte NB to Minden NB

We stayed overnight at a campsite at Sterling which had not much to recommend it. But for excitement a hunter had found an interesting looking cylinder and brought it back in his pickup. It turned out to be a big artillery shell casing from between the wars complete with fuse. So we had the bomb squad, police and fire brigade there most of the evening. I take folk to the most interesting places.
The town had a small train on display. I think it was for kids and not a real working train.
This on the other hand was a real working engine pushing 120 coal wagons with two more locomotives on the front. This is the Union Pacific main line and that's where we headed next.
It is harvest time and we are not on an interstate so there are many harvesters on the move, albeit slowly.
And houses. This was one of a pair making up a complete house which they will put on a concrete base. This type of house is very common away from the coasts.
We were headed for North Platte which is the Union Pacific yard and maintenance depot. This is the newly built Golden Spike Tower which looks out over the eight square mile yard.
Two engines pull a coal train through the yard. Most trains stop but there are 36 coal trains each way each day which pass straight through.
Each day this depot services more engines than British Rail has!
Another non-stop train passing though with double stacked containers. Most have Chinese names.
Three engines haul in a mixed train. This will be sorted here and each of the wagons taken on to a different destination.
These are two oddities. They are remotely controlled engines used for shunting within the yard.
More diesels wait for servicing - or maybe they have been serviced already. Each unit costs around a million dollars and the newest ones are nearly two million.
Clean and shiny and ready to go - around 3000 horses.
A small shunting engine although some are used for local freight. There is very little passenger traffic away from the east coast..
The West Hump. Trains are pushed up the hump and then each car is allowed to fall under gravity and is switched to the siding appropriate for its destination. The retarders on the down slope adjust the speed according to the weight and where they want the car to stop. It is almost all automatic.
A train with five locomotives but we have seen up to eight.
A passenger car from the days when such trains did run. Nowadays folk travel by car or aeroplane. The train is just too slow.
Also seen from the tower was this corn maze. These are very popular in the fall season.
Back on the open road and more coal trains pass us as we continue east.
Maintenance of the track is a constant task and quite difficult to fit in on such heavily used lines. So the machinery is very complex.