If you go, try going when they have North Platte railroad days. Union Pacific usually gives free rides on either Saturday or Sunday using their heritage passenger cars. Motive power is anything from new locomotives to the E units. They also give shop tours at the big yard link found here www.northplatteraildays.com
I graduated from North Platte Senior High in May of 1968 and went to Chadron State College in September of 1969. From June to August I worked in the new “bowl” in the shadow of the new hump. We laid the final sections of track while U.P. tested the retarders on the east side of the hump. I worked with a friend, Dan Faulkner, who had graduated from St. Patrick’s High School in May. During the month of August Dan and I rode up and down the tracks of the new bowl on a self-propelled air compressor. Each of us had a spike maul and a single-end track wrench. We spent the month riding up each track making sure all the nuts were tight on the fish bolts against the fish plate, making sure all the spikes were driven tightly against the rail plates, and using the air compressor to blow ballast off the ties to make everything look pretty. Creosote is an enemy of blue denim and I went through a couple pair of Levis that summer, so some of my pay went to Hirschfeld’s. But that was great because I always enjoyed talking to Mendel and Leonard. Leonard and Mendel had been instrumental in making me feel welcome when we moved to North Platte three years earlier. I was blown away that two successful businessmen always had time for the fifteen-year-old new kid in town. The U.P. job was great and the money was really good for an eighteen-year-old kid at the time; I think I earned $2.98/hour. I live north of Atlanta, Georgia, now, but Nebraska will always be home. I was born in Omaha and lived there until August of 1965 when my dad was transferred to North Platte. My memories of North Platte are as fond as those of Omaha. I especially miss the sand hills - God’s own country. I loved driving up US 83 to Stapleton and Thedford. I even met Emery Blagdon on his land in the late summer of 1969, rode on his stripped-down Model A (or T), and got a tour of his healing barn. He was just getting started at the time, check him out: www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS915US915&sxsrf=ALeKk01RgVpBZ1U9U0DK2p8zDxNVzfPwaw:1625020495826&q=Emery+Blagdon&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3yp-Lqb7xAhX2k2oFHfTEChMQBSgAegQIARAx&biw=1366&bih=633
@@travelingtom923 Traveling Tom, I love to think and to write, so for me Nebraska was a great place to grow up during the ‘50s and ‘60s. I maintain a healthy email correspondence with the guys with whom I played baseball and went swimming in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s in St. Thomas More parish in Omaha. My high school days in North Platte found me playing football and wrestling for NPSH. And the Nebraska sand hills are but a half-hour drive north from the Bailey Yard in your video. Did you know the Nebraska sand hills are the largest tract of sand dunes in the western hemisphere? And the Ogallala Aquifer renders 1,400 natural ponds in the 20,000 square miles of sand dunes. Don’t picture the Sahara or the Kalahari; the Nebraska sand dunes are covered with short bluestem grass. Grass, open land, and readily available water make for fantastic beef country. Black Angus and Herefords outnumber people in this country. What follows are some statistics for Grant, Hooker, Thomas, Arthur, McPherson, and Logan counties, the six counties just north of North Platte that constitute the southern reaches of the sand hills. The combined area of these six counties is 4,353 square miles. The population of the six counties combined is 3,722. So the population density of these six counties is 0.855042/square mile, less that one person per square mile. Lots of room for a solitary person and God. www.usa.com/rank/nebraska-state--land-area--county-rank.htm I didn’t live on a ranch so I occupied myself with thinking and writing. And this country gives one much to ponder; here is the result of one of my days, an idyll about an idol during an idle time. From A Sandhill Somewhere Between North Platte and Callaway, Nebraska Stiff summer breeze from the southwest, Always from the southwest this time of year. Yellow sun suffuses green grass and blue sky racing to horizon, A race that ends, must end, in a tie, For their arrival establishes the finish line, Establishes the horizon. The world ends there, at the blue-green line, The place circumscribed by topography and optics, A horizon endlessly chasing its tail, a cloudless tornado. The world begins there, too, If one works towards a center. A matter of direction and perspective: It depends on the point at which one begins thinking. Am I there, at some point on the horizon of existence? Or there, at the center, pushing blue and green in concentric circles to a blue-green horizon? Where does the narrative begin? End? How many footprints required to comprehend this area? A question whose answer will forever remain unanswered, For neither hoof of bison, pad of coyote, sole of moccasin, nor boot of rancher Has ever, or will ever, disturb what eye surveys. Only wind and thought move across this land, And that so deftly as to leave only a trace in the swaying grass. By the way, thanks much for the video. The night scene that closes the video was a stoke of genius; it was both haunting, exhilarating, and appropriate.
When I was traveling around in Europe, most of the freight trains were single engines, with 20 to 30 cars long. They ran frequently and closely spaced on the tracks. Here, we make the train as long as possible.
Not sure when this was filmed. I retired in 2014, and those long nose -2's were kind of a rare sight. (First strike duty was on the 8009 west in 78 or 79) was a little dissapointed as it was the lead and i dont remember how many 6900's we had in trail. But i am sure in those days it that it was more than enough to get it to LA Portland. '
We should be there right now for two nights. Man this virus is messing up our travel plans. And then again we're not going to Utah. BUT we're staying home as it is the best thing to do.
You Done and Did it Tom! GOD Bless you Sir! Did you Sign the Guest Book 📖? You make me wanna....! Dear LORD... I sit here today! San Joaquin Valley of Cali... but when... you.. touched my heart ❤️ and soul... my Late Brother in Law ... William “ Bill” Riley Sr.. Gold Spike Award 🥇 and a historical place inside the Gold Spike Museum here In Bailey Yard North Platte Nebraska USA 🇺🇸 WHoooooTWhooooooT! Yesssssireeee it’s Huge it’s incredible how Life is!! My old Wyoming home Cheyenne Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 and 4004 my old play ground set WhoootWhooooot!!!! Big BoyZ! But Bill Riley Sr set record’s... historic miles between North Platte Nebraska USA 🇺🇸 to Cheyenne Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 WhoooooTWhoooT Certified Locomotive 🚂 “ FueL MasteR” WhoootWhooooot.. Bill was Amazing he knew Trains 🚂 and even operated UP8444 WHoootWhooooooT! 4-16-2020 Paul W. Ayers “ Over The Hill Gang “ WhoootWhooooot.... gotta wipe tears outta my eyes.... Geee Wizzz Tom... wanna do some more... historical facts and Tracks Railroadies! WhoootWhooooot
This video is old lol those storage containers in the parking lot were temporary locker rooms when the main locker room/bathroom was being redone and i know this cause i worked there when it was being done. I've been laid off since February 2019
One of the wonders of the railroad world. well worth the effort to visit, have been there twice. biggest model train set in the world
Rixplace1 it’s Family
Thanks a lot. Very interesting to see individual cars being gravity fed onto sidings building up the trains :D
You are welcome.
I used to live in north Platte. Literally on the frontage road. My house never stopped shaking! I kinda miss those behemoths.
I have never seen so many engines in one place. I enjoyed your vlog.
Very impressive yard.
Very impressive !
Fantastic footage, that's a huge yard. Enjoyed watching this, new subscriber!
Thank you.
Very nice Tom!!! Pretty cool stuff. I'm going to try to go there this summer.
E. Train please do go visit Bailey Yard! It’s incredible WhoootWhooooot
If you go, try going when they have North Platte railroad days. Union Pacific usually gives free rides on either Saturday or Sunday using their heritage passenger cars. Motive power is anything from new locomotives to the E units. They also give shop tours at the big yard link found here www.northplatteraildays.com
@@travelingtom923 it's been put on hold for now. I live in North Platte, hopefully it changes soon.
I graduated from North Platte Senior High in May of 1968 and went to Chadron State College in September of 1969. From June to August I worked in the new “bowl” in the shadow of the new hump. We laid the final sections of track while U.P. tested the retarders on the east side of the hump. I worked with a friend, Dan Faulkner, who had graduated from St. Patrick’s High School in May. During the month of August Dan and I rode up and down the tracks of the new bowl on a self-propelled air compressor. Each of us had a spike maul and a single-end track wrench. We spent the month riding up each track making sure all the nuts were tight on the fish bolts against the fish plate, making sure all the spikes were driven tightly against the rail plates, and using the air compressor to blow ballast off the ties to make everything look pretty.
Creosote is an enemy of blue denim and I went through a couple pair of Levis that summer, so some of my pay went to Hirschfeld’s. But that was great because I always enjoyed talking to Mendel and Leonard. Leonard and Mendel had been instrumental in making me feel welcome when we moved to North Platte three years earlier. I was blown away that two successful businessmen always had time for the fifteen-year-old new kid in town.
The U.P. job was great and the money was really good for an eighteen-year-old kid at the time; I think I earned $2.98/hour.
I live north of Atlanta, Georgia, now, but Nebraska will always be home. I was born in Omaha and lived there until August of 1965 when my dad was transferred to North Platte. My memories of North Platte are as fond as those of Omaha. I especially miss the sand hills - God’s own country. I loved driving up US 83 to Stapleton and Thedford. I even met Emery Blagdon on his land in the late summer of 1969, rode on his stripped-down Model A (or T), and got a tour of his healing barn. He was just getting started at the time, check him out: www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS915US915&sxsrf=ALeKk01RgVpBZ1U9U0DK2p8zDxNVzfPwaw:1625020495826&q=Emery+Blagdon&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj3yp-Lqb7xAhX2k2oFHfTEChMQBSgAegQIARAx&biw=1366&bih=633
That is a great story. Not much to do in Nebraska but it is a fun place to visit.
@@travelingtom923 Traveling Tom, I love to think and to write, so for me Nebraska was a great place to grow up during the ‘50s and ‘60s. I maintain a healthy email correspondence with the guys with whom I played baseball and went swimming in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s in St. Thomas More parish in Omaha. My high school days in North Platte found me playing football and wrestling for NPSH. And the Nebraska sand hills are but a half-hour drive north from the Bailey Yard in your video.
Did you know the Nebraska sand hills are the largest tract of sand dunes in the western hemisphere? And the Ogallala Aquifer renders 1,400 natural ponds in the 20,000 square miles of sand dunes. Don’t picture the Sahara or the Kalahari; the Nebraska sand dunes are covered with short bluestem grass. Grass, open land, and readily available water make for fantastic beef country.
Black Angus and Herefords outnumber people in this country. What follows are some statistics for Grant, Hooker, Thomas, Arthur, McPherson, and Logan counties, the six counties just north of North Platte that constitute the southern reaches of the sand hills. The combined area of these six counties is 4,353 square miles. The population of the six counties combined is 3,722. So the population density of these six counties is 0.855042/square mile, less that one person per square mile. Lots of room for a solitary person and God. www.usa.com/rank/nebraska-state--land-area--county-rank.htm
I didn’t live on a ranch so I occupied myself with thinking and writing. And this country gives one much to ponder; here is the result of one of my days, an idyll about an idol during an idle time.
From A Sandhill Somewhere Between North Platte and Callaway, Nebraska
Stiff summer breeze from the southwest,
Always from the southwest this time of year.
Yellow sun suffuses green grass and blue sky racing to horizon,
A race that ends, must end, in a tie,
For their arrival establishes the finish line,
Establishes the horizon.
The world ends there, at the blue-green line,
The place circumscribed by topography and optics,
A horizon endlessly chasing its tail, a cloudless tornado.
The world begins there, too,
If one works towards a center.
A matter of direction and perspective:
It depends on the point at which one begins thinking.
Am I there, at some point on the horizon of existence?
Or there, at the center, pushing blue and green in concentric circles to a blue-green horizon?
Where does the narrative begin? End?
How many footprints required to comprehend this area?
A question whose answer will forever remain unanswered,
For neither hoof of bison, pad of coyote, sole of moccasin, nor boot of rancher
Has ever, or will ever, disturb what eye surveys.
Only wind and thought move across this land,
And that so deftly as to leave only a trace in the swaying grass.
By the way, thanks much for the video. The night scene that closes the video was a stoke of genius; it was both haunting, exhilarating, and appropriate.
Fantastico, se un giorno arrivo li non torno più a casa!
The pros have the best layouts.
Now that is a PILE of money setting in one yard!!!
Wow, interesting! Thanks
Would like to see other yards in action!👍✌️😊🙏🏼🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂
Great vid Tom.
That is one big place great video of it
When I was traveling around in Europe, most of the freight trains were single engines, with 20 to 30 cars long. They ran frequently and closely spaced on the tracks. Here, we make the train as long as possible.
Nice like train from us. Sweden
Björne Ekgren we Love ❤️ You Sweden 🇸🇪! Vallkomen
@@663rainmaker tns. You from??
It's really a big yard.
Dom AZ world’s biggest classification railroad yard
Here's the only reason I'd go look at North Platte, Nebraska.
Not sure when this was filmed. I retired in 2014, and those long nose -2's were kind of a rare sight. (First strike duty was on the 8009 west in 78 or 79) was a little dissapointed as it was the lead and i dont remember how many 6900's we had in trail. But i am sure in those days it that it was more than enough to get it to LA Portland.
'
This was filmed in Summer 2018.
We should be there right now for two nights. Man this virus is messing up our travel plans. And then again we're not going to Utah. BUT we're staying home as it is the best thing to do.
1:10 the Cn&w liverly!!!
You Done and Did it Tom! GOD Bless you Sir! Did you Sign the Guest Book 📖? You make me wanna....! Dear LORD... I sit here today! San Joaquin Valley of Cali... but when... you.. touched my heart ❤️ and soul... my Late Brother in Law ... William “ Bill” Riley Sr.. Gold Spike Award 🥇 and a historical place inside the Gold Spike Museum here In Bailey Yard North Platte Nebraska USA 🇺🇸 WHoooooTWhooooooT! Yesssssireeee it’s Huge it’s incredible how Life is!! My old Wyoming home Cheyenne Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 and 4004 my old play ground set WhoootWhooooot!!!! Big BoyZ! But Bill Riley Sr set record’s... historic miles between North Platte Nebraska USA 🇺🇸 to Cheyenne Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 WhoooooTWhoooT Certified Locomotive 🚂 “ FueL MasteR” WhoootWhooooot.. Bill was Amazing he knew Trains 🚂 and even operated UP8444 WHoootWhooooooT! 4-16-2020 Paul W. Ayers “ Over The Hill Gang “ WhoootWhooooot.... gotta wipe tears outta my eyes.... Geee Wizzz Tom... wanna do some more... historical facts and Tracks Railroadies! WhoootWhooooot
North Platte is a fun place to visit. Will be doing more trips down there hopefully this Summer. I do believe I signed the guest book at the tower.
This video is old lol those storage containers in the parking lot were temporary locker rooms when the main locker room/bathroom was being redone and i know this cause i worked there when it was being done. I've been laid off since February 2019
Just in case you all weren't aware, UP 1995 can be seen at 1:11.
I have all kinds of stories from this place lol
Now that's Bat Shit Crazy!
Heh .. wait a minute. I think I saw some of the infamous 90 MACS parked near the shop.
That is. 90's are all in storage. Can't get computer parts for them anymore. Other RR's are buying them and converting them to SD70ACu.
@@Thee_Squatch probably has the old Siemens inverter computer stuff .. If I understand correctly the newer 70 MACS don't use siemens anymore.
A long nose SD-40 # 316 wow there still running???
Snoot noses are quite a rarity!
316-416 are a Mother/Daughter set now. Stay permanently hooked up. 416 has no engine or generator. Just a big block of concrete.
UP uses a lot of concrete ties for there track.
how do they put a outbound train togather?