With that in mine, may I officially welcome you to winter:
Out on the Prairies.
It was 32 degrees when I loaded up the Avenger this morning. The wind was only sucking half as hard as yesterday but that is a good thing.
A check of the Weather Channel this morning showed the center part of Nebraska with snow on the radar. I ran into the leading edge of it at the village of Sunol. I was trying to catch up with an eastbound double stack when I look up and see a westbound double stack. The right front of the leading locomotive was fully covered with packed snow and the snow was all over every single container on that train. Seems this westbound had a fun time after it left Bailey Yard in North Platte.
As of 11am MDT, the park in the town of Lodgepole still has the colors of autumn. But this snow is of the powdery content so fear of power failures would seem low. Per AM 880 KRVN, there are several hundred customers without power.
Next town up is Chappell and the snow still abounds as you can tell from the U.S. Route 385 Bridge looking southeast:
It is definitely winter. Pretty, eh??
Route 385 traverses southeast and then you wind up in the upper northeast corner of Colorado and the town of Julesburg. At the intersection of Route 385, you bear left onto U.S. Route 138. The snow must have been coming down at a good clip earlier because it appears they had the snowplows out.
And then I hear the muffled roar of a GM built locomotive and up comes a westbound double stack.
And I can confirm it was snowing at a good clip. The windswept snow really pelts my face as I take these snapshots.
And as crazy as it may sound, this is winter to me. Trains still running at track speed and the beauty of fresh falling snow. Can’t get any better than that.
Once in downtown Julesburg, I am on a mission. To find the store that has these fantastic homemade grinders. And there it is: Julesburg Family Market on Cedar Street off U.S Route 138 at the cross street of 3rd Street. The store is half supermarket and half general store. Get the nuts and bolts and whatever hardware you need while you grinder is made up. You take a 4 by 6-inch piece of paper with the listings of roll lengths and types, cold cuts and all of the condiments. Circle the items you want for your grinder and watch it being made. Get it cut in two, wrapped in red and white checkerboard paper, and then it’s all put in a clear plastic bag and twist-tied. Now that is service. And if grinders are not on your menu, fresh made pizza and fried chicken are also available.
After getting my lunch, it is over to a local park. Like the view of my “lunch room??”
To the East:
To the South:
And to the West.
It is snowing but it has let up a bit. And yes, trains do provide some of the entertainment this afternoon.
BTW, like my new “train set”??
After lunch, it is the continuation of my journey on U.S. Route 30 towards North Platte. Upon arriving in Ogallala, the snow has stopped but the clouds still have an eerie gray appearance to them. And as we cross into Keith County, we bid ado to the Mountain Time Zone which has hosted us since Sunday afternoon and say “hey” to the Central Tine Zone.
At about 3:00pm CDT, I am now between Sutherland and Hershey and my next train-watching place called O’Fallons. The snow has melted on the farmlands but one thing you can’t help but notice is the snow that was impacted into the north side of all of the telephone poles along the mainline.
This confirms just how strong the snow was blowing earlier today when I passed that snow encrusted double stack near Sidney.
And the trains just keep on coming. The next northbound empty coal train to the Powder River Coal Basin rolls by.
The hopper cars carry the railroad reporting mark “WSPX” for a corporation called Wheelstar associated with a power company in the state of Wisconsin.
Add to that an eastbound loaded coal train with the railroad reporting marks “OGEX”, for Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company going to a power plant somewhere in Oklahoma.
And to finish out our day at O’Fallons:
A westbound manifest freight heading to Cheyenne, Wyoming and:
An eastbound loaded coal train heading towards Bailey Yard in North Platte.
Finally, a couple of bits of trivia.
Bit One: yesterday in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, I came across these old, rusted out gas pumps.
I am dating myself because I remember what some of these old pumps looked like. Many of them come from before the “please pay first” days and the current processor-controlled, credit card units of today. A good many of these pumps cannot go above 99.9 cents per gallon. Boy, what a blast from the past that is!!
And Bit Two: today is Johnny Carson’s birthday. He was born back in 1925. And although Norfolk, Nebraska claims the status as Mr. Carson’s hometown, he was actually born in Corning, Iowa; 60 miles east southeast of Omaha.
At 5pm CDT, we call it a day and head to the Rodeway Inn in North Platte. In all of the times that I have been out here to Nebraska, the last couple of days take the cake as the most blustery. I still love the idea of that energy-generating windmill. Right next to my radio shack UP caboose.
Tomorrow we head to Kearney for one last hurray as our return to Connecticut comes soon. Hopefully we get sunny skies and a little less wind.
I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In North Platte, Nebraska.
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