10-21-08 On The Road, Part Eleven

So they were saying a chance of snow in the forecast. How about thunderstorms??

Cheyenne begins the day with partly sunny skies, as I get ready to head to Laramie and then Denver. It is a bit windy as a cold front is on its way. And the Weather Channel is talking about snow in the southwest corner of Nebraska, which is where I am heading on Wednesday. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.



This picture above is near the junction of I-25 and I-80. The bridge and tracks above belongs to the BNSF and the tracks and crossing gate below belong to the UP. Twas a bit quiet on the rails this morning.

I meant to mention that Cheyenne is at an elevation of 6060 feet, a bit higher than Denver. As you head west on I-80, you feel your car up-shift a few times as you gain altitude. At the summit, you are now at 8640 feet.



And soon after that, you are diving downhill with 5% grades and ample warning signs telling truckers to make sure you are in control.


As soon as you are past the steep downgrades you see the valley open before you and you are in Laramie.


On a side note, there are these crossing gates that are next to the Interstate, but they are not for railroad grade crossings.


The snow gets so bad in these parts that WYDOT will close down the Interstate until the snow is clear. And I-80 is a major interstate highway across the Rockies. So beware.

Upon arriving in Laramie, I head to the side of town next to the Union Pacific yard in Laramie and come across the central pedestrian bridge.



No sooner I get at the top and the skies from the west draw my attention. Dark gray clouds and the evidence that some sort of precipitation is falling from them.


I asked a few college students who have also climbed the bridge about the threatening skies and they tell me that it looks like rain to them. At least I hope it is.

And before I leave Laramie, I spot this old UP caboose on the main drag.



Always wanted a caboose in my back yard. Have it for my radio shack with a 50-foot tower next to it. Wonder how I’d get that past the zoning board??

After Leaving Laramie, it is on to Fort Collins, Co for my next stop. U.S. Route 287 has quite the scenery as it meanders thru the Wyoming and then Colorado countryside.



You can’t help but see the red rock and soil that is prevalent in this part of the country. And once you cross into Colorado, you can see the red horizontal veins in the various rock and butte formations.

Upon arriving in Fort Collins, I head to the northeast part of town to this very large clearing near Terry Lake and its reservoirs. It is the antenna farm for WWV, a part of the National Institute for Standards and Technology.



This antenna farm transmits a time signal from the WWV building in Boulder, CO. If you have a short-wave radio, you can listen to them on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz. For those of us in ham radio, WWV allows you to set your clock to the exact second; very helpful at the time changes we do each year. And if you don’t have a radio you can call them at (303) 499-7111 or on the Internet at www.nist.gov. The time WWV announces is UTC, or Coordinated Universal Time. Amateur radio operators have 2 clocks in their radio shacks: one for their local time and one for UTC. Based on the time in Greenwich, England, it is the same for every spot in the world. Right now as I type this report, it is 3:48pm Mountain Daylight Time. But the UTC time is 21:48 hours. So let’s say I was set up a conversation or sked to talk to a ham in Sydney, Australia. I ask him if 2300UTC would be a good time for him. He would most likely say yes because for me, my time is OK since it would be 5:00pm Mountain Daylight Time and where he is in Sydney, it would be 10:00am Sydney Daylight Time the next morning. Kinda confusing, but since UTC is the same time anywhere in the world, it is a lot easier to set up skeds using UTC than to trying to figure out to convert to the local time in the area you are talking to.

I continue south towards Denver but my eyes get the better of me and I pull off I-25 at a Conoco-McDonalds-Starbucks combination gas station/truck stop. On the radio I hear my friend Nate Duehr, WY0X. We talk about plans for tonight and while I am talking to him, it’s not looking too pretty to the west over Longmont. Dark clouds are heading my way. And then come the lightning bolts. And these bolts are single strokes and they are landing pretty close. I quickly pull out of the rest stop and head south and literally see my rear view mirror become dark gray. Cold front coming thru right on time.

And finally I reach my brother Jay’s old stomping grounds of Denver.



And the Interstate and surrounding infrastructure looks pretty good considering 8 years ago this area was under a major rebuilding. The skyline comes into view and soon too does Invesco Field, home to the NFL Football Denver Broncos.


A few more exits and I arrive at my next stop at 500 South Broadway at the corner of
E. Virginia Avenue.



The place is Caboose Hobbies, one of the largest hobbies stores in the U.S. Whatever scale you model or if there is some rare part you may need, these folks might just have it. And they have a repair shop on the premises. Talking to Rich S., one of the salesmen, they ship orders all over the world from their website, www.caboosehobbies.com, and their store. I am so tempted to do some serious shopping but this trip takes precedence. I am sure my railfan buddy George would definitely want to make a trip here. Quite the store!!

I safely arrive at the Motel 6 in Greenwood Village, one of the many suburbs of Denver. And the thunderstorms from Longmont have caught up with me and the temp has dropped about 15 degrees. Can you say “winter??!!”

Anyway, off to see Nate and his wife Karen for dinner. Tomorrow we head north thru the prairies east of I-25 thru Greeley to Cheyenne and then make a hard right and start working my way back towards Omaha.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Denver, Colorado.

10-20-08 On The Road, Part Ten

Four hundred and fifty miles is a lot of mileage in one day. And suffice it to say, it is good to be in Cheyenne after 10 hours of driving. But this was in the plans anyway.

Before I go into today, I need to mention something from yesterday. Somewhere just south of Kadoka, SD, I came across the most incredible rock and mountain formations I have ever seen. According to my friend Ray, I went thru the Badlands of South Dakota.



It was like going back thru time. These formations are buttes and mountains that have been sanded by the prairie winds over time and you see the layer upon layer of different colored rock. And in about 10 minutes, you climb up a hill and they are gone. Absolutely amazing!!

Back to today. The drive to Ellsworth took one hour and then I was on Nebraska State Route 2 heading east. And it seems the dispatchers of the BNSF in Fort Worth, TX have their hands full today: a number of empty coal trains waiting their turn to head west to the Power River Coal Basin. Seems the maintenance-of-way crews were working on one of the sidings west of Ellsworth and there was a bit of a back up as was this one train below:



But about 5 miles down the track, we have a race to Thedford:


The lead unit, 894, has the old Santa Fe silver and red “war bonnet” design and the color scheme that is slowly disappearing to the green and orange scheme of BNSF predecessor Great Northern. We pace each other for about 20 miles until the next set of trains waiting to head west slows down our eastbound.

After arriving at Thedford, it’s south on U.S. Route 83 into North Platte. Wendy’s sounds good today for lunch but upon walking into the restaurant, it’s like walking into a haze…literally. Seems something let go in the kitchen and it smelled like French fry grease. Trust me, after doing restaurant work in my illustrious working career, it ain’t good. I head out as quickly as I came to avoid what could only be described as “heavy air”.

The ride to Cheyenne on U.S Route 30, the Lincoln Highway, is pretty much uneventful. Not as many trains as I expected. But I did make one stop along the way in the town of Lodgepole, Nebraska. In the center of town and right by the tracks is a beautiful tree covered park.



And in the middle of this park is a beautiful gazebo:


Which gives you a full view of the tracks. But it wasn’t just the gazebo:


The colors of the leaves were in full autumn bloom:


A perfect autumn day.

After Lodgepole, it was 2 more hours to Cheyenne. Slow news day.

Tomorrow we head up into the mountains and the city of Laramie, WY then down to Denver, CO to visit my brother Jay’s old stomping grounds and meet up with one of my ham radio buddies.

Oh, and there may…may be some snow in the forecast…maybe.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Cheyenne, Wyoming.

10-19-08 On The Road, Part Nine

The day begins with a visit to Oahe dam, just north of Pierre on the Missouri River. According to the folks at Wikipedia.Com:



“The Oahe Dam is a large man-made dam along the Missouri River, just north of Pierre, South Dakota in the United States. It creates Lake Oahe,


“the 4th largest man-made reservoir in the United States, which stretches 231 miles up the course of the Missouri to Bismarck, North Dakota.


“The dam's power plant provides electricity for much of the north-central United States. It is named for the Oahe Indian Mission established among the Lakota Sioux in 1874.


“The project provides flood control, electric power, irrigation, and navigation benefits, estimated by the Corps of Engineers at $150,000,000 per year.

“In September and October 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through what is now Lake Oahe while exploring the Missouri River.

“Oahe Dam was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944, and construction by the United States Army Corps of Engineers began in 1948. The earth and shale main dam reached its full height in October 1959. It was officially dedicated by President John F. Kennedy on August 17, 1962, in which year it began generating power. The original project cost was $340,000,000.”



The south side of the dam has a big sandy beach, which comes in quite handy during the summer months. This portion of the Missouri River, known as Lake Sharpe, is a great haven for fishermen of walleye salmon.

Next we find ourselves on the grounds of the state capitol here in Pierre.




I remember back when I ran Master Control at Newschannel 8 that there was a public service announcement, or PSA, that ran on ABC and it starred actor Tom Hanks. He was asking for donations for the building of a monument to salute and remember our veterans of World War II. And he questioned why it had taken, at the time, 50 years for something like this to come to fruition?? On Memorial Day 2004, this WWII monument opened to the general public and has been quite the crowd attraction. I took my Dad down there in October 2004 as appreciation for the replacement window work we had done on my house that summer. And when I was deciding what hat to wear while on my 2-week vacation, I chose my National WWII Memorial hat.


Back on Labor Day weekend of 2001, a monument was dedicated to the veterans of South Dakota from WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The monument has a cascading waterfall thru the middle of the Korean and Vietnam portion and then you have the 6 soldiers representing the military services of our country.


Next to this memorial is one for the EMT, Police and Firefighters of South Dakota who lost their lives in the line of duty.




One of them is my friend Jenn’s paternal grandfather, Virgil Deyo, who was a policeman for the City of Huron. His name resides on this monument.


Jenn never knew her grandfather due to the time of her birth but her grandfather is held in the highest regard.

As we approach Veteran’s Day here in the U.S., please take a moment to remember our veterans in your thoughts and prayers. And if you happen to come upon some veterans out there selling their poppy flowers or if there is a veteran in your family, please say thank you to them for their service for our independence. It is the least that we can do and to bring a smile on any veteran’s face is a good thing. Thanks, Dad.

And don’t forget out EMT, police and firefighters. Their efforts are deeply appreciated.

We say bye to Jenn and her family at 3pm CDT and head to the town of Gordon, NE.
Two hundred miles and 3 hours and change later, I arrive at 5:15pm MDT to visit an old friend from Newschannel 8 who has come full circle to where he was born and raised. His name is Ray Waldron. Goodness knows we had several names for him from Ray to The Ray Man to Ray Ray to Mr. Ray but when we called him he sure came running. Ray was one of our maintenance engineers, certified in fixing any broadcast gear from Sony and was one of the best IT guys when it came to any of the computers and the computer networks that we used in News and Engineering. A few years ago, Ray came out to visit his folks in Chadron, about 20 miles west of Gordon. And Ray met an old high school girlfriend of his named Elaine. Well, one thing led to another and Ray and Elaine ended up getting married and Ray moved back to Nebraska. He works for Gordon Memorial Hospital as their computer IT guy. We had a delicious slow-cooked pot roast dinner tonight with all of the trimmings and some very good banana nut bread for dessert. Ray says he doesn’t miss TV but he was attentive as I brought him up to speed with his former friends and colleagues at Newschannel 8.

So now I am back at the Jefco Inn and it is time to call it a day. Monday is a full day on the road and we get back into train chasing, following the BNSF from Ellsworth, NE to Thedford, NE and back to the UP from North Platte, NE to Cheyenne, WY. Weather will be sunny for a 450-mile trip in about 10 hours. Should be a good day.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Gordon, Nebraska.

10-18-08 On The Road, Part Eight

We continue where we left off yesterday from the rest area in Okaton, South Dakota. As you head west on I-90, you see these sudden upshots of mountains, very steep and almost vertical. You have reached the Badlands of South Dakota, with the next stop being the Black Hills near Rapid City. And again, you cannot help but be in awe of the spectacular beauty all around you. And to think what it must have been like for our forefathers to travel these long distances to get across the prairies. Horses and wagons were the way of the day and far less comfortable than our modern day automobiles.

As I head west to the left side of the South Dakota Triangle, there are several reminders of today’s next destination as you travel on I-90: Wall Drug. And every other mile you get a reminder:



And one like this:


Some of the bigger billboards are out of range of this writer’s camera but they are big enough to read. And the billboards remind you of homemade ice cream, homemade donuts (Dunkin’ Donuts, look out!!) and free ice water, which was their original claim to fame way back in the 1930’s. For more on the history of Wall Drug, go to http://www.walldrug.com/t-history.aspx

I arrive in Wall, SD at about 3pm in the afternoon and that is 3pm Mountain Time. Wall Drug is this 2 block long group of stores which have the appearance of buildings of the early 20th century.



But don’t let the looks deceive you.


Inside these buildings are some great specialty stores. You can get western theme jewelry, cowboy boots, Indian artifacts, many varieties of knickknacks, shavings of Black Hills gold, and quite the cafeteria where you can get some fabulous blackberry pie alamode and hot and cold meals and that famous ice water. And for those who have camera in hand, there are these fiberglass likenesses of cowboys, cowgirls, and Sioux Indians on various benches that you can have your picture taken with.

Soon it is back on the road to the top of the South Dakota Triangle. And a town named after me…well, I’d like to think that. Welcome to:



A small town of 885 midway between Wall and Pierre.



Nice little town, eh??

Once thru Philip and about 90 minutes later, I am back in Pierre after about a 400-mile journey.

Saturday morning brings lots of sunshine and cirrus clouds all around. So let me tell you about my friend Jenn.

I have known Jenn for over 7 years. We met thru the posting boards of the then WB Network and were fans of the TV show “Dawson’s Creek”. Our first meeting was to have happened in August of 2001 when she was on a business trip to Philadelphia but circumstances beyond our control prevented that from happening. But 2 months later, we met at her Mom’s house here in Pierre. Jenn has 2 daughters: Miranda who is 16 and Rebecca who is almost 13. And there are the 2 dogs: Nutmeg and Ginger who are dachshunds. Jenn is the definitive image of a single mom; raising 2 kids and owning her own piece of the rock: a nice cozy two story home in the center of the city. She has worked in public service for most of her adult life. She began as a committee secretary for the South Dakota House of Representatives during Legislative Session at the state capitol. She then went to the Department of Labor as a receptionist, and then the Divisions of Securities as a broker registrar, which meant that she registered investment advisors and broker dealers. She now works for Hughes County as a deputy finance officer and voter registrar. And with it being less than 3 weeks to the presidential election, Jenn has the honors of keeping tabs on the absentee ballots. Not a job for the faint-hearted. Despite all of the duties that are in her life, Jenn manages to keep a smile of optimism on her face and, plain and simple, doesn’t take crap from anybody. We keep in touch by phone every Sunday night and email thru the week. Let’s just say that after a long week, Jenn appreciates that I am around and it’s a good thing to have an adult conversation each week with a good friend.

Anyway, Jenn and I are out to The Longbranch, a local restaurant in town, which serves up a fantastic prime rib. Tomorrow we’ll visit the grounds of the state capitol before we say bye to Jenn and her family and head west back into Nebraska as we surpass the midway point of our journey.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Pierre, South Dakota.

10-17-08 On The Road, Part Seven

You’ve heard of the Bermuda Triangle?? Well today, we have a variation on that, but this time we’re on dry land and I can guarantee you the roads aren’t going anywhere. Well, they are, but you know what I mean.

Today’s journey was so long it’s going to take a couple of days to explain.

About 9:30am CDT, we start at the top of the triangle and I’m on my way southeast towards Reliance, SD where that elusive TV tower is that I have trying to find the last few times I have been in South Dakota. But in my journey, I discovered something even bigger. I mentioned I would get to Oahe Dam just north of Pierre. Well, I came across another dam at Fort Thompson, SD called the Big Bend Dam, which carries South Dakota State Route 47. According to Wikipedia.Com:



“The dam, 95 feet high and 10,570 feet in length, was constructed as part of the Pick-Sloan Plan for Missouri watershed development authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944. Construction began in 1959 and the embankment was completed in July 1963. Power generation began at the facility in 1964 and the entire complex was completed in 1966 at a total cost of $107 million. The hydroelectric plant generates 493,300 kilowatts of electricity and meets peak-hour demand for power within the Missouri River Basin.


“Located near Fort Thompson, South Dakota, just south of a major bend in the Missouri River (from which the dam takes its name), Big Bend Dam creates Lake Sharpe, named after South Dakota Governor Merrill Q. Sharpe. The lake extends for 80 miles up the course of the Missouri River past Pierre to Oahe Dam, another major power-generating and flood control embankment. Lake Sharpe covers a total of 56,884 acres.”

In addition to the power generation plant, the site has a beautiful park complete with picnic tables and charcoal grills.



Add to that, go back about 6 miles north on Route 47 and you see this huge, and I mean huge, collection of high tension power line towers feeding what are most likely extreme duty circuit breakers and switches.


A good 100 towers with a ½ mile radius of what appears to be the major distribution point of South Dakota Public Utilities for this part of the state. Wish I had gotten closer but there was this guy in a yellow utility truck and I just wanted to play it safe. And to be honest with you, I really wouldn’t want to be near here during a thunderstorm.

So across the dam we go and we are out in the vastness of South Dakota once again. A few miles south then west on Route 47 and I find that elusive tower… and 2 of its buddies.



The 660 foot tower on the left is KPLO-TV 6, a rebroadcast site belonging to KELO-TV 11 based in Sioux Falls, SD and just before the top of the channel 6 antenna is the FM antenna belonging to KTSD-FM 91.1 of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. The tower on the right holds a combination of cellular and microwave antennas.


And the above 1283-foot tower (the only one that I could see before) is KTSD-TV10, which is also part of SDPB. They are located on, of course, Tower Road on Medicine Butte. Oh, and did I mention the scenery:


And a side note about KELO-TV: there are 2 other rebroadcast sites located in Florence (KDLO-TV 3) and Rapid City (KCLO-TV 15). Plus KELO-TV has translator facilities in Aberdeen, Custer, and Land Andes, SD. The combined facilities allow KELO to provide full coverage for South Dakota plus large parts of North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa, using the trademark "KELOLAND" with network affiliation with CBS. A unique feature of KELO's coverage area is that it includes two time zones – Central and Mountain. This means that viewers of Rapid City's KCLO watch CBS's prime-time schedule from 6pm to 9pm Mountain Time (instead of 7pm to 10pm Central Time) with The Late Show with David Letterman airing at 9:35pm MT. And I thought I was busy at Newschannel 8.

So south on Route 47 and on to I-90 eastbound to the towns of Oacoma (oh-CO-ma) and Chamberlain, which are on the west and east sides, respectively, of the Missouri River. At milepost 264, there is a rest area, which has a beautiful overlook of the Missouri to the north.



And while I was at the rest area, I couldn’t help but notice a number of black labs, yellow labs and golden retrievers out for their noontime walk with their owners. Come to find out that this weekend is the beginning of pheasant hunting season in South Dakota. Which explains why this morning the girl behind the counter at the Super 8 Hotel in Pierre had no rooms available. BTW, anybody see Dick Cheney today??!!

After lunch at the rest area, it is a 150 miles jaunt west to Wall, SD, home to Wall Drug. And at the halfway point near Murdo, I come across this wide load convoy. And I was surprised to see its load. Remember that power-generating windmill just north of Valentine, NE?? Well here before me is one of the 3 prop blades for another power generating windmill on a long extendable flatbed tractor-trailer.



And about 20 miles later when I stop at the Okaton rest area, the blade truck passes me by:


Very cool, indeed.

Anyway, that’s the first half of today’s journey. We’ll finish the second half tomorrow. And we’ll meet my friend Jenn and her role in public service in Pierre.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Okaton, South Dakota.

10-16-08 On The Road, Part Six

“Are we there yet??”

Next to the phrase “I need to go to the bathroom” has there ever been a phrase to put fear in any parent. Kids, at a young age, know that they get all excited when Mom and Dad tell them of a big trip to go to some place special or to go see Grandma and Grandpa. And you all pile into the family car. And it doesn’t take long before boredom creeps in and the dreaded phrase is spoken.

“Are we there yet??”, which is usually followed by the mother or father saying, “Why didn’t you go before we left??” Gotta love parenthood.

Today is a travel day, about 300 miles. I left North Platte just after 9am CDT. Once you get about 5 miles north of NP, past the modern day AM, FM, and TV towers that provide the local media for the city, you are out in the vastness known as the prairies.


Flatness has given way to rolling hills, covered in wild grass. And occasionally, you see these black and dull white bumps. Beef cattle and dairy cows. Taking their time grazing and soaking in the day.

An hour later, I stop at Thedford for a bit to get a snapshot of the other major railroad in the state, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe or BNSF. I was at the Conoco gas station and rest stop for all of 15 minutes when I heard the horn of an eastbound train. Had the camera shot all lined up. And then there was this tractor-trailer truck that had just pulled off Nebraska State Route 2. No sooner had he pulled in he was pulling out. There I am in plain view ready to take my shot…and the yahoo pulls right out in front of me and my shot. And I swear as I was looking at him and saying things that you can’t print here, he just raised his hands and shrugged and continued on. I am sure my brothers are there with me, photo buffs that they are, and are sympathizing with me…or they are rolling on the floor laughing their you-know-whats off. Luckily for me, the next BNSF train is about 10 minutes after the first and I get my shot.


As you can see, king coal also rules on the BNSF. We’ll see these guys again the early part of next week.

11am and it is a quick left to continue on U.S. Route 83. An hour later just after 12 Noon and I am in Valentine, NE, about 9 miles from the South Dakota border. And I find my usual rest stop, a Conoco gas station complete with the golden arches of McDonalds. And today’s meal is two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, aka the Big Mac. Funny story about the Big Mac. Back when they came out some 30 plus years ago, I remember going to Mickey D’s with my brother Paul and our good friend Mike Thibodaux. Being a bit famished and after the young lady behind the counter asked us what we wanted, Mike and I broke out in the theme song for the Big Mac. The young lady behind the counter was not amused. Her eyes looked like thin slits, kinda like what the Grinch looked like in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” after Max the dog jumps into the sleigh all happy and ready to go. Mike and I summed up what was left of our egos and asked for our Big Macs in the usual fashion. Paul just laughed. It was a sad day for Mike and me. Ah, but the memories.

12:30pm CDT finds me back on Route 83 and I reach the South Dakota border. And as I cross the border, I see this waiting for me.


This is the first time that I have seen one of these 25 story tall windmills. And it’s spinning at a good clip. And to the right of the windmill is the “Cadillac” of farm tractors made by Massey-Ferguson.

An hour and a half later I have made it to Murdo, SD. Here is where I pick up Interstate-90, which also is the continuation of Route 83. Speed limit: 75 MPH. And I set the cruise control for 75. And folks are still passing me by. Can’t please all of the drivers all of the time.

Twenty minutes later, I am on the last leg of my journey to Pierre. This portion of Route 83 used to be a 2-lane road but a second 2-lane road was built west of the original lanes from 2001-2002. Two lanes north; two lanes south. Seventy MPH and you’re cruising right along. Where I am now is called the National Grasslands, part of the U.S. Forestry Service. There are very few houses out here. Some of them built way back when are abandoned and subject to what Mother Nature has to give.

And those black bumps mentioned earlier?? I get a few miles up Route 83 and here they are. And there was a good 20 MPH wind from the east.


Halfway to Pierre, this is what you see:

Looking South.


Looking West.


Looking North.


Looking East.


Wish the camera could do more justice.

Anyway, “WE ARE HERE” just before 2:45pm CDT. It has been a long drive but I’ve got to say that the scenery was just spectacular.

Tomorrow we will do a tour of central South Dakota. We will visit the Oahe Dam. We’ll have a history lesson on where we are. And I’ll tell you about Jenn.

Special thanks to the audio archives from the website of A Prairie Home Companion for making my journey go by a bit quicker.

I’m Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Pierre, South Dakota.