The Last Part

“So Long and a New Beginning”

Friday ended a very large amount of driving on this trip. Since departing Elizabeth, Colorado on Monday and with the trips to Durango, Four Corners, Utah, Glenwood Springs and arriving in Kearney last night, that part of the trip was 1740 miles, nearly half of what I have done so far. And boy did I see some beautiful parts of our country.

This Saturday morning, I am at my office at the municipal parking lot in Kearney, Nebraska seeing how many trains will roll by in a 6 hour period. 

Last time I was here in October 2014, I started taking notes of when a train rolled by and its direction. Back then, it was 31 trains (19 westbound, 12 eastbound) from 1030am to 430pm, which meant that the Union Pacific's statement was true, that a train came by, on average, every 12 minutes which meant 120 trains per day went thru Kearney. But now, it seems the train count is down somewhat. From 10:40am to 4:40pm, we had 22 trains (12 westbound, 10 eastbound) averaging one every 16.5 minutes or about 90 trains a day. Now mind you that the railroads run more trains overnight. Some have been quite long with helper locomotives cut in midway. And they do wake me up on occasion, but who knows what could be involved.

And we had a little suspense with one of those trains; an empty westbound coal train that stopped right in front of me. 

Seems the crew outlawed on its federally mandated 12 hours of service and a new engineer and conductor were ferried into town. And once the new crew tried to leave, they could not. Seems an issue occurred when trying to get the brakes to release or something else. Took them 45 minutes to get going. The town’s people got around the blocked Central Avenue crossing. Hate when that happens. But hey, I'm just happy to see them roll by. They still keep this railfan as young as he was when he first saw those boxcars in Rhode Island all those years ago.

Sunday morning was spent attending the 10:30am Mass at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Kearney. And what a place of worship: the church is only 6 years old and is of a very modern design from the trimmings on the walls and the ceiling. But it has a little old fashion look to it. 

Like some very old churches of the 19^th century, this one is shaped like a cross with the sacristy at the top, side pews in the arms and pews heading straight back to the main entrance with a large baptismal font. The pastor is Father Paul Colling who is celebrating 30 years in the priesthood this year. Backing him up is Deacon Thomas Martin who gave the homily this morning and could bear a resemblance to Moses and I told him so after Mass as well as commending him on his homily. Coming out of the church, I felt very refreshed. As I have mentioned before, no preaching from this writer. But it never hurts to ask for divine intervention. Say Alleluia. Say Amen. And so it goes.

After church, it was time for lunch and one last visit to my office at the Kearney municipal parking lot, feeling nostalgic and thinking back. Some of my former News 8 colleagues think I am crazy to do all this traveling. And what is it with trains, anyway? Don't know, really.  But I am truly fascinated by the locomotives that pull these trains and how much tonnage you can pull with ball bearing axles holding steel wheels on steel rails. Unlike a car tire which has an average 6 by 8 inch footprint on a road, the footprint of a steel wheel on a steel rail is the size of a dime. A railroad can move one ton of weight 425 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel. Very efficient and very economical.

Oh, and the other thing they ask about me: why Nebraska? It still gets cold out there. I guess it's the New Englander in me. I love all four seasons. As long as you dress properly and as long as your house is properly insulated, you're good. Plus now, I get to stay home and watch the storms.

Anyway, I departed my office at 1:30pm to start heading east to Columbus. After picking up supplies at Casey’s General Store, it was East on US 30. And it seems history repeated itself. Back in October 2014, I was pacing the 3 Amigos, namely a 3-unit set of locomotives running light, meaning having no cars to pull. This time it was a loaded coal train.  One locomotive on the head end. One on the rear.

He did a steady 50MPH. When I had to slow down for a town, he got ahead of me. Upon leaving each town and getting back up to speed, I got back up to him. We played tag from the town of Gibbon, 10 miles east of Kearney to a few miles short of Duncan, the town 10 miles west of Columbus. Clear green signals all the way. And we had a couple of westbounds to add in.

Sure was nice to have some company and a great way to end this journey.

I rolled into Columbus just after 4pm. Time to collect and pack all of my stuff for the flights back home to Connecticut. And as I said at the top, a new beginning. Retirement. Should be good. And fro the record, the Vovo S60 T5 will end its journey at about 3875 miles. 

Anyway, this has been a great trip. The best, bar none. Next year this time, I think I am going to explore Burlington Northern Santa Fe's Southern Transcon mainline thru New Mexico and Arizona. Be back here in Nebraska the year after.....twice!! In May 2019 for the 150th anniversary of the Union Pacific's completion of the Transcontinental Railroad and then the usual stuff in October.

Thanks for riding along. I hoped you enjoyed both blogs. Whenever you see a train, think of me. If the train looks that good, please send me a picture. And whenever you take the train, have a safe ride.

I am Philip J Zocco. On The Road. In Columbus, Nebraska.