The last month or so I've noticed that darned near every UP train through Leavenworth is northbound. Is there a southbound element to this? What part of this pattern am I missing?
Railroads often, particularly after a merger, use two parallel lines as double track. I'm not familiar with what's going on at Leavenworth, but it could be that there's an old MoPac or Katy line through a nearby town where all the trains go south. There have been cases of competing lines with parallel routes sharing, and both running their southbound trains on one road's track and their northbound traffic on the other. This well more than doubles the capacity of the route, so both roads gain that way. You can understand why double track more than doubles capacity--no sitting in a siding waiting for opposing traffic to clear. Fast freights might have to slow to drag freight speed until they reach a passing track, but no one has to sit and wait for a block to clear. And you can certainly see why a road which got a parallel track through a merger wouldn't pay billions to double track one of those lines, just to abandon the other.
Way north in Rushville the lines split. There is an easterly line that heads south, Latan, Weston, East Leavenworth, Farley, Waldron, Parkville, North Kansas City, coming back together in Kansas City. So, yes, two parallel lines.
OK. Rarely ever do I see anything but U.P., and this is unit trains of hoppers and containers. Rare to see a "mixed" way freight train, and it's usually short, 30 - 50 cars. Normal is a mile and two leading with one as a push, 130 or so cars, running at 40 or so although I've not accurately timed it. I just compare it to freeway speed. Also center rib type lumber cars and box cars, but most are "unit" with rotating couplers, or only one type of car. I like to spend my evenings at a park along the Missouri and just wondered what the pattern was. Thank you. Weston is BNSF? I cross the tracks 5 days a week on my way to North KC(east side of the Missouri river), or is there another set between the river and the airport?
