Omaha to North Platte
280 miles I 80 headed west all the way
Good food and beer in the motel bar, Ron you were a star.. but hey I can't keep that pace of drinking up, I have a mission to fulfill.
I mentioned coupon books from the Interstate rest area's in the last blog.. well the coupons can get you a room for less than half price typically I paid around 40 dollars a night, for good accomodation when the list price was as high as 120 dollars.
Had a quick drive down to Union Station Omaha.. Fantastic Art Deco Building gleeming in white stone, bet when steam ruled things were a little more grimy.
As normal its gonna be breakfast on the road mid morning, so fresh coffee at the motel then I'll spend a bit longer studying the Big Boy and Centennial in Kenefic Park before heading west to my first meeting with a Challenger in Cody Park, North Platte.Took a couple of hundred images, I'm sure many other visitors thought I was mad taking pics of bits of pipes, strange looking Valves etc.. But Hey no !
I'm English thats all.
I try to kid myself that there is no rush to get over to North Platte, the plan is if the condition of the Challenger is not so good then i'll keep heading west to Cheyenne and try and blag my way into UP's steam shop....... mmm doesn't sound really sound feasable.. Plan B is if the 3977 is in good shape then i spend three or four days in NP getting a good feel for the construction as well as documenting all the details.
Reckon on about a five hrs drive with a breakfast stop.. turn up the radio lets get this road on the show !
Never been to Nebraska before, but hey I have the Springsteen album by the same name... Yeh must find a coffe shop and see what the regulars think to Thunder Road in a thick Northern english accent.. could be fun, dig out a CD and sing out loud .. I may need the practice.
Breakfast .. now you will get used to this, Hash browns , Bacon , three eggs (easy over ) Fresh Juice , glass of water and a gallon of strong coffee.
Next time I go I am going to mid west I am taking a case of HP brown sauce with me... Yep I did look in every supermarket not a bottle in sight... In contrast to up North in Minnesota and Canada where I have found supplies ...
It will be almost like the seventies with trucking trips UK to Saudi.. each Uk driver had his own speciality , that he exchanged for meals at each of the stops used reguarly by British truckers .... Hey its Lorry drivers in my time !!
Nebraska is prairie country, the road is as straight as a die and the land rolls on in front of you... one big field really, some rain and according to the weather channel chance of thunder storms / tornado's...... mmm never seen a tornado, come to think of it its years since I saw a good thunder storm, it must be that sheltered little enclave in the north midlands I live in.
Again I had done my homework and looked at the location of my prey.. yep 3977 is visible on Googly earth... but what struck me was the scale of railroad operations in North Platte.
The railroad yard is huge, must be 8 miles by 1 and half ( pure guesswork ).
Will have to spend a little time exploring.. but first let me get the introductions to 3977 out of the way.
Us guys can multi task just as good as the girls Ya'know...
for instance .., here I am coming to the end of a 5000 mile journey (to see a steam train and a non working one a that ).. navigating my way through the streets and I instantly log into the memory any bar that looks interesting.. yep the odd steakhouse too.. couple of motels and all done with the map the right way up.... easy !!
Cody Park, North Platte as in Buffalo Bill Cody... apparently this area was is base.
Nice layout trees and a lake , small zoo with Bison wandering about..Hippy commune, yeah all good
But this is the reason for my trek... very impressive. .....We Meet at last
What an awesome loco. Great picture too.
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