If you are into railroads and railways, North Platte, Nebraska is the place to be. The Bailey Rail yard is the largest rail yard in the world. They process over 10,000 rail cars per day going to various places in the US.
“During the construction of the transcontinental railroad, North Platte was platted as a railroad town by Union Pacific’s Chief Engineer Grenville Dodge. It was chosen because of its close proximity to good water, and its distance from Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1866 the first train rolled through what was known at the time as “Hell on Wheels” town. General Dodge quickly moved to construct major shop facilities and winter quarters and by 1867, main line operations began. Just two years later on May 10th, East met West at Promontory Summit in Utah, 690 miles east Sacramento and 1,087 miles west of Omaha. The railroad crossed two-thirds of the continent over some of the most difficult terrain on earth. It was called, “The Work of Giants” and it was the end of the frontier, as we knew it.
WWII On The Homefront
From 1941 to 1946, The North Platte Canteen served more than six million members of the armed forces providing home baked goods and a warm welcome to the nation’s young men and women as they passed by for a 10-minute stop. The nation was at war, and the volunteers at the North Platte Canteen stepped up to give each serviceperson a welcome break from going to or returning from the war.
The North Platte Canteen (also known as the Service Men's Canteen in the Union Pacific Railroad station at North Platte) was a railroad stop served by local citizens of North Platte, Nebraska, United States, that operated from Christmas Day 1941 to April 1, 1946.
Located along the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad, its purpose was to provide refreshments and hospitality to soldiers who were traveling through the area on the way to war during their ten- to fifteen-minute stopovers. During its run, nearly 55,000 Nebraska women served almost seven million soldiers on their way to fight in World War II.
Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska is the largest railroad classification yard in the world. Named in honor of former Union Pacific President Edd H. Bailey, the massive yard covers 2,850 acres, reaching a total length of eight miles. The yard is located in the midst of key east-west and north-south corridors, on the busiest freight rail line in America, making it a critical component of Union Pacific’s rail network.
Bailey Yard has 17 receiving and 16 departure tracks handling 14,000 rail cars every 24 hours. 3,000 cars are sorted daily in the yard’s eastward and westward yards, nicknamed “hump” yards. Using a mound cresting 34 feet for eastbound trains and 20 feet for those heading west, the hump yards allow four cars a minute to roll gently into any of 114 “bowl” tracks. Here they become part of trains headed for destinations in the East, West and Gulf Coasts of America, as well as the Canadian and Mexican borders. An average of 139 trains per day are largely comprised of raw and finished goods, such as automobiles, coal, grain, corn, sugar, chemicals, and steel along with consumer goods, including electronics, apparel and other retail products.
To keep America moving forward, the train operations and repair shops at Bailey Yard are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The fueling and service center processes more than 8,500 locomotives each month, using technology like overhead cranes and elevated work bays to maintain fluid operations.”
You can find more information here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Platte_Canteen
https://visitnebraska.com/north-platte/golden-spike-tower-and-visitor-center-north-platte-ne
The tower overlooks Bailey Yard and it is impressive.
We started on the ground floor and watched a short video on the history of the railroads, Bailey Yard, and what they do today. There were various railroad artifacts from the different railroad eras. We boarded the elevator to the eighth floor that contained a museum and an indoor observation deck.
We learned about the orphan trains:
There were over 200,000 children placed during a 75 year period. Some placements were good and some not. If you have a chance, there is some great information here as well as various books.
https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/child-welfarechild-labor/orphan-trains/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Train
https://orphantraindepot.org/history/
Interesting tidbit – the number of children from each state that was placed:
We learned about the North Platte Canteen and what North Platte did for our WWII servicemen:
And of course, we learned about the trains, the yard, the “hump”, the switchboard that use to control all of this (today is is computerized), railroad tracks and so much more. Think about this…they sort and connect over 10,000 car a day – WOW!
Here is an aerial view of Bailey Yard – largest in the world:
And the yard:
It is truly impressive! A diagram of the yard:
Engine Repair Shop:
We spent a bit of time on the 7th floor which was the open observation floor. I was fascinated watching the cars go down the “hump”. These cars are computer controlled and each car is directed to a train for a specific destination.
Notice the black rail car – on its way:
And now the white one:
More views of the yard:
One final look:
Truly a marvel! They had a scavenger hunt for kids and I just had to do it.. (I usually learn a lot more when I do these “hunts”.) I got all the answers correct and won a piece of candy! LOL!
If you are interested in trains, THIS IS THE PLACE!
See Part 2 for the rest of our day!
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