It’s a dream for a Ferroequinologist (Train Enthusiast/Student of the Iron Horse). We learned about The Golden Spike Towerthrough Harvest Hosts and although we didn’t opt for an overnight stay here we did visit one of the most exciting train locations we could imagine. The history of Bailey Yard as a maintenance facility and switching yard for Union Pacific Railroad goes back to 1867. Earlier than that it was a good stopping off place along the Oregon Trail. Up in the tower we had expansive views of the facility and Docent Eldon talked with us at length explaining what was happening and and translating some of the railroad talk into language we could understand. It’s the largest rail classification yard in the world sorting some ten thousand rail cars daily on 18 receiving and 16 departure tracks all of which is controlled by computer from Omaha. It’s an incredible scene!
My grandfather retired from the Bailey Yard in North Platte when I was about 13 or 14. I’m originally from there before moving to Kansas. We still traveled by train out of North Platte when I was younger.
Ever since its debut on Broadway the two of us have wanted to see “Wicked the Musical”. Today we realized that dream. In the Apollo Victoria Theater in London’s West End we were witness to the incredible prequel to The Wizard of Oz, the story of the Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
London’s National Portrait Gallery’s temporary exhibition, “Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens” presents an amazing collection of portraits, jewelry, personal effects, books, costumes, and more to illustrate not only the lives of the six women who married the second Tudor king, but the effort across five centuries to keep their memory alive.
The purpose of our trek to Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham in the southwest of London was to see a recently recovered bronze bust of the Emperor Caligula but we discovered so much more in the recently restored 18th Century “little Gothic castle” built by Horace Walpole.
My grandfather retired from the Bailey Yard in North Platte when I was about 13 or 14. I’m originally from there before moving to Kansas. We still traveled by train out of North Platte when I was younger.
Oh wow! Have you had the opportunity to return and visit the yard from the vantage point of the Golden Spike Tower?