kcrailfan.com

Railfan Headquarters for the Greater Kansas City Area

Pleasant Hill, Missouri

Vantage Points:
Broadway & Commercial Streets - The Sedalia sub of Union Pacific's main line to St. Louis runs right through downtown Pleasant Hill. Parking is available close to the old Missouri Pacific station, which is now host to several businesses. Nearly every train will be a westbound as UP avoids hauling heavy trains up through Independence.

Train Frequency:
Freight - 50-60 a day
Amtrak - Missouri River Runner morning eastbound arrives approximately at 8:15 am
              Missouri River Runner evening westbound arrives approximately at 8:40 pm
              Missouri River Runner afternoon westbound arrives approximately at 1:05 pm
              Missouri River Runner afternoon eastbound arrives approximately at 4:46 pm

What You'll See:
Union Pacific - A great place to see westbound freights including empty coal trains, stack trains, intermodal and manifest trains and of course, Amtrak's Missouri River Runner trains.

Missouri & North Arkansas - MNA runs several trains on UP tracks to Pleasant Hill, where they enter their own line. A late morning manifest train heads east and it's westbound counterpart arrives later in the afternoon. UP-powered coal trains occasionally make the eastbound run using manned helper engines that drop off at Pleasant Hill before switching to MNA rails.

Security Concerns:
Almost none. The area enjoys a small-town atmosphere and is well lighted at night. Do not get too near the tracks however, since some of the trains come through quite fast and the train crew will call you in if you are too close to the tracks.

GPS Address
400 Pine St - Pleasant Hill, MO

How to Get There:
From I-70 - Exit at Blue Springs (exit 20) on Hwy 7 and go south to Pleasant Hill (about 20 miles). Drive past the McDonalds on Hwy 7 to Broadway Street. Go right on Broadway and take it to the tracks (1 mile). This will put you in the heart of Pleasant Hill near the old station.