allabouttravel42: July 3 Sidney, Nebraska

We've been in Nebraska now couple days. Bill drove 6/29 over 300 miles, quiet a long day by most of our standards. I asked Bill this morning what was the first word that came to mind when thinking of Kansas or Nebraska.

Mine was "hot" and then Nebraska was "farming" or "corn". We are talking fields and fields of corn. Very flat so far since we are traveling on Intersate Hwy 80 west from Lincoln.

Nebraska certainly has sweeping horizons and obviously has more rain and water in the eastern part of the state rather than the western portion. The name Nebraska came from the Oto indian meaning "flat water" a description of the rivers that flow west to east.

We made a stop in North Platte which has had an interesting past. The formation of the railroad yard established the origin of North Platte with the Union Pacific Bailey's yard. At the Golden Spike tower you can observe a 360 degree view of Bailey's yard and the Platte River valley. The educational display provide tons of history and information on trains as well as the different periods and how the railroad played a roll.

I learned several things about trains that I didn't know, such as how an engine on a train is electric and the diesel engine only powers the electric motors. The train engine has a place where sand is loaded so as the train moves down the track it will automatically disperse sand so the engine maintains traction. In some cases such as an emergency stop the engineer will actually apply more sand in order to get more traction. I also learned that the box cars only rest on the wheels you see under a box car. The weight of the car keeps the wheels in place.

Today most everything is electronic and is computer controlled. Bailey's yard is an example how cars are pushed over the top of the "hump" a car rolled freely within the "bowl" to the appropriate line as designated. i had no idea that any care rolled freely. The "bowl" is created to insure that nothing can be free to go beyond the rail yard.

Bailey's yard is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the worlds largest railroad yard, with a mind boggling 315 miles of tracks, 2850 acres, which accommodate more than 150 trains a day with about 10,000 railroad cars.

North Platte was also the location of Buffalo Bill's Ranch. By all accounts Buffalo Bill was active from an early age driving Ox teams to going to Colorado for the gold rush to working for the Pony Express. He was a scout leading troops thru Wyoming Indian Territory. In response to a plea to have a July 4th celebration Buffalo Bill staged his first Old Glory Blowout in 1882. This was herald as the beginning of the Rodeo in the US. Between 1883-1886 Buffalo Bill toured the US with his wild west show.

Outside North Platte is Kingsley Damn and Lake McConaughy which is operated by the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation district. The damn was built between 1936 and 1941 and is 162' tall and 3.1 miles long. The lake when full covers over 30,000 acres. It is the largest body of water in the state.

Then we went further west to Sidney, NE, home of Cabela's worlds foremost out fitter. The actual Retail store was a little disappointing since we've been to multi level stores, but this community is only about 6,000. Seems to be a place everyone goes thru.