Bailey Yard

The massive Union Pacific railroad classification yard - Bailey Yard - continues to be one of the most asked-about tourist attractions in and around North Platte.

The yard covers 2,850 acres, reaching a total length of eight miles. There's room enough for 3,097 football fields.

Every 24 hours, Bailey Yard handles 10,000 railroad cars, comprising approximately 135 trains. Of these, 3,000 are sorted daily in the yard's eastward and westward yards, nicknamed "hump" yards. The humps are a mound 34 feet high on the eastbound side and 20.1 feet high on the westbound side. These humps allow four cars each minute to roll gently into any of 114 "bowl" tracks where they become part of trains headed for dozens of destinations.

While there is no ideal way to see the railroad operations, there are a couple of options. Approximately 2.4 miles east of the Buffalo Bill Avenue/Front Street junction, there is a one story viewing platform that overlooks the west hump. This is open 24/7, and there is no charge.

Another option is the Buffalo Bill Avenue overpass itself. Parking is available at The Barn Store, a convenience store located on Front Street under the overpass. From there, you can walk to the south end of the overpass and walk up the pedestrian walkway. The walkway is on the west side of the street, and provides an interesting overview of the railroad yard.

Anyone wanting more information about viewing the operations at Bailey Yard can call the North Platte/Lincoln County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-955-4528.

UPDATE: The old one-story viewing deck has been demolished, pending the construction of the Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center, located at the corner of Homestead and Bailey Yard Roads. The tower will open in the spring of 2008. For now, you can observe the yard from the overpass at Buffalo Bill Avenue. See you all next spring for the opening of the Tower!

Arts in North Platte

Sunday night the Creativity Unlimited Arts Council hosted the grand finale reception marking the culmination of the month-long Autumn Arts Festival. The Festival included a production of "Steel Magnolias" at the North Platte Community Playhouse, the Sheldon Statewide Art Exhibit, art workshops by area artists, free art demonstrations, and a silent auction of art donated by local artists.

In a wonderful example of the thriving art community in North Platte, there were nearly forty works of art included in the silent auction. Also on display were watercolor, acrylic and oil paintings, mono prints and pottery teapots, all created at the numerous workshops held during the Festival. In addition to the workshops geared for young people, the very young were invited to create painted pumpkins, which were also on display.

The Sheldon Statewide Art Exhibit continues until November 13 at the McKinley Education Center. It is open daily to the public.

The play "I Remember Mama" will be at the North Platte Community Playhouse on November 11, 12, 13, 18 and 19. For more information call 534-6162.

According to the program distributed at the reception, the Creativity Unlimited Arts Council supports the efforts of these community Arts organizations: Art Study League (532-9802), North Platte Community Playhouse (534-6162), Town Hall Lecture Series (239-2430), The Theater Guild (532-5613), North Platte Art Guild (532-5365), Platter Painters (534-9718), North Platte Area Children's Museum (532-3512), Friends of the Library (535-8036, North Platte Concert Association (534-3679), Sandhills Symphony Orchestra, Heartland Singers, Sweet Adelines, Monday Musicale and North Platte Municipal Band.

What an extraordinary number of arts organizations for a small community!

Whether you enjoy the visual arts or the performing arts, and whether you like to participate or just enjoy watching, you will find something to fit your interests in North Platte.

Fall is in full swing

For anyone driving along Interstate 80, Highways 30, 83 or 25, or the back roads of Lincoln County, the fall colors are spectacular! We have also recently seen some of the most glorious sunsets ever. OK, Nebraska has so many glorious sunsets that it's hard to call any the "best", but if you've seen them, you know they have been beautiful. And what about that night sky? Coming home late from a football game last night, the waning full moon in the sky blanketing the landscape with pale light, with a few wispy clouds flitting by, the majority of the stars visible in the mostly clear sky. What could be better!

The beautiful seasons of Nebraska! Yes, we have had our first frosts, the nights are definitely chilly (cold, if you are sitting on the sidelines of a football game, but enjoyable if you are heading for a duck blind before sunrise), and we know that winter is fast approaching, but right now we are all reveling in the beautiful fall Indian Summer days.

My son recently returned for a ten day visit from California. The first Saturday eight of us got together for a guided horseback ride at 9Penny Ranch south of Maxwell. There were supposed to be ten, but two couldn't pull themselves away from the Nebraska game on TV. Bob and Penny Miller offer horseback rides, riding lessons and stabling. They have a great string of horses. Of the eight who went riding, only two of us had any extensive riding experience, and the rest varied from slim to none. Bob took great care of us, choosing the right horse for each person, and leading us through the deep canyons and high bluffs of the terrain south of Maxwell for an unforgettable experience. And, we got done just in time to listen to Nebraska's comeback on the radio on the way home. Their attempt fell short, but the Cornhuskers sure made it exciting.

We also spent one morning at Seifer Farms Sporting Clays south of Sutherland. This time there were ten of us, many of whom had never held a shotgun! We didn't go through a full round, but spent most of our time at a couple of the easier stations, just getting the hang of it. Everyone had at least one clay target broken by the end of the day.

Most of the rest of my sons visit was spent archery Turkey hunting. He was finally successful on his last morning in town, bagging a large "Jake", which was almost a mature Tom, with a five to six inch beard and spurs about three quarters of an inch long. When he took us all out to see where he had shot his Turkey, we surprised a rattlesnake sunning itself in the road. As this is a well populated area, we did our civic duty and dispatched the snake, too. Danny had a rattle to take back as a trophy as well.

In the middle of the days, he spent time again out at Seifer Farms working to deplete the Prairie Dog population. He did manage to kill eight or ten of the varmints, but, unfortunately, did little to dent the population of the vast town.

We also managed to fit in a drive into the Sandhills which was a real treat for Danny's girlfriend, who has virtually never been out of the Los Angeles area. We also took along our host son who hails from Australia. They both were in awe at the wide open spaces and sparse population. We finished it up with dinner at Ole's Big Game Steakhouse in Paxton. It was a stretch for the girlfriend who is a vegetarian, but she was a good sport about all of the trophy animal mounts on the walls. The Aussie even developed a taste for the Rocky Mountain Oysters.