One of the options I gave the hubby was the train tower in North Platte. He decided that we'd need several hours there and didn't want to make it stretch break attraction. Well.... when we were talking to the volunteer at the Cody Park Railroad Museum, he said we should check it out. I agreed since it was in town and we were ahead of schedule. I firmly believed we didn't need several hours there.
Golden Spike Tower is an observation tower overlooking the Union Pacific railyard in North Platte. It is open year, seven days a week. The cost is $8/adult and $6/children. There is small museum and hall of fame on the ground floor and two observation floors in the tower.
The 7th floor has more informational exhibits about World War II and the food trains as well as an outdoor observation deck. The hubby did not go out on the observation deck and greatly feared me going near the edge for pictures.
The 8th floor has an enclosed observation deck. There was a volunteer up there that worked for Union Pacific and was very knowledgeable.
The Union Pacific Railway in North Platte is a 8 miles long and over a mile wide. It features at least 8 tracks and two humps. I was fascinated to learn about a hump -- which is how they move cars to different engines. It is like a speed bump for railcars. A train car moves to the top of the hump and then gets sent down the hump on the line to connect to the new engine.
We definitely did not spend hours watching the trains. We were probably there about an hour. Okay so maybe I speed things up a but since it was lunch time but we definitely did not need to spend hours looking at trains coming and going no matter how interesting it was.
It is fascinating to watch all the trains in action.. the ones going straight on through.. the ones getting split apart and moving to other destinations. If you are a train enthusiast or not, this place is amazing. IT is one of the world's largest railyards and it is worth a visit.
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