NW2 258 (location unknown) on July 9, 1978.
NW2 258
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Location is Kansas City, Missouri.
The locomotive is near the south end of 19th Street Yard. This was the main inbound traffic yard for the Frisco in the city. The railroad maintained a locomotive shop and service tracks facilities in this yard. A companion facility across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, Rosedale Yard, handled the majority of the Frisco’s outbound traffic. Located at Rosedale were the railroad’s freight car maintenance facilities.
19th Street Yard is located just southeast of the confluence of the Kansas River as it flows into the Missouri River at Kaw Point. The yard is located in the West Bottoms commercial district. The area once housed the Kansas City Stock Exchange, Kansas City Stockyards and multiple meatpacking houses. This developed as an early retail, wholesale, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing center in the city.
Most railroads maintained their freight houses in the bottoms. Kansas City’s first passenger Union Depot was located just to the north of the yard. It opened on April 8, 1878. The region’s passenger operations would be moved out of “the bottoms” due to repeated floods to Kansas City Union Station depot on October 30, 1914.
The area is largely bound by the Missouri River to the north as it turns to a mostly eastern course across the state of Missouri. To the east, high on a bluff is the central business core of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. To the northwest across the Kansas River is the downtown central business core of Kansas City, Kansas. To the west is the Kansas River with similar bottom land industrial and warehousing areas of Kansas City, Kansas.
The locomotive is one of sixteen General Motors (GM) Electro-Motive Division (EMD) NW2 locomotives rostered by the railroad, SLSF 250-265. The first group of 10 units, SLSF 250-259, had production phase IV characteristics. The second group of 6 units, SLSF 260-265, had production phase V characteristics.
Specific model phases were not used by locomotive builders or railroads. Phase designations are used by historians, observers, and railfans to note physical changes in a locomotive model over its production lifespan. They are useful in identifying physical production changes to a locomotive model over time.
Above the boxcars in the distance are the 3 distinctive white roof support trusses of Kemper Arena. Kemper was a 19,500-seat indoor sports arena constructed in the bottoms during 1973-1974. The structure was revolutionary at the time for not having interior columns obstructing views. Instead the building’s roof system was hung and supported by the large skeleton like exterior trusses.
The arena hosted national and regional sports tournaments, professional basketball and hockey teams, professional wrestling events and concerts. In conjunction with the annual national Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention, The American Royal livestock shows, and rodeo were held in the facility. In 1976, the Republican Nation Convention was held in the arena.
View is looking northwest.
Hope this helps.
Thanks!
Mark