When I finished my client work on the afternoon of April 4th, 2023, Mulvane, Kansas was nearby where the BNSF east-west Emporia Sub from Kansas City to Wellington crosses the north-south Arkansas City Sub from Arkansas City to Newton. I decided to spend some time there down by the depot on the west end of downtown Mulvane. The track layout here can be hard to envision without some advance homework.
The short version is that Mains One, Two and Three of both subdivisions run through town and are under the control of the Emporia sub dispatcher between CP Bridge Street just south of the depot to CP Mulvane Junction about a mile to the north of the depot. At Mulvane Junction, Main Three diverges to the east and runs approximately four miles the East Junction where is rejoins the Southern Transcon. Main Four begins at West Junction on the east side of the Arkansas River Bridge southwest from downtown Mulvane and runs south of town approximately four miles to East Junction where it joins back up with Main Three. Main Four utilizes an overpass to cross the Arkansas City Sub south of town while trains on the Arkansas City Sub normally use either Main One or Main Two through town.
Look at Google Earth directly or the screenshot below while reading the previous paragraph and it will help to understand the operation here. Normally if you railfan downtown you will miss any trains the dispatcher runs on Main Four. Physically there is no spot you can sit and wait and see all trains on both subdivisions. What worked in my favor this particular afternoon was that a westbound train without a crew was tied down on Main Four just short of West Junction, which meant the Emporia Sub dispatcher had to run all trains past the depot in downtown Mulvane.
I started my Mulvane railfanning at East Junction where at exactly 3:00 pm I recorded the passage of the eastbound El Dorado local coming off of Main Three on its way to switch the huge refinery at El Dorado. Main Four is out of sight behind the train and curves off to the left. Note the interesting cab lettering on the lead unit.
I drove down to the depot area where at 3:35 pm I caught a westbound grain train on the Emporia Sub out of Kansas City passing the display caboose, the depot, and finally Bridge Junction directly behind the camera.
At 3:38 pm an eastbound empty grain train rolled Bridge Junction by on the Emporia Sub.
The Arkansas City Sub became active when a northbound autorack train made its way through the Bridge Street control point at 4:10 pm.
I had “hot rail” again at 4:48 pm as a second loaded grain train in a 2 x 1 locomotive configuration passed by on the Emporia Sub.
With the radio indicating there were no other moving trains nearby, I decided to get a drone view of the train tied down on Main Four. I drove to a wide spot on the county dirt road on the west side of the Arkansas River bridge where I launched the drone. This view is looking east across the river as Mains One and Two curve off to the left towards downtown Mulvane by the distant elevator and the tied down train sitting on Main Four on the right.
I flew east over the river for a closer look at what turned out to be an intermodal train parked on Main Four.
I turned the drone back to the west and took this view looking down at West Junction before returning to my launch point near the distant grain storage bins.
Satisfied with my results with for a little over two hours spent in this area, I packed up and headed back to Wichita for the night.
