Here is a question I have been wondering about for quite awhile.
What geographic area (Railfan Forum) does Nebraska belong in? It isn't listed as part of Midwest or Western. Nebraska goes farther west than either Kansas or the Dakotas. Yet the Dakotas are listed as being "Western", and Kansas is listed as "Midwest", although Nebraska goes as far east as Kansas.
I don't think there is much argument that Nebraska isn't a key railroad state. In fact, it has the world's largest railroad yard. Two major east-west rail routes and a major north-south coal route.
Culturally, we are more western than midwestern, but then, so is Kansas. Why were we left off the list? Are we really unclassifiable?
When our state government was formed, both the CB&Q and UP railroads were given seats in the state legislature. UP (at that time at least) was definitely a western railroad, and CB&Q, while a Grainger, had a huge western component with lines to Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana. It was as much a western railroad as a midwestern one.
Les
What geographic area (Railfan Forum) does Nebraska belong in? It isn't listed as part of Midwest or Western. Nebraska goes farther west than either Kansas or the Dakotas. Yet the Dakotas are listed as being "Western", and Kansas is listed as "Midwest", although Nebraska goes as far east as Kansas.
I don't think there is much argument that Nebraska isn't a key railroad state. In fact, it has the world's largest railroad yard. Two major east-west rail routes and a major north-south coal route.
Culturally, we are more western than midwestern, but then, so is Kansas. Why were we left off the list? Are we really unclassifiable?
When our state government was formed, both the CB&Q and UP railroads were given seats in the state legislature. UP (at that time at least) was definitely a western railroad, and CB&Q, while a Grainger, had a huge western component with lines to Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana. It was as much a western railroad as a midwestern one.
Les