A look at the BNSF Sioux City Sub

The Sioux City sub is one of those often over looked Midwestern lines when compared to the close by BNSF Creston and Ravenna Subs and the UP's Chicago to North Platte mainline. This is rather unfortunate as this increasingly busier line has some unique character that the busier mainlines seem to lack.

History
Before beginning the exploration of this line some history is in order. The Sioux City sub was a rather late comer in eastern Nebraska. Construction of this line did not occur until 1905 when the Great Northern Railway extended the Sioux City and Western Railway to Ashland, NE from Dakota City, NE. The extension was needed to connect the CB&Q leased Sioux City and Western Railway from Ferry, NE to O'Neil, NE line. Once the line was completed the CB&Q leased what is now the Sioux City sub from the Great Northern. In 1907 the Great Northern began a process of consolidating subsidiary lines into the great Northern and in 1909 the Sioux City & Western was sold to The CB&Q.

The original route of the Sioux City Sub between Ferry, NE and Sioux City, IA was via the Pacific Short Line bridge (later known as the Combination bridge) where access to the Great Northern passenger station and freight houses along 3rd Street in Sioux City was gained.

Pacific Short Line bridge looking toward Iowa sometime in the 1890's.

Today
The BNSF Sioux City sub is a dramatically different line than it was in the early 20th century. Gone are its days of serving as a feeder line for the mainline at Ashland to its important role as a shortcut between the upper midwest and the south. Oil, sand, grain, ethanol and over head freight form the back bone of the traffic from the Dakotas and Minnesota all funneling down this non-signaled single track line. Between 14-20 trains a day play leap frog from siding to siding along this 100+ miles using TWC and creative dispatching. Some changes are in the wings for this busy line as PTC will be cut in sometime during 2013, dispatcher controlled power switches are being put into place and segments of double track are slowly being built.

Exploring the Line
Beginning from Ashland, NE heading north the various areas of the line will be outlined. The map below pinpoints specific locations and items along the line. Clicking a pin will open a pop-up with a narrative of that point of interest.


View BNSF Sioux City Sub in a larger map

Ashland to Fremont NE
Ashland NE is where the Sioux City Sub joins the Creston Sub. A wye at this junction allows for trains to head east or west on the Creston Sub. A unique feature of this junction is the presence of the Omaha Sub's junction with the Creston sub occurring between the two legs of the wye. 

An empty grain train begins its north bound journey up the Sioux City sub in Ashland NE.

Heading north from Ashland the first siding encountered will be the gravel pits owned by Western Sand and Gravel at Able and Big Sandy. These pits were once the property of Nebco and was home of the Omaha Lincoln and Beatrice inter plant railroad. Today the old OL&B line is used to store coal and freight cars.

The first town encountered north of Ashland is Yutan, NE. Yutan hosts a 4168' siding along with the at grade crossing of the UP Lincoln Sub. This crossing is protected by an automatic interlocking protecting the one M-F UP train  from Valley to Valprasio, NE.

7.5 lines north of the UP crossing is the first of the 5 important sidings along this 108 mile sub. The siding  known as Elk  is 7811' long and is used to stage trains across the UP crossing in Fremont along with south bounds meeting north bounds.

Having just meet a north bound at Elk siding this empty coaler heads for Ashland.

From the north siding switch to the UP crossing in Fremont it is 6.2 miles. About midway the sub crosses the Platte river on a plate girder bridge. From the river crossing it is around a mile and a half to the south switch to the old Fremont, NE siding. This siding is no longer used for meets and primarily serves as a storage track and to gain access to the spur into the Hormel plant at the north end of the siding.

Rounding the curve to briefly head west to the UP crossing.

After following a generally straight north alignment the line curves to the west to parallel the UP a block to the south through Fremont. Within this curve a spur heads south along the main to serve the cold storage plant across from the Homel processing plant. Both Hormel and this cold storage plant ship by rail. Refers of pork products and tank cars with tallow are the shipped out.

East of S. Main st in Fremont is the last remaining depot on the Sioux City sub. The MOW department uses the depot as offices and storage. On the west side of S. Main st the old Fremont yard is located. Interchange with the UP is done here. The Fremont to Ashland local and the Fremont to Oakland local cars are swapped on the tracks that remain.

A loaded grain train beats the UP crossing on its way south.

West of S. Main st at the north end of N. Morrell st is the BNSF-UP diamonds. BNSF trains are the lower priority at this crossing and will often wait extended periods of time before being allowed to cross the UP. BNSF crews contact the UP dispatcher for permission to cross. Once given authority they will hustle from S. Fremont or Papa to get across. Any delays typically results in the BNSF trains being "bumped" and there authority removed until the next window opens up.

A northbound loaded cement train holds the siding at Papa.

From the UP crossing it is about 2 miles to the south siding switch at Papa. Like Elk, Papa siding plays an important role in getting trains through the Fremont area, unlike Elk, Papa has industrial spurs to active customers. Five customers receive and originate loads in the area just to the south of Papa siding. Ashland Cement, Farmers Coop, Interstate Chemical, Nutri-Flow and BioEnzyme are served along the spur. At the north end of Papa siding another spur heads to CFI Industries were tank cars are unloaded.

Fremont to Oakland

Heading north out of Fremont the sub follows the Elkhorn River valley crossing it north of Winslow, NE. From this location it follows Logan Creek north through Oakland, NE.

6.9 miles northeast of Papa siding the sub crosses the FEVR's ex-CNW line at grade. This crossing is protected by an automatic interlocking but with the loss of the Diner train it is rare that an FEVR train will be encountered at this crossing.

From the FEVR crossing it is 2.5 miles to Nickerson, NE and then 5.6 miles to Winslow. Winslow used to have a small passing siding but it is now stub ended on the south end before crossing Hwy 77.

The next siding north from Winslow is a new siding that was built late 2011 south of Uehling, NE. This siding was to be the start of a segment of double tracking on the sub. It will eventually tie into the Oakland, NE siding. The distance between the two sidings is approximately 9 miles.and would give the BNSF some more room to hold trains while waiting for authority to cross the UP in Fremont. The siding at Oakland is 7420' feet but does have a crossing that can not be blocked when used.

A BN Lincoln to Sioux City train is crossing the flat farm land south of Oakland NE  during the summer of 1984.

Oakland to Winnebago
After leaving Oakland a grain shuttle loader is encountered about 1 mile from the north switch Oakland siding. This loader is setup to allow access from the north and south, but will not allow a loaded train to reverse its movement without the power running around the train. The shuttle loader is also the only customer along the sub until Dakota City, NE. This is a rather dramatic change from the 80's when every town would ship and receive cars.

An empty grain train is waiting for a fresh crew to load at the Oakland shuttle loader..

Lyons is the next town encountered from Oakland. At Lyons the sub takes a slight jog to the northwest to stay in the Logan creek flood plain which it follows until Rosalie, NE. At Rosalie the sub climbs out of the Logan Creek flood plain to the South Omaha Creek flood plain. This is a short climb of around 0.5%.

The sub follows the creek down into Walthill where an old passing siding was located.The siding is now stub ended and used for MOW storage. Just north of this siding is a hi-wide detector that protects the Gordon Drive Viaduct in Sioux City from any shifted loads or loads higher than 19'2". This high restriction prevents double stack and M3E auto racks from using the Sioux City Sub.

A southbound local running at track speed.

The next siding is at Winnebago, NE at 7590' it is the second longest siding on the sub.The Winnebago siding provides a staging spot for trains coming into the Sioux City terminal. Inbound crews will call into the Sioux City yard master asking for "landing" instructions and are typically told to call back when crossing the Missouri River bridge.

Winnebago to Sioux City
It is 27 miles from Winnebago to the terminal in Sioux City. These 27 miles can tend to be the busiest of the sub. 6.3 miles north of Winnebago is the town of Homer, NE. The old siding is still in place but has been stub ended on the south end. There does not appear to be any active shippers on this spur anymore.

It is 7.3 miles to Dakota City from Homer. In these 7.3 miles the sub crosses the Missouri River flood plain and its many old channels. There are numerous soft spots that have been shored up by driving pilings into the row on both side of the track structure. These soft spots are more pronounced during wet years as the tracks tend to sink back into the gumbo.

At Dakota City the first customer since Oakland is encountered. Elementis LTP receives inbound tank cars of chemicals that are trans loaded into tankers. A block north of them is the division point between the Twin Cities and Nebraska Divisions.The sign announcing this is a nice backdrop when out photographing.

A southbound BN grain train passes from the Minnesota Diviosion at Dakota City NE during the mid-80's.

A southbound grain train passes from the Twin Cities to the Nebraska Division.

After crossing into the Twin Cities division the sub passes through the large Tyson beef slaughter and processing plant in Dakota City. On the north side of the Tyson complex is the wye that connects the former Nebraska Northeastern/BN/CB&Q/SCWR O'niel line to the Sioux City Sub. On December 1, 2012 the BNSF completed its repurchase of this line and its new subdivision name is not known at this time.

Passing through the old Ferry yard a northbound empty grain train passes the CNW Dakota City local.

Just to the north of the this wye is the old BN/CB&Q Ferry yard and engine terminal. In 1981 the BN replaced the original 1880's bridge over the Missouri River. Prior to this trains coming north would exchange the road power with a set of GP7's or GP9's to drag the train over to the Sioux City yard. The opposite would occur for southbound trains from Sioux City.

A SC-LIN train heads south through Ferry.

Soon after the opening of the new bridge the old engine terminal and yard was reconfigured with the engine terminal removed and the yard ladder tracks off the main removed with only two tracks surviving as storage tracks.

MWILKCK passes through Ferry NE.

From Ferry to Floyd the CNW and BN shared the trackage. The line was originally owned my the CNW and was The CStPM&O mainline until the line south of Pender NE was washed out in the 1930's. After that the line was a secondary line to Emerson and Norfolk NE. The line and bridge was sold to the BN in 1975 with the CNW retaining trackage rights and ownership of the sidings in South Sioux City, NE. The UP still retains these rights today.

An empty BN coaler heads through S. Sioux City on a frozen  morning.

To cross the Missouri River the sub encounters a short grade up to the level of the bridge. On the NE side this is an incline that starts at G st in South Sioux City and at Leech Ave in Sioux City. Once a northbound train starts the climb for the bridge they call the Sioux City yardmaster for instructions. If everything is going well they get to proceed into the yard.

Coming off the bridge at G st in S. Sioux City, IA..

Starting the climb to the Missouri River bridge in S. Sioux City, Ne.

For those trains that don't have space in the yard they are held at Leech Ave. Trains are also held at Leech Ave for new crews if they are to head up into South Dakota.

Holding on the hill at Leech Ave this loaded coaler is waiting for a spot to open in the yard.

Just to the north of Leech Ave is Floyd. This jct is where the UP accesses the Sioux City for the run to Ferry and the UP Dakota City Industrial lead. Floyd also is where trains from the South Dakota lines access the Sioux City Sub. Heading north from Floyd the sub curves around the old Milwaukee Road downtown yard on a track that was built in 1956. This new track allowed GN and CB&Q trains to interchange in the GN yard on Hwy 75 instead of the original GN yard in the stock  yard district.

An empty coaler heading south out of Sioux City.

Rolling out of the Sioux City yard past the MOW staging area.

At 6th st the cross-over for the yard is located. This cross-over allows for trains to use the new pass which is a by-pass track that was build along the west side of the yard in the mid 80's to allow coal and grain trains to roll through.

Doubling over its inbound train the Sioux Falls local passes the grain elevators just south of the Sioux City yard.

The BNSF yard is located on the west side of old Hwy 75 between 18th St and 31st St. The city opened a new under pass about 2 miles north of 31st St and since then the BNSF has been blocking this crossing for extending periods of time. The yard office and MOW departments share the old GN freight house located off of 18th St.This is a busy area and is BNSF property. One should not venture into the yard office area without an expectation of being confronted.

Railfaning the Sioux City Sub.
Though Hwy 77 parallels the line from Fremont to Sioux City the sub is often away from the road. The highway is the best to use when getting from one point to the next in a fairly quick time. To explore the line in depth the many country roads (paved and gravel) are the best way to railfan the sub. A word of caution, if you are not used to driving on gravel roads you should be cautious. Loose gravel is like ice for those that are not familiar with driving on it.For those that like to get off the pavement GPS and a Delorme map are your best friend.

The sub is controlled by TWC and due to this trains are given TWC from one of the 5 sidings to the next and told how many they will meet. AAR channel 75 (161.235) is used by tthe BNSF Dispatcher to communicate with the trains. The BNSF Sioux City yard is 160.680 and UP DS 20 is 160.740. The UP DS is called by when permission is need to cross the UP in Fremont.

Known trains along the line:

• MKCKWIL/MKCKWIL - Kansas City to Wilmar, MN/Wilmar, MN to Kansas City
• MLINWIL/MWILLIN - Lincoln, NE to Wilmar, MN/Wilmar, MN to Lincoln, NE
• MLINSCX/MSCX/LIN - Lincoln, NE to Sioux City, IA/ Sioux City, IA to Lincoln, NE
• MKCKDIL/MDILKCK - Kansas City to Dilworth/Dilworth to Kansas City

Along with these trains there are unit grain,ethanol,coal, cement, potash, and oil trains to keep the line busy.