Another Rainy Cloudy Day

Nice days have been hard to come by this year and today was no exception. Started out the day with a run to South Omaha to see what the BNSF has been up to and to check out the river.
Bayard Local power:
BNSF 551 - BNSF 556 - BNSF 2821

Road Power
EMDX/OWY 9096 - BN 8118

Island Park local power
BNSF 520 - BNSF 690

Switcher/Local units
BNSF 2358 - BNSF 3035 & BNSF 503 - EMDX 767

A MKCKOMA was inbound and at Oreapolis but after about 15 minutes of waiting I headed over to Council Bluffs.

CBBI
IAIS 511 - IAIS 513

KCS grain train
KCS 4117 - KCSdeMX 4065

BNSF local power
BNSF 3138

IC/CN road power
CN 2405 - IC 9573
CN 4028 was switching the interchange and N Omaha train.

The clouds where not letting up and the prior incident with the BNSF (previous blog) had pissed me off so I headed for Performance CDJ for an oil change.

A quick stop to see Frank at the hobby shop and to pick up some reading material resulted in me deciding to take a run back over to Council Bluffs.

At 50th street Omaha
UP 6995 - UP 6772 w/ a freight

CNW yard in Council Bluffs
MKCVP was getting ready to depart after making a setout and pickup.
UP 9735 - UP 9548

Sgt Bluff IA Mid America coaler
UP 6801 - UP 6623 - DPU UP 6948

Stopped at 9th Ave
UP 7389 - UP 4104 w/ a freight

12th street line
MCBDM was setting out a bad order
UP 5111 - UP 8225 - UP 6350 - UP 7292

The BNSF just doesn't get it

Ok, I am now convinced that the Omaha Gibson terminal is crazy and hell bent on finding a terrorist under every stone and behind every tree. Case in point for today.

I decided to see how high the Missouri River was in the S. Omaha area and see what affect it might have on the railroad and the waste treatment plant. While down there I stopped and photographed the BNSF units from the very public Omaha S. 8th St. The scanner revealed that an inbound train was coming in from Oreapolis shortly and I parked in the Hills Bros packaging plant drive way to get a shot of it coming in along the Bluff. While parked I heard on the scanner a crew (who I could see) call me into the yardmaster. Now I'm on private property but not the BNSF's and they really can't say anything about me being there, so I activate the camcorder on my phone and wait for the confrontation. After about 15 mins of waiting for the train and seeing that it had not shown up there  I headed out for Council Bluffs.

I noticed that there were two KCS units parked in the BNSF CB yard so I drove down S 5th St to get a shot. While doing this a crew van showed up and one of the crew proceeded to exit the van and walk across the open space to confront me. He asked if he could help me and I asked him the same as it appeared he was after something. I proceeded to video tape the encounter and informed the individual he was being recorded.

I also informed him he was violating FRA GCOR rules by harassing me on public land. He proceeded to call the Gibson terminal and inform them I am of Middle Eastern descent (which I am not) just to get the hornets nest stirred. I left after that and continued to listed to him on the radio.

In the video you can clearly see the street sign. These are Council Bluffs, Iowa street signs and the roads are Council Bluffs, IA maintained and owned roads. The road in the fore ground is the BNSF access road which the individual is clearly on the other side of. The individual was clearly violating GCOR 1.6 and 1.7:

1.6 Conduct

• Employees must not be:
• 1. Careless of the safety of themselves or others
• 2. Negligent
• 3. Insubordinate
• 4. Dishonest     <--
• 5. Immoral
• 6. Quarrelsome
• or
• 7. Discourteous <--

1.7 Altercations

• Employees must not enter into altercations with each other, play practical
• jokes, or wrestle while on duty or on railroad property.

I already have a open complaint with the ACLU concerning the railroads disregard of the First Amendment and ongoing harassment and this will be shared with them.

Train Nut

Now as a railfan this is pretty much a normal term expressed by railroaders when they feel someone is taking too much of an interest in trains, but when called this by a Police officer over the radio its another thing.

Yesterday was a gorgeous afternoon and I went out to soak up the sun, watch some train action and generally relax before the week ahead. A trip to a spot I had found that afforded me some solitude and a safe place to relax and watch was in order, so I headed to downtown Plattsmouth.

Plattsmouth reminds me of my hometown and was high on my list of towns to move to when my lease is up, but that all changed with two quick words uttered by an individual who should know better.

Around 1500 yesterday (05/22/11) all the towns patrol cars headed down by the river and then parked window to window so the officers could talk at each other. This went on for about 15 minutes or so until about 1515 when they all came back into town. I watched them come on back and cross the railroad tracks about 20 yards away and wonder if one of them was a cop I had meet a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough he was in the last car and the one who candidly announced to everyone listening that "there is the train nut".

Now how do I know he did this? Well my scanner was on and it was set to trunking mode which opens up all the bands allowing me to hear many channels. I was also watching them go but and witnessed the office raise his mic look at me then heard "there is the train nut" as he drove by.

Big deal most would say, but it is. A police office should not express a derogatory term over an open frequency. An officer should also not express any indication of prejudice. This officer showed to me that he is not a person of integrity and has shown to me that the town is of the same level of integrity by employing this type of individual. I can only imagine that this Officer also shows the same prejudice to other people. Bird watchers must be bird nuts, the tourist that the town is trying to attract must be just plain nuts, the people who travel to they area for the Lewis and Clark history must be history nuts, etc.

What a shame.

May 7th and 8th

May7, 2011
I started the weekend in Oreopolis, NE fairly early (for me anyway) due to having to do a systems check around 1300. I headed out the door around 0745 and crossed the Platte river just as a northbound UP stack train was crossing the river around 0800. Waiting out the northbound UP stack train was the MLINLIN on the north side of the wye in Oreopolis.

Having missed the stack train I headed down to the sand pit crossing and waited for the action.

Coal Load
BNSF 5949 - 5725 - DPU 6258

Coal Empty
BNSF 9815 - 5943

A northbound UP empty grain train was next up over the diamonds

Coal Empty
BNSF 5608 - KCS 4606

UP OMAX coal loads
UP 7170 - 6155 - DPU 7059 - 7202

A BNSF westbound snuck thru while I was away filming the OMAX train.

Coal Empty
NS 9216 - BNSF 4480 - 6385

Coal Load
BNSF 9909 - 9663 - DPU 5868

A quick run over to Plattesmouth in search of better sun resulted in a westbound and a conversation with a local city cop. While talking about the railroad he stated that the BNSF was recently doing core sampling of the Missouri River bed in preparation of building a second bridge over the Missouri.

Coal Empty
BNSF 9311 - 9606 - 8901 - 9802

After the BNSF 9909 continued east, I headed back to Oreopolis.

Coal Load
BNSF 5832 - 8949 - DPU 5768

I headed back over to Plattesmouth to get some video but skipped this train as I already captured it at Oreopolis, but I wanted to capture the one behind it.

Coal Load
BNSF 6371 - 6435 - DPU 5883

It was now around noon and I headed back home and encountered the Island Park local waiting at north Oreopolis for a signal to head east to Pacific Jct and then north to the Bunge plant and Council Bluffs.

BNSF 690 - 5009

May 8, 2010
It was Mothers Day and a trip home to S. Sioux City was a change from the local area. A run thru the local CB area before getting blown north was in order first though.

BICB
IAIS 512 - 508

UP power in the Pool yard for interchange with the BNSF. These units had been overhauled in North Little Rock and where moved to CB as a special movement. There next stop is Albia, IA and new paint at Relco.

UP 1350 - DRGW Patch
SSW 7637
UP 1485 SP Patch
UP 1354
UP 1412 - SP Patch
UP 1370 - DRGW Patch
UP 1486 - SP Patch
UP 1344 - DRGW Patch
UPY 827

Sioux City
DAIR 22 - 4027 Hawarden Local
DAIR 2510 - 2511 Rock Train
DAIR 23 switcher

CN 5288 - 9620 Ft. Dodge local
CN 5674 switcher

MCBVP
UP 7168 - 6195 - 7230 was making a pickup in the SC yard.

MLINNTN
BNSF 1001 - 5667

MSUXLIN
BNSF 619 - 5951

That's it until next report.

Of Unicorns and Glitter

Its time to be careful again (actually more careful than before) as the news hawks have a death grip on one of the plans that al Qaeda was considering for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
From CNN;

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a notice tied to rail security Thursday.

The unclassified notice to "federal, state, local and tribal partners" says that, in February 2010, al Qaeda members discussed a plan to derail trains in the United States by placing obstructions on tracks, according to a law enforcement source who received the notice."

This will give the already paranoid public and overly zealous railroad SA's a reason to single out those of us who like to engage in our hobby.

There are some points to remember:

• Public land is just that public, and you are protected under the laws of safe passage and allowed to engage in legal activities without fear of harassment or persecution.
• Photography is not illegal in the United States.

Excerpt from a USA Today article:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2006-08-11-photography-rights_x.htm for the full article

The law in the United States of America is pretty simple. You are allowed to photograph anything with the following exceptions:

• Certain military installations or operations.

• People who have a reasonable expectation of privacy. That is, people who are some place that's not easily visible to the general public, e.g., if you shoot through someone's window with a telephoto lens.

That's it.

You can shoot pictures of children; your rights don't change because of their age or where they are, as long as they're visible from a place that's open to the public. (So no sneaking into schools or climbing fences.)

Video taping has some more gray areas because of copyright issues, but in general the same rules apply. If anyone can see it, you can shoot it.

And yes, you can shoot on private property if it's open to the public. That includes malls, retails stores, Starbucks, banks, and office-building lobbies. If you're asked to stop and refuse, you run the risk of being charged with trespassing, but your pictures are yours. No one can legally take your camera or your memory card without a court order.

You can also shoot in subways and at airports. Check your local laws about the subway, but in New York, Washington, and San Francisco it's perfectly legal. Airport security is regulated by the Transportation Security Administration, and it's quite clear: Photography is A-OK at any commercial airport in the U.S. as long as you're in an area open to the public.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Now, it is highly probable that if you are out minding your own business enjoying yourself and happen to be seen as a threat that you will be confronted. The UPRR and BNSF routinely disciplines employees for not reporting suspicious people near their property. Keep in mind the term "suspicious" is basically a open wide definition for the railroads.

If you are confronted and are on public land, you are not subject to an interrogation by anyone (include regular police officers, remember your Miranda Rights). If you are, the law is on your side and use the law to your advantage.

• Keep your mouth shut, the person interrogating you does not have a need to know other than you are on public property. This includes railroad SA's.
• If this is a regular sworn Police agency you are required to identify yourself but do not allow yourself to be interrogated without a lawyer present.
• Record the encounter.
• Document, document, document.
• Most modern cell phones will record sounds and or video, use them. 
• A recording is definitive proof of the encounter.
• File a police report to protect your rights.
• The railroads like to report people as terrorist suspects and you may have an FBI terrorist task force visit. 
• A police report is an official statement that can be used to protect you.
• Dial 911 if the individual/s are threatening in any manner; verbal or physical.

Another item that is nice to have with you is the Photographers Rights (http://www.krages.com/ThePhotographersRight.pdf). This won't get the po po out of your face but may get mister or misses concerned citizen or an overly zealous security gaurd to back off.

The most important thing to remember is be safe, the world is full of empowered idiots.

April 30th and May 1st

Finally a weekend that wasn't cloudy, rainy or one that I needed to be somewhere else.

April 30th.
I started the day out with no specific plans other that to stay close to home as I was on call. This was a good plan but I ended up in Fremont spending some time with a friend from Sioux City.

Council Bluffs, IA
IAIS 513 and 512 had brought in the BICB earlier in the morning.

CN road power was 2594-2405-9620 with 2605 blue flagged on the scale track. Appears that the 9620 may have been swapped out for with the 2605 to be used as the local switcher.

KCS 4577 and 4606 where at the north Bartlett elevator waiting for their train to be loaded.

While tanking up the Jeep a loaded coaler came through town, so I headed to Mo Valley to try and get some video of it.

Missouri Valley, IA
UP 6059-7118-DPU-7291 rolled thru with that loaded coaler I had seen in Council Bluffs.
UP 4170-4485 where laying over in the yard after working the week on various MOW trains in the area.

My friend texted me indicating he was heading for Fremont following a BNSF down from Sioux City with a catfish in the lead.

I ended up taking the back roads from Missouri Valley to Fremont where I could. The UP was busy working on the second track ROW west of Blair and was working on culverts along the new ROW with lots of heavy equipment observed at Kennard working on the west side of town.

I missed a eastbound stacker just west of the Elkhorn River, but it really wasn't that big of a loss.

Fremont, NE
I missed the BNSF southbound by about 10 minutes but did hear the chatter on the scanner. For the next 3 hours we where entertained by a number of UP and one BNSF train.

QNPPR
UP 4112-9547

BNSF local laying over
BNSF 2135-2392

UP Ballast train eb
UP 4076-6499

UP Coal load eb
UP 5843-75782-DPU-7303

BNSF Coal empty wb/sb
BNSF 6334-9341

MPRNP
UP 8603-1966-6325 (SP Patch)

QDLSK
UP 7772-7766-4964

MVPNP
UP 6836-SP 266-UP 6720 (CNW Patch)

MNPCB
UP 5983-6291-DPU-7200-6251-5669

A coal empty passed on the other track as the 191 cars of this train rolled by.

AGBMI
UP 7435-7795

The clouds started to roll in and it was time to head for home so this was the last train of the day.

May 1st
Really just a lazy day as I only had an idea of what I wanted to do so I just headed out and went where I went.

Council Bluffs, IA
A KCS grain train came in over night and was at the south Bartlett elevator getting loaded. The one at the north elevator had also left sometime overnight.

KCS 4680-4583

BNSF 2660 was the local switcher

UP 6499-6850-7086 were parked on the Q track on the east side of the pool yard waiting while their train is unloaded at Bunge south of CB.

CN 2605 was at the CB yard office.

MPRCB
UP 9691-9385-3955 took the 12th st line into the pool yard. 9691 was sounding pretty unhealthy every time the throttle was notched out.

MCBSX light power
UP 3830-3794

MCOCB
UP 7077-9306-2382-2348

MNPCB
UP 6658-6915-7412-7454

Both the MCOCB and MNPCB where yarding their trains and jocking for track space on the south end of the yard.

BICB
IAIS 506-507

I then headed south along the bluffs to Pacific Junction, IA, with a swing by the Bunge complex. The BNSF Island Park local rolled in while I was take a shot of the Bunge SW7 at the potash unloading track. Two B40-8W's where the power for the 87 cars.

Pacific Junction, IA
Two coalers where parked in town, one loaded one empty.

Coal load
BNSF 5831-9539-6209

Coal empty had two GE's and an EMD for power.

There is a B&B gang working on bridges south of P Jct on the KC line. One derrick was in the old north side spur and the other was on a spur south of the wyes. There was also alot of dirt being moved around in the old yard, not sure what is going on.

Seeing as the scanner was quite, I headed toward home and  Oreopolis, NE.

Oreopolis, NE
MLINGAL
BNSF 1092-7216

Unknown westbound freight
BNSF 5318-4530-8106

After that, I headed for home.