On June 4th I took the day off to explore the construction progress on the UP Blair sub and for a change of pace started in Fremont, NE and headed east to Missouri Valley, IA. A map of the various observation points is below.
View Blair Sub Changes in a larger map
Fremont to Arlington, NE
Currently there is no activity from east Fremont to the east side of Arlington, NE.The various survey stakes that I have noted in the past around Arlington and near the west side of the Elkhorn river have disappeared again after being placed back out over the winter.
Arlington, NE to Co Rd P34
ROW Grading has progressed up to the creek on the east side of Arlington.
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| Looking west at Co Rd P11 at new ROW. |
The west side of Co Rd P11 appears to be nearly ready for the laying of the sub base aggregate. The ROW east from Co Rd P11 also appears to also be ready for sub base aggregate work.
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| Looking east at Co Rd P1. |
Foliage is now blocking any views of work being done between Co Rd P11 and Co Rd 15. At the Co Rd 15 crossing UP crews were noted digging trenches to be used for new signaling and crossing gates. The foundations for the new crossing gates have been installed on the east side of the crossing and are awaiting the installation of electrical and signal wiring.
The ROW looking west and east from the crossing appears to be near a state were the aggregate sub base can be installed.
Looking west from Co Rd P34 toward the old narrow cut at the top of Arlington Hill now revels a wide and gently sloping hill on the south side with the north side having remained untouched and fully covered in trees.
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| Looking west toward the summit of Arlington Hill. The old cut has been significantly widened. |
The ROW west from the Co Rd P34 crossing to Co Rd 15 appears to be in a condition where aggregate sub base could be poured after a little bit of grading working.
Co Rd P34 to the Hwy 30 ovc
Some of the more dramatic work being done is on the east side of Arlington Hill. The area to the east of Co Rd P34 has been dramatically changed and is still being worked on. Most of these changes will allow for more photography opportunities once this project is completed as the hill is being trimmed back and sloped.
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| Overlooking the curve to the east of Co Rd P34 |
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| Crossing view looking east from Co Rd. P34 |
The once prominent hill side has been cut back along the existing main. This has also cut into the farm land in this area.It will be interesting to see if the field is replanted after the project is completed of if the UP now owns this land.
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| Eastbound stack train crossing through the work area. |
Currently the side of the hill to the east of the curve where Co Rd 17 and Co Rd 34 combine is being cut back from the existing mainline. The cut back process is occurring in stages resembling a stair case. I was able to watch some of the activity but this area has heavy truck traffic and was a beehive of activity while I was there. Be careful if you visit this area during the week as the loaded and empty trucks are moving trough the area at a pretty good clip.
Further down the east side of the hill crews are busy installing a new open deck concrete bridge. This bridge is located between Co Rd 17 and Co Rd 19.
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| An eastbound stack trains DPU passes the new bridge construction zone on the east side of Arlington Hill. |
Current the best viewing spot for this activity if from Co Rd 17 looking down the field toward the creek. The work can also be seen from Co Rd 19 looking west.
Co Rd 19 has had some more ROW work done since I last visited, but there was no activity noted there other than the bridge work to the west of the crossing.
Co Rd 21 east toward the Hwy 30 over crossing is now active, with grading progressing at a pretty good pace. Since I was last out here the ROW has been graded and work is progressing at a fast pace.
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| Looking east toward Hwy 3o from C Rd 21 |
The ROW has been graded up to the grade crossing at Co Rd 21. Tractor pulled scrappers were noted working from the Hwy 30 ovc toward the middle of this stretch of ROW but there was no activity near the Co Rd 21 crossing.
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| Grading work as seen from the Hwy 30 bridge. |
At the Co Rd 21 crossing it appears that the alignments will do a swap. The existing main appears to be poised to move to the new ROW that was carved into the side of the hill over the winter, while the existing ROW will be used for the new second main. Time will tell if this is what occurs or not.
Hwy 30 ovc to Kennard, NE
The embankment under the Hwy 30 bridge has been cut back and contoured to allow for the second main to fit under the current bridge. This will create a narrowing of the ROW as it goes through this area.
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| Westbound stack about to cross under Hwy 30. |
Bridge work still continues on the west end of the old Kennard siding. The center line of this bridge has been moved over around 3 feet to allow for a wider distance between the two mains once completed.
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| West end of the old Kennard siding bridge work. |
Pilings have been driven for this bridge and the end plates for the abutments are onsite and ready to be installed. Sheet piles have been driven along the existing mainline to add stability while the dirt is excavated for the abutments to be installed.An interesting side observation is the existing bridge on the main is a wooden pile and deck bridge. It will be interesting to see if it is also replaced during this project.
The ROW has been partially graded for the new main along where the old Kennard siding was located up to the Papio creek bridge near the center of the old siding. The old road that was once Hwy 30 is a staging area for the various concrete bridge components for the new bridge over the creek.
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| Bridge components staged for installation. |
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| Partial grade work on old Kennard siding. |
To the west of Linn st in Kennard, the ROW has been "cleaned" up and appears ready for the installation of the cross-over from the existing main to what will be the new second main.
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| Looking west from the Linn st crossing in Kennard, NE. |
From Kennard to CP Duffy the new main has been in place and used since earlier this year.
Corning Ave IA to California Jct. IA
Work is nearing completion on the new bridge over the slough between Corning Ave and Austin Ave. west of California Jct., IA. Crews where seen working on the bridge decking and the west end of the bridge is being prepared for fill work where the bridge will meet the new ROW.
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| New bridge over the slough east of Corning Ave. |
On the east side of the slough the ROW is being worked on with sub grade aggregate being dumped from the bridge to Austin Ave. East of Austin Ave. the sub grade aggregate has been dumped and extended to about the west leg of the wye from the Sioux City sub to the Blair Sub.
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| Looking west from Austin Ave at the new ROW. |
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| Looking east from Austin Ave at the new ROW. |
I did find it interesting that the new ROW appears wide enough to support two additional tracks. My speculation is there will be a third track located here to allow for crew changes to occur much like the third track on the east side of California Jct.
Looking west from Fremont Ave in California Jct., crews where noted working on signal and communication cabling and some ROW grading. This area will be dramatically changed once this project is completed.
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| Looking west from Fremont Ave in California Jct. |
California Jct., IA to Missouri Valley, IA
East from Fremont Ave in California Jct, the UP has laid the new main and the third main east toward Italy Ave. On the 4th there was a string of about 20-25 ballast cars tied down on what will be the new main and a number of track MOW machines parked on what will be the third main. Both of these tracks are not tied into the existing main at Italy Ave, though. Both sets of tracks stop just west of Italy Ave and there is are no tracks laid on the east side of Italy Ave. The new switch that was built earlier in the spring is still located to the east side of Italy Ave.
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| New third main looking west from Italy Ave. |
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| Italy Ave looking east with the new switch for the main. |
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| New second main track looking west from Italy Ave. |
In Missouri Valley there was no work noted except at Canal st where crews were noted preforming maintenance on the cross overs located there. The crossing was also shut down at Canal St making it difficult to observe what was occurring.
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