Been awhile since I've made a post, a new job and generally being sick and tired of dealing with the likes of Allan Love Jr, Tim Vana, Brad Grefe and Brad Williams had deterred my enthusiasm for what should just be a hobby. During August I started to get more free time and decided to take advantage of the free time with some train watching in Ashland.
Traffic volume has changed in the last year through Ashland. The explosion of oil related traffic in North Dakota has forced the rerouting of some traffic from the old GN and NP lines down to the old Q across Iowa and Nebraska. Along with the increase in traffic on the Creston Sub, the Sioux City Sub has also experienced a traffic growth spurt.
August 30th
The morning started out with a detour to Fremont, NE to take care of some business before heading south to Ashland. After getting my tasks completed, I turned on the scanner and caught the BNSF Sioux Line dispatcher give track and time to a southbound that was in the siding at Elk. Knowing I wouldn't be able to get to Elk before it left I decided to see what was lurking around Fremont.
BNSF Fremont switcher:
BNSF 3035
BNSF Fremont local:
BNSF 2778-2667
UP Fremont yard job:
UP 501
With no other activity on the UP and the BNSF, I figured it was a good time to head for Ashland. Unfortunately there really isn't a direct route from Fremont to Ashland unless you take the dirt back roads. Not feeling like eating dust I headed down Hwy 77 to Hwy 92 for a short run over to Mead, NE and the connector road down to Hwy 66 to get to Ashland. About the time I got to Hwy 66 the chirp of an EOT started to be heard on the scanner. Rolling up to the sharp curve where Hwy 66, county road c and county road 4 intersect I caught a glimpse of a southbound on the Sioux City Sub. This was the same train that I had heard in Fremont getting T&T to Ashland. After pacing for a bit the train came to a stop at Abel to wait out traffic on the Creston Sub which gave me a heads up and time to get down to Ashland.
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| BNSF 9175 & 9119 lead a MARX empty coaler. |
Crossing of the Creston Sub, I noticed there was a westbound holding at the west end of the old yard with another train tied down in the old yard. Instead of taking a left, I headed west and parked on the derelict main road into Ashland. Unfortunately the trees along the fill west of Ashland have had a growth spurt the last couple of years and a few are starting to be block the line of sight in certain spots. Holding the westbound main was an empty Mid America coaler from Council Bluffs, IA while an unknown local with two faded warbonnet B40-8W's for power was in the yard.
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| BNSF 9927 leads a MRWX coal load eastbound west of Ashland. |
After a few minutes the empty MARX got under way with a RWSX empty right on its heels with BNSF 9190-8836 DPU's BNSF 9119-9208 as power. Within a couple of minutes of the RWSX clearing the fill an eastbound MRWX loaded coaler came into view with BNSF 9927-9695 for power. Once the loaded coaler cleared the west end of the Ashland yard the MWLMLIN rolled out onto main one from the Sioux City Sub with BNSF 9479-6920-7394 as the power. After the Wilmar cleared the west end of Ashland the scanner went silent so it was time to head over to the east side of Ashland.
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| BNSF 7121 leads the MGALDEN at East Wye Ashland. |
Behind the Subway and car wash on the north side of Hwy 6 is the jct of the Creston Sub, Sioux City Sub and Omaha Sub. The paved road down to the tracks is wide enough for a couple of cars to park and not intrude onto the BNSF's land. It also allows for a good spot to setup for photos. So far this area has been a safe spot to train watch but there have been a number of photos posted by Allan Love Jr from inside the wye (BNSF land) and a month or so ago he and a gaggle of foamers were called in by crews for trespassing. If you visit this area don't be another Allan Love Jr and ruin it for others.
After a bit of a wait the westbound signals showed a high green and the chirping of an EOT was heard. Rounding the curve under Hwy 6 the MGALDEN came into view with BNSF 7121-4403 as the power. Next up was an empty RWSX coaler with BNSF 9682-5903 and DPU 9704 as power. Following closely was a UCEX empty with BNSF 8853-6212 DPU 9883 as power.
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| BNSF 9682 leads an RWSX coal empty. |
After the UCEX empties the scanner went quite and the signals stayed red. Sitting in the heat with no action gets old quickly so I packed up and headed for Waverly to see what was parked waiting for a spot in the Lincoln yard. Sitting in the center siding was a MKCKLIN with BNSF 5711-NS 2714-NS 9226. Not sure how common NS power is on the Creston Sub but it was a nice surprise for me. After getting some shots I headed back to Ashland and as luck would have it I missed an eastbound coal load and a westbound ballast train
Settling back in at the wye at Ashland I would only encounter a couple of more trains before calling it a day. BNSF 6229-6042 DPU 6094 rolled a UCEX empty coaler down the Omaha Sub to be dog caught at Linoma. A loaded MARX coaler took the Creston Sub lead by BNSF 9182-6105 next.
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| BNSF 6229 leads an empty UCEX coaler down grade on the Omaha Sub. |
Listening to the scanner an interesting trend was noted. The Omaha sub typically is pretty quite but there were a number of westbound empty coalers getting dog catch crews. The dispatcher was routing trains with crews short on hours up the Omaha sub at Oreapolis, NE so that they wouldn't plug the main and sidings of the Creston Sub when they died on hours .
After 4 hours in 98 degree heat I called it a day.
September 6th
I had planned on getting out to Ashland before it got too hot but a phone call put a stop to that thought. The car dealer called me and let me know they had gotten a replacement title for my new car and since my paper tags expired on the 8th I had to make a detour to the county courthouse before any train watching. After about 25 minutes and writing a $2000 check for taxes and plates I was able to get back on track for Ashland.
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| BNSF 6083 leads a TGNX empty coaler at Ashland, NE. |
Soon after getting settled in at Ashland a TGNX empty coal came into view with BNSF 6083-8845 DPU's 9209-8806 as power. After the TGNX empties passed a eastbound loaded HPJX coaler rolled by with BNSF 5792-9103 DPU 5737. The scanner came to life with the BNSF Sioux Line dispatcher giving instructions to a southbound on the Sioux City sub. Even with this heads up I was caught by surprise when the BNSF 7468 with a loaded ETOH train rolled into view and onto the west leg of the wye. This was an interesting train as it was setup "backwards". BNSF 7468 lead but BNSF 1072-7611 were the DPU's.
The booze train off the Sioux City sub was stopped on the west side of Ashland due to T&T given to a MOW crew doing some work on the cross-overs. Figuring there would be some dead time I packed up and headed west on a search for some lunch. Heading west on Hwy 6, I encountered a northbound MLINWLM holding for the BNSF 7468 to clear the west leg of the wye to the Sioux City Sub. I didn't stop and get the unit numbers but the power was a BNSF C44-8W and a CSX SD70MAC. I figured they would still be there when I got back from my lunch run but the BNSF tricked me as the MOW crew finished up pretty quickly.
Just east of Greenwood, NE an eastbound vehicle train passed me with two BNSF C44-9W's as power. This is the first solid vehicle train I've seen on the Creston Sub since the floods of 2011 so I am not sure if this is a regular train or a reroute. At Waverly a long empty coaler with FURX and BNSF hoppers was sitting in the center siding. BNSF 6291-9519 DPU's 6001-6225 were the power for this monster.
Since I had ventured this far west I decided to go into Havelock and check out the Havelock switcher power and grab some food at Burger King. Power sitting at the yard office in Havelock was BNSF 2967-8707 which made the trip over worth while.
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| BNSF 6288 leads a UCEX empty coaler off the Omaha Sub. |
Back in Ashland the parade of trains continued with BNSF 6288-5798 DPU 9340-9170 rolling a empty coaler with CITX hoppers off the Omaha Sub. After about 20 minutes BNSF 6125-5853 DPU 9746 rolled up to the east leg of the wye and held the main with a UCEX empty coaler. After about 15 minutes all the lights came on and two bleeps of the horn meant they were heading west again.
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| BNSF 9425 leads the MKINGAL past the BNSF 6125. |
While the UCEX coaler was getting back under way the MLINGAL rolled through on main two with BNSF 9425-8971. Once the MLINGAL passed it was quite for awhile until an unusual train rolled in westbound. BNSF 8298-4946 NS-1064 lead a stack train of MOL sea containers (40' and 20'). I've never seen a solid train of MOL containers on the Creston Sub prior to this.
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| BNSF 8298 leads a westbound stack track. |
After the stack train made its way thru the Sioux City Sub came alive with two southbounds. The first was a loaded grain train with BNSF 738-685-4392-4478 as power. Next up was a westbound GBRX coal empty with BNSF 9590-8764 DPU 9705 as power. Interesting this train went into emergency as it rolled off the west leg of the wye. I drove out to the west side of Ashland and saw that the train was still on the rails so I'm not sure why it went into emergency.
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| BNSF 5311 with track inspection cars. |
While the crew was busy talking to the dispatcher BNSF 5311 rounded the curve under Hwy 6 westbound with two track inspection cars in tow. After it rolled by I called it a day and headed out for home. On the way to I-80 the last train of the day was encountered stopped along Hwy 6 with BNSF 9179-6326 leading an empty LNTX coaler.
