October 2018

I have not been out doing much active train watching for quite some time now. My focus has shifted and primarily I have been photographing freight cars or structures. I find most of the modern railroading to be very boring and after about the 3rd train with a dirty UP consist or an all GE BNSF consist, I've had enough and typically head for home.

I do still photograph locomotives and trains and have a few from October to share.

BNSF 549 is assembling its train on the south end of the BNSF Omaha, NE Gibson yard. 20 years ago she would have been running across the ATSF with hot intermodal traffic, but now she has been demoted to local and switching service.

Roster shots seem to be the most I do with locomotives anymore. So, I couldn't help myself when I spotted this nicely lined up unit in the UP's ex CNW yard in Sioux City, IA. This unit started out as a MoPac unit and now works for Helm Leasing.

Its getting late in the year for MOW work, so it was unusual to see this Hertzog ballast train rolling thru Council Bluffs, IA. In less than a month pretty much all MOW projects will come to an end until next spring.

One of the more unusual movements that I witnessed this past month, was this transfer run from the CN to the UP. Typically this train is a single unit but today two SD60's are performing the duties. Both are pushing the cars that will be interchanged with the UP into the Council Bluffs, IA UP yard.