October 2 Railfanning

Sunday provided me an opportunity to enjoy some beautiful cloud free fall skies. With light winds and the nearly perfect sky, I was able to record some video which is something that can be pretty difficult to do with the wind in Nebraska.

The first catch of the day in the area I planned on fanning was an empty MidAmerica coaler just west of Lincoln, NE.

BNSF 6021 & 6096

I followed this train up to the bridge west of Pleasant Dale, NE to try to catch it coming through the widened cut the BNSF created for the second main train. Unfortunately, it had an advantage with the shorter route and beat me there.

After a short wait, the signal at CP 14.6 displayed a red over yellow and then a red over flashing yellow followed by a green. Drifting down grade an empty Bunge bean train rounded the curve to the west of the bridge and took the diverging clear for main two.

BNSF 3826 & 7420

Once this train cleared, the signal at CP14.6 went red over yellow and stayed that way for about 10 minutes. Since I haven't heard any horns across the valley, I headed west to Milford. Once at Milford I setup to get a shot of the anticipated eastbound on the slight grade out of the Blue River valley. Within about 5 minutes horns could be heard coming from the north side of Miford along with a distinctive EMD 2 stroke sound. Soon BNSF 9246 lead an Alabama bound coal load up the grade.

BNSF 9246 & 6124

BNSF 5857

While in Milford a quick stop at the local Casey's for a slice of pizza was in order. While eating another eastbound was heard blowing for the crossing north of Milford. Shortly a TU Utilities coal train approached and I was able to capture it rounding the curve.

After this train passed, I headed back to the bridge for some more photos and videos. Since it was after noon the farmers had returned from church and were out in the fields cutting their crops and stirring up dust as the winds had started to pick up. With that in mind, I decided to stay for the westbound that was holding at CP 14.6 but the BNSF had a bunch of eastbounds to get in before it would finally get a green.

First up was another loaded MidAmerica coaler. BNSF 6350 lead another ES and another was the DPU making an all GE consist.

BNSF 6350

Following the MAXX coaler was a Kansas Power and Light coal load with the BNSF 6209-5639 and DPU 8546. Once it crawled into the clear at CP 14.6 the westbound was given a green to head out. As the train came into view the green sheen of  the Boeing B737-8xx's could be seen. This tipped me off that the HKCKLAU-01 was about to pass my spot. 

BNSF 7686

After this train passed, I packed up my stuff and headed for the car. I decided to check out the signal one last time just in case and sure enough one more train was in store for me followed by another.

First up was the first train I recorded earlier in the morning. BNSF 9109-5775 and DPU 6057 with a GGPX coal empty was first seen on the east side of Waverly, NE holding for an opening in Hobson yard. Four hours later it had pasted trough the yard and was about 40 miles further west.

BNSF 9109

Once the BNSF 9109 passed it was followed by the last train of the day for me. BNSF 6404-NS 1086 with DPU 5821 rolled an empty JHMX coal west. After watching this roll by I headed for home. Not a bad day for about 4.5 hours of quiet. 

On a quest to find the NS 4002 and 4004

Our original plan was to get photos of these units around the local area, but the weather and updates on their status had us traveling south to get them in some sunlight.

We headed south out of the Omaha area, getting off the interstate at Mound City, MO to follow the BNSF tracks via the back roads. While making a quick stop in Mound City, we heard a northbound over on the Napier Sub and were hoping it wasn't the NS units running ahead of time. My son checked Facebook and found that the crew was called for 1100. Since it was 0900 we decided to head south until we found them.

At Napier Jct, an empty grain train was being held before continuing north up the Napier sub. The power looked like every other GE so we skipped going up to the headend for any pictures and headed south on Hwy 111 to Forest City. From there is was onto County Rd T to Forbes, MO.

North of Forbes, MO we noticed that the signals were lined for a southbound, so we pulled into Forbes and waited about 10 minutes before a southbound RWSX loaded coaler showed up. BNSF 8990-6394 with DPU's 9649-9085 cleared the only crossing in town within a couple of minutes.

As we paced the 8990 south we soon encountered a traffic jam around Rushville, MO. A truck towing a trailer with a Suburban on it, blew a front tire going into the ditch and hitting the rails. To my untrained eye it didn't appear to cause too much damage to the track, but the DS had to have a track inspector out to verify all was good.

The curious part of this traffic jam was at that a southbound TXUX loaded coaler was in the siding while a northbound mixed freight was holding the main. BNSF 5387-4535 was the power on the freight while BNSF 9270-6014 and DPU 6255 had the TXUX loads in hand.

A bit further down the road we noticed a headlight coming around a curve, which belonged to a northbound KCP&L empty with BNSF 9144 and DPU 9258 as power. Once they came to a stop BNSF 9270 got a green signal to continue south.

We encountered our next train at Amour siding where a northbound freight was being held. Power was BNSF 6235-6207-54181-9658. There was also a KCPL loaded coaler on the ballon track running through the dumper at the Iatan Power Plant. From here we headed back up into the hills away from the tracks until we crossed under Hwy 92 about 2 miles north of the north end of Leavenwoth siding. Sitting at the north end waiting for the BNSF 9270 south was a TXUX empty coaler with BNSF 9280-6082 on the headend. I could not get the number of the DPU on this train.

About half way down the siding (which is 17550' long) we set up for a shot of the 9270 passing the northbound in the siding.

Our next encounter was near MP 11.8 where we encountered the BNSF 9257-9838 on a loaded RWSX coaler holding at the end of double track. Having not encountered the NS duo and needing gas we headed on down to N. Kansas City to take a peek at Murray yard. The connector from Hwy 9 to Hwy 169 was closed so we ended up taking the roads down along the east side of the yard. We saw lots of faded/dirty/stored C44-9Ws, SD70MACs, a few AC44C4s in various BNSF paint schemes stuffed into tracks along the east side of the yard. After figuring out how to get over to Hwy 169 we were able to drive north along the west side of the yard and finally spotted the duo at the north end of Murray yard.

Not able to get any photos of the units, we decided on lunch and a run over to the NS yard as the IT heritage unit and the Veterans unit were reported to be in town. A drive down along the NS yard didn't reveal either unit, but we did manage to catch a parked auto rack train.

We took another run around the Murray yard to see if a crew may have been brought out to get on the train and found it in the same spot and state. Heading back up to Parkville, MO to position ourselves to get some photos when it does leave, my son looked up the latest information for the train at the various social media sites and read that the crew was called for 1600. Since it was 1430 and we had a 2.5 hour drive home combined with a line of storms coming in we reluctantly headed north.

Retracing our route, we encountered our first train just north of Parkville. Seems the crew on the BNSF 9257, which we had seen earlier died on the single track and had the main plugged. Seeing this we assumed that there wouldn't be any northbound movements on our way back. This was soon proven wrong as we encountered a northbound empty DDG train at Sadler. Moving at track speed we had a bit of a run to catch up to the head end which had BNSF 4556-6605 as the power. While trying to get ahead of it, I noticed a different train in the siding at Sadler from when we had headed south earlier in the morning.

The northbound grain train slowed to take the siding at Halls and my son wanted to get a shot of the train passing under the old Q cantilever signal at the south end of the siding. Once he was able to get his shots (mine were not the best) me headed north again and encountered a monster of a consist on a train holding at the end of double track. This mixed freight was lead by BNSF 6100-5742-5876-5166-652-6304-1106-8160-6902-7764, 10 units. Of course they were not all online and the last 5 looked as though the last 5 had recently been removed from storage.

Once the crew was relived and a new crew got on board this train would continue its journey to KC. We continued our journey north and soon encountered a loaded KCP&L coaler powered by BNSF 6263 and BNSF 8572 as the DPU quickly rolling up on the stopped freight stopped in front of it.

While we got our shots the crew fan ran around us and pulled up to a stopped mixed freight in the siding with BNSF 3800-4058-3012 as power.

With us still over a 100 miles from home and heavy rain just to the north we made a beeline for home and ended our day of railfanning.

Some finds in a yellow box

Moving has its disadvantages and advantages, especially went it comes to rediscovering lost or forgotten items. While going through a tote with a bunch of photo envelopes I came across a long, thin, yellow plastic slide box. This box contained a roll of 126 slides that were developed in 1986 but had been exposed during the late fall of 1981.

Now before the purist turn their noses up and scream ack, 126 Instamatic wtf, it should be told that as a 15 year old this was the best I had in a camera at the time. I wouldn't get my first 35mm until Christmas 1981 in the form of a Pentax K1000.

So why make a blog post on this find, it's not for the technical purity of the images, but rather for the bit of history that was captured. The late fall of 1981 was a dramatic change for the BN in my hometown. Since 1908 there has been a CB&Q/BN terminal in South Sioux City (Ferry), NE and a separate GN/BN terminal in Sioux City, IA separated by a weight restricted 1888 link pin truss bridge over the Missouri River. Starting in 1980 the BN started the process of replacing this bridge to allow for heavier trains on the Sioux City line. The opening of this bridge in Dec 1981 lead to the closing of the So Sioux City terminal and consolidation of operations into the old GN yard in Sioux City, IA.

Three clean SD40-2's lead the first revenue train across the new Missouri River bridge between So. Sioux City, NE and Sioux City, IA.

Laying over in the old Q Ferry, NE engine terminal, a set of bridge power waits for a northbound train to take across the weight restricted Missouri River bridge to Sioux City, IA.

Road power waits for their train to be dragged over from Sioux City, IA before taking over from the bridge power for the trip south.

At the old GN service track in Sioux City an unusual lashup of U33C and SD9 await service before taking a train north to Wilmar, MN. 

Some other images on this 20 shot roll include a couple of CNW and ICG shots included below for a look back. 

EMNPA power sits in the cold as their train is switched in the Sioux CIty, IA yard.

Having brought in their train earlier in the day these two GP10's rest outside the old IC engine house in Sioux City, IA. This engine house still exist as a machine shop for Cargill but the IC and GP10's are gone.

A couple of cold hours at Ashland, NE

Waking up to a dusting of snow Friday morning and some brilliant post storm sun light gave me an urge to get out and do some train watching. Unfortunately the clouds rolled back in by the time I got motivated and out the door.

First train I encountered was the ZCHCDEN as it rolled down from Gretna, NE toward Ashland on the Omaha Sub. I caught up with it before it got to Ashland but I wanted to get a shot of it further west and settled on a shot of it rolling east of Greenwood, NE. Unfortunutely, since its now stick season and the sky was gloomy a b&w conversion was needed to salvage the shot.

BNSF 7249 leads the ZCHCDEN between Greenwood and Ashland, NE.

BNSF 7249 heads west toward Greenwood, NE.

As I passed thru Ashland toward Greenwood, two coalers were stopped to give the Z train a clear block thru the area. A westbound empty coaler was holding at east wye in Ashland but was given a green on the heels of the Z train. It passed me as I headed back to Ashland and I wasn't able to get a shot of it.

BNSF 5968 heads east on the Creston Sub instead of the anticipated north on the Sioux City Sub.

An eastbound loaded coaler was holding at west Ashland and I thought it was going to head up the Sioux City sub and was caught off guard when it heading toward me instead of taking the hard left for Sioux City.

Soon after the eastbound passed a train was heard blowing for crossings and the chirp of a EOT was heard on the scanner. After a couple of minutes CREX 1312 rolled a westbound empty up to the signal on the Omaha sub. After about 15 mins she got a green and headed west again.

CREX 1312 leads a westbound empty coaler off the Omaha Sub.

Once the CREX lead train passed another empty coaler followed about 20 minutes later.

BNSF 9655 leads an empty coaler at east Asland.

After the BNSF 9655 passed a lull in the action developed. The Sioux City Sub DS was talking to a southbound and soon it was heard blowing for the crossings north of Ashland. One nice thing from the lull is it gave the sun a chance to make an appearance.

BNSF 9262 leads a ballast train off the Sioux City Sub.

Into nearly perfect sunlight BNSF 9262 lead a short ballast train across the Salt Creek bridge and then curved west toward west Ashland and the Creston Sub. Its passing gave me a chance to head for Casey's and some pizza.

BNSF 7335 leads a DEEX empty at west Ashland.

Crossing the bridge over the tracks reveled another westbound empty coaler so I headed over the west Ashland and waited for it to roll west. After a bit the BNSF 7335 and two C44-9W's slowly moved up to the signals. This is the first time since I've moved back to Nebraska where I've seen a coal train without AC units. Too bad it was still  roaches on the front.

BNSF 6243 leads a empty coaler at east wye Ashland.

After grabbing some shots of the units, I headed back over to east Ashland and caught a couple of more empty coalers before hearing the Sioux City Sub DS calling out the BNSF 2778 south. BNSF 2778 was leading the Fremont switch down to the yard in Ashland and soon was head blowing for the crossings north of Ashland. As soon as I was able to see the headlight thru the trees I headed out to get a shot of it curving off the Sioux City sub before calling it a day and heading for home.

BNSF 2778 leads the Fremont switch off the Sioux City Sub.

Last couple of Fridays at Ashland

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

December Blair Sub Construction Update 21012

A week before Christmas I was able to get out and take a look at the construction progress on the Blair Sub. In short not much has taken place but there are a couple of items worth reporting.

Arlington, NE

The new double track bridge was cut in in late November. This involved replacing the current bridge with the construction of a new double track concrete deck bridge.

At the grain elevator in Arlington MOW crews were noted working with panel track sections. I do not know what they were doing or if these panels are going to be used in the area.

Kennard, NE

The biggest development is the relaying of the old Kennard siding as the second main track. This section was completely rebuilt and two new bridges were installed as part of this rebuild. The track had been laid and connected at the old West Kennard switch but had not been ballasted when I visited. Crews where noted moving ballast regulators and tampers into the spur on the west side of Kennard. Once this track is finished the line will be double tracked from CP Allen Creek to a mile east of California Jct, IA and then from CP Duffy on the southwest side of Blair to the west end of the old Kennard siding.

Fremont to Missouri Valley

From east Fremont, NE to Missouri Valley, IA no new work was noted. The new row that was created from west Kennard to the west side of Arlington is ready for ties and rail to be installed. The crossings that will receive flashers have had the new bases installed and signal boxes all wired for the installations.

A UP conductor was noted as indicating that the union announced that no new work would occur on the project until 2014. There was no indication that the current work would be finished in 2013 or if the project  will be dormant until 2014.

Spring weather and time will tell.

A cloudy Saturday

On Saturday, I was able to sneak away for a couple of hours to do some train watching making a circle from Omaha to Fremont to Missouri Valley and back to Omaha. This seems to be one of my  more permanent train watching patterns as I typically encounter a fair number of trains following this route.

During the overnight and Saturday morning we had our first rain in quite awhile.The 1/2 to 3/4 inches of rain made the back roads interesting to drive on later in the day while I was out on the Blair Sub. It also left the sky dark and full of heavy clouds. So making the best of it I converted the days images to black and white.

Heading out of Omaha, I didn't encounter any trains until the Dodge St/Hwy 6 over crossing near 144th where I spotted the tell end of a eastbound bare table. I was hoping that this wouldn't be the way the morning was going to go. By the time I got to Fremont I was really wondering if the day was going to be a bust as I hadn't encountered any trains until then. Just east of  Fremont while on old Hwy 275 I was greeted by the MNCCB heading toward Omaha behind UP 4935-2168-4721.

UP 6532 leads a train of company hoppers eb toward Fremont, NE.

Continuing on into town and crossing over the ex CNW yard on S. Bell st, I spotted a westbound booze train changing crews. I started to head over toward the BNSF/UP diamonds but noticed that the train had already started to head west so I drove over to Ridge rd to get a shot of the train with the town in the background. No sooner had I pulled up and an eastbound coal load of company hoppers starts blowing for the crossing. UP 6532-7255 DPU 6392 rolled out of the fog and misty low cloud to block my planned shot of the booze train. I was hoping that the booze train would slow down or stop but soon UP 5693-6189 rolled past me on the opposite side. Crap I hate it when that happens.

Coal loads and booze

Once the coal loads cleared the crossing I headed on up to Pappa siding on the BNSF to see if any southbound BNSF trains were holding while the UP trains cleared the diamonds. The siding was empty but the Fremont switch engine, BNSF 2828 was parked on the Frontier Grain spur.

With no action on the BNSF I headed back south and noticed a set of eastbound headlights on the UP from the N. Pierce st crossing. I pulled over and parked hoping to catch them as they pulled into town. After a couple of minutes the eastbound hadn't moved any closer to me so I started to head for the BNSF side of town.

Broken chatter on the scanner had a northbound BNSF train releasing the track warrant from Elk siding south to Ashland and BNSF 7356-6824 soon brought a north bound empty booze train across the diamonds.The radio chatter continued on the BNSF side with the dispatcher placing the northbound booze train into the siding at Pappa and moving a southbound from the siding at Elk down toYutan siding to meet another northbound out of Ashland who was to meet the southbound that the booze train sitting at Pappa is waiting for at Elk siding. Got that?

The BNSF was fairly busy but I wanted to check on the Blair sub double tracking and decided to head that way instead of chasing the BNSF. Before heading out of town I spotted the BNSF local power tied down west of the depot with BNSF 2809-2304 being the assigned power. Over at the UP depot the UP Fremont switcher power UP 517-833 were tied down in their usual spot.

Heading east and crossing over the ex CNW yard I noticed a green signal for a westbound to head off the Blair sub to the Columbus sub. While driving east on Morningside rd near the Fremont power plant, I spotted an westbound perishable with UP 8524-4111-7508 leading about 35 empty refers. As it went by me I also spotted a westbound mixed freight on the Omaha Sub. A quick u-turn was in order.

DPU 6757 passed the UP 4332 on the MCBNP.

Driving west on Morningside rd I spotted the eastbound train I had setup for earlier starting through town. UP 6510-6445 DPU 6757 had a NSPX coal load heading for Omaha and a run up the Sioux City sub to Minneapolis. I was able to catch the DPU passing a late MCBNP on the east side of Fremont. The tardy MCBNP had UP 4332-1976-8285 as power and was being held for the empty perishable.

With the back tracking done I headed back east out of town to Military Ave to follow the tracks over to the Elkhorn river.The overnight rain had turned this normally decent gravel road into a mess, ruts and soggy car tracks made for a fun drive. Gumbo really lets one know its time for new tires as I was spinning and sliding the whole time.

UP 6866 leads the MSSNP into Arlington.

No trains were spotted until Arlington where I encountered the MSSNP dropping down off of Arlington Hill on the east side of town. The MSSNP had the UP 6866-8139 DPU 6952 as power.

The next train I encountered was a westbound stack train between Arlington and Kennard. UP 8638-4759 DPU 7622 made good work of the climb up Arlington Hill. The train was mostly domestic containers with some maritime containers thrown in.

As I dropped down the hill on Hwy 30 into Kennard I spotted another westbound stack train with UP 7831-4526 DPU 5226-7524 as power. This train was made up of mostly maritime containers and may have been a Seattle bound train.

From Kennard to Council Bluffs I didn't encounter anymore trains which was unusual. At N. Council Bluffs the first coaler I had encountered in Fremont was holding at beanos for the MNPCH with UP 4346-8227-4975 to run around it.

While in Council Bluffs I was surprised to see that the CN/IC yard was empty. Saturday has been a day that the road train comes into CB but the road power was nowhere to be found. Scanner chatter did reveal that the CN Switch crew was out and over on the Omaha side.

Over in the UP Pool yard UP 536-511-512 were noted sitting in the middle of the yard. These units maybe the N. Omaha power as its unusual to see three GP38-2's together unless they are on this train. While checking these units out the NSPX train encountered at had pulled up to 9th street to wait for the two trains in front of it to head out of town. With nothing currently moving I headed over to get some gas and to check out the BNSF and IAIS.

The BNSF Island Park local was working at the S. Bartlett elevator putting its train of aboutr 5 cars together. Today's power was BNSF 9634-6797-3020 which was overkill for the amount of cars to be moved. The BNSF CB switcher is BNSF 8613 and she had about 25 cars tied on to her. These would be interchanged with the IAIS later in the evening.

The IAIS was quite. The CBBI was already made up and had two ES44AC's and a GP38-2 as power. With the opening of the new shop at Yocum the stored power has been slowly moving east. There was around 6-8 units still on the storage tracks though.

Before heading for home I headed back over to 9th Ave to catch an eastbound mixed freight. Power was UP 4104-8656-KCS 4615. Its unusual to see KCS power on the UP in this area so that was an interesting sight. The terminal yard master was giving the MCBDM permission to make a double over and to head out of town so I headed down to see what the power would be. A ratty GE was today's leader so I decided it was time to head for home.

South Central NE

It had been awhile since I really went out and did some exploring and while building a map of industrial locomotives I got the urge to get out and look for some industrial units close by. With my work schedule and always being on call every 3 weeks I don't have much free time but I had a spur of the moment idea to take the 9th off to explore.

I headed out the door a bit later than I had liked but was able to get to all the areas I wanted to before the day was over. Heading to Lincoln to head south for the first planned stop of Hallam, NE I made a detour over to Hwy 6 from I-80 to follow the BNSF into Havelock. \

Ashland was quite and I didn't see my first train until I was west of town about 3 miles. A westbound empty coaler was sitting at the cross overs between Ashland and Greenwood. Since it was just a couple of plain Jane ES44AC's for power I continued on west and was surprised to find a Habsco rail grinder in the house track at Greenwood. This train set has the two ex GE B30-7's as power units for the grinder cars and movement.

RMSX 1101 rail grinder at Greenwood NE

After a brief look around the train it was time to head westbound again. Next up was the MKCKWIL sitting in Waverly, NE and a westbound Maresk double stack stopped between Waverly and Havelock. I stopped to get shots of both because I typically do not get harassed while taking shots from Hwy 6.

MKCKWIL sitting on the main waiting for a new crew at Waverly, NE

BNSF 6712 leads a Maresk double stack sitting east of Havlock, NE

I caught the tail end of the "rush" hour traffic in Lincoln and just headed right on through town on Hwy 6 to Hwy 77 south. Driving over the BNSF yard I caught a glimpse of BNSF 9999 and a number of other units including some SD40-2 hump engines.

The first stop of was Hallam, NE at the NPPD power plant. NPPD has a GP38-2 as the switcher located at the power plant just north of town. This is also the end of the line for the old RI mainline north out of Fairbury NE. Unfortunately there was a coal train being unloaded and the unit was not visibly from the road. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm down in that area.

With Hallam being a bust I got back on Hwy 77 and headed for Beatrice, NE and the Alco that lives at the coop elevator. Relco 707 and SNCC 2004 are used to shuffle empty grain hoppers but today they were being serviced by a mobile Relco crew. SW7 SNCC 2004 was being worked on while I was there. Not sure what they were working on but the fireman side doors for the compressor where open and a guy was noted under the unit working near the air reservoir tanks.

SNCC 2004 and Relco 707 resting under a hazy dusty morning sky.

While finding my way down to the coop I stumbled across some rare surviving freight cars; B17/B24 aircraft wing cars. They are no longer on trucks but were fairly intact with the old Burlington Route herald still visible on one side of each of the cars. Both are sitting on cinder block foundations just east of the coop being used for sheds.

B17/B24 aircraft wind car used as a storage shed.

While two more have been incorporated into a warehouse at the Beatrice Scrap Shredder yard.

Beatrice Scrap Shredder warehouse.

Having found the first Alco of the day I took off for Plymouth NE for the next one on my mental list. RLCX 1051 an S-2 is assigned to the local coop and had just finished loading a grain train in the last day or two. The loads were sitting southwest of the coop waiting for the UP to come and drag them out of town.

My next stop was Jansen, NE. I wasn't really sure what would be found there as both Google Earth and Bing images of the area are of low quality. The images seem to show an Alco switcher on the north east side of the town but only a visual inspection would confirm this. Unfortunately the switcher was not to be found but a rather nice looking GP7 is used to shuffle around the grain cars. The thought of an Alco was nice but the sight of a GP7 in 2012 is also a nice one.

JLCX 101 resting in the mid morning sun in Jansen, NE

Having finished getting my shots and a frame number of the unit it was time to head down to Fairbury and to check out the town. On the agenda was to get a shot of the old RI division point depot/office which I was able to do, but I also tripped over a couple of other interesting items.Over on the UP main an old RI/CNW snowplow was sitting on a spur. This old RI plow was probably used in this area while working for the RI but in her painted CNW colors she looked out of place.

In the area between the RI depot and the road is a small park containing an ex RI gas electric and the ex CB&Q depot from Kesterson, NE. The gas electric is looking pretty rough and the old Q depot is in the grounds of the riding train that is east of the depot. 

ex CRIP gas electric stuff and mounted

ex CB&Q Kesterson NE depot

Fairbury was my turn around point though I wouldn't be going home the same direction I had came, so I continued to travel west to go east. After making the turn north on Hwy 81 at Hebron, NE I headed up to Carlton, NE to check out the Alco S-2 working at the elevator. 

The 'downtown" area of Carlton is south of Hwy 4 and I soon made my way from Hwy 4 down to the elevators only to be disappointed that the Alco was nowhere to be found. I did happen to notice that the new flood loader that had been built on the west side of town had a CN painted loco that needed to be checked out. I was able to drive up to the area where the unit was parked and got a semi distant shot of CGAX 6128. This unit appears to be an the ex IC 6128 but I could not get up close to check for frame numbers to confirm its heritage. The one item I noticed is the unit may have been deturboed and may now be an SD38-2.

CGAX 6128 at Carlton NE

After the side trip to Carlton I back tracked 6 miles to Hwy 81 for the next stop in Fairmont, NE. Before getting to Fairmont a stop in Geneva to grab a quick shot of the derelict ex GTW 0-8-0 that resides on the north side of town was in order. Its strange seeing this loco out in the open miles from active rail

Missing a lot of parts.

After this little diversion it was back on the road to Fairmont. I wanted to catch the GP10 that works the ethanol plant on the west side of Hwy 81 but was only able to catch a long distance glimpse. So I took off for the next objective; Manning Rail.

First unit I was able to get to was the Watco SW2 being prepped for interchange. Railserve was onsite installing alignment couplers and was about half way completed. A local stopped to talk to me and stated that they had to finish the job today so the unit can be moved to Birmingham, AL. Since it was already 2 pm I don't think they got it done in time.

WAMX 105 an SW1 repowered with a Cummins genset.

 After walking around and getting shots of the SW2, I walked over to its replacement unit. Manning Rail 4602 had been delivered in the last couple of weeks and was looking good in red and blue. Unfortunately the unit is positioned so that its a morning photo. Since I'm was about 2 hours from home I took the shots anyway.

Manning Rail 4602 at Fairmont, NE.

Since I had a 4 pm appointment back in Omaha it was time to leave. All in all it was a good trip even though two Alcos couldn't be found.