Sept 4th, 2011

Sunday Sept 4^th

I started the day out in North Platte and followed the UP eastward to Gothenburg. Since I wanted to follow the old CBQ/BN/BNSF line from Sterling CO into Holdrege, NE, I headed south to HWY 23 at Gothenburg, NE.  From There I followed the Nebraska Kansas and Colorado into Holdrege and then the BNSF into Hastings, NE. From Hastings I headed back up to I-80 until Lincoln where I got off on Hwy 6 and followed the BNSF into Ashland, NE.

Along Hwy 30 heading east

UP MP 274

WB grain loads

UP 5682-6467 DPU UP 5959

UP MP 268

WB coal empty

UP 5931-6046 DP UP 6273

UP MP 265

WB grain load

UP 7205 DPU FMX 4622-UP 5654

UP MP 262

WB coal empty

UP 5890-7025 DPU UP 6619

UP MP 258

WB freight

UP 2468-8180-4551

UP MP 253

WB coal empty

UP 5710-5664 DPU UP 5579

Loomis, NE

Grain Elevator

DLCX 2000

Holdrege, NE

Nebraska Kansas Colorado

HLCX 5005

DLCX 1202

NKCR 9259

NKCR 7427

Havelock, NE

WB Freight

BNSF 750-4646

Waverly, NE

EB  freight

BNSF 1103-4776

Ashland, NE

MLINLIN

BNSF 549-520

Sept 3rd, 2011

Saturday September 3

Saturday was the start of my trip to North Platte. This was sort of a spur of the moment trip and I really did not have any goals in mind other than to explore and take pictures of depots and switchers at the various grain elevators on the way.

I left Omaha heading west on Hwy 92 with my first stop being at Mead, NE to capture the Frontier CO-OP GP10 and the UP depot that is in the town park.

After that it was back west on Hwy 92 with a detour stop in Brainard, NE. A drive around the grain elevator didn’t reveal any switchers but a shuttlewagon was parked in the elevator parking lot. Back out on 92, I headed west to Hwy 15 and a run up to David City. I was able to capture both the UP and the old Q depots but there were no switchers in town.

From David City it was north to Columbus and a look at the NCRC. About the time I got into Columbus it started to rain which quickly developed in a steady down pour. A drive out on Hwy 81 to the northwest side of town didn’t produce any NCRC units but the MNCCB had just arrived from Norfolk and the crwew was being taken back to the yard office. Power was UP 4418-3904. UP local power parked in the yard was UP 833, UP 505 and UP 2262.

From Columbus I headed west on Hwy 30. Below is a list of what was seen along the way. Not everything is listed as some slipped by me here and there.

Sliver Creek, NE

Platte Valley CO-OP

Ex CNW 4162

EB coal load

UP 5998 DPU UP 7190

Clarks, NE

EB coal load

UP 6617-SP177 DPU UP 7189

Thumbell, NE

Debruce Grain

JWS 76

MP 120

MNPPR

UP 4262-4048

MP 139

EB coal load

UP 5575-7057 DPU 6625

Grand Island, NE

MGINP

UP 2447-1601-1589

Wood River, NE

MNPCBB

UP 8201-6413-6185-6692-6624 DPU 8171

Grain Elevator

BEBX 2054

EB Light Power

UP 6540-7051-7249

Shelton, NE

Cargill Elevator

Unknown # GP7r

Gibbon, NE

ZSKDL

UP 4920-7881-5114

Cargill Elevator

2002, 9349

Elm Creek

Grain Elevator

AGREX 824

MP 180

EB coal load

UP 6854-7014 DPU 6384

Kearney, NE

EB Mixed Freight

UP 3825-4242-4751

EB Perishable

UP 8659-4261-7844

WB Z train

UP 3922-4194-3792-3889-4097

EB coal load

UP 7200-6222 DPU 6709

Local power

UP 826-504

MP 209

EB coal load

UP 7120-6166 DPU 6812

Lexington, NE

Local Power

UP 508-832

UP 505

In transit to Cozad

DBGX 6634 ex AGP

Grain Elevator

I&M Raillink

612

WB Stack train

UP 8686-4736-2409-2456 DPU4581-8687

EB Stack Train

UP 5452-4000 DPU 4220-8449

Cozad, NE

Peavey Grain 1261

This unit is to be replaced by the DBGX 6634 spotted in Cozad.

MP 246

EB coal load

UP 6789-6268 DPU 6329

Gothenburg, NE

WB coal empty

UP 7170-6837 DPU 5724

Grain Elevator

MJRX 1021

EB Empty Auto

UP 8119

MP 255

EB Stack Train

UP 7730-4820-4953 DPU 7693

MP 257

EB Mixed Freight

UP 7392-4231 DPU 6995

MP 265

EB coal load

UP 5872-6881 DPU 6244

MP 272

EB coal load

UP 5658-7104 DPU 6535

MP 275

QSKNP

UP 8650-CSX 5349- CSX 7564

North Platte, NE

MCA 7515

There were too many UP units to record.

Aug 27th and 28th 2011

August 27, 2011
I started out the weekend with a trip to Sioux City, IA and was rewarded with some interesting units.

Council Bluffs, IA
At the north Bartlett elevator was a loaded KCS grain train with two Belles, KCS 4682 and 4036.

The QNPSK was going by the north yard and I was unable to see what the head end power was. UP 8016 was cut in about 2/3 of the way back in the train as a DPU, though.

Blencoe, IA
Blencoe is the main pssing siding between California Jct and Salix, IA on the Sioux City sub and today there where two trains in Blenco. The MCBVP was passing an empty Pt. Neal coal train.

Salix, IA
The MKCVP was in the Salix siding waiting for MOW equipment to clear the main at Sgt. Bluff, IA.

Sioux City, IA
First stop in town is the Dakota & Iowa ex Milw east yard. Today was sort of a disappointment as only the Hudson local was in town with DAIR 2513 & 2512. The local switch engine was DAIR 4 and tucked away at the end of what was the Milw main was DAIR 6 and 21. I'm not sure why these would be placed there except maybe they are being stored.

Next stop is the CN/IC/CCP yard office for a look at the power. Today was a suprise as the Ft Dodge local had came in with BC Rail 4625 and CN 2556 as the road power. IC 3133 (in CN paint) has been the local switcher power for a while and she was just getting ready to start the days activities. The inbound train had left there train on the main as the old IC yard is always full. The 3133 would pull this train off the main and clear thru the yard to allow the local to leave later in the morning.

A quick drive by the UP yard on my way over to the BNSF didn't revel any UP trains waiting to head north. I did miss an southbound BNSF rock train while driving over to the BNSF side of town. UP power in the yard was UP 515, UP 827, UP 828 and job one had UP 2181 and 817 for their switch power.

The BNSF north end was active with BNSF 2856 and BNSF 3464 switching cars for the MLINNTN which was sitting on the main with BNSF 7472 and BNSF 4849 as power.

While the north switcher was going about its business a loaded coal train passed through and I was not able to see the unit numbers. The DPU was 9898, though. Shortly after a sb COLX empty came in with BNSF 9466 as the head end unit.

After an hour the CN local was ready to head out of Sioux City. They called the UP dispatcher,  got permission and did not waste anytime heading east. We setup in Leeds, IA to get video of them rolling out of town.

While the CN local was leaving the MCBVP was calling for permission to enter the yard. Today's train was a heavy one as it was combined with the MCBSX. Power was UP 6551-6319-5981-9373-2337 and the train stretched from around 20th street back to the around 3rd st. The UP 9373-2337 where left in town and powered the MSXCB back to Council Bluffs.

That was it for the rest of the day except for a couple of coal trains that I spotted in Missouri Valley, IA and between there and Council Bluffs on the drive back home.

August 28, 2011
The sun was out when I left for the morning but this quickly gave way to clouds and thunderstorms only to become sunny again later in the afternoon. The worse part about the storms was the UP was busy during for a change on a Sunday.

A drive by the Iowa Interstate to see what the BICB power was found IAIS 507-504 tied down behind the stored units.

In the UP north yard was a UP officer special that would head out later in the day. Power was UP 8125-8564 with 8 cars. UP 8218 was being ferried by the hostlers over to the siding into the north Bartlett elevator to be tied onto the rear of the KCS grain train to facilitate the cross town backup that will be needed to get this train over to the UP - IAIS interchange in the pool yard. On the north end of the North yard the MKCVP was making a pick up and getting ready to depart for Sioux City and Valley Park, MN.

I found a quite spot to park and waited for the traffic to come to me before the morning storms rolled in.
MSXCB
UP 2337-9373

QNPEL
UP 7785-NS  8386 - DPU UP 7618

Z Train
UP 7415-4618-4416 - DPU UP 1982

BNSF Council Bluffs extra
BNSF 551-556

UP EB Stack train
UP 7432-4823-4775

UP EB Grain Empty
UP 8021-6410 - DPU UP 7305-5906

UP EB Coal Load
UP 5770-6229 - DPU unknown

BNSF Island Park Local
BNSF 4767-4623

UP MNPPR
UP 3843-2272

After this I headed down to Oreapolis for some afternoon action.Upon arriving I found a WB empty holding on track two and a EB  coal load holding west of the diamond. Both where waiting for the UP SCBCB which crossed about 15 minutes after I arrived.

EB Coal load
BNSF 9231-9837-DPU 8928

EB Coal load
BNSF 8972 -9387 - DPU unknown

WB Coal empty
BNSF 9712-9255 - DPU 8870

Over all Sunday was probably my most productive day of railfaning in quit some time. Video of the coalers at Oreapolis can be found here http://www.youtube.com/user/cnw6500?feature=mhee

August 6, 2010

After a couple of extremely hot weekends and being on call, I was able to get out without any distractions today. This along with the decreased outflows at Gavin Pt dam prompted me to take a look at the local flooding before heading out to Fremont, NE.

The BNSF Omaha Sub has resurfaced at the Hwy 370 overpass in Bellevue, NE. The siding still has a spot or two that are under water, though. A local new video showed the CN/IC near Musical Hills Lane in N. Council Bluffs. This track will need some pretty heavy work as the river was flowing over it at a pretty good click for over a month.

Curiosity got the best of me and I drove down to where Joslin Rd crosses the UP just south of Old Mormon Bridge Rd. I'm glad I did as it answered a question I had concerning the gravel pit further down the road. Joslin Rd was flooded out and this pit was a major source of rock for levee work and road work in the area. The UP turned over access to the old second track ROW and the gravel pit turned it into a one way road. Empty trucks take Lime Kiln Rd., load out and then head north up the old ROW to access Old Mormon Bridge Rd.

 Missouri Valley was actually busy while I made a brief stop. The ZG2LT was making a crew change at the office while a MOW train of concrete ties and ballast was waiting on the old west yard lead. Power was a standard cab SD60 and a SD60M, while the z train was 4 SD70M's and a lone SD70ACe. After the z train passed by me I headed out to Italy avenue to see what was occurring with the heavy equipment there. The contractor has started up the earth moving for the second track and for what appears to be a set of tracks on the north side of the crossing.

California Jct is now seeing earth work for this second track. East of the crossing, the area south of the current tracks has been cleared and a heavy dozer was working. There was also a loaded grain train on the Sioux City Sub waiting to head west after the z train. Two AC4400CW's on the head end with one pushing as per the normal practice. The only item of interest was the UP 6715 had been repainted recently and now has a flag and UP paint over her old CNW paint. We caught this train later slowly climbing Blair Hill and follower her into Fremont.

Fremont was quite during the time we where there. Only 2 UP trains and the normal BNSF local power tied down. The MNPCBB was just going thru the east side of Fremont as we arrived. This train was having issues as we where able to catch up to it at Valley after spending around 45 minutes in Fremont. It was being followed by a coal load for Mid America in Council Bluffs. The only other train we encountered was a WEPX coal load parked on the east side of Fremont.

The day after

South 8th ave into the Gibson yard area of S. Omaha ia open again. The Hills Bros box plant is free of water and there are locomotives back in Gibson. The area around Hickory St and S 2nd St is another story. Lots of water is still over the rail and debris has also been deposited on the tracks

The area around the Izard pumping station which is right next to the UP 844 display is a mess. Signs of a lot of water is visible for blocks to the north of the pump station. 844 would not have been damaged but the 26 passenger cars and support cars where vulnerable to flood damage if the secondary pumps had not been used.

Traffic was flowing on all of  the sub divisions into and out of Omaha/Council Bluffs. The BNSF Island Park local even had a UP SD70ACe and two CSX ES44DC's that it picked up at Bungee.

The bad news....its raining and storming again.

Omaha Area Flooding 06/25/11

2 - 3 inches of rain feel between 0400 and 0630 this morning leaving alot of areas underwater.

I left my house around 11am and noticed that the Big Papio creek was levee full just to the east of my home. While driving south to Oreapolis a quick look over to the east at La Platte revieled that the Papio was almost to the top of the levee.

Oreapolis is basically lost. The road into the area is closed and underwater. The BNSF main track 1 had just the rail head above the water. Track two has been elevated but is still barely above the water. On the Omaha Sub was a loaded ballast train that was cut off due to the track 1 issues and the east leg of the wye also being under water. The area surrounding the diamond crossing is becoming a lake and the only available access point being from the west.

In Bellevue, NE the BNSF Omaha Sub north of the levee that was built across the track at Hwy 370 is underwater. The main and siding have been covered and are for a significant distance to the north. The BNSF will have lots of rebuilding in this area once the flood waters receed.

On the Iowa side 192nd St from Hwy 370 to Council Bluffs will soon be impassible. I encountered a couple of sections of the road where is was water covered and the level was rising. This is the gravel road that is used by BNSF and UP crew vans to get access to the small yard at the Bunge Soybean plant.

On the northside of Council Bluffs the Beano crossing (Musical Hills Lane) for the UP has been raised but the CN crossing is an island and flood waters have now reached the land in between the CN and UP (see above picture). The UP should be save as the row was raised a foot two weeks ago.

Omaha is having issues today. The BNSF dragged all of the units they had in their S. Omaha Gibson yard and the two shoving platforms out and had them parked and shut down at the Amtrak station. This got my curiosity up and I headed down to Gibson yard. Soon after crossing over the tracks on Missouri Ave the hell mary move became apparent.

It appears that the storm water has collected in the "bowl" that is the Gibson yard area and has flooded  a large section of the area. Omaha city crews where setting up pumps and trying to pump the water out but the damage had already been done. The Hills Bros box plant has been flood out and probably sustained some significant damage.

The BNSF owned line that is used by the UP for N. Omaha access was also observed as being under water just north of the I-80 Missouri River bridge. This eccentially cuts off the UP 844 and 26 passenger cars at the TD Ameritrade stadium and would prevent them from being removed if there was a levee break in the N. Omaha area.

Pre-Flood Report

A run down of observations the last couple of days of the lines around Omaha, NE. before the Mo finally over tops some levees.

BNSF
Omaha Sub: Severed in S. Omaha at Missouri Ave for a levee to protect the sewer treatment plant. Severed at Bellevue just south of Hwy 370 with a levee across the tracks to protect the city's water supply and waste water plant.

Creston Sub: Open with a high potential for flooding at Pacific Jct, IA.

Napier Sub: Open but projected to be closed later in the week when the Missouri tops the levees west of Hamburg, IA. A trip to Hamburg showed the elevators being emptied of grain and the residents packing up to leave.

There are two Ohio rail cranes and Bartlett Elevator has two GP7's for power. Its unknown if these will be gathered up and dragged out before the water comes in.

Council Bluffs Sub: Open, but has a high probability of being impacted south of Council Bluffs especially if there are any levee breaks.

Sioux City Sub:Open, not expected to have any impact except for detours.

Union Pacific
Omaha Sub: Open, but may be closed at Council Bluffs. The city has dirt stockpiled to close the gap in the north side levee that protects Council Bluffs.

Missouri Valley - Omaha and Blair Subs join the Iowa main and the town has been told to expect flooding. The town folk are packing up and leaving but I did not observe any preparations by the UP to protect infrastructure yesterday.

Blair Sub: Currently has a daylight MOW closure. Westbounds and eastbounds are fleeting on the Omaha sub between Mo Valley and Council Bluffs, IA. MOW appears to be tie, rail, ballast type of work. No infrastructure fortification noted. Line could be impacted by flooding.

Sioux City Sub: Open, but more than likely will be impacted in multiple locations.

Falls City Sub: Open, no impacted expected until flood waters reach St Joe, Missouri.

CN/IC
The Ft Dodge train took all the stored cars out of the yard in Council Bluffs yesterday. Interchange cars are in the yard along with the CN 4028. No dirt was noted next to the CN track to fill in the levee gap in Council Bluffs.

Losts of county roads are under water and lots of farmers are moving equipment and household items to high ground. Country roads are really busy with all this traffic.

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.

Is Spring here?

Finally a weekend without snow, rain and cold temps allowed for me to spend some time out enjoying the weather. My only limiting factor this weekend was being on call.


Saturday
I got out of the house a little later than I wanted to and did not get to catch the morning fleet on the Falls City sub into Omaha. I did hear two of the north bounds between 0800 and 0900, though.

A drive through Council Bluffs before I headed out to Blair was somewhat productive.

IAIS
BICB power was 508-506

CN
9460 was building its train for Omaha.
2615 was the road power laying over for the evening train.

KCS
4595-4606 had brought in an empty grain train for the Bartlett elevator on the north end of Council Bluffs.

A couple of UP coal trains snuck around me as I was getting gas and breakfast.

Before heading over to Blair, I sat in Mo Valley waiting for a westbound to follow over but after about 45 mins nothing had came in to follow. So out of boredom, I took the long way to Blair via the back roads to California Jct where a headlight off to the east showed a westbound waiting to head out on the single track to Kennard. The signals at Cal Jct were all red westbound indicating a train off the Sioux City Sub was a good possibility.

Blair Hill
First up was a westbound loaded grain train with UP 7697-6563-8434 as the power.
An empty coaler with UP 6531 on the head end and UP 6579 as the DPU.
The AGBMI with UP 4995-4108 was third.
A westbound stacker with UP 7823-4704-7740 was up next.
The final train was a short MOW train with two SD70M's and three flats with concrete ties.

After this train passed I headed back to Omaha as my pager was going off.

Sunday
Sunday started out nice and warm with a hazy sun. It hasn't been like that in sometime and really set in spring fever.

A quick run thru Council Bluffs to see what had changed overnight before a run down to Pacific Jct., IA and over to Plattsmouth/Oreopolis, NE.

IAIS
BICB power was 500-503

UP
MPRCB with 8145-8024-9533 made its morning run down the 12th st line into the pool yard.
MNPCB with UP 5674-UP 8532-UPY 597-UPY 656-UP 7199 was yarding its train.
HLCX 3839 - UP 505 where waiting for MOW permission to proceed into there zone as they replaced ties on the line from the Mary switch to the yard.

BNSF
At the Hwy 370 overpass a ES44AC and a SD70MAC where bringing in a KCS grain train for loading at the south Council Bluffs Bartlett elevator.

The drive down to Pacific Jct pretty much devoid of trains. The IAIS 601-650 set where sitting under the I-29 overpass waiting for permission to enter the BNSF for a run over to the Mid America power plant and Bungee Ethenol facility. Only one coaler was being unloaded that I could see from the interstate.

At Pacific Jct, I was expecting to see a couple of trains waiting to make the run over to Plattsmouth but there where none. A wb empty coaler did pull up soon after I arrived and waited for a Council Bluffs local to come in from the west.

BNSF 4753 - 791 took the west leg of the wye for the slow run north about 20 minutes after I arrived. BNSF 6006-9363-6052 continued west after the local cleared the junction. The scanner was quite and there did not appear to be anymore trains so I followed the DPU over to Plattsmouth.

After about 25 minutes a wb empty coaler was heard blowing for the crossings over in Iowa and I setup to be able to watch it come across the river bridge and through town. BNSF 8807-9310-6256-9943-5642 were the power for this empty hopper train. Not hearing any scanner chatter, I ran over to Oreopolis to sit and wait.

BNSF 8123 showed up after about 10 minutes with a westbound train of empty windmill blade flatcars. It came to a stop and waited for a couple of eb coalers. BNSF 6409-5968-5775 was the first followed by BNSF 9267-5848 a short time later. After this the westboud started back west.

I then called it a day and headed back home.

A quite weekend

The weekend was "normal" for being able to railfan. No incidents to speak of but the crews I did encounter seem to be "spooked" and nervous when around them.
I spoke to my oldest boy who still lives in California and he said that the UPSA's are now taking photos of people they encounter. These are not distant shoots but full face shots. My oldest was caught crossing an unmarked property line and was instantly confronted. In order to be released he had to submit to a photo. Not only is your license plate and driver license information gathered by UPSA's but your picture is also being added to their database.

And now a call from the BNSF

Seems that the railroads just want to be heard. A BNSF SA called me at my desk this morning saying I caused them all kinds of problems on Saturday. I informed him he needed to talk to the FBI Task force as I had already discussed the incident with them. The convesation evolved in to threats from both side with the agent closing his conversation with "you are a terrorist and will be treated like one".

An now the UPSA's

A UPSA showed up at my workplace this afternoon. This time my employer informed him that he was not welcome and to leave. Before leaving he informed the security office to tell me not to take pictures in a specific are anymore. Since I was on public property, that is a pretty tall order.

I placed a call the ACLU this afternoon to request information on my rights and was given the email address of info@aclunebraska.org to send the information into.

This won't be the last of this nonsense it appears.

Railroad war on railfans

Well, I had a visit from the Terrorism Joint Task force yesterday at my work (why at my work who knows) concerning a report by the BNSF that I am a potential terrorist. This little visit will probably mean the termination of my employment, which in this day and age of employers would be the norm.

This incident stemmed from an encounter with a BNSF vehicle on Saturday morning. I was chased down by a 08 or 09 White Jeep Commander on S 8th St. with the driver trying to force me off the road. This individual then proceeded to chase me up S 13th st. I called 911 on this vehicle and reported the incident in real time providing the vehicle description and license plate number.

I was interviewed by the task force and really do not know what the outcome will be. It appears that the railroads in Omaha and Council Bluffs are preparing a spring offensive against railfans. Looks like its time to find a lawyer.

Remember you no longer have the rights you where born with.

This is MOP Garcia

Around 11 am this morning I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Garcia while waiting for the UP 1989 to enter the BNSF at the Amtrak station. Needless to say Mr. Garcia lived up to what UPRR wants their personnel to be.

To back up a bit I was in my Jeep reading the paper and emails in the Schneider Trucking lot next to the Amtrak station when I noticed Mr. Garcia leave his units and walk around a 1/4 mile to where I was parked. First thing out of his mouth is "Do you work for the BNSF"? Well here we go he is going to bitch me up and down for being on railroad property. My answer is short and to the point, "No and this isn't RR property". Well this set off a tirade between us. Just as I thought he had decided to leave he abruptly stops, turns around and starts to write down my license plate info. To me this is a blatant threat as the UPSA's keep a database of people they encounter on UPRR property. Since I wasn't on UPRR property and he wasn't an UPSA, I jumped out of my Jeep and started to take pictures of Mr. Garcia. Knowing he was in the wrong he tried to hid his face every time I pointed the camera at him.

I left the lot and drove down Pacific street listening to Garcia call for an SA. As I was setting up to get a better shot of him I noticed he was climbing down the BNSF embankment to get to Pacific street. As he was crossing the road I grabbed the shot of him above. When I stopped at Pacific and South 7th, Garcia came up to my Jeep stuck his head into my window and stated "In my mind you are a fucken terrorist and I will report you as one".

Well Garcia you are the terrorist trying to terrorize someone by threatening them.

Mo Valley to Fremont and back home 04/10/10

Its only been a month and a week since I made a simular trip, and what a change. The snow is gone and the plants are coming alive.

Mo Valley

Arrived around0815

e/b empty grainer

• UP 6511


• UP 7284

w/b Z train

• UP 4654


• UP 7643


• UP 8562


• UP 4865

e/b K train

• UP 7877


• UP 8418


• UP 4413


• UP 7633 - DPU

e/b grain train

• UP 6055


• UP 5789


• UP 5941 - DPU

w/b mixed freight

• UP 7829


• UP 8226 - DPU

e/b empty grainer

• UP 7173


• UP 7074


• UP 6924 - DPU

e/b mixed freight

• UP 8155


• UP 6533


• UP 8111 - DPU

traffic died down so we headed for Blair, NE around 0930

Blair, NE

Savage terminal

• SRVX 8608


• DLCX 8608

The SD40-2 was switching in the yard.

The ZDLSKP got by us while we where exploring the SC&P depot in the park.

Fremont, NE

BNSF local

• EMDX 798


• BNSF 2817

e/b UP coaler

• UP 7304


• UP 6286


• UP 6629

Scoular Grain was assembling a grain train with SCOX 5001

Laid over grain train power

• UP 5968


• UP 6366


• UP 5668

UP Local power

• UP 521

w/b loaded grain train

• UP 7269


• UP 7015


• UP 8221 - DPU

n/b BNSF DSG empty

• BNSF 5235


• BNSF 8280


• CSX 368

Arlington, NE area

w/b UP mixed freight

• UP 6556


• UP 7234


• UP 6313


• UP 6754 - DPU

w/b empty coaler

• UP 6513


• UP 6191


• UP 7002

We only had about 5 trains get past us, so all in all it was a fairly productive day.