BNSF Plattsmouth bridge update

On Friday June 29th, I ventured over to the Pacific Jct, IA - Plattsmouth, NE area to check on the progress of the BNSF's new Missouri River bridge. Due to some issues this will be my last report on this construction project.

Starting in Pacific Jct we headed west on old Hwy 34 toward Plattsmouth. The first stop was the crossing on 190th st to take a look at what the BNSF has been doing. Looking east from the crossing crews are working on the ROW preparing it for the second main.

Looking east toward Pacific Jct from 190th st.

This area had been built up last year to protect the line from the Missouri River flooding. The ROW is now about 6 feet taller than before the flooding, but the extra levees that were built on both sides of the elevated main have been removed. Looking west from the crossing the extra dirt appears to have been leveled and used for the second main ROW.

View west from 190th st toward NE.

From 190th st I turned left on Kane Ave which parallels the main on the north side for about a minle. At the creek crossing I noticed a new double track bridge had been installed since last year. A review of Google earth shows the bridge was under construction on the 03/07/12 imagery.

New double track concrete bridge.

Looking east toward the new bridge from 180th st. There is an usual kink in the track closer to the bridge.

Kane Ave is closed at 18th st and to get back to the tracks I turned south. At the 180th st crossing crushed rock and dirt trucks are entering the ROW and making dumping runs toward the new bridge. There was a construction contractor staging the trucks and taking their paperwork at the crossing. He was more concerned about the trucks that me which as we will see is not always the case.

Rock truck heading to the current rock dumping spot.

The elevation of the new fill is nicely shown in this shot from Hwy 34

A rock truck that has come off the fill to head west  across the river.

Back on Hwy 34 I headed over to the east end of the Plattsmouth toll bridge and parked on the south shoulder of the road. Taking a look at the amount of progress that is occurring there must be a bonus if the construction companies complete this project ahead of time.

Iowa side work area

Iowa side bridge footing and pier area.

The earth work on the NE side is still ongoing and I was not able to see to what level the work was at other than dust and truck activity. What was a nice suprise was the completion of the west side bridge footing and first pier. The first spans were also noted having been installed on the west side. The east side of the river showed that the piers where being built or closed to being finished but there was no indication that the peir that will be in the river was being constructed yet.

The other contractor.

As soon as I stepped out of my vehicle this individual jumps out of his truck and wants to know what he can do to help me. I replied nothing and that I was taking pictures. His immediate reply was that the BNSF does not want or allow anyone to take photos of this construction project. I was determined to get my photos and to stand my ground as I am on a public highway, so I asked him since when did the BNSF but Hwy34. His short reply was that its illegal to take photos and that I was trespassing and to leave the area immediately. Hmmm...nope not going to happen. I continued to take my photos while the contractor was taking video and photos of me.

BNSF Contractor 

The contractor followed me across the bridge and when I parked in the parking area across from the toll booth to get some more photos, he was observed having an animated conversation with the toll booth collector. As I return to my vehicle the toll booth operate runs out of the tool booth shouting and swearing for all he was worth that i was to get off the public road and get out of there.

Contractor at the tool booth

The short version of the ensuing conversation and threats from the tool booth operator was the BNSF did not want me there and that I was trespassing; on a public highway. Well the individual finally disengaged from me and I proceeded into Plattsmouth. As I was driving into the town, the contractor was observer following me until I turned into the area were the county law enforcement center is. Needless to say the day ended with me filing out a police report for harassment and sharing my photos with the county sheriff and my girlfriend being less than impressed with the whole situation.

As I indicated above this is my last report on this construction project.

Blair Sub Construction Update West to East

On June 4th I took the day off to explore the construction progress on the UP Blair sub and for a change of pace started in Fremont, NE and headed east to Missouri Valley, IA. A map of the various observation points is below.




View Blair Sub Changes in a larger map


Fremont to Arlington, NE
Currently there is no activity from east Fremont to the east side of Arlington, NE.The various survey stakes that I have noted in the past around Arlington and near the west side of the Elkhorn river have disappeared again after being placed back out over the winter.

Arlington, NE to Co Rd P34
ROW Grading has progressed up to the creek on the east side of Arlington. 

Looking west at Co Rd P11 at new ROW.

The west side of Co Rd P11 appears to be nearly ready for the laying of the sub base aggregate. The ROW east from Co Rd P11 also appears to also be ready for sub base aggregate work.

Looking east at Co Rd P1.

Foliage is now blocking any views of work being done between Co Rd P11 and Co Rd 15. At the Co Rd 15 crossing UP crews were noted digging trenches to be used for new signaling and crossing gates. The foundations for the new crossing gates have been installed on the east side of the crossing and are awaiting the installation of electrical and signal wiring.

The ROW looking west and east from the crossing appears to be near a state were the aggregate sub base can be installed.

Looking west from Co Rd P34 toward the old narrow cut at the top of Arlington Hill now revels a wide and gently sloping hill on the south side with the north side having remained untouched and fully covered in trees. 

Looking west toward the summit of Arlington Hill. The old cut has been significantly widened.

The ROW west from the Co Rd P34 crossing to Co Rd 15 appears to be in a condition where aggregate sub base could be poured after a little bit of grading working.

Co Rd P34 to the Hwy 30 ovc

Some of the more dramatic work being done is on the east side of Arlington Hill. The area to the east of Co Rd P34 has been dramatically changed and is still being worked on. Most of these changes will allow for more photography opportunities once this project is completed as the hill is being trimmed back and sloped.

Overlooking the curve to the east of Co Rd P34

Crossing view looking east from Co Rd. P34

The once prominent hill side has been cut back along the existing main. This has also cut into the farm land in this area.It will be interesting to see if the field is replanted after the project is completed of if the UP now owns this land.

Eastbound stack train crossing through the work area.

Currently the side of the hill to the east of the curve where Co Rd 17 and Co Rd 34 combine is being cut back from the existing mainline. The cut back process is occurring in stages resembling a stair case. I was able to watch some of the activity but this area has heavy truck traffic and was a beehive of activity while I was there. Be careful if you visit this area during the week as the loaded and empty trucks are moving trough the area at a pretty good clip.

Further down the east side of the hill crews are busy installing a new open deck concrete bridge. This bridge is located between Co Rd 17 and Co Rd 19.

An eastbound stack trains DPU passes the new bridge construction zone on the east side of Arlington Hill.

Current the best viewing spot for this activity if from Co Rd 17 looking down the field toward the creek. The work can also be seen from Co Rd 19 looking west.

Co Rd 19 has had some more ROW work done since I last visited, but there was no activity noted there other than the bridge work to the west of the crossing.

Co Rd 21 east toward the Hwy 30 over crossing is now active, with grading progressing at a pretty good pace. Since I was last out here the ROW has been graded and work is progressing at a fast pace.

Looking east toward Hwy 3o from C Rd 21

The ROW has been graded up to the grade crossing at Co Rd 21. Tractor pulled scrappers were noted working from the Hwy 30 ovc toward the middle of this stretch of ROW but there was no activity near the Co Rd 21 crossing.

Grading work as seen from the Hwy 30 bridge.

At the Co Rd 21 crossing it appears that the alignments will do a swap. The existing main appears to be poised to move to the new ROW that was carved into the side of the hill over the winter, while the existing ROW will be used for the new second main. Time will tell if this is what occurs or not.

Hwy 30 ovc to Kennard, NE
The embankment under the Hwy 30 bridge has been cut back and contoured to allow for the second main to fit under the current bridge. This will create a narrowing of the ROW as it goes through this area.

Westbound stack about to cross under Hwy 30.

Bridge work still continues on the west end of the old Kennard siding. The center line of this bridge has been moved over around 3 feet to allow for a wider distance between the two mains once completed.

West end of  the old Kennard siding bridge work. 

Pilings have been driven for this bridge and the end plates for the abutments are onsite and ready to be installed. Sheet piles have been driven along the existing mainline to add stability while the dirt is excavated for the abutments to be installed.An interesting side observation is the existing bridge on the main is a wooden pile and deck bridge. It will be interesting to see if it is also replaced during this project.

The ROW has been partially graded for the new main along where the old Kennard siding was located up to the Papio creek bridge near the center of the old siding. The old road that was once Hwy 30 is a staging area for the various concrete bridge components for the new bridge over the creek.

Bridge components staged for installation.

Partial grade work on old Kennard siding.

To the west of Linn st in Kennard, the ROW has been "cleaned" up and appears ready for the installation of the cross-over from the existing main to what will be the new second main.

Looking west from the Linn st crossing in Kennard, NE.

From Kennard to CP Duffy the new main has been in place and used since earlier this year.

Corning Ave IA to California Jct. IA

Work is nearing completion on the new bridge over the slough between Corning Ave and Austin Ave. west of California Jct., IA. Crews where seen working on the bridge decking and the west end of the bridge is being prepared for fill work where the bridge will meet the new ROW.

New bridge over the slough east of Corning Ave.

On the east side of the slough the ROW is being worked on with sub grade aggregate being dumped from the bridge to Austin Ave. East of Austin Ave. the sub grade aggregate has been dumped and extended to about the west leg of the wye from the Sioux City sub to the Blair Sub.

Looking west from Austin Ave at the new ROW.

Looking east from Austin Ave at the new ROW.

I did find it interesting that the new ROW appears wide enough to support two additional tracks. My speculation is there will be a third track located here to allow for crew changes to occur much like the third track on the east side of California Jct.

Looking west from Fremont Ave in California Jct., crews where noted working on signal and communication cabling and some ROW grading. This area will be dramatically changed once this project is completed.

Looking west from Fremont Ave in California Jct.

California Jct., IA to Missouri Valley, IA

East from Fremont Ave in California Jct, the UP has laid the new main and the third main east toward Italy Ave. On the 4th there was a string of about 20-25 ballast cars tied down on what will be the new main and a number of track MOW machines parked on what will be the third main. Both of these tracks are not tied into the existing main at Italy Ave, though. Both sets of tracks stop just west of Italy Ave and there is are no tracks laid on the east side of Italy Ave. The new switch that was built earlier in the spring is still located to the east side of Italy Ave.

New third main looking west from Italy Ave.

Italy Ave looking east with the new switch for the main.

New second main track looking west from Italy Ave.

In Missouri Valley there was no work noted except at Canal st where crews were noted preforming maintenance on the cross overs located there. The crossing was also shut down at Canal St making it difficult to observe what was occurring.

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BNSF Plattsmouth, NE Bridge Construction

Disclaimer - All of these photos were taken from public land along Hwy 34. No trespassing was involved with taking these pictures.

This is one way to really spend Warrens cash.

The east side of the river has a lot of activity with the new abutment being constructed and the fill being widened to accommodate the new second track.

A hole boring machine (it probably has an official name but I don't care) is idle on the face of the new abutment.

Looking across the river you can see where the majority of the action is occurring. The existing cut is being widened and the dirt from this is being hauled over to the Iowa side to widen the fill.

The new Nebraska side concrete abutments have been poured and are being prepped for additional work. In the foreground is lots of equipment for the bridge work.

A closer look at the Nebraska side work.

A casing is being lifted to be dropped in one of the holes that has been dug out. Re-bar and concrete will then be dropped in and pumped into to form a new column.

Trucks can be seen making a dirt dump run in the far distance.

The casing in the lifted position.

A trip back home

Finally after two and a half years I returned to the Donner Pass area for a week vacation in Reno, NV, It was nice to be able to explore the old area again and see what has changed. Unfortunately this was not primarily a railfan vacation so I was only able to spend a few hours on a couple of days to do some train watching.

Monday May 7th, 2012
The first full day of being back in the area allowed me a couple of hours to get reacquainted with Reno and get photos of some buildings that I had not gotten prior to me leaving the area. In the past I was always saying "I'll get it next time" so I wanted to make sure this was that next time.

One of  my goals was the N-C-O/Western Pacific station on the east side of downtown Reno. I was surprised to see it in better shape than what I remembered especially since there is a lot of transient population in this area.

The N-C-O/Western Pacific Reno station

While getting a couple of shots a train horn was heard and soon the UP Stead local started to make its way up the old WP/UP Reno branch off of the UP Roseville Sub.I was surprised to encounter two fresh SD40N's leading this train. These are fairly rare units in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa and were a welcome sight.

UP 1574 leads the Stead local up the old WP/UP Reno branch.

After grabbing a couple of so so shots of the local, I headed east on E. 4th St to search out my other goal; the old Virginia & Truckee engine house in Sparks, NV.While heading east I encountered the MRORV at Sutro St. I was unable to see the head end before it slipped into the trench but did get to see most of the train and UP 8446 which was the lone DPU.

In Sparks I was able to find my way over to Crane Way which gave me a view of the west end of the Sparks yard. Looking into the yard from the west revealed the ZG2LT  making a set out and a Sierra DPU was parked along the main.

UP QSTPV, BNSF trackage rights train rolling into Sparks, NV.

As I was turning around to resume my search for the V&T engine house the BNSF trackage rights train from Stockton, CA to Provo, UT was drifting into the yard. I was not able to get into a good position to get anything more than a grab shot or two.

After this I was finally able to do some more exploring trying to find the V&T engine house. I had been to it a couple of times in the past but couldn't remember the direct road to it. After many drives up and down the streets south of the Sparks yard I finally figured out how to get to the site.

V&T engine house Sparks, NV.

I was pleasently surprised to see the building still standing and in somewhat good shape. The area it is in had also been cleaned up or my memory is bad as I seemed to remember the area being a mess previously. One of the things I found the most interesting of this building is it still has the smoke stack and there are still some ties in the dirt floor of the building.

After getting some shots and looking around the area I noticed the ZG2LT was heading departing so I headed west trying to get ahead of it. In the local traffic it was was soon apparent that I wouldn't be able to catch it in town so I got on I-80 and headed for the Truckee River area west of Verdi, NV.

ZG2LT climbs out of Reno, NV.

This area had given me some good shots during previous trips so, I setup looking south with the mountains visible directly behind my shot. It was getting close to noon so the sun was not being cooperative and I had to work with it to get a couple of shots. If the train hadn't been lead by three brand new ES44AC's I probably would have passed on the shots.

I ended up chasing this train to east of Floriston, CA before I had to head back to Reno.

Wednesday May 9th, 2012
Wednesday was set aside for a day trip over Donner Pass to Roseville, CA. We did as much back road driving as possible to explore the countryside and hopefully get some train action in.

First stop was in Truckee, CA and the railroad museum. The collection hasn't grown since 2010 but the old SP caboose that was in the lumber yard is now on the west side of the depot. I didn't stop to see what its being used for but it appeared to be mounted permanently.

Truckee railroad museum equipment.

After this quick stop a drive up old US 40 and over Donner Pass was next. Every time I pass by the old snow sheds on track one and the Chinese wall, I have to think of what it would have been like to see a train on that line.

The first train we encountered for the day was at Soda Springs when a eastbound stack train passed by us as we headed west. Its strange seeing stack trains on this line now.

The second and last  train  seen until we arrived in Roseville was Amtrak #5 at Gold Run, CA with AMTK 114 leading. Strangely seeing Amtrak is not a common occurance as it passes through during the dark in Nebraska.

We arrived in Roseville, CA around 1430 and had some time before I would meet by sons, so I explored around the Roseville yard. I was really surprised to find the receiving tracks nearly empty. This is a far cry from the early 00's as the yard was always full back then and its a sure sign that the economy in California is still in the tank.

Not much had changed in the last few years except for some new construction noted on the west side of the diesel shop and at the Subway. The long lines of stored power were no longer seen as they had been back in 2010 and there was only two patches SP units spotted. From what my son has said all of the old patched SP and DRGW GP40-2's that are assigned to Roseville have been repainted since 2010.

Fresh UP 9918 SD59X 

One of the sites worth seeing was the new SD59X's that are being used in Roseville. These are really sharp units and are the quietest diesels I have ever heard. While looking over the 9918, I was amazed at how quite it was and didn't realize it was actually running until I heard it rev up for a brief moment.

UP 590 and 602 outside the shop.

After an all too brief visit with my son's, I took one last drive around the yard for old times sake and stopped for some pictures on the east end of the shop. After that it was quick run back over to Reno and the end of my train watching back home.

UP Blair Sub 05/05/12

I was able to do a quick recon of the construction progress on the east side of the Blair Sub today. I had hoped that the new mains had been installed but they hadn't started laying the track yet.

Missouri Valley
Signal crews are still working on the signalling with activity spotted east of the depot. The yard is full of construction materials. Many cast concrete bridge decks where noted loaded on bulk head flats. The concrete tie train was also spotted with the car that lays the ties on the west end of the yard.

Italy Ave.
No new work was noted at this crossing since my last report.

California Jct.
This is the current focus of activity. About 1/4 to 1/2 mile east of Fremont Ave the switches for the new main and the third main have been cut into the existing main. On the north side thier has been enough track laid to allow about 4 MOW track machines to be parked.

A nb empty grain train holding at California Jct., IA

Corning Ave.

The surprise of the day is the amount of process the UP is having in installing the new bridge over the slough to the east of Corning Ave. 

New bridge being installed west of California Jct., IA.

Since my last report the UP has the bridge installed half way across the slough. Lots of contractor dump trucks were seen running down to the slough dumping there loads and then back west to Nebraska.

The only other work observed is signals, drainage and some grading around California Jct.

Norfolk, NE 04/15/12

Norfolk is one of those forgotten places on the railfan map. Its nowhere near what it used to be in regards to trains but still has some interesting sights.The two players who once made up the rail scene are gone with the yellow/grey of the UP and yellow/green of the CNW having been replaced with the bright red of the Nebraska Central.

The Nebraska Central operations are based out of the old CNW yard on the south side of town. This yard is stubbed on the east side and is connected to the old UP line with a connecting track from the old Cowboy line to the UP. The old UP line through town was remove years ago but traces of it can still be found and the ROW stands out on satellite images. This line used to directly connect to the Omaha line from Emerson, NE. The line from Columbus NE to Sioux City IA was originally constructed by a UP subsidiary with the Norfolk to Sioux City segment sold to the Omaha in the late 1880's.

After a stormy Saturday, I was able to get out and spend a couple of hours exploring the area before heading back home. A drive through the old yard is always a treat as it is typically stocked with old and unique rail cars, primarily mill and scrap gondolas. The sad sight was the old CNW 65' mill gons that filled the yard two years ago seem to have been scrapped as they were nowhere to be found. Ex-Southern 65' mill gons seem to have replaced these in the captive service between the Nucor mill and the roller plant on the west side of town.

In the small engine terminal was NCRC 4600 and 1024. Seeing the 4600 was a nice surprise as I had read that the last of the GP9R's had been retired and shipper out. As I would see later this was not just an isolated unit being stored. NCRC 1024 was still wearing her old UP paint job and number.

After getting a couple of shots of these two units, I headed south of town about 10 miles to Enola, NE. A review of Google Earth showed that there are two units at the grain elevator in this small town. Unfortunately one of them has left since the satellite image was taken, but the one that is left over made up for it. Sitting on the north end of the elevator behind the LPG tank is a ex-Sou SW1 still in that nice black and aluminum paint scheme. SW1's are fairly rare in the wilds of Nebraska and this one was worth the trip.

After snooping around this unit and getting shots from all for corners I headed back up to Norfolk to check out the Nucor mill area. While crossing over the line I spotted NCRC 4600 and 1024 bringing the mill job into the yard. I hadn't expected this movement and tried to position myself to get some pictures. Unfortunately the units pulled down to a private crossing and sat there for sometime.

Instead of waiting, I continued up to the Nucor mill area on the northeast side of town. The track to the mill has an interesting history. The track out of the yard are the old Winner, SD branch while the track to the mill is relaid on the abandoned Omaha ROW that was removed in the mid 70's. The mill yard was being switched by ILSX 321, ILSX 901 and another unknown switcher. These are all remote controlled units and are typically run with a one man crew. The one unit I've been wanting to get a shot for two years of was hiding inside the Louis Dreyfus Ethanol plant and not in a position to be photographed.

I still had some spare time, so I headed back to the NCRC yard to see if the crew had moved the mill job into the yard. They still had not but there was some activity indicating that they would soon. Having found a good place to park, I sat and watched the crew and yard master break up the train and switch around cars for the outbound train. It was nice being able to sit and watch a crew work a train without being called in as a terror suspect. Reminded me of my days as a child watching the crews in the local yard.

After a half hour or so of watching the crew switch I had to call it a day and finish my business in town. On the way out of town heading south on Hwy 81, I caught a glimpse of the UP MCBNC/MNCCB that was preparing to head south to Columbus after a quick turn around in Norfolk.