News & Current Events

This page shows interesting railroad happenings as well as breaking railroad news.   Check it often as you may learn the location or schedule of some interesting equipment in time to go out and get some great photographs! If you do go photo 'fanning, please share your pictures with us. Please contact News Page Webmaster Wally Weart.

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February 3, 2012

Pictures from the buzzard

Let it never be said that your webmaster is so wedded to his keyboard that he doesn't get out, even in a blizzard! I found a westbound coal empty at Leyden. I wonder if they have enough power? ©2012 Walter Weart

Some pictures from the field

Nebraska Northwestern (NNW) Railroad, NNW 1506, GP7, and NNW 303, SD-18 at Chadron, NE, yard, February 1, 2012. The Nebraska Northwestern began service in the northwestern part of Nebraska on April 1, 2010. The NNW purchased approximately five miles of former C&NW "Cowboy Line" trackage from Chadron to Dakota Junction, NE. Included in the deal was the 12 stall roundhouse, turntable, and all yard trackage in the former Chadron terminal from the Canadian Pacific (CP)/DM&E. NNW provides local service to Chadron, as well as for Rapid City, SD originated and destined CP/DM&E trains between Dakota Junction and the BNSF interchange at Crawford, Nebraska. They also handled any loadings of the Nebkota Railway east of Chadron, now reduced to a 4 mile spur route. Nebkota Railway began operations in 1994 with 73.5 miles (118.3 km) of former Chicago and North Western Railway Cowboy Line track between Merriman and Chadron, Nebraska. Due to a loss of grain shipments from Gordon, Nebraska in 2006 the railroad abandoned the eastern 43 miles (69 km) of its line between Merriman and Rushville, Nebraska. In September 2007 the railroad abandoned the line between Rushville and 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Chadron due to the loss of grain traffic to larger main-line loading facilities. The former DM&IR locomotive #303 now wears a scheme reminiscent of the former Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad. Nebraska Northwestern Railroad connects with the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern (DM&E) Railroad (reporting mark DME) a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States. Portions of the railroad also extend into Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa. DM&E began operations on September 5, 1986, over tracks that were spun off from the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company in South Dakota and Minnesota. DM&E purchased the assets of I&M Rail Link railroad in 2002, renaming it Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad and combining its management and dispatching duties with those of DM&E under the holding company Cedar American Rail Holdings. (Info courtesy Dakota 400 and Wikipedia) ©2012 Chip	Nebraska Northwestern RR crew had Canadian Pacific 6078, Iowa, Chicago & Eastern 6441 and 6402 (all SD40-2 units) with 31-cars from BNSF interchange at Crawford, NE, February 1, 2012. Train was eastbound on CP/Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern rails formerly owned by Chicago & NorthWestern RR. ©2012 Chip
BNSF 972559 rotary snowplow assigned to BNSF's Alliance Yard was built by Alco-Cooke in 1915. The Cooper River & North Western Railway was the first owner. The X-4 was sold to Northern Pacific in 1941 as their 46, later NP 47, converted to electric in 1966. The power unit (behind light pole) is BNSF 972572, ex-Burlington Northern 972572, ex-BN 9803, ex-BN F9B 769, ex-Northern Pacific 6701B, built August 1956. The rotary snowplow set was painted and refurbished in 2011 by Relco at Albia, Iowa. They are based at Alliance, NE, February 1, 2012. ©2012 Chip

A really nice private car

ATSF 33 business car, now owned by Tom Lantry, graced the markers of Amtrak's train 5, the California Zephyr. Car with ATSF style drumhead was on UP's Moffat Tunnel Subdivision near C&S Junction northwest of Denver, CO, January 29, 2012. A passenger who was told he couldn't smoke set a Superliner coach on fire. Damaged coach was set out. Train 5 departed Denver at 4:44 PM - 8 hours and 39 minutes late! ©2012 Chip

ATSF business car 33 passenger Rich Bause rode privately owned ATSF 33 into Denver, CO, January 29, 2012. Car was traveling west on Amtrak train 5, the California Zephyr. Owner Tom Lantry had the drumhead designed for PV (private varnish) formerly named Tamalpais. ©2012 Chip.

A couple of snow pictures

Alan Schenkel braved the snow to catch these trains during our recent "snow storm". Note to two trailing KCS units, hoping to get back to where it's warm. ©2012 Alan Schenkel

A Canadian, Eh?

Alan Schenkel found the Hudson's Bay Railway/Central Kansas Railway 2506 on Riverside Ave, Fort Collins on January 24.   ©2012 Alan Schenkel 

A different view of RTD construction 

View January 19, 2012 from Interstate 25 looking east towards Colorado State Capitol the Denver RTD West Line tracks are laid over the Joint Line. Denver RTD will have a double track electrified line from Denver to the Federal Center in Lakewood, CO. Progress continues to be made on Denver RTD's ambitious FasTracks program. FasTracks is a twelve-year, $6.5 billion (originally $4.7 billion) public transportation expansion plan for the Denver-Aurora and Boulder metropolitan areas in Colorado. ©2012 Chip

A visitor from the South

Tom Brynas  found KCS 4774 Southern Belle leading the Z-DENCHI9-19A West of Ft. Morgan, CO on January 19. ©2012 Thomas Brynas

A new car for Alamosa

Private Varnish Yosemite Falls, ex- Southern Pacific 4-4-2 sleeper/lounge arrived in Denver, CO, January 16, 2012 via Amtrak train 5, the California Zephyr. Car purchased by Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, and moved by Union Pacific to Walsenburg, CO, mid January 2012. San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad moved car to Alamosa, CO, where it will be renamed Golden Mission. ©2012 Chip at Amtrak Denver Depot January 16, 2012.

Do you think they have enough power?

While Your Web editor was returning from Church and Wal-Mart, I spotted a BNSF train in the hole at Leyden. Chip, who was already there, and I thought we could get some pics but heard that the dispatcher was going to hold this one for a while so I went home. I heard him get his warrant at Leyden but I was too late to catch him and went home again disappointed. I thought I had missed a very unusual combination of locomotives until I heard on the scanner that the Carr Street  detector had tripped, requiring they stop and determine what was wrong. While the conductor walked to train, I had time to drive over to Carr Street and take a couple of pictures, one even with sun! The conductor found a that discharge nozzle cap on a tank car had come loose. After he put it back on, they headed for Denver. ©2012 Walter Weart

"Foreign" power on a blade train

Ferromex 4693 and 4607, ES44AC, handled BNSF train U CPSPAS1 11a, Corpus Christi, Texas, to Pasco, Washington, unit wind energy blade train up the Joint Line. FXE 4693 was winding around Chatfield Dam south of Littleton, CO, January 15, 2012 on main two headed for Rennick Yard, Denver, CO, Sunday layover and inspection. ©2012 Chip

Neither rain nor snow...

Union Pacific's West Local, LDB17 11, had UP 1373, GP40P, with covered hoppers leaving North Yard @ Utah Junction, north of Denver, CO, in snow storm January 11, 2012. Train was headed west to Rocky, CO. ©2012 Chip

Progress on the West Side Corridor

Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) West Rail Line had laid both tracks for future 12.1 mile West Rail Line west of I-25, Denver, CO, January 8, 2012. Maintenance of way equipment used to build this line was near the South Platte River Bridge. Line will have over head catenary - note supports along tracks at let and near grade crossing. Line opens in 2013. ©2012 Chip

Two visitors from south of the border

Tom Byrnas found two Ferromex engines powering an empty blade train passing through Westminster on January 2  ©2011 Tthomas Byrnas

A new locomotive for a grain elevator

DeBruce Grain (reporting marks DBGX) 6129, SD9, ex-BNSF 6129 was delivered November 2011 to the new wheat and corn elevator with rail loading loop located west of Benkelman, Nebraska. The 6129 was Colorado & Southern 837. BNSF painted the unit into the Heritage I scheme adding anti-climbers and new handrails. The Gavilon/DeBruce Grain fertilizer and elevator facility loaded their first BNSF unit 110-car train along BNSF's Akron Subdivision in October 2011. A second train loaded in November 2011. Charles, right, is the elevator manager and locomotive engineer operating DBGX 6129 on the grain elevator rail loop track - December 28, 2011. They have room for about 760,000 bushels of corn in the new elevator storage facility and another two million bushels of space in the ground level bunkers. ©2011 Chip

Locos  in Nebraska

Sunrise December 29, 2011 found Kansas Colorado Railway (NKCR) 5101, GP50, ex-UP 5517, eex-Chicago & NorthWestern 5060, idling at Imperial, NE. Unit works former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy lines is western Nebraska. ©2011 Chip	Nebraska Kansas Colorado Railway 5101 was parked near abandoned Central States elevators at Imperial, NE, with shadows December 28, 2011. Staying overnight at Imperial proved beneficial come morning. Note nose mounted bell - characteristic of Chicago & NorthWestern units - ex-CNW 5060. ©2011 Chip.

A rare pair

Chris Paulhamus caught two SD40-2s leading tthe Pikes Peak Local south through Colorado Springs on December 26, literally minutes after a clearing line pushed to the east bathing this scene in sunlight. ©2011Chris Paulhamus

A Holiday Picture at Union Station

Denver Union Station, Denver, CO, December 22, 2011 after 9-inch snowstorm December 21st. ©2011 Chip

Some visitors to Colorado

On 12/18, a rainbow of power leads a manifest southbound on the Air Force Academy.  ©2011Chris Paulhamus	On 12/21, Chris caught a super rare treat in the form of a visiting NS SD70ACe leading a southbound manifest out of Castle Rock. Quite a lashup for the Joint Line; not too often you catch a train sans BNSF or UP power! ©2011Chris Paulhamus

New construction in Denver

Union Pacific is building a new yard west of Havana Street on the Limon Subdivision (AKA Kansas Pacific). UP 6292 West on the Energy Mine coal empty passed newly graded railroad yard (left of train) as ties were unloaded December 18, 2011. View from new Central Park Blvd overpass (under construction). Wye to former Rocky Mountain Arsenal in upper left near Denver County Jail. Units were UP 6292, 7252 and 5558 all AC4400CW. ©2011 Chip Denver RTD's 22.8-mile commuter rail transit corridor between Denver Union Station and Denver International Airport (DIA) tracks will be built at lower right, south side of UP's Limon (soon to be double track!) line. The East Rail Line will have five intermediate stations, located at 38th/Blake, Colorado Boulevard, Central Park Boulevard, Peoria Street, and 40th/Airport Boulevard.	View looking west - Denver RTD is building two track salt spur (above UP 6292 West) off UP's Limon Subdivision at the former Sandown Junction location on abandoned Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific right of way. First siding west of Ulster Street grade crossing (far left) is current salt spur. It will be removed. All industrial trackage south side of UP Limon Subdivision track to be removed or relocated to north side of the Kansas Pacific line. View looks west from Central Park Blvd overpass - former Stapleton International Airport tunnel area, Denver, CO, December 18, 2011. ©2011 Chip
Stapleton International Airport (closed 1995) airport tunnels (demolished) were near this location. Stapleton International Airport was Denver, Colorado's primary airport from 1929 to 1995. At different times it served as a hub for TWA, People Express, Frontier Airlines and Western Airlines as well as a hub for Continental Airlines and United Airlines at the time of its closure. Central Park Blvd will become a major north-south road through the redeveloped Stapleton residential community. The I-70 and Central Park Blvd interchange opened October 31, 2011. The Central Park Blvd bridge over UP's Limon Subdivision and future Denver RTD East Rail Line is under construction (above views from that location).

An Amtrak derailment in Denver

Amtrak 39028 Superliner crew dorm and Amtrak 1242 baggage car were derailed by a broken rail at BNSF's wash rack crossover as train 5, the California Zephyr, moved over location at 7 MPH December 17, 2011. BNSF employees inspected the derailed cars near BNSF's Denver, Colorado, diesel shop. Train was delayed two hours and 30 minutes. These cars were left when train 5 departed Denver Depot at noon Saturday, December 17th. Amtrak regretted the delay to its passengers. Amtrak locomotives 39 and 42 (P42DC units) had passed over rail without incident. ©2011 Chip.

The latest restoration project at the Colorado Railroad Museum

The car was originally a D&RG 4000 series box car. It was converted to MOW service in September 1914. It was a kitchen car for the 4th Division Bridge and Building gang. It was retired in 1950. ©2011 Jerry Day

Amtrak heritage units visit Denver

Amtrak's California Zephyr had two of the five Heritage units handling train 6 at Denver, CO, December 2, 2011. Amtrak 66, Phase II scheme, and Amtrak 184, Phase IV scheme, wear 40th Anniversary Heritage paint schemes. Other units commemorating Amtrak's 40th Anniversary; 156 Phase I, 145 Phase III, 406 (F40PH) Phase III, and 822 (P40) Phase III. Amtrak 406 and 822 are assigned to the Exhibit Train. ©2011 Chip

Welded rail in foreground acquired by Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) for Denver Union Station redevelopment multi-year project. Amtrak 66 and 184 on the eastbound California Zephyr await on-time departure from Denver, CO, at 7:10 PM, Dec. 2, 2011. ©2011 Chip

News and views from Colorado

 A pair of visiting Southern Belles waits patiently in The Sag while MoW is working away at the north end of the single track in Palmer Lake. These units brought out the local rail paparazzi who stood around shooting the bull waiting for the sun to swing around a little further to the west. ©2011 Chris Paulhamus