Sure would of been nice to seen 4 IANR units on this Cedar Rapids to Waterloo train today. We got some rare mileage as the job had to go out on the Dysart Line a couple times for work. This line w... (more)

The D&I train out of Dell Rapids came in today as a monster 126x0, 17228/6950. Once to Sioux City, the train has to be delivered and yarded. 2 crews work off each end to make the delivery/yarding ... (more)

One can see a lot goes on here as the CN/UP/BNSF all cross each other, going different ways for mainlines and industrial leads. The CN is currently shoving over to deliver to the BNSF and DAIR. Th... (more)

The daily Waterloo to Kirk Yard freight rumbles up the grade past the former Beth siding location, east of Winthrop. Today's train has 9 dash 8 type motors that are heading probably to scrap. The ... (more)

While it comes and goes, trios of SD70Ms in Iowa are kind of common. M338 has a trio of them today as they pass the 1st siding out of Waterloo, near Jesup. As one can see, the tie gang has just fi... (more)

The Ft. Dodge to Waterloo daily local rolls across the Iowa River at Iowa Falls on this warm evening. This job did work at Judd, met its counterpart at Webster City, and is now on to Macy for more... (more)

CN has started to move some of their retire power to Iowa. Those units are box car and DIT, so CN is still able to load up the locomotive consists as needed. Here is the daily Waterloo to Ft. Dodg... (more)

The Council Bluffs locals are now on an evening schedule for their run down to Denison, meet, and flip back. Traffic on this line can be hit and miss as seen tonight. A tiny 8 car train would be ... (more)

A Tara bound empty ethanol train out of eastern Canada, pulls into the Valero plant. The train will yard in the loop tracks just out of site to my left. The UP local in the background is on the UP... (more)

Much to the surprise of us, this tank train out of Williams, OK, had some coal train power on it. It's kind of rare for these parts on the Transcon. Here, the train crosses the Des Moines River on... (more)

An empty oil train is about to cross the CP Chicago Sub at Savanna. While waiting for the Holiday Train, we took in some BNSF action. The BNSF yard here comes and goes on what the need is for.

One of the hottest trains on the Aurora Sub is this Chicago to St. Paul afternoon Z-train. This train has been called "Precious" by many dispatchers over the years. Here, high priority ... (more)

Back in 2006, the BNSF was detouring these Granite City ore trains via Aurora. I don't remember exactly why, but I think it was a bridge issue or something? Either way, it was cool to see these he... (more)

Life was simple in the 90s. A SD40 was coming to a train near you! Honestly, we got tired of it, but now it looks a lot better than a stupid GE. Im sure someday the GE era will be different. Man, ... (more)

Once the BNSF Merger took over, the railroad scrambled to find power to run trains. It was a railfan's paradise to see some of the kit bash consist the railroad put together. Here the St. Paul pri... (more)