As seen from 3,000' AGL and looking east southeast, a recently unloaded coal train sits on the loop track in Ardoch, ND. This site was opened in the summer of 2005 and sees an average of two unit coal trains per week to serve the five American Crystal Sugar factories in the Red River Valley. Of note, you can see how the coal is unloaded and spread out via the moveable boom, where it's loaded onto the trucks for distribution, and the BNSF / Northern Plains diamond in the upper left of the shot. Learn more at Grand Forks Railfanning.
