BN 6923 is mated with a pair of B30-7Bs as they lift an eastbound intermodal train up the grade over the Pine Ridge near Crawford, NE.

Oakway 9078 allows BN 7256 to overtake then at Crawford Nebraska. (Tom Ellis photo)

Five locomotives are the cut-in distributed power on a double empty coal train as they descend the 1.7% grade of Crawford Hill. These "double empties" are made up 272 cars at 15,000 ft l... (more)

The Crawford Helpers shove the rear of an eastbound coal load up the 1.7% grade of Crawford Hill as server thunderstorms move across northwestern Nebraska. As the helpers shove up against the DP m... (more)

A pair of 3600 series "Heavies" grind up the grade of Crawford Hill with 136 cars of Wyoming's Black Thunder mine coal for Alabama Power's J.W Miller Plant in Palos, AL. With a year of s... (more)

Push! A eastbound train of black Wyoming low sulphur coal is shoved up the 1.55% grade of Crawford Hill. One of the few places that is still untouched by urban sprawl, perhaps one of the ... (more)

A westbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe coal empty descends Crawford Hill east of Crawford, Nebraska, on the morning of April 11, 1998. A short-lived mix of A.C. locomotives power the train back ... (more)

Another empty coal train eases its way down the famous Crawford Hill. The property owners were gracious enough to allow my crew to camp on their track-side property with one warning… cows. A... (more)

BNSF loaded coal train C EBMSLP 034B climbs the 1.55% grade up Crawford Hill on a gorgeous, spring morning. Photo taken from Crawford, Nebraska on June 6, 2022.

BNSF C BKMCEB 016A heads up Crawford Hill as the heavy coal train battles the grade on a beautiful June morning.

Slowly climbing over Nebraska’s Pine Ridge, a Burlington Northern coal train grinds upgrade on Crawford Hill between Crawford and Belmont, Nebraska, on the afternoon of July 2, 1989. Up front, t... (more)

A Burlington Northern coal train, led by a pair of Cascade green EMD SD40-2s and a pair of Oakway Leasing EMD SD60s, climbs into the large horseshoe curve on Crawford Hill below Belmont, Nebraska,... (more)

A quartet of Cascade green EMD SD40-2s put all of their might into pushing a hefty coal train upgrade over Crawford Hill, east of Crawford, Nebraska, on July 5, 1996. The locomotives in this parti... (more)

Yet another coal train is beginning its climb up Crawford Hill behind three beautiful SD70MACs. The action on this railroad seemed continual with the heavy volume of coal traffic plus intermodal a... (more)

The manned Crawford helper shoves a coal load around Breezy Point with the customary sanders open and exhaust roaring! At the turn of the century 3-4 sets of manned helpers could be seen on duty ... (more)