I read the Granite City ore trains might date back as far as the 70s. The plant was finally idled in 2023 after a few years of up-and-down cycles with the steel industry. Mike Cleary mentioned the... (more)

BN's engine replacement program started in 1988. GP20Cs #2000 was completed in September using the ex-CB&Q #2059 as the prototype. The unit received a Caterpillar 3516 2075-hp engine with a Kato a... (more)

Only a consistent mother could love. This was the CC I remember growing up. Mixed match piles of junk, hoping the couple would be running at the other end. An empty coal train is rolling through E... (more)

Man, to have a GP 39 and a GP 9 on a hotshot without any fuel restrictions would be the trip nowadays. Back in the early 90s it was just another day. A westbound intermodal train rolls through Eas... (more)

The local is running around their cars at East Dubuque as an eastbound comes by on main #1. Scanned slide from February 1997.

In the early 1990s, standard power was so common on the railroad that people got tired of seeing it all the time, just like it is today. On the BN, a majority of trains were powered by two or thre... (more)

I forgot how many extra signals were in and around East Cabin when it was still manned and operated by the CCP. That all changed in 1994 when BN took over control of this area and CTC. To this day... (more)

After the BNSF merge in 1995, the BNSF became pretty power short in the late 90's. A person never knew what was going to lead the next BNSF train one was waiting for. The MRL helped out some as se... (more)

Eastbound BNSF train passes thru East Cabin on the Aurora Sub with a couple old veterans. ATSF 854 became the CN 2189.

DSG, Dubuque Sand & Gravel, SW1 537, ex-CRI&P 537, sold to Agri Grain , E. Dubuque, Illinois. December 0, 1998 Jack D Kuiphoff © photo ----- Slogan, "Your Friendly Sandman"

The BN ran quite a few St. Paul to Chicago intermodal trains each way along the Aurora Sub daily. The trains were neat to get cause you never knew what they would come with. Hail as an "Exped... (more)

An eastbound intermodal train heads for Chicago during a winter storm with 3-4 axle units. The train is passing thru East Dubuque on the Aurora Sub in the late 90s. Scanned slide from January 1997... (more)

Here is a shot that brings back memories. I spent many days in my early days taking pictures at East Cabin. Trains on the BN-CCP were fairly regular, and one could get a good amount of trains for ... (more)

SD40B helps out the cause as this eastbound freight crosses the Chicago Central at East Dubuque. The BN had 3 of these rare type motors rebuilt from SD40-2 shells. The 7500 is ex- BN 7221, and the... (more)

GTW 5846 leads Canadian National's Dubuque based local East on the BNSF.