UP Turbine number 16 is coupled to a DD35B and is ready for its next assignment. Its nearing the end up its service life as it was retired in February of 1970. These turbines were nicknamed Big Bl... (more)

BNSF 7469 seen leading a Vehicle Train past what remains of Old Fort Madison

A former L&N Geep returns to Manly Yard in northern Iowa. The Iowa Northern Railway operated from 1981 to 2025 on 175 miles of trackage within the midwestern state. In 2023, Canadian National anno... (more)

Ready to Go. This clean looking SD40-3 appears ready to go as it sits in Nahant Yard.

Unique Bridge. An IAIS manifest crosses the Government Bridge on its way to the Rock Island yard. The Government Bridge is unique in that the train crosses above the automobiles and trucks... (more)

There were a few things I have found scanned slides that I am super happy with. One is I am glad I got a lot of photos of the depots that were still standing in early 2000 along the CN. It seems t... (more)

K50 was about the only thing moving midday, but as you see, it wasn't too exciting. The Sd30 at Marquette would have been my choice! The first 2 trains of the day had solid CSXT power. I truly app... (more)

The CCP acquired 20 ex-MILW GP9Rs sometime in 1985. These units had 2000 horses and classed GP 20s. These things were pretty ratty by the time the CCP ran them into the ground in 10 years they had... (more)

The Iowa Northern smacked a large crane at the crossing at Mona Jct the day before. The accident put all 3 units and a bunch of coal cars in the ditch. The IANR was on their way to deliver coal at... (more)

The Spencer to Mason City local rolls along between Britt and Garner. This job will take 12 hours to get the train over the 100 miles. I was surprised the train had 82 cars coming back to Mason. T... (more)

One can see the old grade for the branch line that ran from Waukon Junction out to Waukon, IA. That line was built in 1877 as a 23-mile narrow-gauge branch. In 1880 the MILW acquired the line from... (more)

In the early 2000s, the IAIS was one cool railroad. It was a far cry from what it has become today. Back then, geeps and Alcos moved traffic across Iowa and Illinois for this small-time operation.... (more)

An extra South Amana switcher had the chore yesterday of pulling coal empties from the CIC at Cedar Rapids. They used the 513 and went light to Cedar Rapids from South Amana to pull them in the la... (more)

The Cedar Rapids to Silvis freight is pulling around the east leg of the wye at Yocum Connection. This job came out of Cedar Rapids with traffic from the CIC railroad, which is mainly made up of c... (more)

Weighed down with a unit ethanol train and extra DDG cars, this Council Bluffs freight lumbers into Newton. The job passed the beautiful ex-Rock Island Depot. The train has 2 GEs in a 1x1 DP setup... (more)