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Sunday, August 16, 2015
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Kevin Morgan
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Logan Hill (MP 69)
Converse County, WY
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1708
(Add a Comment)
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Orin (BNSF)
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Union Pacific, BNSF
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The line through the Powder River Basin was originally built by Burlington Northern between 1972 and 1979. By 1985, the single track line was handling 19 million tons of coal per year. Chicago Northwest and Union Pacific together bought 50% of the interest in the line. This resulted in both BN and CNW trains accessing the coal mines. In 1994, the single track was resulting in bottlenecks over the line and over the next three years, a second main was added to the entire line. By the year 2000, a third track was added to some of the line to accommodate continuing increases in coal demand. In 2005, the basin handled 325 million tons of coal. The line sees as many as 80 loaded coal trains (meaning 160 total trains) in a 24 hour period! In 2006, UP and BNSF invested another $100 million to add a fourth main track to 20 miles (over Logan Hill) of the line. The line is now has the capacity to support 400 million tons of coal annually! The fourth track project was completed in 2008. Here, an eastbound (geographically south) BNSF coal load climbing Logan hill on Main 4 meets a westbound (geographically north) UP coal empty descending down Main 2.
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Saturday, July 23, 2011
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Kevin Morgan
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MP 91.0 (Crossover 91)
Converse County, WY
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2578
(Add a Comment)
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Orin (BNSF)
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Union Pacific, BNSF
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The Powder River Basin never sleeps! Looks like the dispatcher is getting setup for a race between a pair of eastbounds (geographic southbounds). Clear signals have been setup on Mains 1 and 3 for a pair of trains just leaving Bill when this shot was taken. What's more, a westbound (geographic northbound) was also approaching on Main 2 a few miles away too.
The shot is a bit grainy because I had my ISO set to 3200. I wanted to capture the stars while keeping a relatively short exposure (45 seconds).
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Saturday, July 23, 2011
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Kevin Morgan
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MP 65.4 (Converse Jct)
Converse County, WY
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1675
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Orin (BNSF)
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Union Pacific
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A coal empty heads westbound (geographic northbound) through Converse Junction on Main 2 while a coal load sits on an outbound track from the North Antelope Mine.
For you signals fans, it is interesting to note that the signals on Mains 2 through 4 are absolute signals while the signal on Main 1 (far left) is actually an intermediate! Note the that the yellow signal has a "G" (grade) plate as well as a number board, making it an intermediate.
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Monday, August 11, 2008
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Kevin Morgan
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MP 65.4 (Converse Jct)
Converse County, WY
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2324
(Add a Comment)
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Orin (BNSF)
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Union Pacific
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Converse Junction is a cool place to hang out in my opinion. In addition to the four main tracks along the Orin Subdivision, there are five leads for the Antelope Mine. Two are inbound only, two are outbound only, and the center can be used for either. Here, a Jacob's Ranch Mine load proceeds east on a clear signal on Main Four while a new Antelope Mine load pulls toward the junction to wait for its turn to depart.
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