Photo ID: 108109 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 623 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific, BNSF A UP coal load in the foreground is just coming over the top of Logan Hill as a BNSF coal load, with one more DPU, picks up a little speed heading down the other side of the hill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108108 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 638 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific About five miles to the west (geographic north), this BNSF coal load on Main 3 started to overtake the UP coal load on Main 1. Now that about half of the BNSF train has crested the top of Logan Hill, it is starting to pick up even more speed, really leaving the UP train behind. You can see the DPUs on the BNSF load pass the head end of the UP load in the associated video! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108107 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 605 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF Approaching the top of Logan Hill on Main 3, this BNSF coal load is passing by empty cars that are being stored on Main 4. In the distance, a UP coal load is also taking on the hill on Main 1, working hard to reach the summit. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108106 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 609 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF, Union Pacific The race is on! Well, not literally. These load coal trains are both heading eastbound (geographically south) up Logan Hill. The BNSF train has four engines (2x2) whereas the UP train only has three engines (2x1), allowing the BNSF train to go a bit faster up the hill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108082 Date Shot Photo By Friday, May 29, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 674 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific After an evening rainstorm passed by, a westbound UP coal empty on Main 2 meets a rare non-coal train heading east on Main 1. The eastbound train is carrying Vestas nacelles, the power plant used on windmills. Note the faint rainbow visible in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105569 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 69) Converse County, WY 1575 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF This BNSF coal train was loaded earlier in the day at the Black Thunder Mine East loadout. It is now climbing the west slope (geographically north) of Logan Hill on Main 4. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105568 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 69) Converse County, WY 1325 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific, BNSF A BNSF coal load climbs up Logan Hill on Main 4 as a UP empty descends downgrade on Main 2. This UP coal train will be working extra hard on the return trip to get the loaded coal train over the hill with only three units! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105567 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 69) Converse County, WY 1634 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific, BNSF 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. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105566 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 70) Converse County, WY 1351 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific Having reached the top of the Logan Hill, this westbound (geographically north) coal empty will soon go into dynamic braking mode for the descent down the other side. The train is running on Main 2. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105565 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 70) Converse County, WY 1294 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific An empty coal train climbs up Logan Hill headed north (timetable west) on Main 2. Main 3 and 4 (further to the right) were the original two tracks built over Logan Hill. Main 2 was added next and, most recently, Main 1 (on the left) was added. Note the yellow intermediate signals, indicating the dispatcher has not yet set up signals for any eastbounds. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105564 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 69) Converse County, WY 1374 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) CSX, Union Pacific This is the first CSX unit that I've shot that has the new logo on the long hood. From what I understand, the logo isn't actually that new, but seeing as how infrequently CSX units make their way out west, this is just the first time I've happened to catch one! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105563 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 69) Converse County, WY 1468 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific This eastbound (geographically south) loaded coal train has almost reached the top of Logan Hill on Main 1. Helping out with the climb on this afternoon is a CSX ES44AC. In the distance, you can see the load tower for the Antelope Mine. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105562 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill (MP 69) Converse County, WY 1281 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific For all trains running in the Powder River Basin, the biggest challenge is the climb up Logan Hill. Here, a loaded UP local train struggles up the hill on Main 1. With only three units, the train is only making about 10 MPH up the hill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.