Photo ID: 108102 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 716 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific Having just received a fresh crew, this UP load is on the Black Thunder Mine Lead, but will cross over to Main 1 just ahead for the trip eastbound (geographically south) out of the Powder River Basin. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108101 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 684 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF, Union Pacific The infrastructure required to keep trains running in the Powder River Basin is impressive to say the least! In this shot, you can clearly see three sets of signals, four tracks all with concrete ties and welded rail, six turnouts, and 12 propane tanks to fuel the switch heaters for the six turnouts in the brutal winters. At the moment, the signal on the Black Thunder Lead shows a diverging clear for a load coming out of the mine, and a clear signal on Main 3 indicates another eastbound is heading this way too. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108100 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 859 (1 Comment Posted) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF The West Black Thunder loadout was built a little over ten years ago, and the sheer scale of the loadout is very impressive. A conveyor belt system bring coal from the actual mine, several miles to the east. The conveyor belt rises up and over the triple track main and into the massive concrete tipple. In this shot, a train loads underneath said tipple, while two SD70ACes bring up the tail end of a westbound empty on Main 2. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108099 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 757 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF From a slightly elevated perspective, you can see quite a ways south down the Powder River Basin at Reno Jct as a westbound (geographically north) BNSF empty glides through Reno Jct on Main 2. On a rather interesting side note, I happened to shoot this exact same coal train (same power, same cars) a week earlier on the Joint Line in Colorado. At that point, it was loaded and heading south. Over the course of the previously week, it was emptied and returned north. This is that same train returning to the mines to load for another trip south! Here is a picture of it a week earlier. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108098 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 779 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF Although there is only one train in this shot, the picture still helps demonstrate how busy the Orin Sub in the Powder River Basin is. This westbound (geographically northbound) empty is crossing over from Main 3 to Main 2 at Reno Jct. This is because a BNSF load will be heading eastbound on Main 3 before long. Meanwhile, a UP load getting a fresh crew will come out on Main 1 from Black Thunder Mine shortly to head eastbound as well. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108097 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 692 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF A pair of BNSF DPUs push this load eastbound (geographically south) on Main 1 underneath one of the main signal bridges located here at Reno Jct. This particular signal bridge has a single signal on it for westbounds on Main 1. There is a turnout just behind these DPUs where the a track breaks away from Main 1 and heads toward the Black Thunder and Black Thunder East loadouts. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108096 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 739 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF A loaded BNSF coal train heads east (geographically south) on Main 3 through Reno Jct on clear signals. Meanwhile, another BNSF coal train slowly creeps underneath the West Black Thunder Mine tipple. A third BNSF coal train waits for a recrew north of the tipple in the distance, and a UP empty head west on Main 2. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108095 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 729 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF, Union Pacific Reno Jct is a fantastic place to spend a few hours as a railfan. You have signals in both directions from the Co-450 road overpass to help let you know when trains are lined through, and can see for nearly a mile to the south and about four miles to the north. It is not uncommon for trains to meet through here, such as in this shot. A UP empty on Main 2 meets a BNSF empty on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108094 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 712 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific This UP coal empty has clear signals and is moving at track speed westbound (geographically north) on Main 2 through Reno The nearest track is a lead for the line to the Black Thunder and East Black Thunder mines. After that track, you have Mains 1 through 3 from left to right. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108093 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, May 30, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, CO 673 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF After making the trip 85 miles north from the south end of the Orin Sub, this BNSF coal empty is leaving the main tracks and entering the five mile spur out to East Black Thunder Mine. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105559 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, WY 1323 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF The interlocking of Reno Junction is a long one. In fact, the distance between the eastern-most signals and the western-most signals is roughly 1.8 miles! Here, a coal load is pulling up the grade on Main 1 toward a clear signal at the east (geographically south) end of the Reno Junction interlocking. The tracks to the right of the train are Main 2 and Main 3, respectively. The track to the left is the Black Thunder Mine Lead. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105558 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, WY 1344 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF A lot of traffic runs through Reno Junction! In addition to the triple track mainline, two tracks branch off from the track to the east (geographically south) and one to the west (geographically north). These tracks all lead to the Black Thunder and Black Thunder East mine loadouts. This particular load is coming from Black Thunder East. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 105557 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2015 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Reno Jct Campbell County, WY 1700 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF An eastbound coal load is just departing the Black Thunder East mine. There are four Black Thunder mines in the Powder River Basin: Black Thunder West, Black Thunder, Black Thunder East, and South Black Thunder. The massive structure in the background is the loadout for Black Thunder West. In the distance, you can see a pair of trains waiting to load. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103811 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 23, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 42.6 (Reno Jct) Campbell County, WY 1556 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific Having just loaded at the Black Thunder West loadout (just off the shot to the left), the loose coal dust on top of the bathtub gondolas is blowing off as the train picks up some speed at Reno Junction. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 103809 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, July 23, 2011 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 42.6 (Reno Jct) Campbell County, WY 1539 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Union Pacific At Reno Junction, this empty has a clear signal to continue on the lead for the five miles out to the Black Thunder Mine. I could spend an entire day just at Reno Junction watching the trains passing by. Black Thunder is definitely one of the major mines along the line. 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