Photo ID: 108133 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Belmont Tunnel Dawes County, NE 655 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF Just 20 minutes after the last coal load came through, another eastbound climbs to the top of Crawford Hill on Main 2. An ES44AC and SD70ACe provide the power on the head end. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108134 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Belmont Crossover Dawes County, NE 678 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF At first glance, you might assume this coal train has four units on the point and is moving away from the camera. In fact, these are all helpers on the end of the train, shoving it toward the camera. The two SD70ACes are DPUs controlled from the head end. The two ES44ACs are manned helpers that will cut away from the train just a few hundred feet ahead. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108135 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Belmont Crossover Dawes County, NE 689 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF After making the climb up and over the grade of Crawford Hill, these manned helpers have cut away from a loaded coal train and are getting ready to return to Crawford. The helpers cut away from the coal load without the coal load having to stop. The load is now on the downhill grade, so the helpers assistance is no long needed. This is one of a few places left where you can see manned helpers working trains. You can click the "Watch It" button to see a video of the helpers cutting away from the train. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108136 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Belmont Crossover Dawes County, NE 675 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF After cutting away from an eastbound coal load, this helper set is ready to return west to Crawford, NE. The helper crew on BNSF 5780 has a Diverging Clear (red over green) signal at Belmont Crossover. The helpers will cross from Main 2 to Main 1 for the return trip. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108137 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 383 Hemingford, NE 688 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF A westbound grain train is on a eight mile stretch of single track between Berea and Hemingford. A manifest is waiting on Main 2 at Hemingford, about a mile ahead, for the grain train. Two coal loads are stacked up behind the manifest, too. The lead unit here, BNSF 4252, is a Tier 4 "credit unit". BNSF had some emissions credits saved up that allowed them to purchase some Tier 3 units even after the Tier 4 deadline. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108138 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 383.5 Hemingford, NE 678 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF An ES44C4 and an ES44AC lead a westbound unit grain train, sometimes referred to as an "earthworm", westbound along a fantastically green field just outside Hemingford, NE. Two main tracks start at Hemingford and this train will take Main 1 west up and over Crawford Hill. An afternoon storm is building in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108139 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 379.5 Box Butte County, NE 716 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF, Kansas City Southern (ALL) A BNSF "H" train, the "H" indicating this is a High Priority Manifest. Finding a pair of Kansas City Southern units on the head end was a pretty great bonus to the train itself. The train is just a few miles away from the start of two main tracks at Berea. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108140 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 366.4 Alliance, NE 738 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Butte (BNSF) BNSF, Kansas City Southern (ALL) In Alliance, NE, the Butte Sub comes to an end at BNSF's yard in Alliance. Three subdivisions actually meet in Alliance. This manifest is heading around the wye from the Butte Sub to the Sand Hills Sub to continue its journey east toward Kansas City. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108141 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Alliance Yard Alliance, NE 809 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots BNSF BNSF has a pretty substantial yard in Alliance. This dates back to the Burlington Northern days, when this was one of BNs largest midwest yards. Due to a downturn in the economy, the yard is actually not all that full. Many of the yard tracks either have empty hoppers or power stored in them. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108142 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Alliance Yard Alliance, NE 864 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots BNSF, CREX You may remember that a lot of gray and blue CitiRail leasor units showed up on BNSF a few years ago, when BNSF was encoutering a power shortage. Well, unfortunately, due to the currently economy, BNSF now has the opposite problem! A major surplus in power. Most of the Citirail units are currently being stored on a single, seemingly endless track in the Alliance Yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108143 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Alliance Yard Alliance, NE 822 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots BNSF, CREX After finding about 500 units stored in Gillette, WY and another 200 units stored in Edgemont, SD, an additional 500 or so units are currently being stored in Alliance Yard in Alliance, NE. About 300 of the units are visible in in this long lens shot. Nearly all (if not all) of the CitiRail leasor ES44ACs are currently here in Alliance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108144 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Alliance Yard Alliance, NE 792 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots BNSF While BNSF does have a fairly large classification yard in Alliance, NE, it has a huge locomotive maintenance facility here. Most, if not all, of the major locomotive maintenance items required on engines in the mid-west are handled here in Alliance. In the days of Burlington Northern, this was the largest engine maintenance facility on the railroad. A good chunk of BNs units were maintained here. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108145 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Alliance Yard Alliance, NE 804 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots BNSF A sole BNSF SD40-2 makes a reverse move in the yard at Alliance to pick up a few cars for switching on the far side of the yard. A manifest sits on one of the yard tracks, ready to depart, just waiting on a crew. A ton of surplus units also sit in storage throughout the yard. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 108146 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, May 31, 2020 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Alliance Yard Alliance, NE 817 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Yard Shots BNSF In the main classification yard in Alliance, BNSF has about 500 units stored, most of which are C44-9Ws or ES44ACs (CitiRail leasors). Tack on another 100 or so units, most of which are SD70MACs, on one of the tracks on the engine maintenance facility side of the yard. This string of units brings the total number stored in Gillette, WY, Edgemont, SD, and Alliance, NE to somewhere around 1,300! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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