Photo ID: 114251 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crossover 55.8 to Crossover 49.2 Campbell County, WY 69 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF Not far south (timetable east) of the South Black Thunder mine lead, a westbound BNSF empty meets an eastbound UP load. Some mist hangs low to the ground off in the distance. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114250 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crossover 55.8 to Crossover 49.2 Campbell County, WY 69 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF This westbound BNSF coal empty is on Main 2, running around a sweeping curve on the northeast side of the Antelope Mine. You can see a crane, busily working to extract more "black diamonds". Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114249 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Nacco Wye Junction Converse County, WY 57 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF A single ES44AC brings up the end of a westbound coal empty as the train crosses over Antelope Creek on Main 2. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114248 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Nacco Wye Junction Converse County, WY 68 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF The rising sun shines between two cars as a westbound empty crosses over Antelope Creek at Nacco Wye Junction. It is shaping up to be a beautiful day! Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114247 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Nacco Wye Junction Converse County, WY 72 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF It is just after sunrise as a westbound (geographic northbound) BNSF coal empty crosses over Antelope Creek on Main 2. This area is, in my opinion, one of the most scene portions of the Orin Sub. Incidentally, each main actually crosses on its own bridge. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114246 Date Shot Photo By Sunday, August 16, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Nacco Wye Junction Converse County, WY 76 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF, Union Pacific There is an Approach signal (yellow over red) on Main 3 for a westbound train currently on Logan Hill. Here, we are at Nacco Wye Junction, there are a lot of crossover to allow trains to get to (or leave from) the lead to North Antelope Mine. North Antelope consistently loads the most coal of all 15 mines along the Orin Sub. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114245 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 69 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF With Logan Hill now conquered, this eastbound coal load descends the 1% grade on Main 3. Intermediate signals on Mains 1 and 2 both show Approach indications, likely meaning nothing is currently aligned in either direction on those mains. Off in the distance, you can see another of the many full train sets currently being stored on Main 4. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114244 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 74 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF While coal is certainly the main industry in the Powder River Basin, there is some oil (or natural gas) in the area too, so you will see some wells in operation, such as the few in the background here. A single DPU helps this 125 car coal train up and over the 1% grade of Logan Hill. A decade ago, all coal trains has 2x2 power in the basin. However, probably thanks to Precision Scheduled Railroading, many now run 2x1. They occasionally stall on Logan Hill and need manned helpers to get over the top. Fortunately, that was not the case with this one. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114243 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Logan Hill Converse County, WY 79 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF As we getting closer to the end of the day, we find BNSF 8463 slowly making its way up the 1% grade of Logan Hill on Main 3. The empty hoppers you see on Main 4 are just in storage. Construction on Main 4, which is roughly 20 miles long, was started in 2006 and completed in 2008. The fourth main was a $100 million investment by both UP and BNSF. Coal output was so great at that point that the fourth main was justified due to the grade on Logan Hill and the slow moving loads. However, with the substantial decrease in coal demand, three mains is sufficient for Logan Hill, and Main 4 has been used to store multiple coal train sets for over a decade now. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114242 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Nacco Wye Junction Converse County, WY 62 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF A pair of fairly new ES44AC Tier-4 credit units lead a westbound coal train on Main 2 through Nacco Wye Junction. This Junction leads to North Antelope Mine, owned by Peabody Energy. It is consistently the mine that produces the most coal on an annual basis in the Powder River Basin. In 2025, it produced roughly 59 million short tons of coal. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114241 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Antelope Mine Converse County, WY 84 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF Two empty coal trains are waiting to head to the load out at Antelope Mine as one train comes out, currently still in the process of loading and moving along at about 2 MPH. Another load is waiting for a crew to take it eastbound over Logan Hill. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114240 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Antelope Mine Converse County, WY 84 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) Montana Rail Link, BNSF I came across a second MRL SD70ACe for the day, this one the rear DPU on a coal empty that is waiting to load at the Antelope Mine. Since MRL SD70ACes do not have PTC installed, they likely will not lead any trains again on BNSF until they are repainted BNSF orange (and have PTC installed). Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114236 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed MP 39.9 Campbell County, WY 69 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF An eastbound BNSF coal empty is slowing toward a red signal ahead on Main 1. Interestingly, the first two hoppers directly behind the lead units are loaded, even though the rest of the train is empty. I have no explanation as to why! Anyway, the train will continue south (timetable east) to the North Antelope mine. A second eastbound empty on Main 1 can be seen behind this train in the distance. That train will go in to Black Thunder for loading. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114235 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crossover 45.7 to Crossover 43.5 Campbell County, WY 65 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF The Black Thunder Mine has expanded further west, and the pit is now a few hundred feet east of the triple track mainline south of Reno Junction. A pair of SD70ACes head to Logan Hill to help a train over that is having issues on the wet rails. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture. Photo ID: 114234 Date Shot Photo By Saturday, August 15, 2026 Kevin Morgan Location Times Viewed Crossover 43.5 Campbell County, WY 72 (Add a Comment) Subdivision Railroad Orin (BNSF) BNSF A pair of SD70ACes is headed toward Logan Hill on Main 3. In the era of Precision Scheduled Railroading, more and more coal trains run with 2x1 power. A single DPU is not always sufficient to get a loaded train over Logan Hill, so manned helpers come down from Gillette to help. Way off in the distance, a coal train crests the hill on Main 1. Email Questions or Comments to the Webmaster or add a comment to the picture.

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