The daily Waterloo to Ft. Dodge local setouts 2 cars in the house track at Ackley. The cars are bound for the Iowa River Railroad, but the job tomorrow will deliver them. This job normally works w... (more)

Pretty unusual for us to get any westbounds on the CN in the evening around the house. Lucky for us this Arthur empty ethanol train rolls across the hogbacks west of Independence in decent evening... (more)

CN came up with an old odd ball leader for an empty Alden, IA, bound grain empty. The CN 5317 stood proud today leading a couple NS units on a nice sunny Saturday. Here the train took a small paus... (more)

There was quite a buzz in Iowa the mid of March 2022. This old veteran SD40 lead 2 mainline trains in and out of Iowa. The 1st train was this an empty grain to Alden, IA. The next day M338 would b... (more)

In a very unusual circumstance, the CN ran 2 test trains across the Dubuque Sub on 5-16. The CN received an FRA geo train from the CP at Dubuque over the weekend, and the CN twice annual geo train... (more)

Some what odd ball helper for an Alliance Z6 is this SD70MAC. The train has just departed Fort Madison after a crew change and skirts the banks of the Mississippi River as they make their way towa... (more)

The city, IDOT, the FRA, and Amtrak all have chipped in restore service the old 111 year old ex-ATSF depot at Fort Madison. The station is now the regular stop for Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Its be... (more)

The area around Fort Madison offers alot of neat things to shoot from the ground and air. The Chillicothe Sub takes off from the BNSF depot and runs along the Mississippi River for a few miles bef... (more)

A Global 4 to City of Industries, CA, hot Z-train crosses over at Ethel around couple slow pokes as they work west on the Marceline Sub. A crazy April snow storm has coated everything, I cant even... (more)

The BNSF Marceline Sub is a subdivision of 2 different topographies. From Fort Madison to Marceline the railroad twist and turns as it goes up and down over numerous valleys and dips thru northern... (more)

The coaling tower at Marceline stood the test of time back in late 2021, but the rumors would come true in November. The coaling tower was leveled and another part of history was taken off the map... (more)

The coaling tower at Marceline stood the test of time back in late 2021, but the rumors would come true in November. The coaling tower was leveled and another part of history was taken off the map... (more)

One of the odd ball trains to transverse the Transcon main is these Eddyville, IA, Cargill sweet bran trains. The train are mainly madeup of retrofitted aluminum coal cars with covers on them. The... (more)

The westbound Willow Springs to San Bernardino Z-train has some room to roam now. The dispatcher has them and the UP G4 Z-train over to main # 2 here at Ethel to round up 2 slower trains before Ma... (more)

April doesn't normally mean snow showers. An unusual wet heavy mid-April snow storm yesterday evening has everything covered in slush and snow this morning. That doesn't stop the endless container... (more)