Big Blue lives on in 2016, in southwestern Minnesota of all places, as this SW1200 lives out its days at a Cargill elevator along the Union Pacific between Windom and Worthington.

A nice looking pair of Union Pacific SD40Ns pass the former C&NW depot in Sheldon as they shove a cut of hoppers toward the mill in the distance.

With infrequent and unpredictable operations on the former Minneapolis & St Louis west of Morton, trains on this line are elusive. After moving to the area last September, I've been patiently wai... (more)

One of TC&W's new GP38-2s and a rebuilt GP20 head west as light power between Renville and Sacred Heart.

These wind turbine blade trains seem to be a more common sight recently on the Marshall Sub. I lucked into seeing one depart Willmar, viewed from a recently constructed ramp toward a yet-to-be-bu... (more)

With three SD40-2s providing a classic look to the scene, UP's North Platte to Grand Island turn crosses the North Platte River as they near the end of their workday at Bailey Yard.

Not long after sunrise on one of the longest days of the year, both the DPU and head end power are visible as a Union Pacific coal train is being loaded at the Cordero Rojo mine south of Gilette, ... (more)

A unit train of older covered hoppers soaks in the last rays of sunlight on a beautiful February day as it's about to duck under US highway 14 at Florence, MN.

A new Tier 4 GEVO with a famous number leads four other GEs with a rather short manifest at Marshall, MN. A crew member is walking back to the head end as another train approaches in the distance... (more)

A BNSF manifest passes the Minnesota Falls Township hall that sits on the prairie between Granite Falls and Hanley Falls, Minnesota.

The westbound TC&W Ruebel Turn traverses the flat, featureless farmland between Bird Island and Olivia, MN on the former Milwaukee Road mainline.

The Ruebel Turn is on its way back east after a trip to Sacred Heart to drop off some coal empties and pick up the West End train. Four locomotives and three covered hoppers catch the setting sun... (more)

The Ruebel Turn has brought a cut of empty coal hoppers from the sugar beet plant at Ruebel and is shoving them onto the siding at Sacred Heart. Once the entire train has been emptied and reassem... (more)

A crystal clear morning and a clean EMD SD70ACe leader made the walk up onto the highway 77 viaduct in Fremont worthwhile. When I was attending college here 15 years ago, I was used to seeing nea... (more)

The setting sun cuts through plenty of ice crystals in the air thanks to a fierce northwest wind and subzero windchill values. After dropping a cut of coal empties on the siding at Sacred Heart, ... (more)