Shoving on the pellets
A Wisconsin Central “all-rail” taconite ore train has almost made it over the top of Bryon Hill as a manned pusher set out of North Fond du Lac leans into the ... (more)

With a pair of SD45s churning their collective 40 cylinders, a Wisconsin Central “all-rail” taconite ore load slowly climbs to the top of Byron Hill at Byron, Wisconsin, on March 23, 1996. WC ... (more)

Union Pacific GE ES44AC No. 7444 and older AC4400CW No. 6399 power an eastbound track inspection train east out of Radium, Colorado, and are about to check out the rails through Little Gore Canyon... (more)

It’s 7:11 p.m. on June 21, 2023, as the Deseret Power Railway coal empty returning from the Bonanza power plant in Utah approaches milepost 17 and Midway, Colorado.

It’s almost 6 p.m. on a cool Montana winter eve at Trout Creek on February 5, 2023. A trackside fire helps warm us up a bit as the “blue hour” descends upon the Clark Fork River Valley. The ... (more)

A Rail King RK 320 trackmobile prepares to move a locomotive at the transfer table outside the Union Pacific locomotive shop at South Morrill, Nebraska, on September 14, 2017.

Montana Rail Link’s 844 local drops down a 2.2 percent grade leaving Harrison, Montana, on June 27, 2023. This local generally serves the grain elevator at Harrison once a week on Tuesdays.

At 6:27 a.m. on June 20, 2023, an eastbound BNSF manifest freight curves through Radium, Colorado, utilizing trackage rights on Union Pacific’s Moffat Tunnel Subdivision. In the foreground along... (more)

Just after sunset on July 5, 2023, Montana Rail Link EMD SD70ACe Nos. 4302 and 4301 power a Helena to Bozeman turn dropping downgrade past milepost 214 east of Winston, Montana.

With th... (more)

Union Pacific EMD SD70ACe-T-4 No. 3031 leads a vehicle train westbound on the UP’s Evanston Subdivision, climbing the hill between Green River and Peru, Wyoming, on June 22, 2023.

For many, many years, Montana Rail Link 50-foot boxcar No. 100982, faded but still adorning MRL’s original logos, has sat on a stub spur at Toston, Montana. It’s still there on July 9, 2023!

BNSF’s Laurel to Denver priority freight (HLAUDEN) exits 177-foot Tunnel 4 between the sidings of Dornick and Piper while negotiating Wyoming’s rugged Wind River Canyon on June 25, 2023.

Montana Rail Link EMD SD70ACe Nos. 4404 and 4318 power a Helena to Bozeman turn eastbound down Winston Hill approaching Townsend, Montana, on the afternoon of July 7, 2023. During the bridge rebui... (more)

Shiny paint and aluminum hoppers nicely reflect the early morning sun as BNSF EMD SD70ACe Nos. 9098 and 8557 lead a coal train over Logan Hill north of Bill, Wyoming, just after sunrise at 6:04 a.... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s 844 local is in the process of picking up MRL SD40-2XR No. 265 at Sappington, Montana, after making a trip up the Harrison branch to retrieve two empty fertilizer cars from t... (more)