Nostalgia & History > Maroon Monday

The first view this week shows RI 558 and train on the bridge over the Big Blue River at Beatrice, NE in February, 1974. The train is headed back to Fairbury. I suspect the box car was picked up from Tote Systems in Beatrice and contained chemical storage bins or beer barrels.

The next view is southwest of Beatrice on October 27, 1983 and again is RI 558 returning to Fairbury.

The final view is the 558 about 2 miles west of Harbine, NE (about 15 miles west of Beatrice). This train too is on the return trip to Fairbury. Although traces of this right of way are clearly visible in many places between Beatrice and Jansen, the fill and bridge at this location are long gone.

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A nice set of photos. Thanks for posting them.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Tough to make any money at that rate. I enjoyed watching them try though.

I really like the look back at Big Blue crossing! I don't think I've ever seen this location before...

Lance

Great to see photos of The Rock from around the Beatrice area. Went to 8th and 9th grade in Beatrice. The bridge over the Big Blue River reminds me of the late spring of '59 with record floods that flooded the whole rail area of town. Believe Beatrice had 80" of snow between Jan and May and when it melted, what a mess.

santafe199 Wrote:
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> I really like the look back at Big Blue crossing!
> I don't think I've ever seen this location
> before...
>
> Lance

Everything in the view is gone now! The road I was on was called Memorial Drive in honor of Beatrice veterans. It was really a beautiful drive when first constructed but flooding made it difficult to maintain. It's now a hiker/biker trail.

Wonderful stuff Tom, I really like the Blue River bridge picture. We wandered out onto it a few times as kids after the train had left, would throw a rock or two into the water and then head back to wait for the BN or UP. Given the RI's lack of ballast we had to carry those rocks with us to the bridge! We're really enjoying your RI posts, I'm going to have to have a little red switcher on the layout after seeing all these gems.
Kirk

Great scenes, that third shot is Fantastic!

Very nice! I really like all of your shots of this line. Out of curiosity, any chance you've got any shots from Hebron, NE?

Thanks,
Jeff Carlson

Short trains, long memories. Thanks for posting these.

Great photos!  Respectfully, just one correction on the 2nd photo.  The date is likely 1973, not 1983.  I took the bus from Lincoln to Hebron via Beatrice and Fairbury in 1983 to visit family, and I remember the track along US 136 was removed by then, although the grades and bridges were still mostly visible.  I always wondered what the trains on that line were like, so thanks for these great pics.  It seems I remember an old boxcar shell in a field along the US 136 after the track was removed.  Anyone else remember that?

rsaltzman26 Wrote:
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> Great photos!  Respectfully, just one correction
> on the 2nd photo.  The date is likely 1973, not
> 1983.  I took the bus from Lincoln to Hebron via
> Beatrice and Fairbury in 1983 to visit family, and
> I remember the track along US 136 was removed by
> then, although the grades and bridges were still
> mostly visible.  I always wondered what the
> trains on that line were like, so thanks for these
> great pics.  It seems I remember an old boxcar
> shell in a field along the US 136 after the track
> was removed.  Anyone else remember that?

Agreed, great photos.  There were two box cars a bit east of Jansen on the south side of 136.  One CB&Q and the other UP, left over from a derailment shortly before the tracks were pulled.  I believe they were/are used by the farmer/landowner for storage.  Still there the last time I visited relatives in Fairbury in 2014.

Bob