Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF 250th Employee Special on Crawford Hill

Greetings!

This past Sunday, on May 31st, I got up at 3:30am and made the ~4 hour drive from Denver, CO to Alliance, NE. BNSF had its pair of 250th USA ES44ACs running on an Employee Appreciation Special. The train was set to depart Alliance at 0900 and 1800, heading west on the Butte Sub over Crawford Hill. I got to Alliance around 8am and scouted out the special, which was on Track 101 in the (east) yard. Passengers loaded and the train departed precisely on time at 0900. It was a fun chase west over Crawford Hill. The train stopped at Crossover 419.8 on the west side of Crawford Hill. There, the crew was moved from BNSF 1776 (the western lead unit) to BNSF 2026 (on the east end of the "push/pull" operation). The train then went back over to Crawford Hill, returning to Alliance.

The second run was set for 1800 and, once again, the train was very punctual on its departure. The lighting could not have been better and the weather was very cooperative for the second run over Crawford Hill. Because the second run left a bit later (and closer to sunset), the train only went as far west as Breezy Point before again switching directions and returning back to Alliance.

Between the two runs, I got some lunch with a few fellow railfans and found some other trains to shoot. Here are some of my favorites from the day.

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1. For the morning run, the special was not running at track speed at first as it had to meet an eastbound coal load at Berea. For those unfamiliar with the Butte Sub, roughly 87 miles of the 110 mile sub has two main tracks. A nine mile stretch of single track between Berea and Hemingford result in the special get very briefly held up.

2. After Berea, I highballed it to Marsland, knowing the train would like accelerate after the meet. Track speed is largely 60 MPH, so I had not time to waste. Just east of Marsland, the tracks cross the Niobrara River, as seen here in this second shot.

3. At the crossover at Marsland, the special met an eastbound Laurel, MT to Lincoln, NE manifest, heading downgrade on Main 2.

to be continued...

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

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4. After Marsland, I did not have time to beat the train up to Belmont at the top of the hill. So, this next shot come just east of the big S-curve (at Breezy Point), with the train descending the west slope on Main 1. Love the scenery in the Black Hills!

5. Now on the return trip to Alliance, BNSF 2026 is leading as the train reaches the top of Crawford Hill at Belmont.

6. Back in Alliance, the train is arriving back on Track 101 to allow passengers to detrain, and wait for the next run at 1800. The morning run took right around 2 ½ hours for the round trip.

to be continued...

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/26 12:15 by ColoradoRailfan.

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7. During the downtime between runs, I was scouting for other things to shoot. Noticed this MRL SD70Ace which, I'm guessing, must've spent some time in SoCal or Houston (or some similar place), as the taggers did a bit of a number on it on the conductor's side.

8. The great afternoon perk was this loaded sand train, headed for Bill, WY. When it was turned over to BNSF from Canadian National, the CN power was left on the train! It is seen here a few miles south of Alliance on Main 2 on the Angora Sub.

9. One more shot of the sand train further south on the Angora Sub. If you are unfamiliar with this region of BNSF, they basically have a big loop between west Nebraska and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. Trains from Alliance can depart west on the Butte Sub (over Crawford Hill) or south on the Angora Sub and reach the Powder River Basin. Because Bill, WY is a little closer to the south end of the PRB, the sand train departed south on the Angora Sub. Upon reach Bridgeport, NE, the train will turn west on the Valley Sub to run to Guernsey, and enter the PRB from the south end.

to be continued...

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

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10. Lastly, we have the 1800 run of the special, and it was well worth the wait. The weather and lighting were both absolutely fantastic! Here, right at 6pm, the special is on the move out of the yard at Alliance, headed for the Butte Sub and Crawford Hill.

11. Being later in the day, the train was moving closer to track speed for much of the run, so it was straight to Marsland for me. The shot at the Niobrara River bridge was even better than the one in the morning!

12. The shot at Belmont at the top of Crawford Hill was also just picture perfect. Not much else to say about this one as I think it does a good job of speaking for itself.

to be concluded...

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

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13. The train stopped at the intermediate at Breezy Point on Main 1. BNSF had a crew van to pick up the crew in 1776 and move them back to 2026. After receiving permission from the dispatcher, the train started back east on Main 1, up Crawford HIll toward Belmont. If you look closely, you can see an eastbound coal load that is grinding up the grade on Main 2 in the distance.

14. The BNSF coal load comes around the bend at Breezy Point, the back part of the train visible in the distance.

15. And lastly, four units bring up the rear of the coal load. Crawford Hill is one of the few remaining places in the country where manned helpers are still regularly used. The standard 2x2 configuration on coal loads is not sufficient to get over the hill, so a helper set is kept at the town of Crawford. For 12 miles, the helpers shove behind the DPUs up the grade, and cutoff at Belmont. The helpers then return the 12 miles back to Crawford to wait for their next assignment. In this shot, note the poof of sand kicking up from the rails and the sanders are on, helping proving traction on the climb.

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At this point, it was around 7:30pm, and I had a 4 ½  hour drive ahead of me to get home, so it was time to depart. All-in-all, I was on the road for around 20 hours, up for almost 22 hours. But it was every minute, and every mile.

Thanks for looking!

Kevin Morgan
Arvada, CO
ColoradoRailfan.com

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Absolutely fantastic series, looks like you had a great chase. Thanks for sharing your efforts with us.

Tom

Great photos!
Andrew
Burney, Ca

Well worth your over 20-hours driving.  BNSF has done an impressive job with their 250th America Anniversary units.  Sharp looking 16-car train.  Glad you caught both runs in screaming sunlight.

Wonderful group of photos!
Bryan

Outstanding series.
JB

Great series of some amazing territory.
—Mac

Awesome work Kevin

Erik Lindgren
Arvada, CO
Erik C Lindgren Artist

Outstanding work as usual Kevin.  Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos with us.

Jim Barton

Outstanding series!

Bravo, wonderful work!

Posted from Android

Very nice coverage !

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

Nice series of shots Kevin! I think the Railfan Gods smiled on you for this....

James Nelson
Thornton, CO
www.flickr.com/mojaveflyer

Man, Epic day with Epic shots!

I live near Rapid City and get to Crawford a few times a year, so these shots are in familiar territory. This is an absolutely terrific series of shots! Thanks much for the effort and for posting all ot these photos, and the accompanying narrative.

Excellent!!