Western Railroad Discussion > I need some info about BNSF's Jamestown Sub in ND

In October I plan to spend a day railfanning BNSF's Jamestown Sub between Valley City and K O junction North Dakota.
I found some information in the T.O. archives and elsewhere but I could use a little help.
Is the radio frequency 160.695, are there any others I should have in the scanner?
I can't find Surrey junction on any satellite photos, is it in West Fargo? I think the junction I see on maps near Wheatland is the K O Junction switch, right?
Are there any other places to photograph the big trestle at Valley City other than along 5th Avenue?
I have no info on the CP at Valley City, I need radio frequencies and number of trains to expect.
I also need info on the operations of the Red River Valley & Western RR on and around the Jamestown sub, especially in the Casselton area. I need scanner frequency also.
Lastly, I know the Jamestown sub is mostly a coal train route but what else (if anything) might I see and what is traffic like in the fall, any grain trains go this way?
Thanks for the help!
Ken Gear

While in Valley City plan to spend some time at the rail museum in the center of town.

Yes, Surrey Junction is in West Fargo. Should be south of KO.

The former NP is also known by BNSF employees as the "Northern Coal Route", so yes, it's mostly coal. In the fall, though, you should see some grain trains.

CP at Valley City was fairly heavily used two years ago, but I'm not sure how the recession has affected traffic.

Can't help with RRV&W, except to say that they'll be busy with grain in the fall, too.

Sorry, but Surrey junction is west of Casselton, ND, which is about 20 miles west of Fargo
Lothar
Corinth, TX

lotharb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry, but Surrey junction is west of Casselton,
> ND, which is about 20 miles west of Fargo
>
I didn't know that was the junction name, but it makes sense. I lived in that part of the world at the time of the NP-GN-CB&Q-SP&S merger. I read that they chose the ex-NP from the Twin Cities as their main route as far as Casselton because it's almost all double track, then to get back to the ex-GN for the rest of the distance to the west coast, they would use a line from there up to near Page to the Surrey cut-off. Looking at a map you'd think directly northwest from the NP-GN crossing in Moorhead would be the main line, but it wasn't at that time. It might have changed by now, though, as the former NP is now much, much busier with coal trains than back in the seventies.

Jamestown ND is famous among music fans as the home of singer Peggy Lee. Her father was a station agent for the now-vanished Midland Continental RR, and during her teenage years, she would be the acting station agent when her father was incapacitated. Then she found her true calling as a jazz singer and the rest is history.