Western Railroad Discussion > Traffic from grand island,neb to Alliance neb. ???

Was wondering what train traffic and road traffic will be along rt 2 this summer as were planning another road trip out to utah and back .Was up that in 2012 but didnt go up rt 2..Thanks Scooby

If you like lots and lots and lots of coal trains you'll be in the right place. I would say west of Thedford is the easiest to photograph, mostly just wait for a headlight and pull over for spectacular views.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

Lots of easy places to pull the rig over to camp too Scoob.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

thanks bill,btw is any of that triple track

A couple of other things,Is this area hilly or flat and whats the Rattlesnake population like through there as you all know i like playing with snakes !!!

I believe it's all triple track on the UP west of Gibbon, Neb., to O'Fallons, which is west of North Platte.

There is no triple track in Alliance; UP doesn't go there, it's the ex-BN hub in the area.

The UP goes from fairly flat in eastern Nebraska to low rolling hills the closer you get to North Platte. The western part of Nebraska has the hilliest terrain in the state.

The BN line runs through the "Sandhills" region east of Alliance, so I presume that to mean it's hilly. The line northwest of Alliance, toward Edgemont, S.D., features Crawford Hill, a significant helper district. The line west from Alliance, toward Guernsey, Wyo., is mostly river running. Once you get into Wyoming, it has several tunnels.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/15 15:49 by toledopatch.

No triple track on the Sandhills Sub, in fact I think there are still a couple of sections of SINGLE which creates a big bottleneck at times.

Snakes are not a huge issue, but yes you might find them. Watch for anthills.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

A good place to camp would be at the 312 milepost between Hyannis and Ashby. Nice safe location slightly off Hwy 2 overlooking an S-curve coming up the grade from Hyannis. It looks like this .....

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

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And a lot of the west-end of the Sandhills Sub looks mostly like this .....

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

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Wow those are some BIG cows in those pics !!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/15 21:33 by scoobydoobydoo.

Is that a bike path next to the tracks ???

scoobydoobydoo Wrote:
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> Is that a bike path next to the tracks ???


I don't believe so.Most likely just an old road alignment.
That drive across that country is outstanding.
Regards,DK

scoobydoobydoo Wrote:
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> Is that a bike path next to the tracks ???

It's the original Hwy.

Road traffic on US 2 is light. Like the photos above show the roadway is wide with little traffic in sight. It is a nice drive.

I don't know if your are going north of Alliance but of you are you could stay at the Ponderosa Ranch. The Ranch owns the land around the curves at Crawford Hill and rents a cabin to railfans. Belmont is also worth a visit; it is the top of the helper grade at Crawford. The helpers cut off on the fly at the top of the grade then roll back down to the town of Crawford push another load. Use to be 3-4 helper sets working at all times and trains still backed up west of Crawford waiting for a push.
There use to be a tunnel here but it was bypassed when the hill was double tracked. The tunnel is still in place and I walked though it when I was there last really neat place.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/15 18:24 by howeld.

Broken Bow is a nice little town with some good places to stay. Its pretty country up there. There are so many trains its rare to have a bad day. Look for a few intermodel and manifests too along with MANY coal trains! Enjoy!

One of my favorite drives when I come over from the UK. I intend to drive on Route 2 in August- I'm doing a multi-state trek from the East Coast to Alliance and back. I've not encountered rattlers here, but twice found an ornate box turtle wandering across the road. The trip on Hwy 30 alongside the UP is always well worth doing.

CCMF Wrote:
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> No triple track on the Sandhills Sub, in fact I
> think there are still a couple of sections of
> SINGLE which creates a big bottleneck at times.
>
> Snakes are not a huge issue, but yes you might
> find them. Watch for anthills.

I think those single-track stretches are going to get doubled in the upcoming construction season.