Western Railroad Discussion > Trip Report

Well I can cross this one off the bucket list, coast to coast roadtrip. Last week I drove from Mountain View, CA all the way to NYC, then up to Maine. I rented an economy car with lowest rate possible. I was hoping for Chevy Spark, Ford Focus, or free upgrade to something nice. But I got Nissan Versa, piece of s***. I mainly drove Interstate 80 east, 95 up north, 90 west, and 5 down back home. I was trying to make good time so chasing trains wasn't my main focus. But of course I had to take pictures when the oppurtunity is in my face. Watch your speed! Cops didn't pull me over but many people were. I thank the good Lord for being able to complete this adventure and coming home safely.

1. I got a wonderful surprise. UP 1995, CNW heritage unit, was third unit on a WB Z-train out of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

2. Here's another wonderful surprise somewhere in Nebraska, EB monster nograiner, I'm guessing empties. UP 7702 led this train with 3+3 mid-train unit consist and 180 cars. That's my new record for longest train!

3. Driving thru the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota is a must.

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4. MRL 4400 with early morning Montana scenery.
5. CREX 1326, another nice surprise, in Superior, MT. BNSF coals meeting.
6. Sadly I didn't chase along the Gorge. It was after sunset when I pulled in there. But here's Mt. Hood and the river near the UP main.

That's all for now. Thanks for looking! -Max

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What a trip! Very cool.

Ryan Wilkerson
Fair Oaks, CA

The Black Hills are awesome. Not the very best scenery, ever, but in my opinion (yeah, whatever) quite beautiful and very underrated/ignored. Lots of history, railroad and otherwise.

Congrats on making the trip and coming back safe. I've rented the Focus, Versa, and Spark before. Focus would have been my pick, the Spark is inferior to the Versa, IMO (less room, more rattles, worse gas mileage!), so you did good.

Fires in the Black Hills since the 25th.

wpdude Wrote:
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> The Black Hills are awesome. Not the very best
> scenery, ever, but in my opinion (yeah, whatever)
> quite beautiful and very underrated/ignored. Lots
> of history, railroad and otherwise.

Having lived in the Black Hills for some eight years, I can attest to this.
However, the best train stuff is gone.  Yes, the RCPE still runs Rapid City
to Belle Fourche, an under-rated line for sure, but the former Burlington
Deadwood Branch from Edgemont to Deadwood is gone, except for the
Black Hills Central in Hill City which operates on the Keystone Sput, as
well as the CNW branch from Whitewood to Deadwood, (That departed
in 1969(??) shortly after I arrived in the Hills.)  So yes, the Black Hills
are nice and worth a visit, just don't expect a lot of railfan action.  

It would be nice if someone posted the approximate times the RCPE 
now runs Belle Fourche-rapid City.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA