Updates on Multi-Tracking the Two BNSF Transcons

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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Updates on Multi-Tracking the Two BNSF Transcons

The purpose of this thread is to share multi-tracking updates, news, and happenings on the both the NORTHERN and SOUTHERN Transcons of BNSF. While the southern Transcon has little left for the Los Angeles-Chicago distance to be all two-tracked, there are a few single-track pieces left, as well as triple-tracking here and there. The northern Transcon the beginner of this thread is quite unfamiliar with. But, reports about that northern Transcon seem to indicate many miles are two-tracked at a time, in a way that puts to shame Union Pacific’s similar efforts as covered in the “Sunset Route Two-Tracking Updates” thread.

When the founder of that Sunset Route thread and THIS ONE too has some free time, last year’s two-tracking of the southern Transcon gap in the Vaughn, NM area will be posted about. In a very recent trip to that area little in the Vaughn area could be seen, but the photos taken suggest that that two-tracking was an impressive project. Also, a major modification of signal appearances seem to have taken place and is taking place, but that may just be the mind playing tricks on this contributor. When the issue is posted about, maybe others will be able to weigh in on it.

In the meantime, the forum will be left with this amusing photo from the eastern side of Winslow, AZ on the southern Transcon:

The awareness of the concept of “Transcon” apparently is becoming well known, so much so that a street has been named after the southern Transcon!

If you have news and update info to share on either Transcon, you are most welcome to do so here …

Thanks.

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K P – Great idea, I’m from NJ but did rt66 trips Chicago to LA in 2001 and 2012. /there were many changes from the first trip along the transcon to the second one. The triple tracking of Cajon the biggest. But there is so much to see and do along the way. On a third trip by plane to visit friends in Pomona was during the triple tracking of Cajon. The amount of work done under sweltering conditions was inspiring. I hope to see your reports as you spend time on the Transcon. STEVEL

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In construction season 2015 BNSF restored 2nd track to an approximately 10 mile gap between Big Lake, MN and Becker, MN, thereby restoring double track from Northtown Yard in Minneapolis to the Mississippi River bridge in Little Falls, MN.

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So, how much of the line between Northtown and Fargo is double track?

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Greyhounds,

The line between Northtown in Minneapolis and Fargo is all double track with the exception of approximately 25 miles from just east of the bridge over the Mississippi River at Little Falls, MN to Philbrook, MN.

Double track then runs westerly from Philbrook, MN through Staples, MN, to Fargo, ND, and continues westerly through Casselton, ND to a point approximately 15 miles west of Casselton.

It is important to note that BNSF has paired track from Fargo, ND all the way to Minot, ND. One track runs northwesterly out of Fargo directly to Minot, and the other runs north out of Minot to Grand Forks, ND and then westerly to Minot, making “two sides sides of the triangle”.

So with the exception of approximately 25 miles, between Little Falls, MN and Philbrook, MN, BNSF has double track or paired track from their Dayton’s Bluff Yard in St. Paul, MN all the way to Minot, ND.

The line from St. Paul down to Galesburg Yard in Western Illinois is largely double track with the exception of short stretches on either side of single track bridge crossings of the St. Croix River at Prescott, WI and the Wisconsin River at Prairie du Chien, WI. That line runs on the east bank of the Mississippi River and is very scenic. It is also the former route of the Twin Cities Zephyrs which for many years held the title of fastest trains in America for their timetable speeds along the Mississippi on their runs between Chicago, IL and St. Paul, MN.

Traffic that goes from St. Paul, MN directly to Chicago, IL takes the single track line east from Savanna, IL through Rochelle, IL past the Trains Web Cam into Chicago.

Galesburg Yard is the former CB&Q Galesburg yard. It is on the double track former CB&Q that runs east to Chicago and west across southern Iowa to Omaha, NE and Denver, CO. There is a well-maintained CB&Q Hudson on display near the yard offices. But the ex-ATSF double track Southern Transcon passes through Galesburg and the two lines conne

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Is the line from Minot, ND to Seattle, WA?

s the northern transcon CTC all the way from Chicago to Seattle?

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Regarding the Northern Transcon, I am a know-nothing, so I’ll say nothing.

Regarding the Southern Transcon: At present, the line is at least two-tracked, literally between the piers of the harbor at Los Angeles-Long Beach to Ft. Sumner, NM, where the ex-Santa Fe crosses the Pecos River on a one-track bridge. Other sources (Trainorders) tell us that that this bottleneck will be removed by year end 2016. We’ll see.

From Ft. Sumner east, the next single-line segment (read bottleneck) is at Alva, OK, where the second track will have to span a creek, which will entail the construction of another bridge and considerable earthmoving and grading. My “source” suggests that this bottleneck is slated for removal next year.

Beyond Alva, OK, there may remain a few miles of single track on the way east to Wellington, KS. From here eastward, double track or paired track with directional running extends all the way to Kansas City.

From Wellington, KS west, back toward Alva, OK, one can follow two tracks on Google Earth to some unnamed to some point west of Kiowa, KS. It’s my understanding that after the last posted Google Earth aerial (11/30/2013), BNSF extended additional two-tracking to a point near Alva.

If any of this is wrong, I hope some knowledgeable BNSF’er will correct me.

East of Kansas City lies one single track segment: across the Missouri River at Sibley, MO. Otherwise, two tracks all the way to Chicago.

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Regarding the Northern Transcon west of Minot, from Minot it goes across the northern tier of Montana to Spokane, traversing Marias Pass on the southern edge of Glacier National Park.

At Spokane there are two routes to Seattle:

  1. The former Great Northern over Stevens Pass to Everett and then south to Seattle or north to Vancouver, BC.

  2. The former Northern Pacific over Snoqualmie Pass to Auburn, which is about halfway between Seattle and Tacoma.

There is a third route from Spokane - the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle, which heads southwest from Spokane to the Columbia River Gorge and follows the river all the way to Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR, and then heads north from Vancouver, WA up to Tacoma.

I do not know if it is all CTC, but the Northern Transcon has very high train density so I would not be surprised at all if it is CTC all the way between Chicago and Seattle.

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On the BNSF Web Site, there was a news item several months back that indicated the only single track sections remaining were at the three bridge locations mentioned above - at the Pecos River in New Mexico, the Red(?) River in Oklahoma, and the Missouri River just east of Kansas City, Missouri.

If my memory serves me correctly, once the Fort Sumner segment was double tracked, there would be only 7 miles of single track remaining on the Southern Transcon.

It is similar to the Northern Transcon between Galesburg, IL and Minot, ND in that the single track segments tend to be at larger river crossing where a second bridge would need to be constructed.

This is also what K.P. has pointed out on the Sunset Route regarding the Colorado River crossing at Yuma - that it will probably be the last segment to be double tracked on the Sunset Route.

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A couple of corrections about routes west of Spokane;

The former NP line crosses the Cascades via Stampede Pass, not Snoqualmie. Stampede lies south of Snoqualmie which was used by the MILW and still is I-90.

The route from Spokane to Vancouver WA is former NP to Pasco, where BNSF operates a large hump yard. It crosses the Columbia River on the former NP bridge and splits at SP&S junction where the former SP&S begins the line to Vancouver. The NP side is the line to Stampede Pass.

The former SP&S between Pasco and Spokane is all gone except for about 10 miles immediately west of the 1972 Latah Creek bridge that connects the former GN from Wenatchee with the former NP at the west edge of downtown Spokane. Between this point and just east if Sandpoint, Idaho the BNSF main is former NP. At Sandpoint the merger era connection connects the former NP and GN mains. The BNSF main is via the connection to the former GN. MRL lease starts just east of the junction switch.

I do no

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Didn’t the BNSF just add a 2nd main track between Minot and Williston?

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Most of the above trackage is now 2MT CTC with a few gaps, notably the viaduct over Gassman Coolee just west of Minot.

To add to the above notes, in 2015 BNSF finished upgrading the long, lonely Devils Lake and Hillsboro subs to CTC and added sidings on the latter. The ‘paired track’ arrangement between Minot and Fargo should now flow more smoothly.

Another big project also completed last year was converting ABS to CTC between Hastings, MN and Savanna, IL; many universal crossovers had to be added to the existing 2MT. Along with finishing the Staples sub CTC in MN I believe that the transcon is all CTC to the west coast.

BNSF has plans to add some second MT to the Aurora sub but the downturn seems to have slowed that up. Another probable deferred project is extending 2MT from Williston to Snowden, MT (junction with Sidney sub, shale oil central).

Further west on the Northern transcon, a second main track is being added to the Kootenai River sub (ex-NP) between Rathdrum, ID and Athol, ID. The single track bottleneck between Sandpoint, ID and Spokane, WA was created when BN stopped running through trains on the circuitous ex-GN line (not sure exactly when).

For more details see my Northern transcon map: http://goo.gl/maps/zUryP

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AFAIK this has been 2MT CTC for a while. Google Maps updating can be spotty, so I verify with ATCSMon layouts.

The single track gap near Alva, OK is down to about three miles after they extended the second main east from Avard last year.

BTW the Pecos River / Ft. Sumner project was announced by BNSF here.

There is another possible paired track arrangement with NS just east of KC (Birmingham to Maxwell Jct), or it may be just occasionally used trackage rights.

Follow along on the Southern transcon map: http://g.co/maps/dyzd3

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STEVEL (4-15): Route 66

Part I (of I-II)

Your being from New Jersey, I found the word of your past couple of travels out west the last couple of decades or so along Route 66 most fascinating, as this Southern Californian is quite familiar with Route 66 in the western United States. Perhaps to light your fire of things you can relate to, here are a few tidbits about this and past trips of mine along or related to Route 66 …

Back in 1984 somewhere (“somewhere) between Seligman and Peach Springs, AZ my wife and I were eastbound on the old Highway 66 when we saw something we both had never seen before, a big trampoline with people jumping on it in the middle of nowhere, where someone had opened a small general store! We went back, paid our quarters or whatever it was back then, and jumped too for ten minutes! AT&SF trains on the Transcon could easily be seen passing. I returned circa 1999, found the spot, but everything was gone. This past trip, the State had erected a fence along Highway 66 for miles, and the trampoline spot obliterated so it could not be found.

In dusk light, the east interlocking at Peach Springs, AZ was photographed.

The two-tracks and a siding arrangement is used often on the southern Transcon; however, it is unknown if it is used on the northern Transcon two-tracking.

Recently in Cajon Pass (CA), the Summit CP and floodlights to its east was photographed by forum contributor croteaudd and appeared in the “Cajon Pass Triple-Tracking Updates” thread, and is here reproduced in part by quoting his post.

[quote user=“croteaudd”]

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STEVEL (4-15): Route 66

Part II (of I-II)

In Pomona, the old “Second District” passenger line has been severely downgraded and is now owned by commuter interests. But, by the Garey Ave. grade crossing is the site of the new Metrolink system dispatch office.

That office BNSF Transcon trains will never see, as all the southern Transcon trains now go via the old “Third District” to or from Los Angeles.

The reason Transcon trains don’t use that old “Second District” anymore is that in 1994 Southern California experience a big earthquake, and the big, rather spectacular railroad bridge going halfway over to the 210 Freeway in Arcadia was damaged, and reportedly to fix it would cost as much as a new bridge, which because of the nature of its design, was a whopping amount. Santa Fe opted to abandon that line as a thru-route, and used the money it received to two- and triple-track the southern route via Corona (Third District).

A now rather famous “Iconic Bridge” eventually replaced the damaged bridge, but built NOT to heavy freight train standards, so is only limited to light rail traffic.

I hope all this doesn’t make your wife wonder why you have a sudden itch to visit Southern California again … But anyway, if nothing else, this posting two-part series will bring back memories of your past travels along Route 66 and the southern Trancon.

Take care,

K.P.

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On the Northern Transcon, the last I heard about the LaCrosse, WI double tracking project was that it was still being legally challanged. Was that finally completed?

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MidlandMike, I am in La Crosse intermittently.

The double track project across the wetlands to the south of La Crosse yard and through the golf course was completed and in operation last time I was there in early fall 2015.

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kgbw49, thanks. I have another question about the Sandpoint-Spokane funnel, which is apparently mostly single track. Since I understand UP has trackage rights in the Sandpoint area, was here ever consideration to forming a directional running paired trackage line with UP between Sandpoint-Spokane?

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SOUTHERN TRANSCON MISSING DT SUMMARY:

  1. Fort Sumner,NM Pecos River Bridge. Plus 2 miles of track west side. Under construction. Finish about Dec 2016

  2. Alva,OK Bridge over Salt Fork of Arkansas River plus 1 mile track on west and 2 miles of track on east. Large embankment grade on east side already built with subgradee. (2 years ago). Probably under construction in 2017 but variables with economy and thus traffic and Panama Canal Factors.

  3. Second Bridge over Missouri River at Bruckner (Sibley), MO. A real problem. Tight 30mph curve now on west side. Needs new alignment, BUT a. Power Plant in way and B. Homes in Way and C. On east side State Park, State Wildlife Sanctuary, and Federal Bird Sanctuary in way (Jackass). I suspect they are waiting for Coal Power Plant to disband and be torn down and get that land. Very difficult. Think more like 2020

Sum of all of these three is about 7 miles total.

NORTHERN TRANSCON MISSING DT SUMMARY:

  1. Still single track Snowden, MT to West Williston, ND. On hold. Oil down, Coal down, grain down.

  2. Trevino, WI 1 mile single track, needs bridge that needs environmental permits etc like LaCrosse. Slow, on hold. suspect 2018 or 2019

  3. East Winona, WI four miles single track. Grading and ballast mostly in. Widening mostly done. Some rails ready to go. No real land disturbance or bridges. Possibly by fall.

  4. Ports, WI Needs second track big bridge over WI River. Suspect 2020 or

  6. Montgomery, IL to Sugar Grove, IL 5 miles DT going in. By November.

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Filling the Single-Track Gap at Vaughn, New Mexico

Part I (of I-V)

At Vaughn, New Mexico BNSF’s southern Transcon goes over Union Pacific’s Golden State Route. Previously, in Vaughn the two-track line from the east became single-track for plus or minus 10 miles to the west, where two-tracks resumed and continued west to California. That gap was finally two-tracked last year. The new BNSF bridge over UP’s line:

Above, unlike BNSF’s northern track at Vaughn that goes over a landfill with UP tunneling under it, the new BNSF southern track has a bridging over UP.

Aerials now show that new southern bridge route:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.6030836,-105.2372137,198m/data=!3m1!1e3

In the latter of the above two photos, a westbound UP is stopped on the Golden State Route mainline, and can be seen through the tunnel.

Consistent with all the railroads’ grade crossing elimination efforts, a key road (at least for us) was closed. Looking north on Mesa De Leon Road, a westbound passes:

Look how gleaming and pristine the lead unit of that westbound is!

With that grade crossing closure, if one wants to get to the other side of the tracks, one has to take a circuitous route via the east side of town.

K.P. wonders if that TWO-poled sign had a little