Eastbound UP train shows up at Grand Island, Neb. Jim Wrinn photo.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – I was visiting Nebraska last Saturday on a bird watching (crane migration) / train watching expedition when an old cliché came up from behind me and grabbed me by the throat and tossed me to the ground: “Timing is everything.” I hate to use a cliché, but this one truly fits. Hear me out.
I put this well-worn phrase to use time after time, as I was trying to execute photos of meets and overtakes on the busy Union Pacific main line across the Cornhusker State, but nowhere was it more prominent in my mind than in Grand Island. This location was already with me when I arrived because I’m editing a story for our July issue about run-through motive power and one of earliest examples was a Burlington Route / UP train that, you guessed it, switched from one line to another at Grand Island. On Saturday, I stood and marveled at the flyover that carries BNSF Railway trains across the UP main with ease, efficiency, and, of course, no stopping by either carrier.
The head end passes under the BNSF bridge. Jim Wrinn photo.
So, in the afternoon, when an eastbound UP unit coal train appeared, I could only wish for a BNSF train to come along at the same time and provide me with one of those rare, spontaneous two-for-one deals in railroad photography. And then, a miracle happened. A westbound BNSF unit coal train appeared and crossed the bridge just seconds after the head-end of the UP train ducked under the bridge. The meet between the distributed power units on the rear of both trains was similarly timed.
While the meet wasn’t perfect, it was pretty close for a random encounter. Timing is truly everything as these images will bear me out.
PS: On Tuesday, I was driving across I-80 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and looked down at the Iowa Interstate yard, where the line’s new heritage unit, No. 516 was switching in the company of another unit. As I said, timing is truly everything!
Westbound BNSF train arrives and crosses the bridge. Jim Wrinn photo.
Distributed power unit on the UP train comes into view. Jim Wrinn photo.
Miraculously, BNSF distributed power unit sails into view before the UP distributed power unit can fade into the distance. Jim Wrinn photo.
Iowa Interstate's newest heritage unit and another unit switch Council Bluffs, Iowa. Jim Wrinn photo.
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