Railfan Information on the Powder River Basin and Alliance

[Anonymous]

I'm going to be to the Powder River Basin and Alliance this summer by chance does any body have railfan information or know of a website that would have some Information on either of them.

Thanks

[kschmidt]

Greetings,

I have out to Alliance twice and the Powder River once. I don't know of a website with info but for the Powder River, Pentrex just released a DVD "Powder River Combo" it has alot of information including road maps showing where locations are. When I was out there in 1997 we started in Douglas on the south and headed north on Hwy 59. One of our best spots was around Antelope Mine just north of Bill, WY. There is nice S-curve visible and we had trains visible for over two hours straight. We didn't get all the way to Gillette. But Hwy 59 is the road to take.

Alliance is a neat railroad town. The yards and shops pretty much take up the town. The one thing I remember was staying in the local motel and there was a BN crew calling channel being shown on TV. It would give local crews their status. If you are in Alliance you might as well go up to Crawford Hill and check out the action there. It is a big helper district. It is about 30 miles from Alliance. Also when in Alliance another stop would be "Carhenge". Some family decided during a family reunion to bury old cars and make it look like "Stonehenge". It is something different. I hope this helps.

Keith

[Anonymous]

Thanks Do you need a 4x4 to go to Crawford Hill

[kschmidt]

Well I did have one. But I don't think it is necessary. I don't recall the name of the road to the tracks where I one of a couple of horseshoe curves. The road is not paved but it is easily traveled by car. Also the road to the summit of Crawford at Belmont is not paved but again easily traveled by car. Of course the more daring one want's to get the better it is to have that little lever to pull that says 4x4.

Keith

[Anonymous]

Hey Doggy,
Here's some stuff to take along. I've been out to the Powder River about a dozen times. My in-laws live near by and my father in law is a bigger rail fan than I am (lucky me.) I'll give you my favorites by section.

First - three rules for the Powder River area
1) If you are going in winter time, be careful. I've been out there in January, at 70 degrees, wearing T-shirts, only to have a blizzard come roaring in. Be prepared (extra food, blankets, candles, etc in the car.)
2) Anytime you go, take extra water. Its really, really dry out there. Stop at the c-store in Gillette or Douglas or somewhere and load up on double what you think you will need. You'll feel better for doing it.
3) Don't let the size fool you. Campbell County (where Gillette is located) is about the same size as the entire state of Connecticut. Its a big area and to get from Alliance to Douglas, up the coal line through Bill up to Gillette and then back down via Newcastle to Alliance runs about 500 miles. That's a long day if you want to take any photos along the way.
4) Bonus- be prepared to photograph lots of trains standing still. When they get any back up at the mines, things start to get gridlocked out there fast. More than 27 trains on-line from Reno Jct to Orin Jct starts to jam things up pretty hard. For trains inbound to a mine, a lot of times what you see is trains creeping forward one more block toward the mine where they will load. Trains outbound roll better and faster. Also, when the power goes by, don't give up on the train, remember, a lot of them have DPU pushers on the back so you can get the going-away shot there too. That applies to UP and BNSF trains.

As far as the line, here goes:
Alliance to Gillette:
Crawford Hill is interesting but you have to drive about a mile on a signal maintainers road to get there (ie. onto posted RR property.) I don't know how security sensitive BNSF is on this area. BN keeps pushers in Crawford and there is an interchange w/ shortline RR Nebkota Rail. Go to Mapquest.com and type in Crawford, NE. You'll see Belmont just below. Zoom in a bit and you'll see the RR line. The private road runs from Belmont north. The roads between Belmont and Crawford show you a LOT of the hill from public right of way. See Saw Log Rd, Horse Shoe Road and Squaw Creek Road. These get you right up to the lower horse shoe.

Going North, there is a nice sweeping curve as the trains head South out of Edgemont, SD. Nice photo Ops there. You get the South end of the South Dakota Black Hills in the background. In Edgemont, the Alliance crews change out. Stop at the depot and you get a parade of trains coming in and out while crews swap over. North of town, the highway passes over the main as you can photograph westbound trains on a nice curve there too. The old branch up to Lead, SD split off right by the bridge. Just north of the bridge is a gravel road that runs west toward the tiny town of Dewey. It parallels the tracks all the way to Newcastle, WY. Its a fair gravel road. Watch for deer. There's a few nice photo spots in the pines along the way. North of Newcastle, the tracks run along Hwy 16 to Moorcroft. Just South of Upton, they cross under the highway - good photo spot here. At Moorcroft, stay on the state road (Hwy 51), don't get on I-90 because you can't get off to get to the tracks. This will take you right into Gillette. You'll drive right by the Wyodak mine and power plant. There are lots of sidings and visible signals all the way from Newcastle to Gillette. Keep your eyes open for headlights. You'll likely see 5-10 trains from Edgemont to Gillette. They seem to "fleet" trains on this line. i.e. you'll see 2-4 eastbounds, then a short lull, then the same number going the other way.

I'll reply in a seperate message on the rest of the line.

[Anonymous]

Gillette area:
On the East side of Gillette is a place called Donkey Creek Jct. This is where the coal line going South splits off from the East -West main (Gillette to Alliance main). The Gillette-Alliance line has manifest trains (boxcars,etc) + coal trains so its a little more interesting. You can hang out at the Jct and get some nice shots there. Just a few hundred yards West is another Jct which is where the lines to the mines North of Gillette split off. Yes, there are 4 mines North of Gillette and I'll bet that 9 out of 10 people that go out there, forget all about them. If you drive through Gillette to the West side, then go north on Hwy 59, it will take you right to 2 of them. There are some overpasses right near the mines that give you awesome photo angles. One has a large scoop shovel bucket right out by the road. My father in law parked his Explorer SUV right inside of it for a photo. Its that darn big. Also in Gillette, Garner Lake Rd will take you up to another of the Northern mines. I really liked the mines up North. It was quieter up there, less people around, etc. In downtown Gillette, BNSF has a yard and crew-change office. There is a public pedestrian overpass that goes right over the yard. Be careful around the overpass areas. Some overpasses are made from those "super-culvert" things. Snakes (lots and lots of snakes) like to hide out in there on warm days so DON'T try walking inside.

[Anonymous]

From Gillette south, get on Hwy 59. Go South about 8 miles to Bishop Rd. Go left (east) on Bishop. This will take you in the area of 4 of the mines. DON'T try to go onto Mine property. They are very sensitive to this. I'd guess that its a great way to meet the Campbell County Sheriff. Bishop Rd passes under the tracks. Once you see what there is here, head back out to hwy 59 and go South about 6 miles to Rd 99 / T-7 Rd. If you miss this one Haight Rd also should work. Either will take you to Hilight Rd, which runs South, right along the tracks for about 40 miles. Its gravel, but its public. You can't miss on this road. Most of the way, you are right across the fence from the tracks. Work your way South to the jct with Hwy 450 which is called Reno Jct. There is also a RR junction here. The branch to the Black Thunder Mine and to Jacobs Ranch mine goes east here. They are only a mile or three away. You can see both from the Jct. I like to sit up on the bridge at the jct and have the view of the tracks north, south and east. I've seen 5-6 trains at a time here going various directions. Nice telephoto spot on the curve coming off the branch. Go east over to the mines and you might get some nice shots. Lots of captive trains moving slowly. You can see both well from the road. Last time I was there, Black Thunder still gave free tours. You can see the pit, the shovels (they're huge) and the plant. They have some haul trucks in the parking lot which are on display. There are lots of mule deer, antelope and elk around here. Black Thunder has its own herd of Elk. Go back out to Reno Jct and continue South on Hilight Rd. It runs out at Reno Rd so go back over to Hwy 59. Go South to Steckley Road and don't miss this one. Its right on top of Logan Hill which is the Southbound Ruling grade. Its triple track and the bridge is right at the crest of the hill. You can get heavy southbound loads grinding up the hill and northbound empties coming in. Head back to 59 and run down to Bill. There is only the UP crew change office and the yard here. Some possible photos of the power lined up at the yard. Then head South into Douglas and watch for Hwy 20 east. It will take you to Orin Jct, the South end of the BN coal line. If you go east on 20, you'll follow the UP for about 20 miles more. On the BN south of Orin, they go through Wendover canyon which looks great. Never been there, but the pics look fantastic.

Hope all this helps -
- Stack

[Anonymous]

Thanks dblstack

[Anonymous]

One final tip Doggy,
Invest the $16.95 on a copy of DeLorme Mapping company's "Wyoming Atlas and Gazateer." It has great topographic maps of Wyoming showing the RR's, the back roads, the mines, junctions, etc. The mines all show up as a RR branch that makes a loop and returns to the main (called a balloon track.)
Good luck and happy hunting.
- Stack

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your help eveyone

[Anonymous]

See TRAINS MAGAZINE November 1998. The map on page 79 served me well on my last visit.
tom

[Anonymous]

Where Can I get the Railfan Map for the PRB

[Anonymous]

Doggy,
I'd stand by my recommendation to get the DeLorme Mapping company's "Wyoming Atlas and Gazeteer."
It has all of the back roads, crossings, overpasses, geological features (ie. hills), etc.

It really did the trick.
- Stack[:D]

[Anonymous]

Do you still see Oakway SD60's, BN SD60MAC and BNSF SD75M and do you C44-9W on BNSF?

[Anonymous]

Since the line from Alliance to Gillette hosts manifest trains and coal trains, any power that the BNSF owns or leases is pretty much fair game there. The last time I was on the coal line (Gillette to Douglas segment), it was mostly newer model GE power on both UP and BNSF, but did see some EMD power as well.

[Anonymous]

IS Black Thunder still the largest mine?