Casper WY Action

Can anyone tell me who is doing all the rail work out near the Casper Airport? Seems there are alot of new rail spurs going in, and someone is planning on alot of new business...

...is this a new short line starting up to do some switching?

All the railfans in Casper dead? What's up?

WNY:

The present Casper Airport was built in 1942 as the Casper Army Air Base. The base was utilized for advanced flight training of B-24 Liberator bomber crews. In March, 1945 the base was deactivated and shortly thereafter was turned over to the Casper community. Rail service to the base was provided by the CNW and possibly by the CB&Q.

Departed the airport a few times on commercial flights. The city built a very nice modern terminal facility there. Drove around the airport once and noticed that, back in the early 1990s, there remained several WW II structures in various stages of disrepair.

Several years ago when I worked up in Wyoming I heard mention that a portion of the airport was to be utilized for a industrial park. No doubt the work you observed was fruition of those long ago plans.

Lost my Casper connections way back so can offer no further information at this time.

I went to high school in Glenrock, and used to watch the CNW roll through town, and when hunting with my father, I got a good dose of Powder River Coal. When I went in the service, I moved away for good, but visiting family in Casper now for the first time in 14 years, I notice a few things:

CNW is gone from Casper to Douglas. I mean gone. Looks like they made it into a bike path in places, and both of the old refineries in Glenrock are leveled; The Texaco refinery east of Casper is gone, and only one spur track remains off the BN; the large Amoco refinery near Mills is also gone, but Little America is still in operation. From the sounds of the locals, they must run out there a few times a day to do switching.

There are new spurs in quite a few places, including a customer taking coiled & bar steel in gondolas, and another that looks like plastic pellets, but I couldn't get close enough. Haven't been out by the airport yet to see what's up there.

On my way through the Wind River Canyon this week, and then the mines of Thunder basin next week. Not many short lines out here.

WNY:

The CNW last went up to Riverton in September, 1988. They began trackage rights over the BN Orin Jct.-Casper in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The last time I shot the CNW in Casper was 06/1991. I think that they left town shortly after that, for good. The CNW depot in Douglas is now a railroad museum with some rolling stock on display including the CB&O steam loco that used to be on the Wyoming State Fair grounds. That was quite the move.

Haven't been up to the Powder River Basin coal fields since 2000. Interesting place, but one cannot get very close to any of the loadout facilities. You can see more trains than one could ever imagine, however. The figure bouncing around a few years ago was 100/24 hrs.

Well, after dragging myself and my family on a thoroughly abusive 99-mile run from Casper to Shoshoni, (not a soul in sight - thought I was on the moon) I was warmly greeted by the black smoke of the Bighorn Divide & Wyoming RR crew placing cars at the yard in Shoshoni. Apparently, they are moving alot of Molten Sulfur and Soda Ash. BDW apparently the only short line in Wyoming.

BNSF runs daily through the Wind River Canyon, and it is as beautiful as ever. They have taken one of the tunnels out of service and the line skirts it over a new plate bridge. Having seen two northbounds, I'd like a southbound through the canyon, just to listen to the roar reverberate off the rock.

Has anyone, and maybe this is just a dream, thought of running an excursion out of Thermopolis? Thermop's Depot is apparently not used by the railroad anymore, and there is room for a siding....seems like it would be a no-brainer. The views beat the hell out of any other excursion train I've run.

I wonder if anyone from Wyoming actually reads this?

Coal mines this week....mmmm.

WNY:

Did you stop and get a ice cream delicacy at the Shoshoni Drug Store?

Bighorn Divide and Wyoming RR? After the CNW quit Shoshoni-Riverton, the word was that an outfit called the Bad Water Creek RR was going to take over but only to Shoshoni. The Shoshoni yard was going to be utilized and a rail/truck transfer was going to be built there. Never followed up on any of it so your info is handy. As I understood it, the Bad Water was to be a part of the Bonneville Transloader outfit which has a rail/truck soda ash facility at Bonneville. They had a neat ex-MILW Geep painted silver, this in 1988.

Knowing BNSF management as I do (or at least, did) I fear a excursion through the Wind River would be deeply frowned upon.

Did you catch the museum in Thermopolis? They have a great layout of the semi-bituminous mine that was at Gebo and which was served via a CB&Q spur.

Don't know if anyone from the Cowboy State reads your posts, but this person, who resided in Gillette for 14.5 years, does.

Wyoming SLs: Can't think of any right now, but former ops included:

Colorado & Wyoming, Sunrise-Guernsey.

Wyoming & Colorado, Larimie-Lake Owen (excursion service over former UP branch)

These are long gone. Another long gone line operated Buffalo-Ucross and had steam till the end.

TB:

Well, apparently they moved the drug store, so I missed it. No shakes on this trip.

Must be this BDW has turned into the Bighorn Divide....

Two more northbounds today, one with cripples... two eastbound freights from Casper as well....in the 7 years I lived out here, it was never this busy rail-wise. Apparently the economy here is on the upswing still....

Surprised to see the amount of mixed freight...it used to be just boxes and tankers. Gons and flats with steel, plenty of covered hoppers, and bunches of tank cars....two of the trains I've seen have had power at both ends. One single unit seems to trail all the time.

Headed to Gillette on Monday...guess they give free tours of the mines....

WNY:

BNSF installed CWR Casper-Greybull back in the early 1990s. Appears they were expecting the inceased traffic up there.

BNSF began to utilize DP on the line some years ago. By doing so they got away from doubling the hill between Wendover and Cheyenne.

When I lived in Gillette Belle Ayr and Black Thunder gave free mine tours. Stop at the Gillette Visitors Center where information and reservations can be made. The Rockpile Museum is interesting if you have the time. They had a great film on casting shots going off. Those are so powerful that they register on the Richter Scale. Always felt like a earthquake at the mines.

WNYP431 wrote:
Has anyone, and maybe this is just a dream, thought of running an excursion out of Thermopolis? Thermop's Depot is apparently not used by the railroad anymore, and there is room for a siding....seems like it would be a no-brainer. The views beat the hell out of any other excursion train I've run.

Geez, why don't they??? That would be a GREAT excursion, and could double as a way to get up to the reservoir for the day. One of my biggest complaints about driving through Wind River Canyon is having to pay attention to the DRIVING. An excursion line through there would make me as happy as a bee in clover. . .

I've done Durango and Chama/Antonito (the narrow guage trains). I have to admit they pack some scenic punch . However, they're not in Wyoming . . .

WNYP431 wrote:Well, after dragging myself and my family on a thoroughly abusive 99-mile run from Casper to Shoshoni, (not a soul in sight - thought I was on the moon) I was warmly greeted by the black smoke of the Bighorn Divide & Wyoming RR crew placing cars at the yard in Shoshoni. Apparently, they are moving alot of Molten Sulfur and Soda Ash. BDW apparently the only short line in Wyoming.

BNSF runs daily through the Wind River Canyon, and it is as beautiful as ever. They have taken one of the tunnels out of service and the line skirts it over a new plate bridge. Having seen two northbounds, I'd like a southbound through the canyon, just to listen to the roar reverberate off the rock.

Did u take any pics???? If so, we'd love to see.

Amtrak:

See my post above. I totally doubt that BNSF management would ever consider running or allowing to be run any type of excursion service through the Wind River Canyon for a myriad of reasons that they surely would offer. I worked for the outfit therefore the opinion.

I took plenty of pictures, but didn't catch anything in the canyon.

Back from Powder River and Black hills today... plenty of shots if I can figure out how to upload them.

Empties and loadeds STACKED like cord wood waiting to get in and out. I've never seen anything like it. It was never like this when I was a kid. Seems as though BNSF has a larger chunk of the pie these days. About a dozen trains waiting their turn at the yard east of Wyodak, and stacked up again out towards Moorcroft.

Adding another track and bridge overpass at Orin Jct, and many trains at Lusk & Edgemont.

Probably a stupid question, but did I see a set of UNMANNED UP helpers pushing on a train east over the hill towards Manville? Radio controllled?

(Excuse the drool...) Also stopped in to Black hills Central Railroad in Hill City SD. 110 is about ready for the opener May 5th. Really nice setup....everything an excursion RR should have, and the 5% grades should be nice too.

Exhausted AND pooped.

Pictures when I can.

WNY:

Glad that you enjoyed the show. Try to imagine what it would be like to participate. Did it for over 14 years and it did get old.

Another track at Orin Jct.? Bid a work train there about 1992. BN put us up at the Holiday Inn in Douglas. We tied the train down in the old CNW yard at Orin Jct. Last I knew BNSF tore out most of the old C&NW track and put CWR down for the Glenrock trains which went over to Casper crews by agreement.

No unmanned helpers on the UP. What you noted was DP.

BTW: The drug store with the ice cream specialties in Shosoni was called Yellowstone Drug Store. My bad.

Look out for rattlesnakes. They are just out this time of year. And mean.

Maybe I'm lost...I thought it was Orin....we were driving west from the bustling metropolis of Lusk...just into the I-25 basin, the line swung south over the highway towards Wheatland...there was a single track bridge, and they are adding a second bridge, having done alot of work to the ground around there.

Another line continued west and under the interstate with a couple of yard tracks....it looked to me like a big wye in there....

...yeah, was on the lookout for rattlers, but we've still had snow here, so I'm sure it'll be a couple more weeks...

DP makes sense to me now...wasn't thinking about it.

What a neat photo shoot along that road. Plenty to see besides trains....not like the line to Bill - ugh- or "East Bill".

It's really nice to see all new railroad...ties, rail, signals...everything nice and shiny...

I'll bet it was a challenge doing that job. It was a challenge driving it just once, not sitting there all day waiting for a cab. Ooof.

Amtrak back home tonight.