The Sand Hills Subdivision was once a quiet backwater of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy system. Today, it is a heavy duty piece of
railroad. Beginning in the early 70s, the line became one of the
primary routes for coal trains from newly opened mines in Wyoming’s
Powder River Basin. By the late 1980s, the line had been thoroughly
rebuilt to handle the flood of unit coal trains traversing the line.
Part One of this two disc set looks at the line as it was between 1987
and 1989. Starting in Grand Island, Nebraska, and heading northwest
through Ravenna to Alliance, we see the railroad as it was a
quarter-century ago.
Cascade Green dominates, as C30-7s, U30Cs and SD40-2s are the primary
power. The latest power of the day is also seen, with the leased
power-by-the-hour Oakway SD60s in EMD demonstrator colors and the LMX
B39-8s making appearances. We even see a lone Tiger Stripe GP50 heading
up an intermodal train. In addition to BN power, SD40-2s of Kansas
City Southern and M-K-T are seen. This disc is presented in standard
4:3 format.
In Part Two we see the line as it was in mid-2012, with coal trains
being led by today’s General Electric ES44ACs and EMD SD70ACEs and
SD70MACs. We begin in Alliance and work our way east to Alliance,
visiting some of the same locations as Part One as well as discovering
new ones. This disc is presented in Widescreen 16:9 format.
Both discs feature plenty of pacing as well as trackside shots, and the
fallen flags and long scrapped locomotives featured in Part One alone is
worth the price of admission.
Part One runs 67 minutes and Part Two runs 55 minutes.
