Crawford depot 6-28-88
After coal shipments from Wyoming's Powder River Basin began to explode in the late 70s and beyond, the former CB&Q line through Crawford, Nebraska picked up an enormous amount of traffic. Although one would think of Nebraska as flat, the grade from Crawford to Bellmont was a sustained grade that included a horseshoe curve. Railfan photographers started to show up on a line that was a sleepy secondary route before, and eventually that included me. Three pusher sets of SD40-2s and a fuel tender (a tank car with diesel fuel, tied into the locomotive fuel tanks) were stationed at Crawford to shove trains over the hill. On June 28, 1988, I stepped foot in Crawford for the first time in my life, only to see the classic "Q" depot was soon going to be razed. Looking through an open window I spied this chalk board (no longer used) used to keep track of the units and fuel tenders. One photo captured a bit of nostalgia before it was gone.
Crawford depot 6-28-88
After coal shipments from Wyoming's Powder River Basin began to explode in the late 70s and beyond, the former CB&Q line through Crawford, Nebraska picked up an enormous amount of traffic. Although one would think of Nebraska as flat, the grade from Crawford to Bellmont was a sustained grade that included a horseshoe curve. Railfan photographers started to show up on a line that was a sleepy secondary route before, and eventually that included me. Three pusher sets of SD40-2s and a fuel tender (a tank car with diesel fuel, tied into the locomotive fuel tanks) were stationed at Crawford to shove trains over the hill. On June 28, 1988, I stepped foot in Crawford for the first time in my life, only to see the classic "Q" depot was soon going to be razed. Looking through an open window I spied this chalk board (no longer used) used to keep track of the units and fuel tenders. One photo captured a bit of nostalgia before it was gone.