BNSF's Northern Transcon in Minnesota: The Staples Subdivision - FULL VIDEO (2003)

[@roadrailmediagroup]

No one told us we were in the good ole days before we left them! I loved watching early BNSF trains in the late 90s between at-bats in Brice Prairie, WI.

[@CVisionProductions1]

The variety at that time was exceptional. You never know what you would see.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Another stellar video that deserves way more views.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you, Drayton! It’ll get there. Just needs time. We’re grateful for every single one of our viewers, regardless of the total view count. Keep up the great work on your end!

[@AlikStansberry]

Honestly, BNSF’s early years were quite possibly its best. With just how much of the old and new equipment they had, plus H1 and 2 were new. I was very surprised to see Ex BN 1991 still in its Bicentennial livery at that time. Thanks again for being all this classic BNSF footage back! And congrats on 10,000 supporters!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you, Alik! Very much appreciated. And yes, the 1991 was a great surprise that day. Also, we think you’re right. BNSF’s early days were probably their most colorful and interesting.

[@sntrainzchaserguy6883]

I hope you continue to post more railroad documentaries in the near future. Thank you very much.

[@CVisionProductions1]

We will! Thank you for being a viewer and appreciating our videos!

[@Carter_H]

Awesome video! So many unique paint schemes, lashups, scenes and locomotives that are almost impossible to see with today's standards. It's incredibly surreal to also see BN 1991 during this era too with it's rusting fuel tank and faded flag. The BNSF early years were truly something to see!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you, Carter! We agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. The 1991 may have lasted longer had the paint been in better condition. We appreciate hearing your thoughts on the video!

[@jaybobred6552]

Thanks for this excellent video.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Our pleasure! Thank you for watching!!!!

[@norfolksoutherntrainguy5857]

Thank you for this Classic footage

[@CVisionProductions1]

You’re very welcome! Thank you for watching.

[@BNSF1458]

WOW C vison, this was a spectacular presentation with loads of epic classic BNSF! That parade around the one hour mark had some incredible trains. Overall a wonderful video, I was surprised to see a few MRL locomotives. BN 1991 was awesome as well. Took me 3 days to watch but finally finished 😂Hopefully sometime I can make it out here, its about 2 hours from where I'm at though so kinda a long way to go just for railfanning. Question - where did you setup for that Mississippi river shot in Little Falls? Great shot there

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it! The Little Falls shot was accessed from a small city picnic area on the north west side of the bridge off Lindbergh Drive.

[@NTR-OTC]

Great video. It complements the live feed cams in MN on the Staples Sub. Thanks!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you very much! We’re glad you found the video enjoyable.

[@ChadsRailfanExperience]

Some classic power still running the high priority stuff, I like it

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yep! Back then, you never knew what you’d see on those trains. BNSF wasn’t afraid to mix it up during that time... A very colorful era, indeed. Thanks, Chad!

[@NorthlandTrains]

Just extraordinary how different everything looked then compared to now, especially Big Lake & eastward...

[@CVisionProductions1]

Between the time this video was produced and the modern Northstar/PTC era, things have changed dramatically! It’s good to see two main tracks in service between Big Lake and Becker...

[@ThePrairiesRailfan]

fun fact! Coming from a person from Manitoba myself, the BNSF staples sub isn’t so far from other busy mainlines, The CN Reddit and rivers sub on Manitoba is probably the busiest in Manitoba, Non stop trains there, CPKC Keewatin and Carberry sub also gets a lot of trains per day, Action here Is nuts with also a bit of BNSF coming in, Cando and the GWWD (greater water district,) Great video!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you for the fun fact! You’re right. The Staples Sub’s west end really isn’t too far away from the Canadian border. And yes, there’s lots of great train action north of the border! We appreciate the comment.

[@AMPProductionsVideo]

Very Nice Production, great era for Trainspotting IMO

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you, AMP Productions! We’re glad that you enjoy our footage from this era. Looking back at it, the late 90s and early 2000s had some of the best variety in modern railroading history.

[@kingoflovetrain6426]

Awesome Video in your Home State C. Vision.😉

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you!!! And yes, this is also C. Vision’s hometown line. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@ebnertra0004]

Those searchlights in Staples with the big gap may be NP relics. They used a very unique speed-signal system that made extensive use of big gaps like that. Very cool to see

[@CVisionProductions1]

You are absolutely correct. Those are all NP signals. Unfortunately, they are all gone now. Thank you for the comment!

[@MrBnsftrain]

I absolutely love early BNSF (1995-2007) stuff! So many different locomotive models and liveries, and many major subdivisions still had long single-track sections. It will always surprise me that some BNSF orange locomotives had faded paint in less than ten years (like the example at 5:53, but that one was repainted before 2005)

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yes, there was a certain group of Dash 9s that faded almost immediately. Similar to many of the H2 SD70MACs. They looked great when they were fresh, but that quickly changed. On the other hand, the earliest BNSF H1 Dash 9s still look pretty good! Major difference in paint quality...

[@AlikStansberry]

@C Vision Productions the SD70MACs have always had problems with their H2 paint fading quickly, except the Executive paint ones. It’s surprising how good the Executive and H2 MACs look as of today, mainly the Executives. I do also like the MACe rebuilds.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Alik, Agreed. We did notice that the repainted H2 SD70MACs, which were previously in the Grinstein scheme, look much better than the factory-delivered H2 units.

[@railfanrahn]

Surprisingly the single track between Little Falls and Philbrook still exists to this day! (Lincoln is a personal favorite of mine) the staples is however dominated by basic GE power these days. Every once in a while you’ll get some neat power outta Northtown.

[@mjrodriguez8670]

Chris, this was a Northern Pacific mainline from St. Paul to Moorhead! This is the first decade of BNSF, when train-watching was much more enjoyable.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yes! We agree, MJ. Thank you for commenting.

[@ryanfrogz]

Great video! Amazing how much more efficient the railroads were just 20 years ago...

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you very much! One thing is for sure, they were much faster. Trains were smaller, crews knew how to move, and they were encouraged to do so. Trains today are generally just too big for quick moves. Combined with Trip Optimizer and PTC, you have some slow trains.

[@renorailfanning5465]

I remember my dad and I flying out of Monticello International Airport...just kidding. It was a 2,500' grass strip...in the late 70's and seeing the green BN trains in the distance heading NW and SE. I believe the airport is a farm now.

[@CVisionProductions1]

The colorful early days of the Burlington Northern, viewed from the air! Those certainly are memories to cherish. Thank you for sharing.

[@Michiganrailfan]

I was born in 2002 and man I wished I could have seen this era of BNSF. Good grief the variety shown here.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you for the nice comment, and also for appreciating the early days of BNSF. As we’ve said before, they truly were wild and colorful. You never knew what would show up next, but there was a high likelihood that it would be something interesting.

[@Michiganrailfan]

@@CVisionProductions1 Even as late as 2008 the vareity was still there. I got your BNSF Staples Sub West dvd at a train show in 2008 and its astounding how much vareity there was.

[@CVisionProductions1]

2008 was a great year for motive power. However, things changed drastically in late 2008 and early 2009 as the economy slowed. There was another exciting period for motive power circa 2012-2015 during the oil boom, but that’s really been about it since 2008.

[@Michiganrailfan]

@@CVisionProductions1 Yeah

[@colinmulder6806]

When I look at it, this video is like PENTREX'S TRAINS ALONG THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VOLUME 2: BNSF'S ST.CROIX SUB but better. Not only folks had the chance to see more variety of power on BNSF during the 90'S which included more of those unique looking LRCX G.E.'S but a few more of those H2 PUMPKINS on their maiden runs & even more scans of BN SD60M #1991 BEFORE it's scheduled repaint in 2000. Even spotting a FRESHLY repainted GP60M in the H2 scheme. Not to mention catching those BNSF business cars on the back of a STACKER which was an unusual surprise for usually you'd find those on the back of intermodal "Z" trains. If you to shot the WEST END of the Staples SUB between 1998-2002 along with the WYZETA SUB & Milwaukee Road west from Wilmar,MI you would undoubtedly treat your fans & followers to more variety of power & colors the BNSF had to offer during that time period.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yes, it was shot shortly before the Pentrex show, so the motive power is the same variety.

[@colinmulder6806]

@@CVisionProductions1 In fact as evidence, this video even featured that G-DICMAD1-01 that was later spotted at EAST Westminster in your "DAYTON'S BLUFF" video & later on by PENTREX at WEST ST. Croix for their video. Turns out the train made a POWER SWAP at Northtown Yard.

[@CVisionProductions1]

As you may know, C. Vision owner and founder, Chris Laskowski, shot that St. Croix show for Pentrex. So there’s some overlap present in those productions.

[@colinmulder6806]

@@CVisionProductions1 AMAZING, simply AMAZING.

[@Nicola636128]

What a great variety of liveries in those years with special mention for the SD60M # 1991, really beautiful; in practice we saw all the livery samples of the BNSF immediately after the merger with the ATSF. It is worth taking a cue if you want to reproduce mixed goods, the Everett freight train with its large number of wagons loaded with timber is also very interesting. One question, if I'm not indiscreet: in those years in the Minneapolis / Northtown what did they use on the hump yard?

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you for the comment. At the time, they were using SD38P/TEBC6 sets on the hump to get the job done. Those had replaced SD9/GP9B/SD9 sets in the early 90s. And thank you for mentioning the 1991. That unit was a real gem!

[@Nicola636128]

@@CVisionProductions1 Thank you!

[@CVisionProductions1]

You’re welcome! From what we can see, it appears that the first SD38P/TEBC6 sets were placed in service by late 1992. Within a decade, former ATSF SD39/slug sets had become the preferred hump power at Northtown. SD40-2s began to replace the SD39s and their slugs beginning in the late 2000s.

[@MilePost106]

They put in new switch stands at the wye in Camp Ripley and a new 5,000 foot siding and a ribbon line across that truss trestle.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Interesting! Thank you for the update.

[@RCPE3999Fan-c1i]

When will the all orange RCPE movie will be released

[@CVisionProductions1]

Should be sometime next year.

[@trains2057]

They sure run the exact same trains a hell of a lot slower nowadays

[@CVisionProductions1]

“Progress”. We miss the good old days on the rails. Thanks for the comment.

[@maxrshelltrack7443]

Trains barely go 30-40 mph nowadays.

[@BNSF8500yt]

I wish we still saw power like that. Nowadays it’s all GEVOs

[@CVisionProductions1]

We hear you. The early days of BNSF were very colorful. You never knew what would show up. Today, things are a bit different… Anyway, thank you for watching the video.

[@CNWrapidrails6867]

Hey C Vision Productions you know what else you need to make soon

[@CVisionProductions1]

Hello! What show is that?

[@CNWrapidrails6867]

@@CVisionProductions1 you need bnsf brainered sub lakes sub grand forks sub and noyes sub just do them soon cause the coal plant in superior will shut down by 2026

[@CVisionProductions1]

Great idea! Thank you.

[@CNWrapidrails6867]

I have videos on the staples sub wayzata sub CN Rainy sub and BNSF hinkley sub

[@CVisionProductions1]

Nice!

[@chrishaupt9739]

C vision productions nice train video send me southern pacific train video

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you! We have the footage for SP videos. Just a matter of putting it together.

[@Blocksguy]

Nice

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you very much!!!

[@bradhardy2629]

All that ex Milwaukee Road container business has made the BN very rich .

[@CVisionProductions1]

If only it hadn’t happened like it did... Competition is not a bad thing.

[@bradhardy2629]

@@CVisionProductions1 When I was a kid growing up in Austin Minnesota . Milwaukee Road Division point. I always thought if nothing else worked out I could work in our big Yard . From the late seventies on everything slowly dried up on purpose. The shippers were screaming for cars & a simple switch at the end . And couldn't hardly get that sometimes. No car's available. The fastest Route to the River in iowa was . 50mph track down from cliff rd. Through Austin down the Calmer line to the river . Quinn was a complete pos . They dried up all the business in the Calmer line and you know What happened after that.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yes. Cooking the books and scaling back service. That was the name of the game back then. Very sad. Some branch lines simply had no future, but lines like the Omaha main and the Pacific Extension? So very unfortunate.

[@MilePost106]

They put in new switch stands at the wye in Camp Ripley and a new 5,000 foot siding and a ribbon line across that truss trestle.