MASSIVE LOCOMOTIVE SHOP AND RAIL YARD ACTION UNDER THE DRONE! IAIS, BNSF, and Silvis Railway Park!

[@zacharycalgher3978]

The 2-10-2 steam engine is Union Pacific 5511. The 4-6-6-4 steam engine is Union Pacific Challenger 3985.

[@stevenikitas8170]

Imagine all of the history in that steam locomotive repair shop. There were certainly men who worked there for decades, lived in town, raised their families, etc. Then their sons worked there, and maybe their grandsons.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

For sure, all kinds of history. Just seeing the transition from steam to diesel would have been a lot of history. The round house would have been impressive!

[@garymiller5937]

The repair shop is absolutely humongous!! How cool. 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

400000 square feet of it!

[@garymiller5937]

I love the Iowa Interstate power! 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@christopherb9667]

Thanks for the railway preservation shout-out! I hope railfans also support their local museums.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome Christopher!

[@garymiller5937]

You gave us a fabulous view of the Iowa Interstate yard. I certainly enjoyed it very much, Red. Thank you for braving the cold weather to bring it to us today! 😊😊😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome Gary!

[@sandyg9228]

Good to see a remnant of the of the Rock that’s still active. Thanks for the aerial tour!

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome Sandy!

[@robinroberts3335]

Hello Red . Wow that was a large yard at one time sure be cool to have seen that 👍🏻 . The drone is so cool 👍🏻😎Robin out .

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Yo Robin! Glad to see it's still getting some use. Should see some restored steam power out of that shop fairly soon👍😀

[@garymiller5937]

Great minds think alike Red. I was just talking to my wife about that a few minutes ago. I'll bet they need a rail car to deliver that bill! LOL. 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Especially now with natural gas going up!

[@charleshagenbuch6078]

A nearly full roundhouse,not just a wedge, would have been impressive! It would take some very deep pockets indeed to rebuild that. Iowa Interstate has a nice paint scheme.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Yes Charles, very deep pockets. I heard some talk about building it.

[@craigzysk9666]

Thanks Red, awsome looking rail yard

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome Craig!

[@fredtrench5684]

Thanks for the video Red. Silvis was a busy place in the day.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome Fred! Been neat to see that round house.

[@EntertainmentWorldz]

Superb!! video sir ❤❤❤❤

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks EW!

[@ronaldrondeau7870]

Well Red I love it, there is lots of stuff around, need to see more of it

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Glad to hear it Ronald!

[@davidmorris7696]

Very cool footage ....starting to really did the IAIS!

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks David M! I like the IAIS colors.

[@warrendarrah2555]

Very interesting Red. There is an Iowa Interstate yard by me in Council Bluffs, but much smaller.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Warren! A lot of rolling stock there.

[@brandonreeves5979]

I don’t know what it is but I love the Iowa interstate paint scheme. That yard is huge! Love the drone footage there brother. 👍🏻🎥💯

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Brandon! I like those colors too. They have a couple of Rock Island tribute locomotives too. That yard used to be bigger and had a hump back in the day👍

[@brandonreeves5979]

@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 oh right on! That’s cool! You’re welcome sir.

[@williammunford476]

Great vidieo thank you keep warm 😊❤

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome William!

[@michaelbuss5731]

Excellent video Red. Drive past the Silvis exit on the way to and from when heading back to "home" in Iowa.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Michael! That was my first visit to Silvis. That place was huge in it's day!

[@Phantom-Signal]

Good Morning Mr. Red, That is a massive train yard. That's a lot of track. They must have used them all at some time. Great scanner traffic! Keep that coming please (if possible). Cool seeing a slug or two that they use. Built in 1903? Wow, that building is old. A lot of different power sitting there. Still can't believe how big that yard is. I bet the heat bill buried them and made them go under. Great video as always Buddy! Cheers!

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Hey Phantom! Yep and that yard is smaller than the original one. The original one had a hump. I try to tune in the scanner when I can. Just a matter of researching the correct frequency👍

[@davidschick6951]

I always wanted to see an IAIS slug. I was told one was based at Bluffs and one at Blue Island but that was a few years ago. I had also heard they never ran very well. Now it seems they’re dead at Silvis. Thanks for the footage, it was cold that day.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome David! I'll be glad for a January thaw.

[@elainehowell2836]

Thanks for showing round the train yard and it is been snowing and it is nice to see all of the trains and here we had frosty down to minus 7 and it has been very chilly and some sunshine but no snow Thanks

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

You're welcome Elaine! Sounds like you're having the same fun weather we are😆

[@wolfgangpfeilergartenbahnd6530]

Hello Red, a fantastic drone view of the Interstate yard. And on Silvis Railway Park, there are a lot of diesel locomotives there. It's great that you made this video in this weather and that the drone handled this flight very well. 👍👍👍👍👍👍Thanks for the excellent video, stay healthy and all the best to you. Many greetings from Germany. Wolfgang

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Hey Wolfgang! That was my first visit to Silvis Railway Park. The drone did fine. I've flown in temps as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit. The hardest part of flying in the cold is keeping your hands warm! Stay warm in Germany!

[@willwozniak2826]

Nice job buddy!

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Will!

[@bekleidungu.ausrustung7068]

Real nice, Red! So glad to hear the historical society took over from NRE. I guess they own the steam locomotive shop now. Looks like another big building in the back too. It does take railroad enthusiasts to keep this stuff alive, otherwise progress and the cost of doing business destroys it all eventually 🚂🚃🚃🚃

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Bekleidung! Yes it takes railfans and people with some deep pockets to keep this history alive. It would be worth joining the RRHMA just to go inside of that massive steam shop👍

[@kens.3729]

Looks like Winter which includes Extreme Cold 🥶 and plenty of Snow up in Iowa.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Yes I was hoping the mild weather would have stuck around. We're already running out of places to put snow!

[@mackenziedeverick7418]

Great video I love Iowa interstate they are a great railroad

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks MacKenzie!

[@kbno99]

That will be Canadian pacific next target

[@mackenziedeverick7418]

@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 no problem you are like the best railfanner that Railfans in iowa

[@centraliowarailproductions2810]

Nice video!

[@garymiller5937]

We're the beautiful black and yellow cars passenger cars Red? They are sharp looking! 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Not real sure. Should be some nice restorations out of there soon👍

[@JimTulk]

Great video Red, I’ll have to get down there to see that. The place looks amazing. Love the round house I’d like to see that put back together!!! CN had a turn table here in CR by Quaker but they took it out. Guess they didn’t need it anymore.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Jim! It would be cool to go inside of that huge shop.

[@paulbergen9114]

When one looks down at it from the air it's probably as big as the City of Silvis itself. While many of the smaller buildings were torn down and some of the areas saw remediation of the soil it truly met the standards of a company town and just the sheer size of the locomotive shop and the now gone turntable. It was still The Rock Island the last time I had passed through probably in 1978. and all the later photos have stored locomotives everywhere. Gradually some were shipped to other facilities or. scrapped on site. It is a good thing that NRE kept part of the site in that as a working shop it won't have to go through the Superfund process and also the Friends of the 261 won't face a huge cleanup bill. The magazine Remember The Rock had a very good two-piece article about the shops perhaps 5 years ago. It looks like a local is in the yard and the train with the containers is the one that will hit East to Blue Island and it's Chicago connections While no longer as busy as it was before the shutdown at least the route is intact unlike the Milwaukee Road across Iowa which is now severed. Just think if the Rock had been more dependable as the Union Pacific's interchange partner and it may have been a different sto Very good coverage of a historical site and hopefully in a few years Excursions can start out of here. Someday on one of your Iowa drives perhaps you can check the town of Alta where a new soybean processing plant is to open on the CN and it's supposed to be one of the largest in the Midwest

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Paul! That was my first visit to Silvis and a chilly one at that. That roundhouse would have been impressive to see back in the day. I thought about joining the RRHMA. It would be great to help out inside that massive shop. Yes if the UP worked out an interchange with the Rock maybe the CNW would still exist. That single main probably wouldn't have been enough for the UP though. Maybe a motorcycle trip to Alta once were done with this winter which has turned out to be a tough one.

[@ejd715]

Great footage Red! I am so glad IRM saved 7009. I would like to think I had a little to do with it. When CNW pages I follow on Facebook would post about the SD50, I would tag IRM on multiple occasions. Then the word came that they were going to purchase it. I was super happy about that! Funny story about the Silvis RI yard. In 1986, There were all 20 RI U30C lined up in the yard. My father, 2 of my cousins who lived a few blocks from this yard and I went down on to the property to take some closer pictures (yea big mistake) and were greeted by a Silvis PD officer once we got back to our parked car over near I-5. Security there was always strict as well during the NRE days.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks ejd715! I look forward to seeing the 7009 at the IRM soon. I was there back when the last CNW C44-9s were there. I believe that was 2015. I didn't notice any security that day but of course I was just in air space. Hopefully the RRHMA restores that building and possibly a round house again!

[@fallingup90]

Love seeing the view of the old RI shop complex. I went there once in June 2022 and there used to be a longer line of diesels. Where did NRE move the bulk of them? Also someone needs to save that SP tunnel motor lol.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

That was my first time to Silvis. I just missed a CNW SD50 that was there. That unit went to the IRM and will most likely be restored. Not sure on the other power that was there. A lot may have been scrapped😆

[@fallingup90]

@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 at least we have that CNW example! You'll have a great video when it gets warm recording drone shots all over IRM

[@ryanmiller6191]

like the video, if you're ever towards the western side of the iais (council bluffs, omaha area) should do something similar there

[@timothyallen2407]

superb stuff as always. Is that a retired rail grinder (8 minutes in)?

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks Melvin! Not sure about that other grinder train. Maybe just storage.

[@johnredhd]

Are you in Ri today? I'm over in Davenport. It's so cold! Be careful.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Nope, I live in Cedar Falls.

[@zman_o7]

😎👍

[@deepspire]

That was once the largest locomotive repair shop in the world.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

I'll bet!

[@davidsnider1703]

Great video. I wonder if the grinder train has water problems in winter. We were flying home from florida on the 7th. Just in time for snow and blizzards and brutal cold in north iowa lol

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Thanks David S! Yep Winter time kicked in hard. That's a good point about the water on the grinder train. I'll ask my Dad. He used to supervise grinding operations.

[@davidsnider1703]

Thank you. ​@@redsiowatrainvideos6645

[@nevillethomas7321]

P.S. what ever happened to the hump with break system to send railcars for another train ?

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Not sure about a hump at this yard.

[@thomasmackowiak]

I enjoyed your drone footage of the former Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad's Silvis Yard and Engine Repair Shop in Silvis, Illinois, Red! The Iowa Interstate trains working in the Silvis Yard were nice to see. That Loram Rail Grinder was a big machine. Someone did a KZbin video of the National Railroad Equipment owned locomotives in Silvis Yard before NRE left. I remember watching a video with drone footage of the NRE owned locomotive, but I do not remember who produced the video. I also remember seeing several videos of the Union Pacific "hospital" train that brought the Union Pacific Challenger, a 6900 series diesel engine, and some other Union Pacific equipment to Silvis for the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America people to bring back to life after the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America people took over the former Rock Island engine repair building.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Glad you liked it Thomas! I would have liked to fly the drone over Silvis back when NRE had more units stored there. CNW 7009 was there for a long time and recently went to the IRM. It should be around for a long time now.

[@Cripleclarence_1948]

I bet they're wishing it was 30 degrees today. 🥶

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

30 feels like a heat wave!

[@strenesperu9956]

what is that remaining SOO unit?

[@jz1340]

That facility and yard was not built by Iowa Interstate. Probably an old Burlington Northern facility.

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

Rock Island.

[@jz1340]

@@redsiowatrainvideos6645 Thank You...

[@garymiller5937]

Do the birds see the drone as an invader and try to wreck it? 😊

[@redsiowatrainvideos6645]

The birds don't seem to be a real problem until nesting season. Come spring look out😆