Three UP Coal Trains South of Bill, WY

[@hankbob2000]

I call them the Powder River Express. They go through Texas here regularly. Southbound full, northbound empty, a full cycle, 24-7. It's an amazing operation!!!!

[@leegraves101]

Same here in central Va. , empty westbound full eastbound

[@Corcoran09]

What choreography! You must have great connections with Union Pacific to pull off such an awesome three-train catch like that! Spectacular ending!!

[@bhproductions1061]

That was awesome I caught a triple train race at Conway

[@rorymacve]

Brilliant video mate! It's strange seeing that Southern Pacific Locomotive on the second train, 13 years after being bought and the SP livery still goes strong...

[@AGSGuy]

I love the powder river basin because of this 3 trains for one video & you can see for miles so you can see about 5 of them at the same time LOVE IT!!!!!! friendly crews as well

[@METX210]

Oh my gosh what a beautiful catch! Spectacular shots too!

[@justforever96]

I like it. For some reason this video seems kind of creepy, or sinister somehow. I know that doesn't make any sense, but you got these industrial locos, throbbing with power, and the long lines of cars, all identical, slowly moving past you, unstoppable, and the setting of the scene, and the lighting. It was way better than your typical train video. And there is something about the resolution or camera that makes it look almost like an animation or like it's filtered. I've seen that before.

[@rewind48]

That was so cool. I love how they all meet in the end at the same place.

[@anb740]

I was first there in 2010 at the height of train movements there. The war on coal has decimated the train count there, and track #4 north of Bill is now used for hopper storage. A sad sight. I photographed over 200 coal hauling EMDs in the deadline east of Gilette in 2017.

[@bennoach]

Where I'm at, KY and WV are great for mountain RR action, but nothing like this! Great shooting! :)

[@htc6600]

There's literally never-ending action here. You're right about the concrete ties. Concrete ties are an expensive luxury but they make sense in places that can't go down for maintenance very long.

[@pinkykhatun8046]

Oomokkl

[@FutureTruckerJen101]

I just love to see all the enthusiasm in the enthusiasts. Warms my heart to see that there are people aware of this industry.

[@adhithiyanrajendran4060]

FutureTrucker Jen

[@FutureTruckerJen101]

what

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

@penguingeneral2 This line is completely triple track (with an area of 4 main tracks too) and has heavy traffic. I was happy to catch this event, but I'd be willing to bet something similar to this plays out on this line one or more times per day.

[@SantaFe19484]

The Powder River Basin is one of the biggest things on my bucket list.

[@KKEM641]

Great catch on the the three way meet. On the weight on the cars (I saw in one Kansas City a few weeks ago) on the train I saw, had an average of 21 tons empty, with a 101 ton loads, for a total of 122 tons per car (and figure roughly 137 cars). For the most part that is what I see on other trains. I would love to visit the Orin Sub someday.

[@LanceCampeau]

Because this type of train "meeting" is not common in most parts of the world. The footage is spectacular.

[@TRAVAM91]

welcome to the powder river basin, where coal is gold and trains are endless... great video!

[@adkanp]

I have been to Bill WY and driven along that line from Douglas to Gillette twice. When you see coal trains running as often as streetcars, you know you are witnessing big time railroading. The videos do it justice. But go there and experience it. Douglas is a great place to get a hotel and great eats.

[@idriwzrd]

Yeah, send the high-speed empty down the middle. For maximum coal dust dispersion.

[@nickbolton7343]

Sweet video. Very nice meet!

[@tractorsmachinesro1405]

Great & epic work as always

[@BladeLigerV]

I am ASTOUNDED that most people think semis and trucks are the optimal transport instead of freight trains. I want those people to LOOK AT THIS!!

[@Ranveer_Singh_sangha03]

BladeLigerV trains cannot go deep in the heart of the city or small town so who is winner in the end and 2nd truck haul produce california to new york 2 and half day is there any train in america doing that thing but yes mostly big cargo safely done by trains these days but i always wondring why america not using dc for train because so far i know train take lot of fuel isn't

[@FutureTruckerJen101]

Oh I know, I never really thought it was but it is a huge part, pretty much the entire heart of America. Trucking is a part in everyone's lives, many just dont reslize it. If Americans were more aware, they'd realize how privileged we are and how much we need these huge industries. If you bought it, a trucker brought it.

[@mlane3837]

FutureTrucker Jen I realized that trains hold a lot more

[@abdulsalamcute1526]

Yes ur ri8 beautifull Melanie Lane

[@Jemalacane0]

@@Ranveer_Singh_sangha03 Alternating current traction motors are better in every way.

[@25mfd]

You also mention market forces. I think it would be interesting to see if the PRICE of electricity would go up,down or stay the same if we were to leave coal and switch to wind/solar. Coal is much cheaper to aquire and use than the other alternative energy sources. Coal also has flexibility with regards to how/when you use it. You can leave it in the ground. You can mine it and use it immediately. Or you can mine it and stockpile it. Those options aren't available with green energy...

[@ThePaulv12]

Great vid. Love the drama, also really love the UP crews 'acknowledging' your filming of them.

[@ShizSmitty]

Ugh. I'm slightly frustrated by the folks who are making comments on this video in regards to how it shows how we are ruining our planet. Well the computer you are using to make these comments, view the video and send your emails has to be powered by something. We all like to turn our lights on and make coffee every morning. We all love to have lights in our homes so we can still be productive after the sun goes down etc etc etc. Trains are the most efficient form or transportation over land. The only mode that is more efficient are barges, which by the way are also used to haul coal and oil. Let's keep shipping via rail including oil. No need for the keystone pipeline, we already have plenty of trains to move our oil. We can improve the safety as the rail industry has been doing for over a hundred years now. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. We can have efficient, responsible energy and transportation and rail is the way! Coal is domestic so we don't have to go to war to keep it flowing. The coal indusrty creates jobs as does the rail industry. We should improve the working conditions for people in all domestic industry. Stop sticking our noses in the business of other countries and lets bring this country into a new chapter where we can depend on ourselves through domestic sources of energy.Food for thought.

[@jackhoskins6684]

S.km

[@arlenegrundy7671]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[@joestrainworldvideos3977]

This is an impressive train video. I subscribed.

[@bonkeydollocks1879]

Running very clean at full throttle

[@freighttrainsahpassing9790]

Seeing all that coal on two trains like that is pretty satisfying !

[@williammurray1564]

I want everyone to know I have a hat from the Bill Wyoming Yacht club! I know your all jealous! BTW it was honorary because my name is Bill you know.

[@megatrains]

Just subscribed!! Awesome video!!!!!!!!

[@sxcgirllvsisraeli3072]

LMAO!!!!!! Good one! ~ But I love trains, especially the real long ones, makes me feel like a kid. LOL

[@strobx1]

@sevenswanstudio That was a Grade Crossing signal normally used to warn highway traffic a train is coming. It is also a greeting.

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

In the U.S., if a train has a locomotive on the rear (Distributed Power), an EOT is not required and instead the rear headlight of the locomotive is left on dim and used as a marker. U.S. freight locomotives typically don't have red marker lights even built into them for use in 'trailing' situations.

[@adkanp]

i have been to bill wy twice and it is simply amazing to see

[@koebi1144]

it looks like a model train;) good video!!

[@roywebb8188]

Wow that's a beautiful sight

[@TheSlagman0]

2011 I was hauling coal with a 240 ton Komatsu haul truck at Antelope mine . It is the first mine north of Bill Wyoming and is still operating today no thanks to Obama! I was told in the high point there was 60 plus coal trains going through there a day !

[@MickFix]

Holy Crap! I would've been jumping up and down!

[@THEATREofPAIN270]

2:05, Wow, What an awesome shot. Fantastic post.

[@lorirocks777]

Nice video

[@upheritage6]

great catches.

[@AdiposeExpress]

Not that many. Amtrak is the only long-distance (non-commuter) train provider. The East Coast is where most of the trains are: there is the Northeast Regional, the Acela Express, and some long-distance trains between WA and NY. There are also some trains along the west coast and around Chicago. In the mid-west of the country there are only four East-west routes and one North-south route (which does not connect the former four routes). Look up "Amtrak Map" to see what I mean.

[@TheMichaelWilcock2016Railways]

All our railways here in the UK are fenced off. In cities they're made safe by walls, buildings etc, never running alongside roads as with you. In the countryside hedges and walls again separate livestock and people from trains. Very few of our roads are " open ". No doubt we being a much smaller country we have less open space. Mike in Llanblethian, Wales, UK

[@choppersilver]

top driving there. those two would have emerged the other end of the empty waving at each other. good driving top marks.

[@vrfan]

Great catch. Whats the capacity of those hoppers? Just wondering how it compares to the stuff where I'm from which is up to 120t capacity

[@2011Maynard]

Really nice catch - thanks for sharing....

[@Passengervehicles]

Super video. Great catch !

[@richardhelliwell1210]

What do these trains weigh in total? Always amazed at the size of US trains. Must be 100 wagons at 100 tonnes each = 10000 tonnes. I guess the locos must be 4000 hp each. I'm English by the way. Our freights are smaller but run a lot faster to keep out of the way of the passenger services on a very crowded network.

[@philbob99]

135 wagons at 125-130 tons (total weight on rail) each was typical in early 2000s. Plus power, 3 units average. 17,000 tons not uncommon. I was there and knew engineers.

[@tfmercedez]

I personally visited a large coal power plant that had the capacity to burn between 9000 to 12000 metric tons o coal a day, depending on the heat demand for district heating, and electricity. There are out even power plants that can output 4000 MW/h. 500 MW/h is almost small.

[@topautos]

Superb shot ! :)

[@tuebor1837]

A locomotive can move one ton of freight 480 miles on a gallon of diesel, but you people still cry about fuel efficiency.

[@shalala4571]

+tuebor1837 Im more concerned about what they are doing with the coal

[@gacj2010]

+Lucas Jonsson What do you think they are doing it ...BURNING it to make electricity do you have lights in your house? Shut them off if you have a beef ad all your other appliances

[@shalala4571]

+gacj2010 Ever heard of green power? Wind turbines etc. Nuclear is also way better, it's just that people in this world are so fucking cheap and will do anything to save money

[@gacj2010]

Lucas Jonsson I am for all types of energy production but some out there don't want dams built ..... I think Hydro is excellent. California has been dismantling dams that used to reserve water, but as their population swells the water problem is aggravated. It makes no sense to me. Nuclear , done the American way seems a very good alternative. I would like to see coal burned with stack scrubbers so nothing comes out of the stacks but transparent gases. I am not for cessation of coal usage . It is a natural resource we should be thankful to have. 55% of all electricity is coal powered ...even the electricity that goes into elect charged cars like the Chevy volt(what happened to that) is half coal generated. I call those elect cars coal burners. Somebody should tell China to lay off the coal and India too. There is no one solution. They all have consequences. People just have to pick their trade offs.

[@shalala4571]

+gacj2010 Yeah, but i mean, some are still worse than others. I mean sure windmills are noicy, but put them in the ocean and u will have almost constant wind and wont bother anyone ^^ Sure coal is a resource we shall be thankful for. But we need to be careful what we do with it. I dont want to sound like some hippie, but the world is fucking dying...

[@pony133]

that is some big ass trains right there blimey

[@chrism9277]

Why do a lot of GEVO's look they have been on fire at some point in their operation ?

[@hithereson]

***** The EVO's high pressure mechanical side of the fuel system is bad about leaking and catching fire. I see many of these come through the KCS yard that have caught fire.

[@Passengervehicles]

Awesome video

[@jcvjcvjcvjcv]

And what makes putting Diesel in them more sense? Coal > plant > train is more efficient than: Diesel > train Especially if the Diesel prices rise.

[@AdiposeExpress]

Two things: the car and the airplane. In the early 1900s, cars became popular in the U.S. In 1956, the U.S. started to construct the Interstate Highway System, which created large high-speed roads, competing with the trains. Soon after, the U.S. invested in many airports, and plane travel, blessed with superior speed, took away the remaining passengers. In 1971, the U.S. created Amtrak to take over the failing passenger services, and their trains run on the now freight railroads.

[@vthome78]

Awesome great catch

[@MichiganCentralLines]

great video!

[@boildpeanuts]

I would hate to see what happens to both those trains going in the same direction on different tracks when those 3 tracks narrows down to single track! Will one train stop or will they both collide into each other?

[@Quicksilver_Cookie]

Should take a snap of that and send it to Green Peace to hang framed in one of their offices.

coal train racing will never replace NASCAR

[@edgarsiesoibarra]

nice video wonderfull coal trains

[@jakeinlow1561]

Good catch on these coal trains

[@paulspomer16]

Kinda odd to see only GE power on loaded coals. Normally EMD power is preferred for those

[@thunderstormzlightning]

great video

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

im surprised that those units have patches and new panels despite being relatively new

[@Erail87]

Gotta love those coal drags!

[@mjp29]

nice footage !

[@tractorsmachinesro1405]

Great work....Epic images...Thumbs UP!!! Big like & subscribe from Romania

[@TheMichaelWilcock2016Railways]

Makes our trains her in the UK look very short. An still no fences over there Mike in Wales

[@loganbaileysfunwithtrains606]

there are no fences because it is to expensive to put fencing on the sides of the tracks and most of the tracks leading to those mines are in the middle of no where

[@jabmolou]

You will find fences along rail lines where snow tend to build up along the tracks. the common name used is "snow fence" or to keep people away from the railroad tracks. Tell us Mike what they use fences for there in the UK.

[@mitymo1968]

our whole metro system in Sydney NSW Austrraliais all fenced off and its a big area

[@NRRailfan228]

This is awesome!

[@KJ-xx6xr]

Huh, I kinda miss the coal trains of Wyoming. Used to see em all the time when we'd take 18 outta Orin Junction heading to South Dakota, and used to listen to them at night running from Glenrock Coal Mine to the Dave Johnson Powerplant. Now all I have to listen to are CN frac sand trains going by 3 miles away along the US8 corridor, they aren't near as long. Sadly people around here whine about waiting for a quarter mile long train to go past.

[@robink7945]

imagine being late for work and you have to wait for those things to pass

[@Trainlover1995]

Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Jeff Gordon were racing those trains.

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

Crackin' good video.. Enjoyed that

[@thomasharmon7800]

Earth worshipers upset with this video I bet

[@keithramsey5637]

almost a million views for a one in a million shot! right place right time.

[@mattyboy3576]

most people in the comments: makes me think about how much we're destroying the environment Me: Damn I wish I was there

[@mhammedmd3695]

865

[@mrjodoe]

such powerful pieces :-OO

[@jaeFFCC]

Cool Triple Coals!

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

Thanks! I believe these hoppers are also in the 110-120 ton range.

[@lancewilson719]

Love trains my question is why is there an engine on the two trains going the same way I live in Columbus GA and there's a regular car with a light on it. I remember along time ago it used to be a caboose.

[@1800Beatdown]

Distributed power. also does sorta the same thing as a caboose or sbu. It can automatically put the consist in emergency if needed from the rear to the front. Too many engines on the front would break a knuckle easier

[@dejuan1981]

Lance Wilson The single engine on the other side is called a "pusher" it has nothing to do with a caboose. They send the pushers when a train stalls or have a hard time making it over a stretch of rail such as the 2 loaded ones you see here

[@johnbates4319]

The engine on the end of the "consist" is a " pusher ". They are quite commonly at the rear but sometimes in the middle or both. They help to get very long or very heavy trains up to speed and up long, steep grades without stalling. Not all lines have abandoned the caboose. The UP line here in Tulsa Ok. Still uses them . I see them nearly every day .

[@lancewilson719]

OK Ty

[@josephkrizauskas1052]

@@dejuan1981 It also takes the strain off the couplers of the coal cars so they don't break. That's a lot of weight on those coal cars.

[@HolyRubbish]

So long trains! Are they for real!!

[@mattyboy3576]

What

[@Boss302fan]

In general railroads in North America have determined that electrification does not make better economic sense in the long run. It's been looked at over and over throughout the past few decades but the way railroads in the US, CN and MX operate, combined with the cost of the change, makes in incredibly unlikely we'll see electrification on this continent in the forseeable future.

[@ChadsRailfanExperience]

This bridge has a bunch of truck traffic on it now

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

Bummer.

[@1racerboy1]

Look up the Traincraft mod. You can have all sorts of realistic looking trains in Minecraft with it. :)

[@irelandbloke]

Fantastic videos !

[@akhtarmehmood3791]

irelandbloke steemengine

[@هاديهادي-ل9ر]

irelandbloke ضفغه

[@AKAtheA]

Also don't forget that coal is needed to make coke, a vital ingredient in several important industrial processes, one of being steel making ;-)

[@ayeRIGHTyaBE]

nice video, good patients!

[@dd51de10]

Great passing scene !

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

It's my video, and I can't understand it either!

[@aab8504]

Gey

[@smleonard55]

fantastic. Could this be a publicity/ marketing shot?

[@jeretrain]

Belle vidéo !

[@DirtyRecordsAI]

there is a long BNSF coal train driven by CSX for CN that comes through where i live and i've never seen it using red lights or an EOT they just leave the headlights on in the back and if their suppose to they dont lol

[@NeAZ]

I guess those two are going to different places, aren't them?

[@Ranveer_Singh_sangha03]

NeAZ yes u forgot already that day i told you that one is going my home 2nd your lolzz u still need more coal let me know

[@NeAZ]

Ranveer Singh Sure!

[@vikititor]

say me something: its realy neccessary to make this long and slow going trains, when the shortest train cann go quickly? - so often then this mamut lenght?

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

Yes, if you want economics on your side.

[@mumia76]

Coal is not a time sensitive cargo, there is no added profit in transporting it quickly. Also you need better or welded rails to go fast, especially with a heavy load. And multiple trains hauling less means multiple crews whose wage costs money.

[@vikititor]

mumia76 OK - in America you have a time.. You have more place - cose there are big factories (powerplants) outside from cities. Here in Europe its another situation - yes we are needed fast trains - cose we are laving nature. But another culture - another taste.. Thanks guis - i love the long trains - specialy documentary movies about it.

[@25mfd]

mumia76 You hit the nail on the head on all points. Especially the part about using multiple trains. The massive Robert scherer generating facility in georgia takes two 124 car trains per day. It has taken as many as five a day. Split a 124 car train into 3rds and it will take forever to reach the proper megawattage needed for that facility. Not to mention it would remove any monetary advantage that moving that amount of freight by rail has.

[@alexanderaleksic5145]

25mfd American high-tech: Diesel-powered Trains and coal-fired powerplants. That is what you call Efficiency and that is the same reason why you love to bring Democracy to countries that are rich with oil. GREAT - thank you for democratizicing the world

[@drewjl0]

nice vid!

[@17br549]

Who gives a flying fornication about all that energy jive.?????????? GREAT catch on these rails.!!!!

[@Angry.General1461]

I wonder witch is the world is going to run out of first coal or oil???

[@25mfd]

Good question.

[@TheKoups]

hahaha well witches are a fairy tale.the correct one is *which.

[@rajsamsung283]

vggjff

[@megatwingo]

Cool video. Thumbs up! :)

[@TrainVidsWithTom]

No, just freight. And other than track maintenance trains, all they have here are these loaded and empty coal trains.