Rail Activity During My Childhood in Fremont, Nebraska

I grew up in Fremont, Nebraska, which continues to see a lot of railroad activity even as mergers take place and lines are abandoned.

The main rail traffic through Fremont is the Union Pacific's Overland Route, a transcontinental route from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Roseville, California. This is the route famously taught in history with its completion commemorated by driving a Golden Spike in Promontory Point, Utah.

While grain elevators line the tracks and hoppers can be seen switched around, the heavy traffic comes from the full coal trains coming from or empties going to Wyoming, interspersed with intermodal trains carrying goods, or refrigerated box cars carrying perishables, across the nation.

It would seem that a train passes through Fremont every 3 minutes. You can't go long without hearing a horn in the distance.

The mainlines through Fremont were so numerous that they literally criss-crossed. Burlington Northern came up from the south, crossed the Union Pacific and CNW tracks at three diamond crossings, and curved around the west side of town as it headed north where it crossed another CNW track at another diamond crossing.

Trains also serviced the coal fueled power plant in town. I lived near the power plant and could always hear the hum which coupled with the occasional high pressure release of steam and the constant sounds of trains coming and going, gives Fremont its unique soundscape.

Chicago and North Western used to come into Fremont from three directions. The north from Norfolk, the southwest from Lincoln, and the northeast from Blair. At one time the CNW track coming from the north even split to run along both the east and west sides of town making Fremont a railroad island. By the early 1980s, Chicago and North Western abandoned both the section of track coming in from Norfolk to the north, and the track heading over the Platte to Lincoln on the west side of town. Union Pacific now runs over the track coming in from Blair before joining the Transcontinental Route.

The track from Fremont to Norfolk was was built in 1869 by the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad, nicknamed the "Cowboy Line," and was later acquired by Chicago North Western in 1903.

In the early 1980s an excursion railroad, the Fremont, Elkhorn Valley Railroad (FEVR) was established and acquired the line from Fremont to Norfolk from the CNW (though the FEVR only ran as far north as Hooper, Nebraska). For the first few years of operation it used a steam locomotive which was later sold to an operation in the Smoky Mountains. The Fremont Dinner Train was a separate operation from the FEVR but utilized the FEVR locomotive power and track. After a bridge washed out the railroad could no longer run up to Hooper and instead terminated in Nickerson.

By 2015 the dinner train moved operations out of state and the FEVR has shut down thus ending operations on what was believed to be the oldest track laid in Nebraska.

The Union Depot which serviced both Union Pacific and Chicago and North Western was gone before I could remember. The Chicago and North Western Freight house still stands as does the Burlington Depot.

Union Pacific 5967, a GE AC4400CW-CTE, leads an eastbound empty coal train in June of 2009. The view is from the Broad Street viaduct which is just one of many prime rail watching locations.

View from slightly above the tracks as a train with two locomotives approach. It is an empty coal unit train and the cars stretch out of view. There are two main tracks, and additional tracks on either side.

Burlington Northern 2160, an EMD GP38, runs alongside the BNSF depot on the south side of downtown Fremont, June 4, 2009.

A locomotive is passing an old brick depot. The locomotive is a green and white Burlington Northern and has a string of box cars and covered hoppers. The locomotive is numbered 2160 and has white stripes on green on its nose.

Burlington Northern 2700 (EMD GP39-2) and BN 1592 (EMD GP28P) sit with a string of empty BN hoppers outside Christensen Lumber in August of 2000.

A locomotive sits in a yard with several grain elevators in the background. The locomotives are green and white Burlington Northerns numbered 1592 and 2700. 1592 has the white Burlington Northern logo (letter N inside of B) on its nose.

A mix of coal cars occupy the tracks along Johnson Road at the Lon D. Wright Power Plant in August of 1999.

There are two sets of track. The one on the left is empty and has an aspect signal next to it. The one on the right has a string of coal cars, each full and of different railroads. Rio Grande, Union Pacific, Chicago and Northwestern, etc. A power plant is in the distance.

CNW 6934 an EMD SD40-2 was built in 1976 and would later become UP 3097. Here it sits sporting the Operation Lifesaver logo at the Main St. crossing in August of 1999

Chicago Northwestern locomotive 6934 sits at a crossing. CNW engines were green and yellow and this one has the Operation Lifesaver Logo

The remains of an old Chicago and North Western turntable that used to be situated within a wye on the south end of town. January 2009

Behind trees and a gate the steel arch structure in the middle of an old locomotive turntable still stands connected by wires

A string of passenger cars loads passengers for an excursion in August of 2006.

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FEVR 1219 (EMD SW1200) idles before heading out on an excursion run in August of 2006. 1219 was built in 1962 and served the Chicago and North Western as 319 and was later renumbered 1219 which stuck when the FEVR aquired it.

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I took this photo of the FEVR engine around 1989 during a helicopter ride. I was probably about 12 years old and the local airport was offering rides during the annual John C. Fremont Days.

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Chicago North Western Freight House built 1903. This picture is from August 1999

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Postcard of the Union Depot in Fremont, Nebraska. The depot served Union Pacific on the south (right) and Chicago and North Western on the north (left) side.

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Postcard of the Union Depot in Fremont, Nebraska.

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Intermodal trains through Fremont are common, as are coal unit trains, produce, and anything making its way from California to Council Bluffs and beyond. This view is from the Broad Street Viaduct. Union Pacific 5067 is an EMD SD70M built October 2002.

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A BNSF train rounds the curve along the west side of Fremont, Nebraska, before crossing 23rd St in 2010. BNSF 6328 is a GE ES44AC built September 2009.

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Chicago North Western 8683 and 8646 lead heading east into Fremont along Military Avenue December 1998. Both units are GE C44-9W's built in 1994.

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Union Pacific 521 performs a switching job downtown in March of 2010.

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Union Pacific 5935 and 5752 are westbound west of Fremont, Nebraska, March of 2011.

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Videos

I was joined by my friend Grant for a day filled with train watching in March of 2010. There was no shortage of rail activity in Fremont that day. Switching, mixed freight, and unit trains (both empty and full), came through. The employees were nice, even waving, smiling, and giving a few extra rings or toots, as we kept a safe distance in public areas such as lots and sidewalks.

Audio

In March of 2011, I set up a microphone in the backyard of my childhood home to record the sounds of the night in Fremont. Though I recorded for fifty minutes, I condensed it to the following 20 minute clip. It can be described best as a sleep aide for train enthusiasts as distant train horns call out into the night, sometimes receiving a response from another train passing through.