Three SD70MACs lead 92 loads and just shy of 7000 ft. of flat cars consisting of southbound containers for the Northland Services barge connection in Seward. This big train is curling across the Snow River bridge and as soon as it passes under the highway will march up the nearly 2.1% grade at Divide on it's last lap toward the end of the line. These big COFC trains on the south end are something new for the ARR this winter and with a five year contract in place they should be fixture every December through March for the foreseeable future. It's nice to see some additional life breathed into the south end of the ARR mainline which in the winter months has pretty much solely been the domain of export coal trains.
Coal and steel don't go bad. This album features long, slow, heavy freight trains; drag freights, slop freights, dead freights, etc. Trains with lots of power, and lots of different cargo slogging along behind.