Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Creston, IA: 1899 City Hall/CB&Q Depot, Roundhouse and Railyard

Depot: (Satellite)
Roundhouse: (Satellite)

Street View, Oct 2021

Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography posted
The rear DPU's of two loaded coal trains meet in Creston, Iowa as they pass by the 1899 built CB&Q station as they head east. A solo AC4400CW brings up the rear of the C NAMJOJ0 67A bound for Joppa, Illinois, while a pair of SD70ACe's are on the rear of the C WTMOTL0 11B as it waits for a crew to take it to the CP interchange in Ottumwa.
====Info====
11/14/2021
BNSF Creston Subdivision
Creston, IA
BNSF C NAMJOJ0 67A (Coal Loads; North Antelope Mine, WY to Joppa, IL)
BNSF 5686 AC44CW Blt. 2004
BNSF 6873 ES44C4 Blt. 2012
(DPU) BNSF 5692 AC44CW Blt. 2004
BNSF C WTMOTL0 11B (Coal Loads; West Thunder Mine, WY to Louisa Generating Station: CP - Ottumwa, IA)
(DPU) BNSF 9226 SD70ACe Blt. 2008
(DPU) BNSF 9366 SD70ACe Blt. 2006

Michael Emerson Avitt posted
February 17, 2011 - CB&Q depot in Creston, Iowa. Built in 1899 the station serves Amtrak and houses city offices today.
 
Michael Emerson Avitt posted
Creston, Iowa.

While looking for the location of the depot, I noticed the remnants of the roundhouse. It appears they do have a couple of locomotives for locals.
Satellite

The railyard still has most of its tracks. The yard usage is obviously dominated by coal hoppers. But BNSF does serve some ag industries on the east side of town.
Satellite

The CB&Q used to have a north/south route as well as an east/west route. The east/west route is the BNSF mainline between Chicago and Denver.  The routes shared the depot because the north/south route joined the east/west route through town.
1981 Creston East and 1980 Crest West Quads @ 24,000

The north/south route has been abandoned except for the remnant to the north which is now an industrial spur. In fact, all of these Iowa routes except for the east/west mainline and the eastern branch up to Des Moines have been abandoned. According to the 2004 SPV Map, many of them were abandoned by the CB&Q, and the remaining ones were abandoned by BN.
1902 CB&Q

I had noticed that the grain elevator has a lot of ground piles.
Satellite

Instead of loading trucks with a wheeled loader, this elevator uses a special loader that has augurs in front that feed a conveyor. The only place I remember seeing one of these was a Tonka toy.
Matt Smith, May 2021

Here it is in action.
Matt Smith, May 2021

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