Yuma, CO: BNSF/CB&Q Depot, Wood Grain Elevator and Some Big Elevators

Depot: (Satellite)

Wood Elevator: (Satellite, the elevator is a little northeast of Google's pin.)

It looks like BNSF is still using this depot. The wood elevator is in the center background and the facility has grown into an ADM Edible Bean Specialties facility.

Street View, Aug 2026

Michael Behm posted, cropped
The Chicago Burlington & Quincy Depot from Yuma, Colorado. My picture from 9/12/26

Mike Bartels: The Nov. 22, 1949, Rocky Mountain News said construction had begun on a new depot at Yuma. The old one had been demolished in a freight train derailment on Aug. 10, 1947. An old coach had served as a temporary facility.

On the west side of town is a Westplains grain storage elevator with a couple of big ground piles on the right. On the left side is a Nutrien Ag Solutions facility. Looks like they get rail service for liquid fertilizer.

Street View, Aug 20216

And on the east side of town is an even larger grain storage elevator. I wonder what the old elevator on the far left is used for. The facility on the right is labeled Murphy-Brown of Yuma. I think it is a feed mill.

Street View, Aug 2026

Across the road from the CHS storage elevator is a CHS retail fertilizer facility.

Street View, Aug 2026

And further east is the Helena Agri-Enterprises selling more chemicals for farming. They supply much more than row-crop farming. "Whether you’re a farmer or forester, nursery grower or golf course manager, it’s our goal to make your job easier and to provide more value through our products and services." [HelenaAgri]

Street View, Aug 2023

Yuma is on the BNSF/CB&Q mainline between Chicago and Denver.

1902

This map accurately marks the location of the depot.

1972/75 Yuma North and South Quads @ 24,000

Christopher, IL: Lost/CB&Q Depot

(Satellite)

Andy Zukowski posted
CB&Q Railroad Depot in Christopher, Illinois. 1920

Larry Candilas commented on Andy's post
MP 161.8 Centralia & Paducah Sub - here's what it looked like in the 1970s.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andy's photo
Based on this 1938 photo, I think this slab, https://maps.app.goo.gl/peD5HFqYpRVpG1zL9, was the foundation of the depot. The street along the left side of the photo is Victor Street.

The town had a lot of coal mines, that is why there is so much railroad action in the area.

rail.guide

The branch that went south of Concord to the P&I Bridge over the Ohio River must have been built after 1902.

1902

Hastings, NE: Amtrak/CB&Q Depot, Roundhouse and 1917-82 Hastings Tower

Depot: (Satellite)

Roundhouse: (Satellite)

Tower: (Satellite)

Both US-34 and US-6 went through this town. And the Lincoln Highway (US-30 is about 15 miles north of this town.

This town has a lot of grain elevators.

Street Side:

Street View, Aug 2019

Track Side:

Street View, May 2026

This view shows the walkway between the station and the platform.

Stephan Grütering, Sep 2018

Roundhouse

Part of the foundation are still visible.

Satellite

Hastings Tower

Gary Schroeder posted two photos with the comment:

Burlington Route Manual Interlocking Tower referred to as Hastings Tower in Hastings Nebraska. 

Looking from East to West South Main and North Main. 

The old South Main is now considered a siding . 

The Union Pacific Railroad run South to North from Marysville, Kansas to Gibbon, Nebraska where it connected to the North Platte and Omaha main track. 

Tower is gone and a  overpass was built East of Hastings over Burlington track.

[Note the signalling pipelines. In the comments, Gary implies that the date was 1976.]

a, cropped

b

Gary Schroeder commented on his post

Gary Schroeder commented on his post

Gary Schroeder commented on his post

Gary Schroeder commented on his post

Gary Schroeder commented on his post

I'm not confident in the location of the tower, so I included the stretch between Burlington and Pine Avenues.  (Update: Gary's post below, it is in the southwest quadrant of the crossing of the UP and CB&Q.)

Apr 17, 1967; AR1SWBN00010146

The posted photos show that the tower was on the south side of the mainline. Of the various smudges in the aerial photo, the one west of Pine Ave. is just east of the signalling bridge as we see in the posted photos.

Digitally Zoomed

This map accurately marks the location of the depot and roundhouse.

1969/71 Hastings West Quad @ 24,000

In addition to being on the CB&Q Chicago-Denver mainline, it is on the branch between Aurora and Lester.

1902

Update: This clearly shows that the tower was in the southwest quadrant of the UP and CB&Q crossing.

Gary Schroeder posted
More information on Manual Interlocking at Hastings, Nebraska looking East. CB&Q Hastings Tower.

I got a new aerial excerpt that zooms in on the crossing. The signal bridge was further from the tower than I had assumed.

Digitally Zoomed

Orleans, NE: CB&Q Depot, Wood Grain Elevators and NK&C Railroad

(Satellite)

Street View, Sep 2025

Michael Behm posted
The Chicago Burlington & Quincy depot from Orleans, Nebraska. My picture from 9-12-26

Comments on Michael's post

The town has a big new elevator and a couple of old elevators.

Street View, Sep 2025

None of the big bins existed in 2012 and the older elevator was bigger.

Street View, Jun 2012

The new elevator sometimes has a big ground pile.

Satellite

The town still has a couple of wood grain elevators.

Street View, Sep 2025

rail.guide

Orleans is where the branch to St. Francis left the route across the southern part of Nebraska.

1902

NK&C = Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado (NKCR)

rail.guide

Omnitrax
"Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway (NKCR) owns and operates approximately 509 miles of track in three states and carries a diverse mix of traffic including wheat, corn, coal and fertilizer. NKCR, one of several railroads in Nebraska, has benefited from its ability to attract high throughput grain elevators to its lines due to its superior service record and excellent relationship with BNSF. More specifically, NKCR recently made considerable track improvements in conjunction with upgrade investments by the owners of grain elevators at Venango, Nebraska, Loomis, Nebraska and Holyoke, Colorado, each of which now loads 110-car shuttle trains. In addition to grain, NKCR ships liquid fertilizer shuttle unloaders at Maywood, Nebraska, Imperial, Nebraska and Holyoke, Colorado in addition to the dry fertilizer shuttle unloader at Loomis, Nebraska."

Moorcroft, WY: Wood Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

I'm surprised that the elevator didn't grow. Normally, a wood grain elevator has some bins next to it.

Street View, Aug 2026

Eric Miller posted
Moorcroft Wyoming, June 2026.

The railroad is BNSF/CB&Q.

1957/59 Moorcroft Quad @ 62,500

It is on the route between Alliance, NE, and Billings, MT.

1902

Holdrege, NE: 1910 Amtrak/CB&Q Depot and Caboose

Depot: (Satellite)

Caboose: (Satellite)

Street View, Nov 2025

Street View, Sep 2025

Actually, Amtrak uses a shack near East Ave., and the depot is rented to various professional tenants such as orthodontics and law.

Street View, Nov 2025

Michael Behm posted 16 photos with the comment: "The CB&Q depot in Holdrege Nebraska. My pictures from 9/07/26. Holdrege station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Holdrege, Nebraska, served by the California Zephyr. It was originally opened in February 1911 by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad as the CB&Q Holdrege Depot, and the depot has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since February 21, 1997. However, the depot is no longer part of the station facilities."

Jack Franklin shared

Mike Bartels: That business car has been there for years. I believe it is ex-GM&O.

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Holdrege was on two different CB&Q routes.

1896/1949 Holdrege Quad @ 125,000

BNSF still owns the route that goes along US-34+US-6. A topo map shows that the route to the southeast was abandoned by 1970. This map shows that NK&C owns the route to the northwest but service stops at Bertrand.

rail.guide

This map shows that NK&C owns the route past Bertrand.

National Rail Network Map

The bigger picture.

1902

NKCR = Nebraska, Kansas & Colorado Railway

Their map implies that the route is operated all the way to Sterling, CO.

The railroad was formed in 1996 to operate several BNSF lines. [RailwayGazette]

Map via Omnitrax

The line east of Grant has not been used since 2015. "The state is pulling up some of the highway crossings" since the railroad is not repairing rough crossings. [reddit]

And the route is not used west of County Road 438.

Street View, Dec 2022