BNSF Railfanning Amarillo

Exciting BNSF Railway Transcon mainline and switching action from trackside at Amarillo's North Yard February 27, 2023.

The BNSF Stainless Steel passenger consist that departed Amarillo on February 22, 2023, has returned! On March 8, 2023, the Office Car Special came back to Amarillo and stopped at Junior Tower for a crew change. It then continued East for Topeka on the BNSF Transcon. See it at Amarillo's Junior Tower and then depart for Topeka Kansas via the BNSF Transcon.

The BNSF Heritage Locomotives have a special paint scheme to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the BN/SF merger . Only ten locomotives have this special paint scheme. On March 9, 2023, BNSF Heritage Locomotive #6017 arrived in Amarillo on the point of a Q-train. It stopped at Junior Tower for a crew change and then continued west. While waiting for 6017 to arrive, there was plenty of BNSF action on the mainline in Amarillo's South Yard. See BNSF Heritage Fleet Locomotive 6017 at Amarillo's Junior Tower and watch it depart westbound as it continues its journey west.

The East Local leaves Amarillo for Waynoka, where it lays over, then returns the next day. We pick up the East Local after arriving back in Amarillo, at the junction of the Boice City line and the Transcon. On the point of the train is BNSF SD60M 1437 with C44-9W 651, still in red and silver warbonnet colors.

Remote Control Locomotives work classifying freight cars in South Yard as a BNSF Transcon Double Stack comes in for a crew change on the mainline.

Coal trains routinely run through Amarillo on the Red River Valley Subdivision. The coal trains originate in the Powder River Basin coal mines and come through Amarillo on their way to the Gulf Coast. They typically stop for fuel at Amarillo's 3rd Street Fuel Facility before proceeding to the Gulf Coast, where they dump the coal at one of several power plants. This video highlights a pre-departure inspection worker blue-flagging a coal train and inspecting the locomotives and all coal cars. Once a train has been blue flagged, no one is allowed to move the trains until the original person that installed the blue flag removes it.

Coal trains routinely run through Amarillo on the Transcon. The coal trains originate in the Powder River Basin coal mines and come through Amarillo on their way to the Gulf Coast or points in the southwestern United States such as Arizona. They typically stop for a crew change at Amarillo's Junior Tower before proceeding west, where they dump the coal at one of several power plants. This video highlights a 124-car coal train arriving in Amarillo's South Yard with a 25th Anniversary Heritage Locomotive on the point. The actions was filmed in the late afternoon and the sun was getting very low making a beautiful scene for the coal train to arrive and depart in.

The BNSF Employee Special came to Amarillo Texas on June 2, 2003. We were fortunate enough to get invited to ride it as quests of our friend who worked for BNSF. We rode in the "Rio Grande River" Hi-Level car which was one of four in the consist. It was a very comfortable and exciting ride from Amarillo's old Fort Worth and Denver yard, eastbound about 40 miles. At that point the train went back to Amarillo. This was easily accomplished as there was a GE locomotive on each end of the train. Come along with us for a ride on this beautiful passenger train that you can only ride if you are an employee of BNSF or an invited guest.

A Unit Train came through Amarillo's Junior Yard with high-side exterior braced gondola cars. The unknown cargo is covered with a vinyl tarp which is strapped down. If you know what this cargo is, let us know in the comments.

A BNSF Stainless Steel passenger consist was parked in Amarillo's North Yard on February 21, 2023. The consist had ES44C4 Dash-9 locomotive 6933 on the head end as it set west bound. At this time we didn't know much about the train. Now we do. It is the BNSF OCS (Office Car Special) O-AMALAJ8-22A, which departed Amarillo on February 22, 2023, westbound for La Junta CO. The train carries BNSF officials and VIPs. See it in Amarillo's North Yard awaiting departure, while switching operations are being performed close by. The watch the full length of the consist at speed as it departs Amarillo.

A BNSF Stainless Steel passenger consist was parked in Amarillo's North Yard on February 21, 2023. The consist had ES44C4 Dash-9 locomotive 6933 on the head end as it set west bound. We don't know when it arrived, or when it is scheduled to depart Amarillo. If you know, please let us know in the comments.

day in October 2023. The special locomotive was leading 109 loaded grain cars to Amarillo's huge Vitterra Grain Elevator Facility. While waiting for the 1943 to arrive on the Boise City Subdivision, our camera crew encountered eight BNSF Double Stacks and one BNSF Grain Train on the Transcon. Our camera crew was positioned at the junction between the two lines and were able to capture all the action from one location. Some very tense moments occurred with the BNSF Grain Train as it departed Amarillo. A stray dog decided that he needed to get to the other side of the Transon and got extremely close to the fast-moving train. Our camera crew was concerned that they would be seeing the dog's death under the wheels of the train while filming. The dog was not killed or injured by the train ultimately, but it was very touch and go for several moments. When the 1943 arrives at the elevator site, you will witness ground crews helping the train crew with switching duties, disconnecting the two locomotives on the rear of the train, and other rarely seen details of transferring 6,241 feet of grain cars into five 1,800 ft. storage tracks. Finally, we move our cameras from the mainline side of the elevators to the street side (Old Route 66) to see the grain cars fill up the last two spurs. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see Union Pacific's "Spirit of the Union Pacific" place its entire train into one of the largest grain facilities in the nation.

Union Pacific Heritage Locomotive 1943 "Spirit of the Union Pacific" arrives in Amarillo on a very cold day in October 2023. The special locomotive was leading 109 loaded grain cars to Amarillo's huge Vitterra Grain Elevator Facility. While waiting for the 1943 to arrive on the Boise City Subdivision, our camera crew encountered eight BNSF Double Stacks and one BNSF Grain Train on the Transcon. Our camera crew was positioned at the junction between the two lines and were able to capture all the action from one location. Some very tense moments occurred with the BNSF Grain Train as it departed Amarillo. A stray dog decided that he needed to get to the other side of the Transon and got extremely close to the fast-moving train. Our camera crew was concerned that they would be seeing the dog's death under the wheels of the train while filming. The dog was not killed or injured by the train ultimately, but it was very touch and go for several moments. When the 1943 arrives at the elevator site, you will witness ground crews helping the train crew with switching duties, disconnecting the two locomotives on the rear of the train, and other rarely seen details of transferring 6,241 feet of grain cars into five 1,800 ft. storage tracks. Finally, we move our cameras from the mainline side of the elevators to the street side (Old Route 66) to see the grain cars fill up the last two spurs. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see Union Pacific's "Spirit of the Union Pacific" place its entire train into one of the largest grain facilities in the nation.

While filming trains along the BNSF TransCon in Amarillo, a stray dog got dangerously close to a high-speed BNSF freight train heading East out of Amarillo. It was very tense for a while when the dog got so close to the train and then after the train passed, he stood on the rail for a while where another train could come along at any moment.!

BNSF Manifest Freight AMSCLO (Amarillo to Clovis) with a KCS locomotive on the point, is pulling out of Amarillo's South Yard westbound on Main 1 for Clovis New Mexico. About the time it gets a little speed up a BNSF Intermodal train overtakes it on Main 2 and AMSCLO has to slow down to allow it to proceed. (Towards the end of AMSCLO we notice a flat-car loaded with very large diameter pipes that are exactly like a load that was involved in a serious accident three days prior on the BNSF in Texas, exact location of the accident is unknown.) If you know where this accident occurred, please leave a comment.) Then, a third BNSF Eastbound Intermodal comes into the scene on the Santa Fe Main. Now all three Transcon Mainlines in Amarillo are occupied. Later, 12-miles down the line, we catch AMSCLO once again at Palo Duro Club Rd and get to see the other side of the train as it passes our cameras at track speed. After it goes by, we jump in the truck and try to overtake it again at Dowell Rd crossing, but it had already passed and traveling too fast to catch. We wait at Dowell Rd crossing and soon a Norfolk Southern Intermodal approaches. This train is extremely long and consists of empty containers going back to the West Coast.

The BNSF Officer's Trains with 15 beautiful vintage passenger cars enters Amarillo via the Boice City Subdivision. At the start of this video the train in transitioning to the Red River Valley Subdivision and heading for the Fuel Pads east of Amarillo, but it doesn't stop for fuel as expected. Instead, its stops just west of the Airport Blvd. overpass where a crew change takes place. Our cameras are directly across 3rd Street and have an excellent view of the entire train. We expected the Officer Train to depart shortly after getting a fresh crew but that doesn't happen right away. A west bound high-speed priority Intermodal trains blasts into Amarillo right past the Officer Train. Once the Intermodal goes by, the Officer Train slowly heads east for Ft. Worth about 325 miles down the line. As it leaves, we show the entire train and a list of every car in the consist. As the Officer Train passes out of sight, a few moments later an Intermodal chases the Officer Train east. It was a very busy an interesting time on the Red River Valley Subdivision about five miles east of downtown Amarillo.

M.P. 342.11 - Dalhart Subdivision Traffic on this line usually consists of empty coal trains destined from Texas to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. It makes up a portion of the northbound route of BNSF's directional lines between Amarillo and Pueblo, Colorado. In this video you are in for a treat! Not only will you see a high-speed Q-Train on this line, normally reserved for empty coal trains, but the fourth unit in the consist is a brand new ET44ACH - BNSF 3659. The power passes the camera very fast, so be sure to stay to the end of the video for the slow-motion pass of the locomotives.

Red River Valley Subdivision Traffic on this line can be anything from work trains to high-speed intermodal. In this video you are in for a treat! The first BNSF train is all empties consisting of mostly well-cars. The train is returning the empty well-cars to the west coast, and there are a lot of them as the train is very long. The second BNSF train is Q ALTPTL6 16A, Alliance TX to Portland OR. The consist has NINE BNSF power units on the point, six of which are brand new ES44C4 and ET44C4. After the high-speed run by, we see the Q ALTPTL6 16A once more in Amarillo's North Yard as it slowly drifts through the yard, allowing a less hurried look at the new power.

Fast Freights 8 was shot on the Dalhart Subdivision at M.P. 342.11 just northwest of Amarillo Texas. BNSF Mixed Freight and UP Unit Grain blast out of Amarillo on the Dalhart Subdivision. This portion of the line is directional for westbound trains only. The weather was perfect for a Fall evening. Tarantula spiders are migrating this time of year and one of them walks right by one of our cameramen while he was waiting on the next train.

This is the first video of our Fast Freights series. Watch BNSF Fast Freight Trains on the Transcon in South Amarillo!

Fourteen miles south of Amarillo on the BNSF Transcon we find several fast trains, two of which are running 70 mph.

On the BNSF Transcon south of Amarillo we caught five fast freights in about 40-minutes. Most of the locomotives are BNSF, but there were others in the mix, such as Ferromex, Northfork Southern and Union Pacific.

Fast freights filmed on the Transcon out of Amarillo & further west.

11 Fast Freights filmed south of Amarillo at Rockwell Road grade crossing from late afternoon to night.