BNSF Coal Train Pre-Departure Inspection

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.