UP 5856 Under BNSF 9298, Near Buda, Illinois on 9-26-2010

A southbound Union Pacific coal train on the Peoria sub passes under an BNSF coal train eastbound on the Mendota sub.

Probably the closest I'll ever get to a perfect "over-under" video. 0:36 gets you to the meaty part.

My intentions for the day were to drive to Nelson, Illinois and video the action at the old coaling tower. Then onto Buda for some BNSF action in the middle of the day. As I neared Nelson, however, I heard some scanner chatter that hinted that a southbound coal train would be heading down the Peoria sub after a northbound work train cleared into the Nelson yard. I drove just south of Nelson and grabbed a photo of the rock train moving toward Nelson. ( http://flic.kr/p/8Eq212 ) Then back to Nelson to confirm the waiting coal train was there. It was, so as soon as it started to move, I drove south to Buda where I had long wanted to catch a train running under the BNSF Mendota sub. I set up, and about 90 minutes after the UP train left Nelson, I heard its horn as it passed a couple of grade crossings north of my position.

But before it appeared from around a curve to the north, I heard the horn of an approaching eastbound train on the BNSF. Now the excitement level stated to climb. Could I catch some part of the BNSF train passing over the UP train. Quickly I tilted my wide view camera up a bit to what I hoped would be a good compromise to catch both trains. Then as the UP train neared and all cameras were running, I looked west and saw the BNSF train roll into view. Holy crap, this was going to be close! And it was as the BNSF train passed over just as the second coal car of the UP train moved under the bridge.

Shot from the dark side due to better sight lines. And the sun was about over the tracks for the going away shot which results in a necessarily darker clip.

Photo here: http://flic.kr/p/8Etbq7

And a photo of the camera setup is here:
http://flic.kr/p/8Eq2vv

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• rail
• train
• railroad
• railfan
• bridge
• over-under
• Canon
• HF
• S100
• S200
• HD
• Buda
• Illinois

[eccentriceric]

that was priceless!!!! finally get to see a over under shot like that on your videos.

[basicbill1]

@eccentriceric Just about perfect wasn't it. Thanks.

Bill

[unionpacifictrain]

nice, the "we will deliver" unit on that train. nice video

[basicbill1]

@unionpacifictrain Thanks for watching.

Bill

[MattBNSF1991]

And the 2nd UP unit is still in "We Will Deliver" scheme.

Neat.

[basicbill1]

@MattBNSF1991 Never noticed. Thanks.

Bill

[railfanstreator94]

Okay thanks

[basicbill1]

@MattBNSF1991 Thanks a lot, Matt.

[MattBNSF1991]

Nelson, IL to St. Louis.

[MattBNSF1991]

Beautiful!