railroads (Fargo, Minot, Devils Lake: travel, work, service)

[john raithby]

Hi there, my name is john raithby & i'm a railway enthusiast from the united kingdom. Has anyone out there got any details of the branchlines of north dakota, in particular track diagrams, photos etc for the period from 1950 to the present day. I am collecting information with a view to building a model based on secondary lines, in particular those up near the canadian border.

Also happy to just make contact with railfans in general.

John.

[Keith Enget]

Hi, John...
My name is Keith Enget, age 55 and living in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. I was born and raised in North Dakota where my father served as an agent-telegrapher for the Great Northern Railroad. I lived in the depot at Simcoe (east of Minot) for a time, and my family later moved to the town of
Grenora, which is on the end of a branch line beginning at Stanley, ND. I presently work for a successor railroad, BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe),
and, at one time, dispatched many of the former GN branch lines that radiated off the main line from Devils Lake to Bainville, Montana. I'm sure you will have no trouble finding these locations on the map. Unfortunately, "progress" has led to the demise of several of the branch lines that Jim Hill built to feed the
Great Northern's transconintental traffic. I would be happy to correspond with a person legitimately interested in this area, as most of the attention the BNSF gets from the railfan press now centers of the former (?) Santa Fe lines. I am married and the father of a 17-year-old son and have a 16-foot by 22-foot layout which attempts to replicate the GN main line from Fargo to
Glasgow and the Grenora Branch. In addition, my own Dakota & Northwestern operates a short branch line. Hope to hear from you and I will
endeavor to return your communications in a timely fashion.

[Keith Enget]

To John Raithby...My name is Keith Enget, age 55, and living in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, USA. I was born and raised is North Dakota where my father worked as an agent-telegrapher for the Great Northern Railroad. I lived in Simcoe and Grenora while growing up (?). I presently work for the successor, BNSF, and, at one time, I dispatched former Great Northern lines in Grenora and eastern Montana. This included all the branch lines radiating off the main lines between Devils Lake, ND, and Bainville, MT. Unfortunately, "progress" has led to the demise of several of these branch lines that Jim Hill built to feed the Great Northern's transcontinental traffic. I would love to correspond with anyone interested in that part of the world. I am married and the father of a 17-year-old son. Looking forward to hearing from you if you're still interested.
Keith Enget

[deanot]

Originally Posted by Keith Enget

Hi, John...
My name is Keith Enget, age 55 and living in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. I was born and raised in North Dakota where my father served as an agent-telegrapher for the Great Northern Railroad. I lived in the depot at Simcoe (east of Minot) for a time, and my family later moved to the town of
Grenora, which is on the end of a branch line beginning at Stanley, ND. I presently work for a successor railroad, BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe),
and, at one time, dispatched many of the former GN branch lines that radiated off the main line from Devils Lake to Bainville, Montana. I'm sure you will have no trouble finding these locations on the map. Unfortunately, "progress" has led to the demise of several of the branch lines that Jim Hill built to feed the
Great Northern's transconintental traffic. I would be happy to correspond with a person legitimately interested in this area, as most of the attention the BNSF gets from the railfan press now centers of the former (?) Santa Fe lines. I am married and the father of a 17-year-old son and have a 16-foot by 22-foot layout which attempts to replicate the GN main line from Fargo to
Glasgow and the Grenora Branch. In addition, my own Dakota & Northwestern operates a short branch line. Hope to hear from you and I will
endeavor to return your communications in a timely fashion.

Hi,
Do you know anything about the rail line that goes past Glenfield, ND? Still in service, how many times a day it's travelled?

[johnnyreb]

Originally Posted by deanot

Hi,
Do you know anything about the rail line that goes past Glenfield, ND? Still in service, how many times a day it's travelled?

The rail line that goes through Glenfield is the KO subdivision of the BNSF main line which travels from Fargo to Minot. It is estimated that there are over 40 million gross ton miles/mile over that section - including nearly 16 million bushels of grain generated on that section alone. It's definitely a huge section. As of late a huge portion of the traffic has been intermodal containers traveling to/from the Pacific Northwest. If you would like more info, pm me.

[FrederickW]

Originally Posted by deanot

Hi,
Do you know anything about the rail line that goes past Glenfield, ND? Still in service, how many times a day it's travelled?

I think 45-50 trains travel over it on any given day.

[dorado0359]

Go to: RAILROAD.NET - The Railroad Network

It has plenty of railroad information.