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City of Prineville Railroad A Chase Down the Municipal Railroad in March 2026 Photo Essay by Parker Gibson |
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On the morning of 3 March 2026 Parker Gibson visited Prineville Junction in search of BNSF's Bend local; what he found instead was City of Prineville's pair of switchers putting together a train bound for Prineville, which he decided to chase. These pictures are the result. |
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SW1500 #1551 and MP-15DC #1859 have just finished working the interchange yard at Prineville Junction and are crossing O'Neil Highway on the south leg of the wye to start the trip to Prineville. |
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The train near the old O'Neil station, with Smith Rock rising in the background. |
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Three Fingered Jack rises in the background as the train approaches a driveway near Milepost 8. |
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The two switchers working hard while climbing the short but stiff grade to the Highway 26 overpass on the final approach to Prineville. |
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The train crossing Highway 26. |
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The train paused on Prineville's western edge long enough to add the covered hoppers to a similar string of cars in storage underneath an old woodchip loader. |
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After dropping the covered hoppers the train continued on towards central Prineville with eight loads consigned to McCall Asphalt. McCall's unloading spur only has a seven car capacity, so the crew left the eigth car on a nearby runaround track. |
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Once the work at McCall had been completed the train crew ran the two switchers back to the Prineville Freight Depot where they tied the units down on separate tracks, thus bringing another day on the City of Prineville to its end. Thanks, Parker! |
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