Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Running nearly 220 miles between Cheyenne, Wyoming and North Platte, Nebraska, the Sidney Subdivision is a double-track main line that has carried Union Pacific trains for over 150 years. Following the route of the historic Pony Express and Overland Stage, a parade of increasingly long and heavy trains traverse the southern Nebraska Panhandle.

In part one of this two-part series, we will cover the western half of the Sidney Subdivision beginning in Cheyenne. Trains climb east over Archer Hill then sprint into Nebraska at Pine Bluff. We will visit several small towns, many of which started as sidings on the first transcontinental railroad.

Witness huge manifest trains pulling up to 200 cars and measuring up to three miles long. Adding to the variety, unit trains of grain, coal, and intermodal, including hot-shot Z trains sprint across the Cornhusker State heading to and from Bailey Yard, the largest railroad classification yard in the world.

Our summertime visit coincided with UP Big Boy number 4014’s eastbound excursion across the subdivision and we will see the giant 4,000 class engine at several locations.

This program is available on DVD and Blu-ray by visiting 7ideaproductions.com. 7ideaproductions.com/products/union-pacifics-sidney-subdivision-part-1?_pos=2&_sid=481ee0f91&_ss=r

0:00 Intro
2:49 Map
4:33 Cheyenne
8:05 Barnett
10:03 Archer Hill
17:42 Hillsdale
22:07 Burns
27:08 Egbert
32:58 Pine Bluffs, WY
37:16 Entering Nebraska
40:24 Bushnell
47:27 Kimball
52:14 Owasco
1:00:34 Dix
1:06:19 Jacinto
1:14:22 Potter
1:19:31 Point of Rocks
1:26:00 Brownson
1:29:34 Sidney