BNSF 2557 and 2604 work the BNSF yard on the BNSF Marshall Subdivision at Sioux City, Iowa on the morning of June 3rd, 2022, a line of shadows leads back to the city in the distance. According to the Sioux City History Website: When Sioux City first began to grow, most people arrived by either steamboat or stagecoach. In the eastern United States, railroads were being built to connect all major cities. The first railroad to develop in Iowa was in 1865, along the Mississippi. However, plans were soon developed to expand the system to all major Iowa cities. Sioux City developers knew that if the town wanted to become a major city, it would need to be one of the first to have railroad access. Not only did railroads move people, but they also moved materials and manufactured goods. In the fall of 1866, a large crowd of local businessmen, bankers, and speculators met with a gentleman named W.W. Walker. He was a representative of John Blair, a wealthy eastern railroad developer. Mr. Blair was planning on building the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad. This railroad would connect the city with the main line which ran through Missouri Valley. This would give the city connections all the way to Chicago and back east. All the city and county had to do was provide free land for the tracks and for the depot. The county agreed to donate the land in February of 1867. The deal was struck. Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1500, ISO 120. #trainphotography #railroadphotography #trains #railways #dronephotography #trainphotographer #railroadphotographer #jimpearsonphotography

BNSF 2557 and 2604 work the BNSF yard on the BNSF Marshall Subdivision at Sioux City, Iowa

BNSF 2557 and 2604 work the BNSF yard on the BNSF Marshall Subdivision at Sioux City, Iowa on the morning of June 3rd, 2022, a line of shadows leads back to the city in the distance.

According to the Sioux City History Website: When Sioux City first began to grow, most people arrived by either steamboat or stagecoach. In the eastern United States, railroads were being built to connect all major cities. The first railroad to develop in Iowa was in 1865, along the Mississippi. However, plans were soon developed to expand the system to all major Iowa cities.

Sioux City developers knew that if the town wanted to become a major city, it would need to be one of the first to have railroad access. Not only did railroads move people, but they also moved materials and manufactured goods.

In the fall of 1866, a large crowd of local businessmen, bankers, and speculators met with a gentleman named W.W. Walker. He was a representative of John Blair, a wealthy eastern railroad developer. Mr. Blair was planning on building the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad. This railroad would connect the city with the main line which ran through Missouri Valley. This would give the city connections all the way to Chicago and back east. All the city and county had to do was provide free land for the tracks and for the depot. The county agreed to donate the land in February of 1867. The deal was struck.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1500, ISO 120.

Union Pacific 2116 and 1825 lead a mixed freight southbound across the Floyd River on the Worthington Subdivision amid a maze of bridges at Sioux City, Iowa on June 3rd, 2022, on a beautiful Spring Day. According to the Sioux City History Website: When Sioux City first began to grow, most people arrived by either steamboat or stagecoach. In the eastern United States, railroads were being built to connect all major cities. The first railroad to develop in Iowa was in 1865, along the Mississippi. However, plans were soon developed to expand the system to all major Iowa cities. Sioux City developers knew that if the town wanted to become a major city, it would need to be one of the first to have railroad access. Not only did railroads move people, but they also moved materials and manufactured goods. In the fall of 1866, a large crowd of local businessmen, bankers, and speculators met with a gentleman named W.W. Walker. He was a representative of John Blair, a wealthy eastern railroad developer. Mr. Blair was planning on building the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad. This railroad would connect the city with the main line which ran through Missouri Valley. This would give the city connections all the way to Chicago and back east. All the city and county had to do was provide free land for the tracks and for the depot. The county agreed to donate the land in February of 1867. The deal was struck. Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 120. #trainphotography #railroadphotography #trains #railways #dronephotography #trainphotographer #railroadphotographer #jimpearsonphotography

Union Pacific 2116 and 1825 lead a mixed freight southbound across the Floyd River at Sioux City, IA

Union Pacific 2116 and 1825 lead a mixed freight southbound across the Floyd River on the Worthington Subdivision amid a maze of bridges at Sioux City, Iowa on June 3rd, 2022, on a beautiful Spring Day.

According to the Sioux City History Website: When Sioux City first began to grow, most people arrived by either steamboat or stagecoach. In the eastern United States, railroads were being built to connect all major cities. The first railroad to develop in Iowa was in 1865, along the Mississippi. However, plans were soon developed to expand the system to all major Iowa cities.

Sioux City developers knew that if the town wanted to become a major city, it would need to be one of the first to have railroad access. Not only did railroads move people, but they also moved materials and manufactured goods.

In the fall of 1866, a large crowd of local businessmen, bankers, and speculators met with a gentleman named W.W. Walker. He was a representative of John Blair, a wealthy eastern railroad developer. Mr. Blair was planning on building the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad. This railroad would connect the city with the main line which ran through Missouri Valley. This would give the city connections all the way to Chicago and back east. All the city and county had to do was provide free land for the tracks and for the depot. The county agreed to donate the land in February of 1867. The deal was struck.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 120.

D&I Railroad 3020 (also nicknamed the Dakota and Iowa Railroad) heads across the Floyd River amid a maze of diamonds at Sioux City, Iowa on the Aberdeen Subdivision on June 3rd, 2022, with a loaded train. According to Wikipedia: The D&I Railroad (DAIR) (also nicknamed the Dakota and Iowa Railroad) is a Class III shortline railroad which is a wholly owned subsidiary of L. G. Everist, Inc. The line hauls ethanol, dried distillers grains (DDG), corn oil, plastic pellets, cement, sand, gravel, and Sioux Quartzite, which is mined from two large quarries in Dell Rapids. The D&I has a trackage rights agreement with BNSF that allows it to travel on three BNSF subdivisions to deliver and sell products, as they must use BNSF’s system to reach their southern half of their trackage. The D&I operates on both former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and Chicago and Northwestern Railroad trackage, which were handed over to the state of South Dakota in 1980-1981 after the Milwaukee Road’s bankruptcy and subsequent abandonment of unprofitable lines. Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100. #trainphotography #railroadphotography #trains #railways #dronephotography #trainphotographer #railroadphotographer #jimpearsonphotography

D&I Railroad 3020 heads across the Floyd River at Sioux City, Iowa

D&I Railroad 3020 (also nicknamed the Dakota and Iowa Railroad) heads across the Floyd River amid a maze of diamonds at Sioux City, Iowa on the Aberdeen Subdivision on June 3rd, 2022, with a loaded train.

According to Wikipedia: The D&I Railroad (DAIR) (also nicknamed the Dakota and Iowa Railroad) is a Class III shortline railroad which is a wholly owned subsidiary of L. G. Everist, Inc. The line hauls ethanol, dried distillers grains (DDG), corn oil, plastic pellets, cement, sand, gravel, and Sioux Quartzite, which is mined from two large quarries in Dell Rapids.

The D&I has a trackage rights agreement with BNSF that allows it to travel on three BNSF subdivisions to deliver and sell products, as they must use BNSF’s system to reach their southern half of their trackage. The D&I operates on both former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and Chicago and Northwestern Railroad trackage, which were handed over to the state of South Dakota in 1980-1981 after the Milwaukee Road’s bankruptcy and subsequent abandonment of unprofitable lines.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.