Tree removal and grading have started at MP 15 of BNSF’s “Ravenna Sub”, just west of Pleasant Dale, Neb. A private contractor is clearing land and building up the right-of-way to support a second main track between MP 14.6 (Pleasant Dale) and MP 20.3 (Milford, Neb.), which will make the Ravenna Sub nearly 98 percent double-tracked between Lincoln and Ravenna, Neb., a distance of 127 miles. Contract crews are seen constructing a culvert, before beginning fill-work on building up the road bed for the second main.
Further west near MP 18, an eastbound “Local” passes by the continuous carving and grading-work for the new second main. The 5.7 mile construction zone is flanked by a snow fence dividing the current single track main and ballast from the dirt work on the north side.
In an open farm field just east of Milford, crews are assembling bridge deck sections for new additional bridges being built along the 5.7 mile double-track project between Pleasant Dale and Milford. Workers are putting together three sections here. Each bridge deck is built in half sections, for easier movement to the individual sites.
Second main line bridge under construction, which passes over U.S. Highway 6 at Milford, Neb.
BNSF Railway is busily double-tracking its mainline routes throughout the West to eliminate the last remaining bottlenecks on its system. Long-time Trains contributor Darrell Wendt is documenting this process and picked a spot close to his Nebraska home to photograph and share with Trains News Wire readers. Darrell took all of these photos on March 7.
A close-up map of BNSF Railway’s Ravenna Subdivision through Milford and Pleasant Dale, Neb. Mileposts are marked in blue.
