Kearney West Union Pacific Rail Crossing

The Historic Overland Route

The camera captures Union Pacific's Kearney Subdivision at milepost 188.8, part of the original Transcontinental Railroad known as the Overland Route. This corridor carries one of North America's busiest freight flows across the plains of central Nebraska.

Three Main Tracks

Three main tracks run parallel through the frame, joined by sidings that serve the local grain elevator. Manifest, intermodal, and local trains share the rails, giving a constant variety of motive power and consists to watch.

Gateway to Bailey Yard

Westbound trains here are bound for Bailey Yard in North Platte, the largest rail yard in the world, where locomotives are refueled and crews are swapped. Eastbound traffic heads toward Omaha and the wider national network.

A Premier Railfan Spot

With up to eighty trains a day, Kearney is a renowned train-watching destination. The grade crossing in the foreground adds the classic sights and sounds of a small Nebraska railroad town.