Sisseton Milbank Railroad (SMRR) - South Dakota Shortline Survivor
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- čas přidán 5. 04. 2022
- In this video, we cover the Sisseton Milbank Railroad between 2005 and 2021. Beginning in the predawn hours, we set out to capture "SSB1200" SMRR 561 powering a small train of loaded grain cars from Sisseton to Milbank, South Dakota. Departing Sisseton under the Strawberry Supermoon, we follow the train for 37 miles through Peever, Wilmot, and Corona, before arriving in Milbank. Much of the line is still laid with 60 and 75 pound rail, and we'll see the Sisseton Milbank safely negotiating this fragile track throughout the video. We also see the last Whetstone Valley Express passenger train operated by the Sisseton Milbank back in August of 2005. In addition to trackside views of the event, we take a cab ride aboard SMRR 561. Finally, we’ll take a quick look at BNSF and TC&W operations on the former Milwaukee Road mainline in Milbank.
Although the SMRR is now owned by the Twin Cities & Western Railroad, the Sisseton Milbank image is still represented in the modern day. The spirit of the Milwaukee Road is also very much alive in this resilient little railroad, and we're sure you'll enjoy seeing operations on what was once the Milwaukee's Sisseton branch. Come along with C. Vision Productions, as we showcase this elusive South Dakota shortline.
Sisseton Milbank locomotives seen:
SMRR 561 (SSB1200)
SMRR 627 (SW1200)
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holy cow! I never expected anyone to ever cover the SMRR! Its always a fun trip to pickup cars in Milbank with the TCW.
It took 16 years to complete the video with multiple videographers, but it finally got done! Thank you for the comment.
@@CVisionContributor oh man, I cant even imagine. Those guys run on the weirdest schedule, props for sticking it out. Hope to see some more TCW and MPLI videos because I’m bias 😎
@@MinnesotaOtter Or, lack of a schedule! The “as needed” nature of service on the line makes catching them fairly difficult.
Great video! Been through Sisseton many times hauling grain years ago.
Thank you! And that’s neat! Sisseton is a cool town. Great views of the Coteau des Prairies around Sisseton as well.
That SSB1200 has a awesome sounding engine.
Classic 567 sound! Those EMD switchers are interesting locomotives. Glad that ATSF rebuilt a large group of them.
I used to be a cop in Sisseton for a little while... brings back some memories. Including almost seeing someone hit by a SMRR locomotive who decide to cross a bit too late in front of a train.
Surprised that they found a train to do that with, considering their low frequency. Sisseton is a lively community!
Thank you for uploading this! I rode the Whetstone Valley Express in the late 90s, and it was one of my first train rides.
You’re welcome! It was a great train ride. Everyone put in great effort to make those trips enjoyable and successful. Thanks for the comment!
Nice Video
Thank you so much! You were right on top of it with the comment tonight. Lightning fast!
Good video, love the shortline and switching action. Shortlines do a lot of behind the scenes work that keep America going.
Thank you, James! And yes, they certainly do. They are an important link in the chain, for sure.
Really enjoy the shortline and branchline videos. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
Pretty neat little outfit!!
We’ll second that! The SMRR was an interesting line to explore. Lots of old Milwaukee Road history along the route. Thanks for dropping by and giving the video a watch!
really getting into C Vision; well produced, informative, and always some really great shots. thanks for posting!!
Thank you very much, Graham! We try our best.
I grew up in New Effington seen the Barley Line in action many times the Soo Line serviced New Effington now it's the Sunflour Line from Rosholt to Claire City
We’ve always loved that area. One of the reasons we covered the SMRR. The “Barley Line” nickname is pretty cool. Wondering how much barley is actually shipped over the Sisseton branch these days? As for the Sunflour RR, we’ve checked out that railroad as well, but they seem to operate on a very irregular basis.
@@CVisionContributor In the 80s there was a lot of barley grown in Robert's County now its corn and soybeans the Sunflour Line is used mostly for storage of cars I don't think they evan have a locomotive they use a track crane to move the cars around with the shop is located in Victor
@@madtrapperofmudcreek9183 Gotcha. Was kind of thinking there was a shift in the crops grown out there. Sounds like the Milwaukee gave barley growers great rates before the line was abandoned. Big incentive to ship by rail. As for the Sunflour, didn’t know they used a track crane, but that’s pretty interesting!
Love all old switchers and slug units which most big roads don't use anymore.
Switchers are great to find in service. Especially since their numbers have been significantly reduced on class ones.
The F Unit Was Befor my Time i Love This Video
Thank you, Darrel! Glad you enjoyed it.
Hermosa locomotora
Thank you, Carmen!
I love watching all small Branchline operators, but a 1950s style "Vintage" paint Livery would be nice don't you think !!! : )
Wouldn’t mind that one bit!
Great video thanks. My fathers family was from Revillo SD. My grandfather was a homesteader their around 1900. They first farmed with horses, then steam engine tractors. I was told my father would hope freight trains to ride to Yankton , SD while attending Yankton College during the Great Depression of the 30’s. Most of my family was from around their and Minnesota Detroit Lakes area. I’m the only one that was and is from Oregon because my Father was transferred out to Portland , Or in 1950 when he was working for the Massey Harris tractor Co. I’ve only been back their once in the 70’s as a teenager but I heard many a stories of that area. Thanks again for the video from a lutefisk eating Norwegian in Portland, Or.
Thank you for the great story! We know Revillo well. The BNSF Watertown line is nearby, so we’ve spent quite a bit of time in the LaBolt, Revillo, Stockholm areas. Love it out there! Nice view up there to the east and north...
@@CVisionContributor My dad’s family lived their and homesteaded their and also my dad was postmaster of the town right up till WW2
What a sweet little "butt-head" that 561 is! I really enjoyed watching and listening to it. Thank you.
561 is a neat little engine. Thanks, Mike!
Good stuff !
Thank you very much!
Great video, very enjoyable, and informative!
Thank you! Happy to hear that you enjoyed it.
i remember my autistic self screeching whenever this big guy passed by the apartment i lived in.
i still feel my heartrate spike whenever it blasts out a honk.
I enjoyed this video keep up the good work!!
Thank you! We’ll try! Happy to hear that you enjoyed it.
Your video of the Sisseton Milbank short line was exciting to watch, Chris!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you MJ!
Thank you for this video. I rode the whetstone valley Express in the mid nineties when I was a kid. Other than getting overheated, it was the first and best train ride I had. It's sad that trainfest is no more. It was a fun event every year.
Glad you got a chance to ride it! And yes, pretty sad that they no longer host the festival or the Whetstone Valley Express. Thanks for watching!
@@CVisionContributor but at least I can go down to Madison, sd to prairie village during the threshing bee and right around the park behind the two steam locomotives they have. You should do a little video on it if your ever in that area.
@@ajwillett7302 We’ve been through there and seen that place. It would be worth it! Thank you for the suggestion.
Well done video! Thanks for sharing it
Thank you, SSRP!
@@CVisionContributor you are welcome!
2nd closest shortline to me next to OTVR, this ones on my list if I ever can find them running.
(That opening sequence is 10/10 btw, the film here in general is so well done)
Thank you very much! We appreciate the feedback on the video. As for catching these guys, early morning during the week seems to be the best time to find them. However, it’ll be once or twice a week, at most. Some weeks, they may not operate at all.
Great video!
Thank you!!! Happy that you enjoyed it.
Wow this great! Boy I would have loved to ride on that train! Just decided to become a subscriber
Thank you for subscribing! Hope you enjoy our videos.
Always great to learn about these small shortlines. I found that grade crossing at the beginning interesting in that it only seemed to work when manually activated after the train was already half occupying it. I also wonder if the engineers find travelling at 5-7MPH boring or relaxing.
We found that grade crossing interesting as well. And yes, it is a manually-operated crossing. Not too common these days. As for the engineers that have to endure that slow trip, we’re guessing they’re pretty used to it, but are probably wishing they could be going a bit quicker. As long as there’s no derailment, it’s a good day though. Those guys also handle the track work.
I worked at Railserve last year which is a switching company in multiple sites across the nation and our speed limit in the yard was 5 mph. Many times we tried to exceed that to try and help get our work done a little faster. But time and time again management would just slap your hand. That is until we started having a large string of derelments almost one every other month and they cracked down
Great video. short lines prove it can be done.
Thank you, David! And yes, shortline railroads find a way!
I wonder how many different types of locomotives have rode those rails in the last 120 years?
Good question. We’ve seen pictures of the Milwaukee Road’s lightweight SDL39s up there before the MILW pulled out of South Dakota. Sisseton Southern Railway had a group of GE 70-Tonners. Dakota Rail employed former MILW F-units, SW1200s, and a GP9. And it’s interesting to consider that the rails saw steam for around 50 years before dieselization. 60 pound rail usually meant that a branch line wasn’t going to survive the cuts of 1980, but there was enough traffic generated on the Sisseton branch to justify its continued operation.
@@CVisionContributor exactly!
Prairies, Mike's, or what ever steam locomotives that wouldn't flatten the rail.
Ah the possibilities
@@yankeefist9146 For sure! Probably nothing too big out there.
Yeah, a Mike would be on the big side.
Thank you I enjoyed your video, please make more.
@@yankeefist9146 Thank you! Stay tuned!
Another great video. I really love your content. 6 hours for around 50 miles? How do they do that from a regulatory standpoint? They can't do that round trip in a day. Do they catch a ride home then go back the next day?
First off, glad that you are enjoying our videos! As for the run itself, you are correct, they don’t make a round trip over the whole line, from what we’ve seen. They have vehicles to transport themselves either to the train, or back to their tie up location. They have quite a bit of flexibility. If they were still operating at 10 mph, they could make the round trip over the whole railroad, since the line is only 37 miles long. But with current speeds of 5-7 mph, it doesn’t seem too likely that they’d make it.
Tracks speed looks like 10mph......
Back in 2005, they absolutely were running at 10 mph. By 2021, it looked like 5-7 mph. It took six hours for the train to run 37 miles during our chase in June. We don’t believe they ever stopped.
@@CVisionContributor I take it that's because of the tracks being at or above their limit for the axle load of the consist. At least it's still useable and any rail network needs short lines to feed in traffic
@@Isochest You could say that. The 60 pound rail on the line is 120 years old. The 75 pound rail isn’t much newer. It’s just worn out. But hey, when they laid that rail over a century ago, we’re guessing they never would have believed how long it would end up lasting!
@@CVisionContributor 120 year old track!! I have never heard of track being in situ this long even for sidings!! That's what I call Permanent Way🙂
@@Isochest According to track charts, the 60 pound rail shows a date of 1903.
At 1:47, I assume that the crossing signals weren't working: as such, they were activated after the guy in the orange vest leaves the shack after fixing the electrical equipment powering the crossing, right?
Hello, Nikhil. Those are manually-operated crossing gates. Not too common these days. They are set up like that due to the elevator needing to leave cars close to the crossing and making moves up to the road that would otherwise activate the signals.
The introduction music... love it. Can anyone help on identifying it?
It was made special for us by a musician we personally know.
Currently they are trying to get funding to rebuild it.
It would be incredible if they could secure more funds. They need some new rail!
@CVisionContributor they got the $24 million in a CRISI grant to rehab it now!!!
wonder if if ..the road will be...re railed to code 110 or higher
We're hoping upgrades will come to this line in the near future. We'll check back on them periodically to see if any progress has been made. Thank you for the comment.
How is it legal for them to have a one-man crew? I could understand for an industrial railroad (One not governed by the FRA because it doesnt cross roads or other mains) but this does.
Hello, A-Line Aficionado. There is no law against running a freight train with a one person crew in the United States. Shortlines do it more often than some may realize.
@@CVisionContributor how do Class Is have to fight for that ability then? Is it just a rule for Class Is?
@@a-lineaficionado1000 It involves collective bargaining. And the fact that class ones are currently not set up for one person crews.