Up and Down On the CPKC River Sub in Minnesota September 2026 FT KCS Grey ghost, CP SD40 and more

Welcome to the bluffs on the banks of the MIssissppi River. This is one of the most gorgeous areas in the entire midwest to view trains. On each side of the river lies two busy railroads linking Minneapolis and beyond. On the Wisconsin side is the BNSF St Croix sub which sees 25-35 trains a day and sometimes that number can be higher if alot of unit trains are running. On the other is the CPKC former Soo line River sub which hosts around 20-25 trains a day and 4 Amtrak trains a day. We will visit the CPKC River Sub in our first video as we followed it from the scenic areas around Dakota MN to Red Wing MN. The busiest portion is between Winona and River JCT near Lacrosse as you get the Waseca sub traffic which includes locals, a pair of trains and some unit trains. But we will still see a good handful north of there too. I hope you enjoy the video, the weather was very erratic on this trip but I tried hard to make it work. Enjoy! These videos were shot over a couple day peroid in this area. As you can see with the merger. This railroad can be fun at times to railfan at especially in Minnesota. They also seem to run alot of eastbounds during the day compared to westbound traffic. Location Dakota MN Train 1: Eastbound CPKC mixed freight train with a nice CP AC4400W leading Train 2: Eastbound CPKC mixed freight train with another nice CP AC4400CW leading Train 3: Eastbound CPKC Potash train 646 heads for Chicago IL with a CSX GEVO leading Train 4: Eastbound CPKC road local train with an amazing lashup Train 5: Another Eastbound CPKC Potash train 646 heads for Chicago IL Location Winona MN Train 6: Eastbound Amtrak Empire Builder train Number 8 with a P42DC leading heads for Chicago IL Train 7: Eastbound CPKC mixed freight train 248 heads for Chicago IL with another AC4400CW leading. I lucked out with these. I only wish I got horn videos of them Train 8: Eastbound CPKC mixed freight train 2-254 heads for Portage WI with a CP SD40-2. I apologize how dark it was in the video. I am not missing out on a SD40-2 leading a road train 2026 Train 9: Eastbound CPKC Grain train comes out of the fog with a huge train Location Weaver MN Train 10: Eastbound CPKC road local train heads for Winona with a KCS grey ghost leading the way Train 11: Eastbound Amtrak Boreails train 1340 heads for Chicago IL Location Maple Springs MN Train 12: Eastbound CPKC Grain train Train 13: Westbound CPKC road local train with a Eco leading Location Lake City MN Train 14: Eastbound Amtrak Empire Builder Number 8 heading for Chicago IL Train 15: Another Eastbound CPKC mixed freight train 248 heads for Chicago iL Location Red Wing MN Train 16: Eastbound CPKC mixed freight/stack train 448 heads for Chicago IL