Marceline Subdivision

The Marceline Subdivision or "Marceline Sub" is a railway line running about 210 miles (340 km) from Fort Madison, Iowa to the Congo station (near Kansas City) in the United States of America. It is operated by BNSF Railway[1] as part of their Southern Transcon route from Chicago to Los Angeles. The Marceline Sub is a high volume link connecting the Chillicothe Subdivision in the east and the Kansas City Terminal in the west.

 to Kansas City Terminal Area
444.4
 Congo
442.6
 Sugar Creek
440.7
 Cement City
442.6
 Courtney
436.5
 Eton
 UP River Subdivision
434.0
 Atherton
426.3
 West Sibley
Sibley Railroad Bridge
over the Missouri River
421.7
 Floyd
 NS Kansas City District
417.9
 CA Junction
411.3
 Henrietta
405.6
 Hardin
396.6
 Norborne
388.8
 WB Junction
 NS Kansas City District
386.4
 Carrollton
374.3
 Bosworth
360.7
 Mendon
354.6
 Rothville
349.3
 West Marceline
346.9
 East Marceline
 Brookfield Subdivision
341.5
 Bucklin
330.9
 West Ethel
329.3
 East Ethel
322.9
 Elmer
313.2
 La Plata
306.4
 Gibbs
300.3
 Hurdland
292.0
 W Baring
282.4
 Rutledge
276.8
 Gorin
272.3
 Wyaconda
264.8
 West Medill
263.0
 East Medill
 Des Moines River
Missouri
Iowa
256.0
 Revere
246.2
 Argyle
 Hannibal Subdivision
237.2
 Ortho
236.2
 West Fort Madison
234.3
 Fort Madison
to Chillicothe Subdivision
Amtrak Southwest Chief

This subdivision is mostly double track with only one segment of single track, over the Sibley Railroad Bridge crossing the Missouri River at West Sibley. A third mainline is provided west of Eton, MO and from Hardin, MO to CA Junction by joint operation with Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern respectively. Norfolk Southern and BNSF jointly operate double track from WB Junction to Hardin.

This line has hosted passenger traffic throughout its history; currently Amtrak's Southwest Chief makes stops along the Marceline Subdivision in Ft. Madison, IA and La Plata, MO. Both Fort Madison and La Plata are served by 2 Amtrak Trains three days a week. The first train is the morning/early afternoon #4 from Los Angeles to Chicago while #3 from Chicago to Los Angeles runs in the evening. As of 2020, the station at La Plata hosts three Virtual Railfan webcams which can be used to monitor traffic on the line. The East Cam & West Cam are mounted on the station itself, while the 360 "PTZ" cam, which was recently installed in April 2019, was installed at a nearby observation cabin.[2]

The Marceline Sub also features connections to two other BNSF subdivisions. The Hannibal Subdivision to St. Louis crosses just west of Ft. Madison (there are connections to this subdivision from the Chillicothe Subdivision) and the Brookfield Subdivision crosses west of Bucklin. Mileposts are counted from Chicago.

References
  1. Ingles, J. David (2001). Guide to North American Railroad Hot Spots. Kalmbach Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 9780890243732.
  2. Virtual Railfan(registration required)
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