The Lifeline of the Skally LIne

The BNSF Hinckley Local is the link to the outside world for the SCXY. The Hinckley Local originates from Northtown Yard (NTW) and switches industries north off of the Hinckley Sub, starting with Anheuser-Busch in Coon Rapids and finishing with the SCXY interchange in Hinckley, MN.
The local is usually pulled by BNSF GP28Ms 1527 and 1525. On occasion you will see ILSX engines in tow headed for service work at the ILS shop in Bethel.The major car types you will see on the SCXY are hoppers. There are three major cargoes you will see: general hopper (AAR type LO) loads of durum wheat for the Horizon Mill in Rush City, PressurAide hoppers for moving milled Durum flour and hopper loads of fertilizer to Peterson's Mill in North Branch. You will also see tank cars on the line, since the new unloading stands were built last summer Zinpro in North Branch has been receiving Hydrochloric Acid by rail. They use this for making high quality animal feeds. You will also see the occasional tank car of LP for Lakes Gas who has two facilities on the line, one in Hinckley and one in North Branch. While I'm sure that Zinpro is a welcome customer on the line the HCl cars require a little extra work in that you cannot couple the engine to the cars, the crews use a buffer car when handling these loads, per FRA rules.