Community Tours Locomotive at BNSF Railway Open House in Dilworth

The event was held in conjunction with Loco Daze

DILWORTH, Minn. — Dilworth is home to a BNSF railway station, and community members got the chance to tour one of those orange locomotives.

Most people see BNSF trains while in traffic waiting for them to pass, but some part of something you used or ate today was probably transported by train.

“Whether it’s agricultural goods or lumber products, things we all need and use and consume every day come by train at some point,” Amy McBeth, who does public affairs for BNSF, said.

With 400 railroads across the country, it takes a lot of manpower to make these trains not only run, but run safely.

Engineer Ryan Kloeckner gave a tour of the train.

“When I come on duty as an engineer, I have to go over several pieces of paperwork, I have to know what’s in my train, I brief the conductor several times on how fast we can go and what’s ahead of us, what’s behind us,” he said.

It can take a mile to stop something that weighs 200 tons, and drivers need to be cautious around railroad tracks.