Valero Yard Switchers
Last Updated Sep. 16, 2023

This article will keeps track of the yard switching locomotives at the Valero ethonol plant in Aurora, SD. There are currently three that I know of:

CEFX 1604 - EMD SW1500, see above for photo. I originally took notice of it in late May of 2022 when it was stationed by the public parking lot. It stayed there for a few months, but some time during the summer, it disappeared. I looked at rrpicturearchives.net to see it's location history. There aren't many pictures of it, but I found that in November of 2021 it was spotted in Alma, WI and in early August of this year, it was sitting in RCP&E's Huron shop. It's likely that it has served its job at Valero and is moving on to somewhere else.

NREX 1295 - See above for photo. 1295 is pretty active and well used, while still managing to keep very clean and shinny. Every time I go to visit, it is in a different spot on the loop. At one point, it was on the very edge where I had the opertunity to look at it up close. I am unable to determine the model number as it is not printed on the outside and there is almost no documentation of 1295 on roster lists. Currently 1295 is not at Valero. I have been told that it is somewhere near Aberdeen, SD, and it may return.

CEFX 1556 - EMD SW1500, see above for photo. I don't often get a good look at it because it often stays far into the commercial property. It is now one of the last locomotives at Valero, and may be for quite some time.

Most Recent Visit

April 29th, 2023 I went to Aurora because I heard of NS power on the radio again. This was another CP train. When I got there it was just leaving. I caught NS 9876 (C44-9W) followed by CP 8603 (AC4400CW). At Valero, I finally got a close and personal look at CIT 1556, although I found out that its reporting mark is CEFX. I still have not seen any other switchers in the loop.

April 7th, 2023 - Since the weather was nice, I rode my bike out just to see what there was to see. The BR1 was assembling a train to go to the bean plant in Volga later. The blue CIT was in the center of the big yard, as usual. It is a bit empty, now that the other two SW's have gone. Nothing new to report.

February 25th, 2023 - I heard word of an NS train doing something in the area, so I got a ride to the Aurora yard. I met up with Ross and an engineer. It was a CP train with an NS engine leading that was dropping off a large load of empty ethanol tankers in the Valero loop. Power was NS 9771, a C44-9W, and CP 8934, an ES44AC. Ross told me that the NREX 1295 switcher, normally at Valero, has left and is likely near Aberdeen, SD. CIT 1556 is currently the only switcher at Valero.

February 3rd, 2023 - Randomly decided to take an afternoon drive to the Aurora yard. I saw the BR1 train moving some cars (run by 3429). I also managed to get a picture of CIT 1556. It was far away, so the image is a bit low quality.

January 22nd, 2023 - Ross told me that there was going to be some BNSF action in Aurora. When I got there, there were two unattended trains in the yard. The first was an eastbound powered by four of RCP&E's SD40-3's. They were 3467, 3433, 3428, and 3445. The lead engine, 3467, was not initially running, and automatically started up a few minutes after I showed up. Further down was a trio of big BNSF GE's. 5911 (ES44AC), 4659 (C44-9W), and 6762 (ES44AC).

January 7th, 2023 - I went to both Aurora and Volga to try to find the BR1. The BR1 was in Volga, but I took time to check Valero. Idling near the main loop was RCP&E 3428 and 3435. They were unattended.

November 24th, 2022 - Another quick loop-around visit of the plant. I finally remembered to bring my binoculars and now have the number for the unknown CIT blue engine. It is 1556. A quick search on rrpicturearchives.net tells that it is an SW1500. Other than that, not much to report.

October 26th, 2022 - I made a quick visit in the late afternoon. The NREX and CIT engines were hidden far into the plant, but I spotted them. CEFX 1604 is still gone. Not much to report.

September 7th, 2022 - I headed out to Aurora because I had heard word on the radio that there was a BNSF train taking some tankers from Valero. After some waiting around, it came out and put on a good show with a consist of three GE engines: BNSF 7364 (ES44DC), Ferromex 4608 (ES44AC), and BNSF 4357 (C44-9W). A video of this train is on the YouTube channel. On my way back home, I checked the track loop and got another close look at 1295. The blue CIT was still too far off for me to get a good look so I am still unknown on its number.