Belle Plaine Webcam – See Union Pacific Trains in Iowa

The Belle Plaine Webcam is a railcam in downtown Belle Plaine, Iowa, trained on the Union Pacific Clinton Subdivision where it runs through the middle of town. Named for the Belle Plaine Area Museum, the camera catches local trains and through freights on the main line that has shaped this Benton County town since the 1860s. Long intermodal trains of double-stacked containers share the rails with slower local jobs, and the pattern changes from hour to hour, so there is no fixed schedule to wait for. Daylight brings out the colors of the locomotives and the railcars behind them. After dark, headlights and ditch lights often announce a train well before the cars fill the frame.

About Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine sits in southern Benton County at an elevation of 252 meters (827 feet), and its name is French for “beautiful plain”, which suits the flat farmland all around it. The town was founded in 1862, once it was certain the railroad would be extended to this point. Local landowner Prestley Hutton negotiated with the Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad, offering part of his land in exchange for a stop. That line became part of the Chicago and North Western, and today it is the Union Pacific route the camera watches. The 2020 census counted 2,330 residents in a city of 8.26 square kilometers (3.19 square miles).

Railroading once dominated local employment. A roundhouse stood downtown, on ground a bank later took over, and Belle Plaine served as a division office for the Chicago and North Western, with railroad jobs employing more than 500 people at their peak. The division offices went back to Boone in 1921, but the trains never stopped. On September 5, 2024, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive paused in downtown Belle Plaine, and hundreds of people turned out while a modern train of double-stacked containers waited on the other track to continue west.

The town also sits on the historic Lincoln Highway, the transcontinental road that brought motorists and trade through town, and that crossroads of rail and road is the theme of a 3-D brick relief mural on the west side of the Belle Plaine Area Museum. The mural honors the early farming settlers, the Union Pacific line, the Lincoln Highway and the Jumbo Well. Steel Highway Railcams, which runs the Belle Plaine Webcam, lists the two railroad radio channels it monitors for this camera: AAR 62 on 161.040 MHz and AAR 52 on 160.890 MHz. The same radio feed is also available on Broadcastify, and railfans keep a shared train log for the Clinton and Boone subdivisions that is linked from the stream.

Weather and Climate in Belle Plaine

Belle Plaine has a four-season Midwestern climate with cold winters and warm, humid summers. January is the coldest month, averaging about minus 7 C (19 F), and snowfall adds up to around 71 centimeters (28 inches) in a typical year. Snow on the ballast and frost on the rails can make winter the most atmospheric season on the camera, while plumes of exhaust from the locomotives stand out clearly in the cold air.

July is the warmest month, averaging about 23 C (73 F), and total precipitation comes to roughly 916 millimeters (36 inches) a year. Summer storms roll across the open prairie and can briefly darken the frame, and long summer evenings keep the scene lit well into the night. Spring and autumn fall between those extremes.

Things to Do Near Belle Plaine

Start at the Belle Plaine Area Museum, built in 2004, which covers the town’s railroad history, the Lincoln Highway and the historic Main Street businesses, with more space in the Henry B. Tippie Annex next door. The museum opens Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm, and by appointment. A few blocks away, Preston’s Station Historic District preserves a Lincoln Highway service station that Frank Fiene built in 1912 and moved to its 4th Avenue site in 1921 to catch the highway traffic. George W. Preston bought it two years later for 100 dollars, and the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

The Lincoln Cafe at 1214 8th Avenue has served country cooking since 1928, and the King Theatre on 12th Street shows films in a 1930s setting. The Herring Hotel at 718 13th Street, built in 1900 after a fire destroyed most of the business district in 1894, was a Lincoln Highway stop for lodging, meals and car service and was listed on the National Register in 2008. At 8th Avenue and 8th Street, a boulder with a bronze plaque placed in 1954 marks the Jumbo Well. For time outdoors, the 2.8 hectare (7 acre) Beautiful Plaines Prairie Park, the aquatic center and the nine-hole course at the Belle Plaine Country Club are all in town, and the Iowa River flows southeast past the south edge of the city.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

If you like watching freight on the Iowa prairie, these railway cams are worth a look next.

• Clarence Webcam
• La Plata Railcam Webcam
• Ritzville Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Belle Plaine located?

Belle Plaine is a small city in Benton County in eastern Iowa, United States, on the Union Pacific main line and the historic Lincoln Highway between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. The Iowa River runs past its southern edge.

What can you see on the Belle Plaine Webcam?

The camera shows the Union Pacific Clinton Subdivision in downtown Belle Plaine. Train movements include local jobs and through road trains, including long intermodal trains of double-stacked containers.

What is the weather like in Belle Plaine?

Winters are cold, with January averaging about minus 7 C (19 F) and around 71 centimeters (28 inches) of snow a year. Summers are warm, with July averaging about 23 C (73 F), and yearly precipitation is roughly 916 millimeters (36 inches).

Which railroad runs through Belle Plaine, Iowa?

The Union Pacific runs through town on its Clinton Subdivision. The line was built by the Cedar Rapids and Missouri River Railroad and later became part of the Chicago and North Western, which kept a division office in Belle Plaine until 1921.

Can you listen to railroad radio with the Belle Plaine Webcam?

Steel Highway Railcams monitors AAR 62 (161.040 MHz) and AAR 52 (160.890 MHz) for this camera, and the same radio feed is published on Broadcastify.

What was the Jumbo Well in Belle Plaine?

Jumbo was an artesian well that broke loose in 1886 and flowed out of control for 14 months, pouring more than 11,000 liters (3,000 gallons) of water a minute into the streets. It made news as far away as Europe and was called the Eighth Wonder of the World. A plaque at 8th Avenue and 8th Street marks the site.

Did Big Boy 4014 stop in Belle Plaine?

Yes. Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 stopped in downtown Belle Plaine on September 5, 2024, drawing hundreds of people to the tracks.

Source: Steel Highway Railcams