Located in among the silo skyline in Omaha, Nebraska, the South Omaha Terminal Railway (SOTR) was the hub for rail traffic concerning the Omaha Union Stockyards as well as the meat packing district including; Swift, Armour, Cudahy, Nebraska Beef, and Hammond Packing. Model year 1959, Omaha’s Union Stockyards handled as much livestock traffic as Chicago and Kansas City. Set in next to Union Pacific’s mainline, the SOTR is mostly serviced via trackage rights from across the Missouri River from the regional rail hub, Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Council Bluffs serves as a melting pot of railroads both connecting with UP’s western market and shuttling billed stock and meat-related products to the SOTR. Transfer service railroads include the CNW/CMO, CGW, CMStP&P, IC, RI, UP, and Wab. The CB&Q and MP are also occasional patrons.

Alcos, Baldwins, Faribanks-Morse, and EMD’s will be frequent flyers here. With no window train service available, frozen meat has priority here. This double-deck switching layout is designed to replicate the stock, meat, and by-product industries of Omaha and includes interchange traffic between multiple class one railroads.