ATCS said there was a westbound in Staples, and it passed Dower Lake as we left town. I stopped at the Verndale Sag, and after a few minutes wait and another look at the display, I developed the theory that the train was doing some switching. So, off we went to Staples.
This first shot is from the Dower Lake crossing, looking east as he pulls out of the yard and prepares to back up to couple onto the rear of his train.
Also in play was a second westbound, around Philbrook as we began to watch the switching operations where the 4062 was dropping a cut of grain cars in Staples. 4062 was working off Main 2 so I figured the second train would run by him on Main 1. Sure enough that is how it played out. Some more Dash 9's on a stacker:
At this time I was faced with chasing the stack train west, or waiting for the 4062 to head out. Since he had a matched set of H2's I decided on the 4062. The wait was no more than 10 minutes before he worked his way through the crossover and headed out of town. A third shot from the Dower Lake crossing:
Next stop: Verndale. I was losing sun pretty fast by this time, and the light stays pretty good on the east side of town. But as soon as I got to the tracks I noticed a westbound bearing down. What to do? I made a snap decision to stick it out, and shot the coal loads as they approached.
I wasn't sure if I would get another shot of the 4062, but managed to, by the skin of my teeth.
I figured I was done, but opportune green lights in Wadena left me not far behind the power on the manifest, so I headed for Bluffton. The sun angle offered a chance at a shot I haven't tried before. Not perfect, but something different.
Out of light and out of trains, we headed back to home base with good memories.
Jim
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