Tuesday Twosome (from Last Week)

Last week's travels took me to various locations in the southwest part of the state. Destinations included Fairfax, Round Lake, and Westbrook, which meant my path would pass through CP, TCW, UP, and BNSF territory. One of the challenges of this trip, however, is that most of these lines are predominantly east-west, while my travel is mostly north-south, which means catching trains on some of these lines is mostly a matter of chance.

I headed out of Wadena early Tuesday morning, and the first tracks encountered are the CP Paynesville Sub at the intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 55. I get the chance to follow the right of way for a couple of miles into Paynesville before heading south on Highway 4, so I always check for a train here. Tuesday morning was a foggy one, and sure enough, the fog had delayed me just enough to catch a westbound right where I met up with Highway 55. I scampered down into the wet grass to grab a couple of shots as the train approached.





The foggy mornings turned out to be a theme for the week, with the fog burning off to reveal clear skies every day.

I made it to Fairfax about 15 minutes before a TC&W GP20C headed into town from the east on the Minnesota Prairie Line. He had a long string of grain hoppers, I assume for the elevator in town. This backlit shot shows the train against a backdrop of the grain elevator.


I had never seen a TC&W loco in this paint scheme before, so I grabbed a broadside of it as it stopped to work a cut of the grain cars it brought into town. It's a nice looking unit, but not as attractive as the maroon units I have usually seen on this line.


That was it for Tuesday (I have to work too, after all). I was planning on staying in Windom that night, and had hopes of catching some UP action while I was in that area. You will see the results of that effort in a later post.

Jim