Post Christmas Snow in the Sun

Having suffered from a railfan drought for almost the entire month of December, Mrs. L4T and I decided to head out this afternoon to check on a train that was showing westbound from Staples. Since the sun angle in the Wadena area this time of year is not at all conducive to afternoon photography, I headed for the only spot where there was a chance for nose light-Bluffton.

After a short wait we we greeted by an empty Dairyland Power coal train, headed up by three EMD's. I shot him as he crossed the bridge over the the Leaf River.


One more shot as he approached the grade crossing, kicking up a cloud of the fresh snow we received over the Christmas holiday.


The defect detector at MP 174.1 told me this train had 442 axles, which meant only 106 empties, a bit shorter than the average coal train on the Staples Sub.

I suspected there was an eastbound out and about as well, and as we chased the coal empty west, sure enough, we met an eastbound Z train. After a U turn and short chase, I grabbed a photo near the same location as the first two, unsuccessfully trying to capture the setting sun as the train passed. A matched set of three Dash 9's in the H2 scheme is getting to be less common than it once was.


And then we headed home. Hopefully the chances we get to check out the rail action will increase over the next few months, along with the length of the days. All for now.