Independence Day

Way behind, is what I am. The model railroad siren in my basement has been calling, and combined with a busy work schedule it leaves little time for railfanning these hot summer days, and even less time to spend on the internet.

However, last Sunday Mrs. L4T and I managed to sneak away for an evening of train hunting, and I want to share the results in this post. We had hoped to get a chance to eat at the Station House in Perham, but when we found it closed for the holiday our old standby Dairy Queen was an admirable stand in.

But the train photography from this evening centers on the Wadena area. After supper I decided to try and get a couple of shots in town, with the intent of catching BNSF trains rolling past some of the tornado damage. My first train of the day was passing what used to be the Express Central supply building when I shot this:


We headed back out Bluffton way to intercept an eastbound, shown here as he tops the hump just west of the crossing.


Just behind him, another eastbound, this on a stacker, rolled out of the sun. I wasn't really trying to stand in the exact same location, but it looks like I did.


ATCS told me of a westbound that was passing through Wadena as the eastbound stack train approached. I figured I would be very close to a meet, and sure enough the head ends passed each other just to my east. Here's the westbound, another stack train, as he approached the Bluffton crossing.


I saw and heard a train coming off the Brainerd Sub. I decided to shoot what I expected to be coal empties at the Bluffton curve. This is still one of my favorite spots in the area.


And finally back to Wadena to catch another eastbound passing what used to be Heartland Tire and the Credit Union building.


So all in all, we had some good train action in a relatively short time. It was good to get out of the basement for a couple of hours and take in the real trains instead of the little ones.

Jim