The Back Way

Saturday Mrs. L4t and I set out for Grand Forks to see our son. Rather than the typical trip west to Fargo and then flying up I-29, I convince the Mrs. that a short cut through Erskine was the way to go this day. I don't know what I missed as a result, but here is a short report on what I did in fact catch on National Train Day.

Just south of Waubun, we encountered our first CP train. This eastbound had a GE leader and white SOO SD as the second unit. I shot him at max tele to capture the hump:


The heat distortion is already setting in, so I got him again as he approached:


My assumption that this was all the CP action for the day proved correct. The next line encountered was the BNSF Grand Forks Sub, which we started to follow at Erskine. The line curves away from the highway in a few spots so we were lucky to spot a headlight in the distance as we approached Fisher. Mrs. L4T confirmed that it was a train and I found a crossing. I thought this was a Noyes train but on further reflection it almost had to have been headed to Superior. That's if all the old open hoppers were limestone cars, anyway.


We made a couple of passes by the yard in Grand Forks over the weekend but even with a healthy collection of GP's near the shop I didn't get any shots. Someday when I have more time I'll try and find a place to shoot them from.

We followed the Hillsboro Sub home and met one westbound fertilizer train, all CSX covered hoppers with three CSX GE's leading. Again, no shots as home was calling out strongly. I do suspect seeing the exact same train returning empty this evening near Wadena, which would have been a very fast turnaround.