Some Easter Sightings

Mr. L4T Jr. was home for the weekend. He has not been infected with the railfanning bug, which is likely a good thing for me as his presence will occasionally inspire me to do something a little different. However, he is also willing to humor me on occassion, such as when a matched set of NS GE's happen by with a loaded tank train. Easter Sunday afternoon revealed just such a sight, which was captured initially crossing the bridge that is being worked on in Bluffton.


The backlighting is strong in this one, and the next one, which is not much further down the line due to the slow order that is delaying every train through the area. Once more from the Highway 75 crossing.


After he headed back to Grand Forks Mrs. L4T suggested we go for a short ride. I agreed, but told her we needed to check ATCS to see if any train traffic was likely. Sure enough a westbound was approaching Wadena, and we encountered it at the crossing upon heading uptown. I decided to try shooting it just west of the overpass, and here's the result.


I liked the outcome of that one, although I should have waited a bit for the train to get closer to the silos before tripping the shutter. Live and learn.

After swinging through Perham, we headed for home. Once more a westbound was showing, this time in Staples. I figured I had just enough time to grab a smoothie at McDonalds and get back west of town for a shot. What a prediction-the headlight was showing as I once more pulled over on Highway 75! A short wait in the gale-force winds, and a COLX empty marched by, slowing for the bridge.


They're only GE's, and the paint is a bit faded, but a matched set is a matched set. As the GEVO's arrive and coal traffic seems to fall a bit, matched power is getting more rare. The MACs that used to be strictly coal power are still found on coal trains, but they are also showing up on manifests, grain trains, and crude oil trains.

The railroad seemed busy this weekend, although I didn't get much chance for photos. I hear another train passing through town as I write this. Life is good.