Hittin' for Average

The baseball player who bats .300 is a very good batter. In order to acheive this level of success, that player will likely have to have some pretty good games, where his average for the game is well above the .300 line, to make up for the games when he has to face a Cy Young winner at the top of his game. There will be good days and bad days, days where going 3 for 4 or 4 for 5 will help bring up the average from the "oh fer" days.

Sometimes railfanning is like this. There are days that don't go so well, sometimes because you miss a fat pitch, and other times you are ready to nail it and you get clouded out or a train on the near track blocks the nicely lit shot you've worked to get in position for, sort of a line drive right at someone that is caught for an out.

All these things I was thinking on Thursday, as I drove from far southwest Minnesota back home to Wadena. There would be a few photo ops, as my route crossed the DME near Walnut Grove, paralleled a section of the BNSF Marshall Sub and crossed the TCW at Granite Falls, passed by Willmar, and crossed the Paynesville Sub of the CP at Belgrade. One thing about these north-south trips-the timing has to be perfect to catch trains at crossings. Thursday turned out to be one of those days that, if I was a hitter, would have generated comments about "how well he was seeing the ball".

My first "at bat", if you will, was crossing the DME. Sure enough, just as I approached the tracks, a headlight showed up to the east. I had just a moment to grab the camera and shoot the train headed by an assortment of 6 SD units as it slowly passed.


That consist was colorful enough to require a second attempt, and after finding a spot where the tracks passed an open field, I tried squeezing in the entire colorful assortment of units. I considered myself one for one at this point.


It wasn't long before I found myself following the Marshall Sub on Highway 23. Radio chatter indicated a couple of northbounds, which would be badly backlit. A quick investigation of possibilities in Granite Falls didn't offer much to work with, so I headed north again. My first "out" of the day came when I passed over the TCW near the Granite Falls ethanol plant, with nothing but tank cars and DDG hoppers in sight. Again, I headed northeast.

Finally I heard the dispatcher talking to a BNSF 1900 series going in the hole at Clara City. After a short drive, there is was. With sugar beets being piled like mad in the background, I pulled over for a shot.


I'll take that as a hit, making me 2 for 3 on the day. I wasn't able to resist the temptation of a trip through Willmar, where I picked up a bonus-this shot of a pair of GP's switching the north end of the yard.


Leaving Willmar, my last at bat for the day was the CP at Belgrade. There's not a lot of time spent here, so catching a train is a matter of very good luck. And just as I got to the east end of town, sure enough, another headlight, this time speeding out from under the overpass. A quick left turn, and I rolled down the passenger side window for this:


I'll count that as a single, and it brought my line for the day to 3 for 4. That's about as a good a day as I can expect with no time dedicated to railfanning, just taking what you are offered as you travel.

Certainly no extra base hits in this batch, but I was thankful for what I got. It made the trip seem shorter and provided a lot of entertainment. Sometimes it's fun to be a singles hitter.

Jim

Southwest Minnesota Sightings (Cont.)

We pick up the story on Thursday morning, which found me deep in the corn country of southwest Minnesota. After finishing up at my first stop on Thursday, I had one more visit for the week, in Marshall. A glance at the map told me that I would be able to follow the DM&E for a few miles until I reached Highway 59, which would lead me right into town. The few miles of DM&E were trainless, though, and I continued on north.

Leaving Marshall, I decided to take MN 23 northeast as it parallels the BNSF line to Willmar. I turned the scanner on and in a matter of minutes I heard chatter between a train and the dispatcher. I also heard Fort Worth Mechanical talking to a different train about a radio problem. My first sighting was a southbound merchandise train just entering Cottonwood. He was moving at a good speed and I didn't have time to get to the sunny side, so shot him backlit.


I passed through Granite Falls with no further action, but when I reached Clara City I spotted a headlight. This proved to be BNSF 1061, the train I had heard the Fort Worth Mechanical Desk talking to earlier about a bad radio. I think they were having problems with the DPU unit on this train. I shot him from the ground, and from the overpass as he backed past the elevator.



That proved to be the extent of BNSF action for the day. My next target was the CP line into Glenwood and north. I was determined to catch something-anything-on that line to complete my trip. Ny first opportunity was an old SOO caboose that was part of an MOW consist sitting in a siding near Sedan.


Trains were moving both ways as I entered Glenwood. This was my first time in town, and I snooped around a bit trying to find a shot, but the yard was packed and all I could come up with was this.


And that was the end of trains for the day.

It's great to have a job where you get to travel the entire state, and to have a chance to pull over and take a picture once in a while. It was a good trip, got a lot of work done, and had the chance to see some railroad action.

Jim