Fall's Last Gasp

 It's been a lovely autumn here in the Twin Ports, with leaf color that has brought people from all over the state to take in the view. This has inspired me to get out and chase trains every time the opportunity presented itself, and Sunday afternoon was one such opportunity. 

ATCS showed a train headed toward Carlton from the range. I figured there was plenty of time to intercept it there, and possibly chase it for another shot or two. By the time I arrived at the crossing in town, and looked at ATCS again, I was pleasantly surprised to see a train waiting at a red light somewhere in the Cloquet area and another lined off the Brainerd Sub. Off I went, searching for a suitable backdrop for not one but two on the BNSF. The heavy overcast at least kept me from worrying about sun angles. I settled for the crossing at Lerner Road, where a short wait for the coal loads yielded this. (Right click and open in new tab for full resolution.)

I was wishing for the ACe to be up front, but no such luck. So I decided to wait here for the train from the range in the hopes it was pellets, and sure enough it was. Plus, this one had a pair of ACe's on the point.

I had moved across the tracks in order to give chase, and caught the train again at State Line. My framing is rusty but I did manage to catch one of the remaining spots of color here.

With that, Mrs. L4T and myself headed to Superior for a drive through supper at Hardees, home of the the thickburger. After a long spell of CN red and black, it was nice to catch the orange of BNSF once again. And a pair of ACe's always beats a three GE's in my book. This outing probably marked the end of any kind of fall color as a storm moved through the area overnight and knocked a lot of leaves down. So now we wait for the white stuff to add its mark to the local scenery. 

Staples Sub Redux

I lived along the Staples Sub for 8 years. Spent a lot of time railfanning the tracks in the Wadena area over those 8 years, in fact, the majority of the posts on this blog are related to the Staples Sub. In a way, it was and always will be my railfanning "hometown". All this means that cutting ties with the area is bittersweet. And yesterday Mrs. L4T and cut our final material ties with Wadena when the sale of our house closed.

That meant a trip over to Wadena, with the attendant visit to the Staples Sub. MN Chris has joked I don't know how many times about my comment on crossing the tracks and seeing a headlight. Well, yesterday I didn't even make it across the tracks before a headlight showed up, just as we were approaching the Staples depot. After some fancy driving I found myself in position to fire off three quick poorly lit, badly composed frames, which caught the entire consist of a track inspection train headed east on the Staples.

I made it all the way to Dower Lake before being distracted once again. This photo was shot on the trip home, but is an overall view of what that distraction was. What strikes me about this is change-whereas it used to be expected to see a number of coal trains staged in the yard at Staples, currently you are much more likely to catch it with oil trains in residence, as we did yesterday.

That north train had interesting power as shown here. I haven't had the chance to feast on NS heritage units as many of you have, so this was a must-shoot for me. Viva Penn Central!

We arrived in Wadena with a bit of time to kill, and one way we did it was to get a shot of the pair of GP50's on the Wadena local. Not sure what was going on that kept them tied up the entire time we were there, but something unusual was in the works. Anyway, here is the mismatched couple:

And then our closing was pushed off for an extra hour and a half. With nothing to do, a ride west seemed to be in order. We made it to New York Mills and were on the way back when we encountered a classic Staples Sub coal empty passing through Bluffton. A true reminder of times past.

Then it was time for business, followed by the long drive home. A couple of poorly lit eastbounds accompanied us to Staples, where we took the diverging route the follows the Brainerd Sub east. That was quiet with the exception of a loaded coal train encountered near Deerwood, which we chose not to shoot. 

It was a day that brought back many good memories. I will always look back on the time we spent in Wadena fondly. While I know I will railfan the Staples Sub again, it will be as a visitor, not in my backyard, and that will be different. 

Like an Old Shoe

For any readers of this blog who aren't already aware of it, I started a new job, working in the Duluth/Superior area, about a month ago. There is a thriving railfan community in that area, and I have felt very welcome. "Guided Tours" of a few areas have already taken place, with more in the offing. It's exciting seeing places in person that have only existed in photos for me until now.

The best part is getting to know some of the fans in that area. I've long felt that getting to know fellow railfans is the high point of the hobby and so far the Twin Ports have reinforced that belief.

However, the area I called home for 8 years still has a strong hold on me. Commuting back to Wadena on weekends has allowed me to stay in touch with that area. On my way home Friday evening, I caught an empty coal train between Staples and Aldrich. Racing along at highway speed allowed me a short lead by the time I reached Verndale. It only seemed right to stop for a shot at one of my favorite photo locations-the Verndale Sag.


The combination of nice evening light, a familiar coal train behind a pair of MAC's, and a well known location sure combined to make me feel "at home". It's just a matter of time before the Twin Ports are able to provided the same level of comfort. I look forward to it.

Learning Superior

If you don't know where you are going, you have a few options. One of the most commonly used (by me at least) is to keep blundering on in hopes of getting somewhere. You can also use things like GPS or maps. Advice from a trusted friend is always useful. The most valuable solution, though, is an experienced guide. That's what I lucked into last Wednesday when Dan Mackey was kind enough to give me a grand tour of Twin Ports railfanning locations. I know this wasn't all-inclusive, I don't think you could do that in a full day around here, but it was a great introduction. And there were even trains!

After a quick stop at McDonalds (take out), Dan soon knew exactly where to wait for this trifecta of EMD's as it brought a cut of cars from Duluth up a grade into the Superior yard. The GP's weren't able to get the job done themselves so the SD was placed in helper service as the long transfer made the loop toward the yard.


These 8 axle flat cars made up a good portion of the train with what looked like wind generators aboard. Must have been one of the reasons so much tractive effort was needed. Dan managed to get elevation to shoot this train.


Now for a brief OMR tidbit. On the previous Sunday, when I was on the way back to Superior from Staples, a train of DME and ICE hoppers was making its way onto the Brainerd Sub at Staples. Knowing how excited Chis Muller would be, I called him with a live report. When I mentioned 4 bay DME hoppers he asked what kind, so this photo is intended to provide that info.


We now resume our Twin Ports discussion. Dan had a good idea of what was going on from the radio chatter. Being a novice in the area, when I asked him where 15.9 was, he gave me a funny look and said something like "a mile from 14.9". Then we were off for places like Saunders, and Boylston, where I think I shot this after running the hundred yard dash in as good a time as I can muster due to my wandering off and not observing where the qualified guide set up. Note to self: "PAY ATTENTION!"


And the hits just kept on coming. The Benzene bridge, MP 15.9, where a coal load and coal empty met, and yet another bridge south of town, which Dan was kind enough to drive down to. By this time I didn't even know what color locomotives might show up. As we pulled up to this location Dan asked if I saw a headlight coming. Sure enough, the CN delivered a train just in the knick of time.


And it just went on. Grassy Point Draw, Mikes Yard. The pair of Rice's Point yards, and all the trackage down in the port area, where a CP job was working. A ship loading at one of the massive elevators in Superior. The action never stopped.

I want to say thanks to Dan for the great tour. I'm looking forward to learning the area, and getting to know more of the fans around here.

National Train Day

Seemed it would be a mortal sin to not railfan a bit on National Train Day. (Was that over two weeks ago already?) An invite to Mrs. L4T was turned down due to her busy schedule but since she understands the sanctity of the hobby, she encouraged me to venture out all by my lonesome on Saturday evening. Here's a story of what I managed to see.

Since there wasn't much traffic showing on ATCS, I decided to run to Staples. Even if nothing was moving there just might be a train to shoot there. Sure enough, this crude empty behind a pair of Horseheads was tied down in the yard alongside a loaded sister. I grabbed a tele from the west end of the yard.

If you haven't been to Staples lately, you would hardly know the place. Work on the overpass is progressing swiftly, creating new photo angles. Here's one, from the top of a huge dirt pile on the south side of the yard.

While I was up there, I grabbed one more looking north across the tracks and Highway 10.

I was just about to give up when a coal empty on the Brainerd Sub rolled up a warrant to somewhere east of Motley. A chance at a westbound! Here's my first shot, east of Staples.

And then he had to stop before entering the Staples to wait for one other train. This gave me the chance for another shot. You can see the new signal that is waiting to be cut in.

Finally, my last attempt at the Verndale sag. My final shot from NTD.

Anyway, it was worth the trip. Always fun to get out and take train pictures.

Duty Calls

And I answer.

First off was a trip to Austin early Monday morning. Staples didn't have a whole bunch to offer other than the couple of sets of coal cars that seem to have taken up permanent residence and the occastional bare table train that is stored there. The only out of the ordinary thing I spotted that morning was a bare table with power intact-in this case a pair of AC units, overkill for the train it was tied up to.

Oddly enough, I encountered this very same train eastbound on Wednesday, during my trip home. They were sailing along between Randall and Darling going one way and I was sailing along going the other way. No photos that time.

Thursday morning it was off again, this time to Duluth. Now it seems to me that the DEEX trains have been a little less common lately. I've read where coal traffic is down for the railroads, not sure if that applies here or I'm just imagining it. Either way, the Brainerd Sub was quiet almost all the way to I-35. Eastbound loads caught me a bit off guard when I came upon them about with about 10 miles to go. The trusty Escape sprinted ahead in time for a shot at the last crossing available. And I'll tell you what-I was glad to get the shot. The trees, the MAC, the cars-it came out nice in my opinion.

Given the ACe's I got on a manifest train last weekend and the MAC and GEVO AC on the baretable above, I have to wonder if the AC units aren't starting to spread out if coal business is actually slowing. It's been a while since I saw an SD40-2 as well. Maybe it's time to get out and shoot the Dash 9's while they're still here, before they go the way of the 60's?

Here's a question for all of you. We know that crude oil trains were unkown in this area just a few short years ago. And it seems that 2 bay covered hoppers are becoming more and more common through the area, I'm guessing with sand for fracking and other drilling tasks. Nationwide, natural gas production is up and prices down, to the point that gas is displacing coal in some electrical generation service. Given all the above, are the changes a positive or a negative for the railroad industry? For the Staples Sub?

One thing about railroading, blink and things change. That goes for Staples, too, as overpass construction continues and will soon change the landscape there forever.

Nine Nine Nine Nine

Thanks to Jer for the heads up:


On Saturday morning, early, he texted me that the BNSF 9999 was stopped somewhere near Bluffton. Since I was still sucking on my morning coffee, the response wasn't timely. However, after a cup or two, curiosity got the best of me, and an ATCS check showed an eastbound just entering the plant. Off I went, and sure enough the famous (at least in my mind) BNSF 9999 was sitting west of the west crossing in Wadena. He stopped exactly where the pile driver parked on the house track would shade his pilot.

There is something about a loco numbered 9999. This is the fourth time I've captured this engine, once in Frazee, once in Staples, and as a DPU on a River Sub COLX train. Keep those tips coming, Jer.

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.

What I Stumbled Across this Weekend

The furniture quest continued on Saturday, as Mrs. L4T and I made the trek to Perham to check out 4 floors of stuff at Karvonen's in Perham. It's nice stuff, too, but we still didn't find just what we were looking for. Still the trip wasn't a complete loss since it was a lovely day and I got to shoot a train. Twice. First near the Highway 10 overpass:


And then once more, this time close to Wadena. I might have passed this one up but with a pair of H1's in the consist it seemed worth shooting.


A heads up from Jer on possible unusual traffic across the Staples Sub this afternoon resulted in a short railfanning trip. With ATCS showing a pair of westbounds after lunch, and me not knowing which one might be the mystery train, I headed out to investigate. The first train was another Dash 9 powered manifest, but the second was worth shooting. Loram was moving a grinder around and I got them at Bluffton.


Railfanning was capped off by COLX loads that must have met the grinder close to the 174.1 detector. I shot him at CR 75 west of town, which was the best I could do for nose light on an eastbound at this time of day.


With that, it was home again to work on the ceiling some more.

Shall We Chase a Train?

Friday was the end of what seemed like a long work week to me. The trip home from Two Harbors was staring me in the face after meeting with some folks Friday morning, and that's a long ways from Wadena.

After a stop at Carr's Hobbies in Duluth, where I scored 7 decorated 53' trailer kits for an average price of less than $6 each, it was back on the road. At least I had my great buy on intermodal equipment and satellite radio to keep me company. Highway 210 rolled on and on, when all of a sudden, wait, isn't that a westbound coal empty peeking through the trees? Why it sure is! It should be easy to catch him and take a photo. First one is somewhere east of Tamarack:


The empty was moving right along, but the Escape was moving faster so the next shot came from the overpass at McGregor. The train was a bit sidelit, but that makes for interesting shadows.


I tried it as a black and white as well, not sure which one I prefer.


After a NASCAR speed pit stop at the Holiday station it was back in the saddle. Things worked out nicely as the train and I both approached Aitkin at the same time. A few miles down the road a crossing offered the chance to get a bit better lighting on the nose, although the clouds had really moved in by this time. Went from code blue to overcast in less than half an hour.


After a stop at the Menards in Brainerd the trip home continued. Once again I caught the train, this time as he was entering the Staples Sub. The clouds and poor sun angle didn't offer much in the way of photo ops. A stop in Verndale to reserve the park shelter for VR2K12 was too much to resist, though, and I shot him one final time. That makes at least four locations where this GE powered coal empty was photographed. That's the way to chase a train.

A Train Picture

It's not unusual for Mrs. L4T to suggest a trip to Brainerd on the weekend. It's also not unusual for me to agree, since you can see a railroad track from the highway for about 75% of the trip. This last Saturday fit the pattern.

Guess what-I didn't see a headlight as we crossed the tracks in Wadena, this time. No, instead, the crossing gates were down and the crossing was occupied by an eastbound coal train. The only thing I knew about the power was that a peachy MAC was pushing. Off we went, with a goal of catching him before the curve at Aldrich would put the kibosh to nose light. We barely made it, getting the shot from the last crossing before the curve, the one east of Verndale.


You can really see how the orange paint on these GE's fades in this photo-the leader is nice and shiny, and the trailing unit is already starting to show that icky peach color.

After the train passed we took off for Brainerd. I did a double take passing the Staples yard, as an entire train of what looked to be brand new crude oil cars was staged, but I decided to risk getting a photo on the way home when the light would be a little better. That turned out to be a bad decision as the train was gone on the return trip.

It's a meager offering this post, but that was the only train we saw on the way over and back. Sometimes that's the way it is.

Frosty Days

Usually we associate the word "frost" with cold. The last couple of days have been sweatshirt weather in these parts, yet the frost has been about as glorious as it gets. I like shooting in the frost as it adds something rarely seen around here. It's even better if the sun comes out, as here, but it's even neat in the clouds. Yesterday and today fit into the latter category, even sneaking toward fog yesterday. For example, here's an intermodal I happened across shortly after leaving on a trip to the Cities Thursday afternoon. I also got a couple others on the trip, the first at Aldrich:


And the second one I managed to intercept at the old Highway 10 bridge near Lincoln. This train had a pair of GE's and a long string of freight cars stretched out behind.


I scored in the same location again today on the way home. This time it was Dairyland Power loads, headed down the Staples Sub behind a GE and a MAC, with yet another MAC shoving. This train has some frost on the MU hoses to go along with what was coating the trees.


I wish there was a better way to actually capture the beauty of these conditions but I just don't have the knack. It's fun to see though.

The Missing Railfan Returns

I've spent the more than a month since my last post doing who knows what? Well, work got in the way, and family issues, and the Holidays, and....

As someone who has gotten used to seeing trains many times a week at a minimum, this interval has been pretty train-free. That's not by choice, but simply a result of where my travels have taken me. However, I did get the chance to shoot a few pictures, this first one in International Falls on November 29. For once, the sun was out, and the MDW was kind enough to park one of their new switch engines where I could get a shot with the engine house in the background.


On December 13, the fog and overcast was back on a day I travelled to Randall for work. As the day went on, the fog just seemed to get thicker. A westbound Z train stopped at the Randall siding just as I left town, and I figured it wouldn't sit for long. I noticed a track inspection truck getting off the tracks at Cushing and decided to wait for the Z in the gloom at the old Highway 10 overpass. It was so dark the shot suffered, and this is the best I could do with the shutter wide open and the ISO cranked up too high. About 2:30 in the afternoon.


And then on December 20, after a quick trip to Perham, I caught up with a rail grinder on the way home. Another of those rare sunny days, and he decided to stop at the west crossing, so why not shoot him? So, I did.


We spent Christmas weekend in International Falls, and I came home the day after with my son. He needed to head back to Grand Forks. A friend was in the hospital in Wadena, and on my way to visit, sure enough, I spotted a headlight. I decided to get a profile of the power as the light was 90 degrees to the track. I wouldn't bore you with it if not for the repainted Dash 9 trailing.


Finally, Wednesday I had to go to New York Mills for work, and I was lucky enough to catch a couple of trains after finishing up. First is the Ferromex unit I shared earlier on Flickr, this time two shots instead of just one.





And then a MAC that has seen better days, but still hard at work doing what it was built to do. That's haul coal out of the Powder River Basin. Regardless of the paint, I'll never get tired of seeing this work done.


So now you are caught up on what this railfan has been up to. Not a lot, from a train perspective, but hopefully the new year holds some new adventures along the tracks.

Morning Coal, Afternoon 'Bonnets

A day trip to Lake Park always brings out the railfan in a person, and today was no different. By the time I made it to Detroit Lakes, the sun was peeking up over the horizon. When a westbound coal empty showed up, it seemed like just the chance to try to catch him with morning sun lighting up his flank.


Knowing there was a DPU on this train, I waited to get a shot of the end as it rounded the curve at Richards Spur. The DPU's sometimes have FRED hanging off the coupler, but luckily this one didn't. Some fans pet peeve seems to be open cab doors, but I'm more put off by a DPU facing the right way and nicely lit, but wearing a FRED.


There was no way I could get to the S-curves in Lake Park ahead of him, or even behind him, as the tail end of the train was just disappearing when I pulled up. So off to work it was, just a couple of blocks from the tracks and stewing as every train passed. You can be just about anywhere but on the bridge in Lake Park, and not see the train that is passing through town due to the cut. The railfan's frustration sure entertains those he is working with, though.

Soon enough it was time to head for home. Before even reaching Audubon, though, circumstances dictated a u-turn. A dandy looking warbonnet was leading a string of grain cars west, with a CSX EMD the other unit in the consist. This one was shot near my third favorite Staples Sub tree, just east of Boyer Lake.


CSX must have farmed out a lemon to BNSF in this case, as not long after this was shot, the 706 called the dispatcher to inform him they had lost the second unit. With the downhill run to Dilworth, they should have had no problem with power but maybe needed a bit more brake since the EMD's dynamics might have been AWOL as well.

Before reaching Richards Spur, another u-turn was needed. The target was another warbonnet-led train, this one looked to be a solid block of DDG cars. 97 of them to be exact, as the Lake Park detector later announced he had an even 400 axles. Here's the shot, just west of Audubon with the elevator in the background.


I missed one more coal empty just outside DL, and a pretty Z train with what looked like a matched set of four H2 Dash 9's on the point near Perham. That was the end of the rail action for the day, but what I saw was entertaining. Next week I will be over that way a couple more times, so may get a chance for more Staples Sub action.