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

Odds and Ends

Not sure if this ever happens to anyone else, but real life has interfered with my railfanning to a major extent recently. Between running up and down the road for work, a trip to Florida to see my parents, and other assorted obligations, looking for trains has taken a definite back seat.

Still, when I have a spare moment or the opportunity presents itself, I try to get a photo or at least do some trainwatching. Here's a selection of what I have seen over the last 10 days or so. On Friday Feb 26 Mrs. L4T and I headed over to Staples for supper and ended up spotting a couple of trains. The first was an eastbound coal load on the Brainerd Sub. Since the DPU was pointed the "right" way I shot him a bit east of Staples as the train picked up speed on the Brainerd Sub.


I knew a westbound was headed our way as well on the Staples Sub so I waited for the SD39-2 led train to show up. They were lined into the yard, which caused a short wait for an eastbound coal train near the Staples Depot.


The next day the Mrs. gave me a lift to the Cities to catch a plane for a visit with my parents in Florida. Although I missed out on Gopher Rail as a result, the trip was well worth it. As we were headed through Staples, I did a double take as I spotted another pair of SD39-2's as power on DAPX empties, behind an AC GEVO. Regardless of where the light was, this one had to be captured for posterity. Wonder when the last time these classic units were the power on a Staples Sub coal train?


That is not something you see everyday.

After returning home from Florida Tuesday evening (it was a great trip, although a little short on trains-I saw an FEC loco in Fort Pierce from a highway overpass, and two flat cars on my visit to the Kennedy Space Center), I was off again early Wednesday morning-destination Fairfax, MN, on the Minnesota Prairie Line. When I stopped in Paynesville, a diesel horn alerted me to a westbound and I quickly backtracked to near the spot where Highway 4 and 55 intersect. A westbound ethanol train was my target here.


Just like the post is named, nothing but odds and ends. The MPLI was quiet while I was in the area and by the time I headed for home Friday evening the clouds were moving in. I saw a few trains this weekend but no chases or photos resulted, so hopefully some travels along Highway 10 this coming week will produce some fanning opportunities.

All for now,

Jim

Tuesday Twosome (from Last Week)

Last week's travels took me to various locations in the southwest part of the state. Destinations included Fairfax, Round Lake, and Westbrook, which meant my path would pass through CP, TCW, UP, and BNSF territory. One of the challenges of this trip, however, is that most of these lines are predominantly east-west, while my travel is mostly north-south, which means catching trains on some of these lines is mostly a matter of chance.

I headed out of Wadena early Tuesday morning, and the first tracks encountered are the CP Paynesville Sub at the intersection of Highway 4 and Highway 55. I get the chance to follow the right of way for a couple of miles into Paynesville before heading south on Highway 4, so I always check for a train here. Tuesday morning was a foggy one, and sure enough, the fog had delayed me just enough to catch a westbound right where I met up with Highway 55. I scampered down into the wet grass to grab a couple of shots as the train approached.





The foggy mornings turned out to be a theme for the week, with the fog burning off to reveal clear skies every day.

I made it to Fairfax about 15 minutes before a TC&W GP20C headed into town from the east on the Minnesota Prairie Line. He had a long string of grain hoppers, I assume for the elevator in town. This backlit shot shows the train against a backdrop of the grain elevator.


I had never seen a TC&W loco in this paint scheme before, so I grabbed a broadside of it as it stopped to work a cut of the grain cars it brought into town. It's a nice looking unit, but not as attractive as the maroon units I have usually seen on this line.


That was it for Tuesday (I have to work too, after all). I was planning on staying in Windom that night, and had hopes of catching some UP action while I was in that area. You will see the results of that effort in a later post.

Jim

Saturday CP Surprise

Picture this. Mrs. L4T is lounging in her chair, while I contemplate the opportunities presented by the BNSF on this day. I decide to check the ATCS display, in hopes of coming up with a plan for the afternoon and evening. In a matter of moments, a plan is born, and instantly goes from being nothing more than a wisp in my mind to a fully formed trip.

With that, we were off to new grounds. What sparked it all was a CP train showing up westbound out of Shoreham Yard on the ATCS. My brain calculated the distances involved, relative speeds, and spit out a conclusion, saying, "If you get your butt in gear, and traffic cooperates, you should just about see him clear the overpass at Paynesville as you pull onto Highway 55".

When inspiration of this level strikes, there is no time to waste. In less than 5 minutes, we had wiped the sleep from our eyes, found shoes, pop, magazines, and books to entertain us just in case this exquisitely formed plan didn't materialize, and we were off.

It didn't quite work out the way I had envisioned it in that moment of clarity.

Two hours later, we were sitting at a grade crossing west of Paynesville, waiting for the westbound that (we hoped) had been delayed in his transit of the CP. Mrs. L4T was deep in a Women's Day or Readers Digest, and I was studying my own text, when my head snapped up at the sound of a diesel horn. But wait, the horn was to the west, not the east. What is going on? Surely, no good can come from this. Yet, the intrepid railfan that I am, I broke out the trusty Pentax and struck out for a vantage point that would allow me a shot of whatever was coming that at least partially mitigated the backlit conditions we would suffer shooting an eastbound train.

As I drew a bead on the approaching train, you could have knocked me over with the veritable feather. My railfan network had completely neglected notifying me that some type of passenger special was traversing the CP Paynesville sub this gorgeous September afternoon.


The plan we had worked out every detail on-from where to eat, to what route to take back to Wadena, to when we would likely arrive home-went out the window with the sight of this train. In its place, a new plan emerged-chase this train. I know, it's not too detailed, and lacks the specifics of the old plan, but one sometimes must respond to changing conditions. This was one of those times. And we were off.


We shot him between Paynesville and Eden Valley, across a field.


We shot him at the overpass between Watkins and Kimball, coming at us, and...


Going away, with what I am guessing is about 150 years of railroad experience riding the observation platform. We shot him at other locations I will be uploading to my flickr page as well.

And then we let him go. At this time we were without a plan, drifting about central Minnesota, trying to decide the best way to proceed. I had a hunch there was still a westbound about, but the Staples Sub was calling as well. Without a firm idea of what was moving, (and my darn radio still doesn't work), I wrestled to come up with an idea. Finally, after a cold Diet Coke, I decided to work my way east a few more miles, and if we didn't encounter another train, we would cut north at Annandale and parallel the Staples Sub back home.

Only about a mile outside of Kimball, we both spotted what looked to a headlight, high up on a hill. Further investigation revealed the westbound I had been looking for, just starting out of a siding. Again, a new plan fell into place-this one involving another chase, in the opposite direction. I set out for the first location i would shoot, just west of Kimball:


As this train was only making about 40 mph, I had no difficulty leapfrogging him after each shot. I shot him in a number of locations along the highway, then entered farm country as he made the trek from Eden Valley to Paynesville.


There is some gorgeous scenery in this area, including a bridge that I didn't find until the power was over it. That would have been the shot of the day.


I was sitting in the Escape as I took this picture, out the passenger rear window. This bridge (this is not the same bridge I referred to earlier, that one is a railroad bridge across a stream) was very reminiscent of the wooden bridges east of Hawley. All in all a great stretch of railroad for photography. Bryant and Jer have a real jewel in this area.

I overtook the train again as we left Paynesville, and was able to shoot him as he rounded the curve near the intersection of Highways 4 and 55, here:


The chase continued all the way to Belgrade, where building clouds and hunger rumbles led us to break north for Sauk Center.

All in all, it was a very entertaining trip. The highlight seemed, at first glance, to be the unexpected passenger special, and it was fun to see, but beginning to learn this section of railroad and some of the photo locations it offers will provide the long term enjoyment. I can see more trips to "CP Country" in our future.

Jim