I Fought the Clouds...and the Clouds Won

(A railfanning tale from Sunday, April 11)

The sun was out. Tiger seemed to be self-destructing over the first few holes of the final round of The Masters. A couple of train horns earlier in the day had gotten my railfanning juices flowing. Mrs. L4T was making signs like she wanted to go for a ride. There was a fresh set of batteries for the scanner in the closet. It was one of those days that just begged for a railfanning trip. We were off!

Every railfan needs a plan to start out with, otherwise how could you expect to see trains that jolt you into changing that plan? Mine involved a jaunt to Lincoln, where hopefully we would meet a westbound, get a photo in good light, and set off on a chase across a good portion of western Minnesota.

We made it to Philbrook. That was where some mystery train, which I had not noticed on the ATCS display, put in a surprise appearance. As I entered the tiny Burg, the crossing lights were flashing and the arms were down, followed mere seconds later by a trio of classic BNSF coal power charging toward the mines with an entire trainset of WPSX coal gons in tow. The chase was on.

First stop: Aldrich. No matter how many times I have seen this sight it still is exciting to be trackside as a coal train thunders by as part of its never-ending rotation between Wyoming and Wisconsin. Sunshine and picturesque clouds only add to the effect.


That was fun, let's do it again. This time, we'll try a shot from the overpass. Luckily enough, we catch a loaded coal train on the reverse leg of the cycle passing below us as we wait for our primary target to approach-and the DPU on this loaded train is facing backwards, offering up this image. You can see the empties in the distance, as they race to the west.


And then the empty train has arrived. The DPU in the previous photo is now only a point of light in the distance.

Waiting for the 8870 to arrive, we were joined by another railfan on the overpass. After a short introduction and converstation, we said our goodbyes and continued on west, with an ultimate destination of who knows where?


By this time, Mrs. L4T and I are ready to eat. But knowing that trains are around, we decide to grab some food McD's and stake out the DL depot. Just as I gobbled down the last of my chicken select, the first train of DL shows up from the west.


Minutes later, here comes a westbound Z, gliding up the grade to the depot. A quartet of GE's, including a CSX unit third out. Now the title of this post should be getting clearer to you. The clouds were moving in, and they were here to stay.


I contemplated a chase anyway, and actually did set out to the west, but the speed of the Z train combined with the clouds discouraged me. There was one saving grace, though, and that was a coal empty that had passed the detector at MP 203 not long before. I parked near the crossing west of Richards Spur and went for a walk down the ditch to grab this shot of the GE-led empty:


The combination of clouds and evening approaching was enough to point us for home. As we sped down Highway 10 a headlight appeared to the east. A race to the nearest crossing allowed me to shoot this from the window as I rolled to a stop:


That photo gives a hint to the MOW work for this summer. The precast crossings are scattered up and down the Staples Sub.

Arriving in Wadena, we spotted the day's last train. I shot him as he rolled through the plant in failing light.


That was our day. Even with some clouds, it was still good to get out trackside for a bit of an extended period. Looking forward to doing it again.

Jim

West End Washout

June 14th was the birthday of the heir to the L4T fortune, and he decided that a family get together in Fargo, where he is now living, was the appropriate way to celebrate this event. So after a trip to Staples in the morning to check out some action at the center of the Staples Sub, Mrs. L4T and myself headed west for a party.

I had moved the scanner into the road car, and with the camera close at hand I had visions of capturing traffic in fresh locations under sunny skies. The trip from Wadena to DL revealed no train traffic, and even the scanner was quiet. Once we entered DL, though, I heard an easbound pass a detector outside Detroit Lakes. I made the best possible time through the construction and set up to catch him at a crossing near the Wal-Mart store in DL.


Turned out to be a pair of SD40-2's with a long string of diesel fuel cars headed east. I'm still not sure if these trains are loaded or empty when they are eastbound. With diesel fuel at $4 a gallon 60 cars loaded with 16,000 gallons each is approaching $4 million in value. It's not cheap to run a railroad these days.

The scanner was silent after this encounter, with only a couple of scratchy transmissions on the Dilworth frequency as we approached Moorhead. One empty coal train was entering the yard as we arrived, but I had no chance for a shot. It seemed unusual to me to traverse the line from Wadena to Moorhead and only get one shot on a Saturday morning.

We spent the day celebrating our son's birthday, and ended up at Applebee's in Fargo for an early supper. While in the restaurant a strong thunderstorm passed through, with high winds and heavy rain. I expected this might result in overcast conditions on the return trip, but by the time we left Fargo the skies were patchy blue in the west with sun more common than clouds.

Just as we arrived at Watts, I spotted a westbound train coming into the yard and set up to shoot him between Dilworth and Glyndon. You can see the thrunderstorm as it makes its way east in the sky on this shot.


With high hopes that this was just the start of a fleet of westbounds, we continued toward Wadena, with a detour at Hawley to follow the line through the scenic countryside east of there. While the scenery was great, traffic was non-existent. I had to shoot a couple of photos just to remember what might have been if BNSF had cooperated.


And one just for MN Chris, from a favorite location of his.


I waited for half an hour for a train to show itself, then continued toward home. Careful observation revealed that there were NO trains moving on the portion of the railroad I was travelling along. I was frustrated with traffic levels, but enjoyed the scenery none the less.

And of course, once we got home, the horns started to blow signalling that the floodgates were open and traffic was once again returning to normal on this busy stretch of railroad.

It still made for a great day, spending time with family while getting a couple of train photos and seeing some wonderful scenery.

Jim

Smoky Sunday

On Sunday afternoon I floated the idea of heading over Detroit Lakes way for a drive and to grab a bite for supper. I didn't have to twist Mrs L4T's arm very hard to get her to agree.

The sun was fairly cooperative and I had high hopes for getting a few shots in the scenic DL area, maybe even some CP action. However, the scanner and tracks were both quiet the entire drive over, and the only action in town when we arrived was a long string of MOW equipment on a siding across from and just west of the depot.

We grabbed a bite to eat at the new KFC in DL and just as we finished eating and left the restaurant, a loaded DAPX train rolled by. As the sun was out, I decided to see if I was able to get a shot at the Frazee S curve. The sun was just a little too far around for nose light so I shot a video. Who knows how long solid sets of matched cars will last? I'll try to get the vid posted if I ever get time.

After that train passed we headed back to DL and I shot the MOW equipment I had seen earlier.


While I was out of the car, I thought I heard a horn, and sure enough, here came a Z train with plans to get to Dilworth in the next 30 minutes if that is even possible. Anyway, he was rolling, and I was out of position. I decided to try and catch him and finally succeeded just before Audubon. Interestingly, this is the same train that Ian had shot earlier that afternoon near Elk River. His story on it is here.

As this train accelerated, it became clear the trailing C44 had some kind of significant mechanical issue. The smoke output was overwhelming-if the mosquitos were out they would have tipped over dead. Don't know how far he made it, but that does not look healthy to me.



A stop at Wal-Mart caused us to miss the baretable train that Ian talked about-I saw it pass by westbound through the door of the Detroit Lakes Wal-Mart while my wife waited for the slowest cashier on the planet. After that bit of bad luck, I decided we should head for home. I stopped at the bridge just east of Perham for a bit, but no traffic and building clouds put an end to that as well.

It was a nice evening and I got to see and photograph something a bit unusual, so I wasn't disappointed. The company was good as well. Thanks for reading.

Jim