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

Austin Bound

ICE 6452 heading for Austin
Originally uploaded by look4trains

Having spent a few days in the Austin and Owatonna area this week, I had hopes of catching some DME or ICE action. My last night in the area, I was staying in Owatonna. After checking into my motel, I heard a horn on the DME and headed out to check the traffic. Turned out to be an ethanol train headed east. Not knowing the town, I decided to try and get ahead of the train and finally accomplished that at the Highway 14 overpass south of Owatonna.

It was a cloudy day, and I tried to compose the shot in a way that would minimize the unattractive white sky. I also kind of like the way the cattle worked their way into the photo. As you can see, the EMD's were working hard on this long train as they passed under me.

Jim

Southwest Minnesota Sightings

Greetings again from the rambling railfan of rural Minnesota. This past week I ventured into little explored (by me) portions of southwest Minnesota in my quest to earn a living, along with taking advantage of some railroad related observations that fate tossed my way.

My adventure began on Tuesday, when I travelled to New Ulm for a meeting. Upon the completion of my work there, my itinerary called for an overnight stay in the area. I selected Springfield as a great spot to overnight, given the proximity of a nice Microtel Inn to the DM&E main. On my way over I passed by the enormous Harvestland elevator complex just east of town, and found a DME GP40 type at rest on the end of a string of covered hoppers. Even through the engine was front-coupled, I pulled over and grabbed a photo since the light was so nice.


An investigation of Springfield on foot later that evening revealed no rail action, and my camera went unused for the balance of the day. I still have hopes of catching a DME train passing through this beautiful small city someday soon.

The following morning, after working in the area until about 11:00, I headed south with a destination near the Iowa border. My route took me through Windom, and I angled off on Highway 60 to get closer to my target. The next rail action I encountered was an engine at the enormous Heron Lake ethanol plant. Even though the sun was high, I pulled over for a photo:


Within moments I heard a horn from the southwest, which I took to mean a UP train would be approaching. I stayed where I was and shot him as he approached the crossing I was at. Again, the light was less than perfect, but I have very few if any Armour Yellow engines in my collection and was not about to pass up an opportunity to add three modern units to my tally.


I then proceeded on to my destination and completed what I had been summoned to do. After a productive afternoon's work I headed to Worthington for the night, but soon found that the recession has not yet sunk into that community as there was no room at the Inn for your humble correspondent. Plan "B" called for overnighting in Windom, which led to another run up Highway 60, paralleling the UP main the entire way. While there were no more mainline trains out and about, I did catch a couple of industrial units along the way. First was this former Conrail SW doing duty far from his former home. He is now assigned to Cargill's Miloma Farm Service Center.



Just up the line I came across the vast Minnesota Soybean Processors complex and discovered a Trackmobile at work spotting covered hoppers for loading.



And that wrapped up the photo ops for the first couple of days of my venture. The photos from the third and final day of the trip will have to wait for another post. Don't forget to keep looking 4 trains!

Jim