Changing Times on the Staples Sub

Given the variability in my workload, other obligations, and weather, I tend to railfan when I can, not always when I would like to. There are times when I will go for weeks with only a glance at the tracks to satisfy my curiosity.

This can cause me to not notice a change on the railroad until it darn near reaches out and slaps me. The most recent example I can think of is the disappearance of the once-common SD40-2 locomotive on trains travelling the Staples Sub. I made a post to the Outstate Minnesota Rail group observing that I hadn't seen many 40's recently and it came to light that they are either stored or being returned to the leasor, due to the economic downturn and the arrival of new power on the railroad.

Having been tied up for much of the fall with work issues, I had done very little fanning after we returned from our trip to Glacier in September. I decided to look back at the few photos I had shot to see when I had last photographed an SD40-2 on BNSF rails. Surprisingly (to me), it was while on vacation in Montana. The last 40 I shot on BNSF rails was BNSF 6994, which I caught as it passed through what Google maps calls "Badrock Canyon" just east of Columbia Falls, Montana. This is where the Flathead River, the railroad, and US Highway 2 all pass through a narrow valley.


At the time I had no inkling whatsoever that this would be my final mainline BNSF SD40-2 for, at best, quite a while. So the fact that Mrs. L4T and myself chased the train to Olney was purely coincidental, although now that the 40's are gone it seems only fitting that the last one I got to shoot deserved a chase.

We beat the train to Olney and I grabbed a going away shot, not for the historical value, but because the scenery was very un-Staples Sub like. I guess the fact it is going away is symbolic, isn't it?


Now I know that as that train curved out of sight on September 19, 2008, I had just released the shutter on the last BNSF SD40-2 I would see in mainline operation for what now looks to be a long time.

This all made me go back and take a look at some of my favorites SD40-2 shots. Here are a couple of them. The first one is a Z train approaching Lincoln in the fall of 2006:


Here's one passing through Wadena in a snow flurry:


I miss them and I hope we see the need to get them back on the high iron soon.

Jim

Fanning Montana Part 3

Greetings and Happy Holidays to all train fans out there. It seems that I dropped the ball, so to speak, on documenting the culmination of the big Montana trip Mrs. L4T and I made in September by failing to post the results of the last day of shooting. In an attempt to rectify this ommission, I now present episode 3 of the "Fanning Montana" series.

The morning of our final full day in Montana dawned bright and clear, as had the previous days. With no set goals for this last day, we were free to do whatever we desired and thus set out without a definite plan. We headed for West Glacier, and ended up on a little road trip up the west side of Lake MacDonald and back down through the National Forest to the Columbia Falls area. Surprisingly, while not able to approach the scale and drama of the scenery inside Glacier, the National Forest had its own charm and beauty with the North Fork of the Flathead River cutting a deep canyon along the road. There was also abundant wildlife in evidence.

Back in Columbia Falls, the Flathead River funnels between two mountains spaced close together. The railroad, river, and highway share this narrow pass and there are some neat views of the BNSF across the river. I was lucky enough to catch a westbound train as it traversed this narrow mountain pass and grabbed a shot from across the river.


Pay attention to the consist-you haven't seen the last of it.

Following the passage of this train we ran back to Whitefish to watch it pass the depot, then I was inspired to chase it west. We traveled through a beautiful mountain valley and ended up in the tiny village of Olney, where the tracks go through a cut in the foothills. The sun was wrong for a head on shot, but a stack train passing through town offered the chance at a going away shot and I grabbed this one of the same train I had shot earlier across the river:


The line is single track in Olney, and the likelihood of an eastbound was nil, so back to Whitefish it was. I decided to stop at the depot, and worked Rocky the goat into a shot of local power.


At this point, I was feeling kind of melancholy about the trip, as we had had a great time and the thought of it ending was getting me down. At the same time, while I was very happy with the shots I had got on the Pass, I still had the nagging feeling that "something was missing". I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was there.

Knowing that the odds of making it back to this area with this kind of weather in the forseeable future were not high, I decided (after consultation with Mrs. L4T) to run back towards Belton and try for that one missing shot. And so we were back on the road again, making the now familiar trip between Whitefish and West Glacier. This time I was lucky enough to locate a great vantage point over Tunnel 4.0, a classic photo location. With Mrs. L4T and her busy bag of magazines settled in the Rav4, I decided to stake out this location until a train showed up or the sun disappeared. I hoped as hard as I could for a westbound, and was rewarded with three in quick succession, the only problem being that they were of the inflatable variety, on the river. But as the final raft loitered in the tailwaters of the rapids while two fly fisherman tempted the trout, I heard the unmistakeable screech of flanges complaining about being forced around tight curves as they descended the west side of the pass. Eureka! I cried. I unlimbered my trusty Canon and started shooting. The most appealing image, to my eye, was this one:


I knew I had caught the train I had been waiting for, the one "missing shot" that had been nagging me. Now, I could return home in peace, knowing that this moment had been recorded for posterity for me to look back on and remember. If you click on the image and look closely, you can see the trout fishermen continuing their efforts while the train rolls by.

The next morning we boarded an on-time #8 at the Whitefish depot for the 20+ hour trip back to Staples. Montana is a broad state, and after a few hours we arrived at Havre for a short stop where passengers are allowed to detrain. I took the opportunity to make a photo of the statue of the original "Empire Builder", James J. Hill, in front of the Havre depot. After having viewed some of his handiwork, I could honestly say that "he done good".


A few stops and hours later, we de-trained for about 15 minutes in Minot. I took the opportunity to try a couple of night shots of the Amtrak train as we waited. I was actually pretty happy with the way they turned out.




We arrived in Staples about an hour late. All in all, it was a GREAT trip. I would do it again in a second. Mrs. L4T was not as enthused about Amtrak as I was, but I can understand that given that 20 hours in coach is fairly tough duty, especially during the night hours when there is nothing to see. She was a great partner for the trip and never uttered one word of complaint about the long hours in coach.

In case you decide to visit the Marias Pass and Glacier Park area, a couple of invaluable resources for new fans to the area are here and here. Feel free to contact me if you have questions-I would love to discuss the area with any interested railfans.

We had so much fun on the trip that we were buying maps of the southwest within two week of arriving home, and starting to plan another trip that would bring us to the Grand Canyon and the Santa Fe trans-con line. Hmmm...careful planning might allow one to get there via the Powder River basin....who knows what next fall holds?

Jim, out.

Fanning Montana Part 2

Day 2 (Thursday) dawned clear and bright, with just a hint of autumn in the air. I intended to spend some time dedicated to railfanning today, instead of grabbing what I saw as we travelled along the tracks. I had grabbed a ride to the depot the previous morning to pick up our rental car, and the eastbound Builder was waiting when I got there. With no camera, I made a mental note to try and get some shots the following morning. I had intended to run to the depot for the shots while Mrs. L4T prepared for the day but she surprised me by being up and at 'em by the time I was ready to leave. So we decided to head east right off the bat.

We first encountered #8 at Belton after a wait of only a few minutes. Photos were uninteresting as there were no good angles to be had at the West Glacier platform. I decided to proceed east on a chase and off we went. Even the 70 mph speed limit in Montana was not sufficient to prevent the Builder from passing us on the straight stretch around Nyack. I hoped that the curves and grades to come would slow him up, and I knew he would probably be stopping at Essex as well. I flew by at road speed, and found a likely location well up a hill. Or at least it looked like a hill from the bottom. By the time I reached track level I was sucking for air, and could barely hold still. My shoes were soaked, and my heart felt like it would pop right out of my chest. The Builder rounded the curve as I was tying my shoe, and I grabbed this shot with one shoe untied.


I raced back down the mountain to the vehicle, and off to the races we went. My next target was Goat Lick, where the mountain goats come to lick salt off the exposed rock. I made it with a couple of minutes to spare, as the road is much straighter than the tracks. I was thankful that the sun rose a few degrees so the train would be lit in this shot.


A note about Goat Lick, in case anyone else ever visits-there is a highway bridge just west of this overlook site that appeared to me would have a much better viewing angle of the trestle. If you intend to photograph an eastbound at this spot I would investigate the shot from the highway bridge. I know I will if and when I go back.

I intended to leave the Amtrak at this point, and wait to see what other trains we would catch. However, after a short wait I decided to head east to see what was out and about. To my surprise #8 was still at the East Glacier depot, so I scooted out of town to shoot him crossing the Two Medicine River trestle.


That is really a great spot to shoot. The next move was back west, to see if we could catch some freight coming down the hill and shoot the more arid eastern side of the pass. This seems to me to be the more photogenic side of Marias Pass.

We were waiting at a chain up area when another vehicle pulled up. I walked over to talk to the driver and it turned out to be an English couple who were touring some of the National Parks in the western US. He told me that they had just passed a couple of eastbound trains and they should be appearing soon. I was excited and ready when the first train came down the hill behind an ES44DC.



Since another train was due shortly, I cut off the chase for the 7562 to wait for the next one. Shortly, a vehicle train showed up, again drifting down the grade at a relatively slow speed. I followed him all the way to the Two Medicine River, shooting him in a number of locations. I like these the best.




After lunch at the Two Medicine Grill in East Glacier, I was in the market for a westbound to take me back over the pass. I didn't have to wait too long as a Z train behind a quartet of Dash 9's soon showed up.


I expected a fairly quick trip, but was surprised when he came to a stop at Bison West. A little investigation revealed that he was waiting for an eastbound stacker. Here is the meet at Bison West.


The Z was back on the road in less than 5 minutes, including a display of smoke as he started his train on the upgrade. From here on out it was jump in, drive, jump out, shoot, repeat. I snapped him in a number of locations.




And finally, as he left one of the tunnels on the west side of the pass:


That was all the trains for day 2, and I was glad that I had captured the tunnel and Goat Lick shots, but still had a vague sense that something was missing. But not to worry, we still had a day left.

Jim, out.

My Big Sky Adventure

I want to share the first part of our trip to Western Montana. Mrs. L4T and myself, having not taken a serious vacation for going on 20 years, decided late last summer that such a trip was in order. At the time I was lobbying for an Amtrak trip from Staples to Chicago, with one of the projected highlights being a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry's "Great Train Story" exhibit. As it turned out, a job change led to a fair amount of upheaval in the L4T household about that time, effectively putting the trip on hold. We decided to reschedule for this year.

After extensive discussions, we settled on an Amtrak trip to the Glacier National Park area as our vacation. It offered easy Amtrak access, a manageable length train ride (as far as we knew, not being veteran Amtrak riders), great scenery potential, and for me, a chance to spend some time railfanning Marias Pass.

With the location decided, we settled on a date and made reservations with Amtrak, the Whitefish Holiday Inn Express, and Hertz. Time seemed to pass quickly until departure day. We were scheduled to leave Staples at 0142 Tuesday morning and arrive in Whitefish at 0856 Tuesday evening. We didn't go to bed Monday night, choosing instead to sit up anticipating the trip with the hope we would be able to sleep in the train. This proved to be a questionable decision as sleeping in coach is a challenge, especially for the light sleeping Mrs. L4T. The nightime riding is...boring is probably the best word for it. I did manage to sneak in a few catnaps between stops, and acutally slept through Fargo and Grand Forks. However, as the sun rises, so do one's spirits. After spending an hour or so sightseeing we headed for the diner to have breakfast. We were seated with a couple of older ladies from Wisconsin who were headed to Williston with 4 of their friends for an outing. We had a pleasant conversation and after eating headed back to our seats to settle in for the ride.

I tried taking pictures through the windows as we passed some of the more scenic areas in western North Dakota but the scratches on the windows combined with the speed make photography from the moving train a lesson in frustration. We stopped long enough to get out and walk around in Minot, of course, and Williston as well. The train was on or ahead of schedule at almost every stop on the westbound journey. Here is a shot from the platform in Williston:


A stop in Havre gave me the chance to get a less than great shot of the power on our train.


We also made a stop in Shelby where we were allowed to detrain as the Builder was ahead of schedule. I clocked mileposts in a few locations along the route and came up with speeds of 74 to 76 mph on a consistent basis. The mileage of the trip on the timetable showed as about 1070 miles and we made it in around 20 hours, for an average speed of nearly 55 mph including stops-not too bad!

Wednesday was our first day in the area and we intended to travel the Going to the Sun Highway from East to West. Upon arrival in East Glacier we learned the highway was closed part way through and we wouldn't be able to make the entire trip. While disappointing, this did provide the opportunity to parallel the tracks back to Whitefish after a trip into the park, so it wasn't all bad.

I caought my first train on the drive east through the pass. Contrary to what I wrote in my last post (last night) the eastbound grain train shown there was taken that afternoon. This eastbound vehicle train led by a cascade green SD40-2 (yay!), drifting down the eastern slope of the pass past a waiting westbound stacker was my actual first train. That's what posting with no sleep for 36 hours will do.


Knowing that the Two Medicine Trestle was just east of East Glacier, I decided to set up there and take a traditional Montana shot-this has been referred to as "the most photographed barn in Montana" on a couple of websites I have found.


I know I've lived a sheltered life, but this was just awesome scenery to me. We proceeded to head into the park, but before we even got to the park entrance I shot this mountain.


I've aleady posted one shot of the westbound grain load I got later that day, but here is another one as he approached East Glacier.


One more train made it into my lens as we made the drive back to Whitefish for the evening. This one was waiting at Summit, as the grain train I just photographed had stalled on the grade and was waiting for a train behind him to give a push. We didn't have time to wait for things to work themselves out, as the light goes away quickly in the mountains. So this shot turned out to be the last of the day.


Trains aren't quite as numerous as on the Staples Sub but you sure can chase them as speeds are much slower than I was used to. Next post will include some Amtrak shots including one at the traditional Goat Lick overlook of the Sheep Creek trestle.

Jim, out.

Westward Ho!

I know it's been a long time since I have posted, but forgive me, I've been busy. I do have a backlog of shots, but the last few days I have been tied up with vacation. And not just any vacation, this one took Mrs. L4T and myself out west to the mountains with a visit to Glacier National Park and Marias Pass via Amtrak. Since neither of us had been there before, we were excited to see what it was like.

The mountains were more spectacular than I can describe with words. Rail photography and fanning was equally impressive.

Having arrived at Staples on the Empire Builder about 5 AM today, I am tired and not in any shape for a lengthy post, but I wanted to share a couple of shots from our trip just as a taste of things to come. The first one is a night shot of our coach as it waited in Minot last night on the trip home.


I also got a shot of the power on this train while we were out stretching our legs at the last extended stop of the trip. 20 hours in coach is a long time!


Here's a taste of Montana railfanning-my first train shot after we arrived. A loaded grain train approaches East Glacier, working hard upgrade with two Dash 9's up front and two more in DPU mode.


Much more to come later, including the actual mountain shots. I look forward to sharing with you over the next few days. I will probably have enough photos for at least a couple of posts.

Jim, out.