Goin' Away in Lake Park

Thursday found me in Lake Park. I was tied up for the morning in a meeting just a block or so from the tracks and listened with an itchy shutter finger as trains passed through town.

After lunch, with work wrapped up, I headed out of town. A loaded coal train was passing under the road at the overpass right in the middle of town, so I decided to wait and see if the train had a DPU and if so, which way it was pointed. It was my lucky day as the GEVO pushing on this train was pointed away from the train. I grabbed a series of photos as he receded into the distance.


And that was it for the day. I could hear more traffic, and I know there were some trains around, but got no more photo opportunities fro the day. So this is all I've got to offer-a coal train goin' away in Lake Park.

Jim

BNSF 9303 East-"You have a defect"

To continue from our last installment, Ian (Trainspotter USA) and I are now at the Highway 32 overpass near Hawley, with a loaded coal train headed toward Lake Park. Here's another shot from that location, just to set the stage.


We knew there was a westbound out there somewhere as well, from dispatcher chatter with a foreman who wanted track and time near Detroit Lakes. It sounded like he would have to wait about half an hour, so we had a decision to make. Given the overcast, the fact that we didn't know if there were any more eastbounders near, and wanting to have something to chase back east, we elected to turn around.

First stop was to be the S-curve at Lake Park. I was pretty confident that I would make it in time to catch this train come through, even though we waited a couple of minutes before giving chase. As we pulled up near the curves, though, there was no time to waste, as the train was working his way through. As a result, this is a less than perfectly composed grab shot:


Well, then, let's blast of for Frazee. I know we can beat him there. So off we went, arriving in good time with little traffic light delay in DL. We set up, with the skies clearing to the east but the sun still obscured. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. One time, when I wandered back to the Escape for a slurp of Diet Coke, I heard a reference to "bearing...crayon...melting...hot", and waved Ian over. It turned out our target was stopped somewhere to the west with a hot bearing, and a lengthy discussion was taking place about what to do next.

After more back and forth, it was finally decided that the car would be safe to take to Perham and drop in a siding. Of course, the conductor still had to walk up to the head end and the train had to get started. The bright spot in all of this (literally) was that the delay had given the clouds time to break up. This train would finally be in the sun when he passed us. As the train passed the detector near MP 203, we picked up that the train had a defect on axle 285, right side, Main Track Two. The dispatcher confirmed that this was the same axle and they continued on.

Which didn't help me that much, as all the shots I have from that location are slightly out of focus. You'll have to wait for Ian to post some of his, along with the video. I have to say, this was a mighty freindly crew, and they gave us a short toot on the horn more than once when they passed us.

Ian shot some video at the curve west of Staples again, and the train began to slow as he approached town. We had no problem getting in position for some shots as he jockeyed around in town, blocking some crossings in the process, while setting out the BO car. Here he creeps past the Tuffy's dog food factory.


Since he had stopped in Perham, we had more photo ops as well. Ian chose more of a broadside as the train crossed the Otter Tail River, but I got him head on. Usually trains are moving fast here, but this one was slowing to a stop to pick up his conductor after clearing all the blocked crossings. I got a chance to tell the engineer "good luck on the rest of your trip" while he waited.


One last shot to share from my camera-this is shot near the Bluffton curve just west of Wadena. I think it's a unique perspective I've shared once before. I'm curious to see what Ian got here as well.


All in all, a great trip. The weather turned around for us, and we got a chance to closely study a coal train. The crew of the 9303 probably has us memorized, given the number of locations where we managed to shoot them. And thanks, Ian for the company.

Jim

Birthday Outing

Seeing as how August 1st is the birthday of the patriarch of the L4T household, I pretty much got to decide what activities went on today. After a morning of cleaning up some photos from last summer and adding them to my Flickr photostream, I mowed the lawn and conferred with Mrs. L4T about where we should go tonight. She said it was totally up to me, and after a bit of though I decided we would head west. It's been a while since I got any shots in the Lake Park and Hawley area and I could see at least three westbounds should pass through in the late afternoon/early evening.

After a quick early supper at the KFC in DL it was off to Mt. Muller. I decide to shoot the first westbound here, and to try a wide angle shot. Turns out I went really wide, and I'm not overly thrilled with the results. I was trying to include as much of the train as possible but without some compression you can hardly see the back end anyway. Oh well, live and learn.


I figured the next train couldn't be too far behind. Turns out the wait was a little longer than I expected. I contemplated this shot from the Highway 32 bridge and the first wood bridge to the west. I have shot those locations a number of times, though, and I wanted to try something new for me. That led me to the second wood bridge west of 32. I shot a manifest right down the trench. Sadly, some high cirrus moved in for the period of time the train was within a reasonable distance, so the shot doesn't have any pop.


I suspected the third train was a coal empty that I had seen come off the Brainerd on ATCS earlier. I ran back to the Highway 32 bridge to shoot him. There are a lot of wires if you shoot from the bridge, so I made it a little ways down the embankment on the north side to avoid them. The result was a little different angle on this shot.


Now that one is likely a keeper. As you can see the clouds had quickly cleared out after the second train passed. The MAC isn't too rough looking and the rain we have had recently has kept things pretty green in that area. I was pretty pleased with this shot.

We decided to head for home, and sure enough, just as we passed the Burger King in DL another coal empty showed up. I just didn't have the gumption to give chase, even though the power was a nice pair of ACe's set up 1 x 1. He was rolling along pretty good and the stoplights were not doing me any favors. I figured I would not catch him until past Lake Park so let him go.

Mrs. L4T was great company as she always is on these railfan expeditions. I got a few looks at a gorgeous sunset in the rear view mirror as we made it to Wadena. All in all, a great outing. A little train traffic, some photo ops, pleasant company, and nice scenery. What more could you ask for on your birthday?

Jim

Friday the 13th Part II-Delay of the Empire Builder

Yesterday I talked about looking forward to midnight and the end of Friday the 13th for a change in my luck. And while my luck seems to have taken a turn for the better, there is a group of Amtrak passengers and employees who no doubt have yet to see a change.

I learned this morning that today's #8, the eastbound Builder, was looking at a significant delay. With sunny skies, I had already floated the idea of a railfan outing with Mrs. L4T, having proposed a trip to Detroit Lakes to catch BNSF traffic as it passed through and with luck hook up with a CP eastbound and chase him through hill and dale south of DL. The reaction was positive and such an outing was pencilled in on the L4T activity calendar. The news about the late Amtrak called for a slight change in plans. Given what we knew, it looked like we would be able to catch him in nice light at the Lake Park S-curve, so off we went.

Traffic was light on the trip over, with the scanner quiet and only one train spotted, an eastbound near Audubon that I chose to pass up so I wouldn't miss the Builder. BNSF 7545 got a warrant at Hawley and I suspected it might be the Builder, but alas, it was not to be. Instead this turned out to be a huge manifest train (530 axles) with 5 mismatched units up front. The leader was an ES44DC, followed by an SD75M warbonnet, some kind of cascade green GP, a 6000 series ES44AC, and a blue leaser geep. I was ready and waiting for him at Lake Park.


And I never even noticed this oversize or heavy load right behind the power until I got home and took a look at the photos.


At this point everything was quiet on the western front. A decision was made to head for Hawley, for some reason, and just as we arrived there I heard a westbound clear up a warrant from Wadena to Richards Spur. I headed to the curve coming into town, where I shot this warbonnet in so-so light.


With a hope of finding a better angle given the position of the sun, I investigated the other side of the tracks. It affords a magnificent view of the elevator, and should permit working a train into the shot as well. BNSF delivered with a second westbound, this one a coal empty with a GE leading. I'm predominately a tele shooter but I broke out the kit lens at 28mm for this shot.


I've no idea what train this was or where it was coming from. These cars are unfamiliar to me, and there were a bunch of old steel BN and Santa Fe hoppers mixed into the train as well. This hopper car was built 01/08, so someone somewhere is still buying steel bottom dumps.


Just before 2:00 I heard something that sounded like Amtrak clearing a warrant. I figured they would be along shortly and headed back to Lake Park with the hope of good light. And good light it was, at that time. I spotted another photographer on the bridge in Lake Park, and stopped to consult. Turns out it was a couple who were supposed to be on the train but had given up due to the lateness, which would have caused missed connections. They decided instead to take advantage of the rare daylight passage through the area. They had news relating to the cause of the delay, involving stopping to set off drunks, hitting a car west of Minot, and waiting for a St. Cloud to crew to be cabbed to Hillsboro after another crew died on hours. Indeed, it was a Friday the 13th sequel. After learning the train had yet to leave Fargo, they opted to head to Manitoba Junction for photo ops.

A radio conversation between SWA and the crew of the Amtrak confirmed that they were indeed being led by a pumpkin C44, due to a grade crossing accident west of Minot. Shortly after that I heard the train signal its approach at the crossings west of Lake Park. I shot him as he approached:


A couple of times in the curves,



and once more after a mad dash to Frazee which luckily involved hitting a grand total of ZERO red lights in Detroit Lakes. See, I told you my luck would change.


Then we chased him all the way to Wadena, starting about a mile behind him leaving Frazee and just catching the power as we arrived at Wadena, thanks to a slow order near New York Mills. Even with a pumpkin up front he was stepping along nicely.

After that, back home and taking a look at the photos. Hope you enjoy them, and take the chances you are given to look for trains.

Jim

Friday the 13th....

Yes, I admit it. I am just a bit of a believer in the old legend that bad luck awaits on Fridays the 13th. After my experience today it might be proof of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Today's schedule called for a trip to Lake Park for meetings during the day. I was lucky to have company for the drive over and back, someone to share my extensive knowledge (kidding!) of the Staples Sub with. Thanks for being a good listener as I expounded on the intricacies of railroading in west central Minnesota.

The day's first train was an eastbound coal load headed up by a GE. We were just west of Perham when I spotted the oncoming headlight and made for the nearest crossing so I could get on the sunny side of this train. My travelling companion got a good laugh as I tried to clamber to the top of a handy snowbank while the train approached. His only comment upon my return was that he was looking for a tarp to cover me up as it would have been impossible to pull me out if I hadn't freed myself.


You can see the entire train stretched out in that photo. Now if only that darned power line didn't clog up an entire stretch of the West Staples Sub.

As we passed through DL I heard BNSF 9330 getting a warrant from Richards Spur to Wadena at Hawley. Given the hard work coal trains do coming up out the valley, I thought there was a chance I would beat him to the Lake Park curve. As we came into town I headed straight there, and as I rounded my curve here came the train around the first of his. I grabbed a few shots as he approached, and I like this one the best.


I know the engines are backlit, but I like how I can see much of the train. I also liked how the timing was almost perfect. Very un-Friday the 13th like, but I would pay later, both literally and figuratively.

We finished with our business, which included me having the chance to share a few of my shots on Flickr (thanks to a kick-fanny unsecured wireless connection at the Lake Park Library) with the guys I was working with. I think they get a kick out of my fascination with trains. Time to head for home.

As we approached DL from the west, I heard the dispatcher rattling off warrants to eastbounds one after another. I figured I might have a chance at a fleet as they flew through the Frazee curves, with the sun in just about the right place. A quick stop in DL allowed the first train to pass us, and the second, the Wadena local, snuck by as well. I heard something with 40 axles pass the detector at MP 203 and made an educated guess to my passenger that we would be passing a short train, two engines and eight cars, somewhere between Frazee and Perham. Turns out the GP's on the local must have been loading very well today as we didn't catch him until we were east of Perham. By that time the sun was too far to the west to get a well lit shot.

After discharging my passenger, I overtook the local between New York Mills and Wadena, with the aim of catching him at the crossing where the 4 lane ends just west of Wadena. I made it but just got a grab shot of the lead engine. Nothing at all special.

But I knew there was still an eastbound out there. I had heard him get a warrant, and this was my chance to try a new thing. I had spotted a fresh angle near the above crossing a few days earlier, and wanted to try it out. When I headed up the gravel road and turned around, I spotted a westbound approaching fast, and grabbed a shot from my new vantage point. I'm not totally happy with this due to the trees in the foreground, but if I can get the sun and train in the proper place at the same time, I might be able to put something together here.


The eastbound was having FRED issues, and trying to ring up Fort Worth mechanical, which I chalked up to Friday the 13th. I decided to pull over and wait a few minutes for him, since he was less than 10 miles distant (I heard him pass the detector at 174.1). The county snowplow operator had done a bang-up job of winging back the plow bank, as I found when I pulled over to the edge of the road and promptly entered the ditch! A little rocking only served to get me more stuck, and I got out to examine my predicament. Oh, I was stuck all right. I called Mrs. L4T to bring a shovel from L4T world headquarters. After refelcting on my situation for a few more minutes, I decided a shovel was a futile effort and I also called a wrecker. Mrs. L4T beat the wrecker by less than 5 minutes, and I was still playing in the snow when my ticket out arrived. He hooked me up and had me back on the road in minutes. I only missed TWO trains due to the mishap, which momentarily stifled my desire to shoot photos.

However, as I got un-stuck, I heard the crew of the local tell the dispatcher they had tied down their power, locked the derail, and that their ride was there. Hmmmm, wonder where their power is? After paying the wrecker bill, I swung by Drywall Supply and sure enough, they had "yarded" their train and the GP's were purring south of the main.


With that, I headed for home. I don't know if I can blame my mishaps on Friday the 13th or not, but I like to think I can. At least that way I can pretend they will be behind me at midnight tonite. And even when there are roadblocks, remember, keep looking for trains.

Jim, out

A Pair of ACes (or, Go West, Old Timer)

I can hardly call myself young man, given the condition I ended up in after clambering up the hill from the frozen surface of Acorn Lake to Highway 10. Wait a minute, let's get back to the beginning of this edition of the adventures of Mr. and Mrs. L4T.

February 15 dawned clear and sunny, tempting me to venture out with my new camera and see what traffic was about. After a hearty breakfast and church, the clear skies looked like they would hold out for at least a while longer, and the two of us climbed into the Escape and headed west.

As we approached the Hwy 71 crossing in Wadena, I found it was occupied by a westbound coal empty. Well, at least I will have one train to mess with this afternoon, although he was rolling along pretty good and would probably beat the sun as far as I was willing to go.

Heading out of Wadena, I finally managed to catch the head end and found that the power was a pair of 9100 series ACes, elephant style. Neat consist. The train would be pretty much side-lit as far as Hawley this early in the day, and it popped into my head that it might be time to try and catch him as he passed Acorn Lake just west of Frazee. So off I went, trying to get far enough ahead of him to have time for the climb down to the lake.

About halfway between Perham and Frazee, I spied an eastbound headlight, and was faced with stopping to try a shot on a fairly well-lit train (and possibly missing the ACe pair at the lake) or passing up the eastbound. I decided to risk the shot, and pulled over just to shoot this short vehicle train:


As soon as I shot him I was back on the road flying west. I parked along the guard rail above the lake and dove over the side. This is one steep hill. Luckily, the snow was hard enough that I didn't sink in too far and it gave good footing. I made it down to the lake surface with a few minutes to spare. Soon I heard the rumble of the approaching train and he rolled into view quickly. It's kind of a neat shot, but I had built this location up so much in my mind I couldn't help but be a little disappointed.


I still had some crazy fantasy about running up the hill and beating him to Hawley.

That notion went out the window about 1/8 of the way up Mt. Acorn. The same snow that had helped to ease my descent was making the trip back up wild. Half the time my steps would cause the snow to give way and lead to NO upward progress. And since I was in a hurry, I was going what for me is all out. By the time I was 2/3 of the way up, my lungs were burning, my legs were getting rubbery, and the spit was starting to spray out as I breathed. But I made it.

By that time, though, I had about given up hope of catching my pair of ACes again. I made a half hearted attempt at a chase, but I had to deal with stoplights in DL, which the train was immune to. Hearing the dispatcher giving a couple more eastbounds warrants was a slight consolation, even if they would be backlit.

I thought I had a chance at the first eastbound at Lake Park, and headed to the S curve. I beat him by quite a bit, and the sun got around on me in the 20 or 30 minutes I waited, which combined with my stupid choice to change to a short lens left me with no good shots of that train. It seems like a morning spot and I decided to head a little further west.

When I made it the Hawley area, nothing was stirring and I asked Mrs. L4T if she was interested in checking to see if anything was going on in Ulen. She is always up for a ride so said sure, but we made it only about a mile up Hwy 32 before I heard a westbound clear up his warrant from Wadena to Richards Spur, so Ulen would have to wait for another day. This train turned out to be a stacker behind an H1, and I had decided to try a shot from the Hwy 32 overpass. I got him in two locations, this one and a little closer in this view:


I really like this shot, although the focus is just a bit off on the view posted above. The one I linked is a bit sharper, I think. Very nice location.

Clouds were building in by this time. I knew there was still one eastbound out there, and in just a few minutes I heard another westbound pass Richards Spur. I camped out on the County Bridge just west of Hwy 32 in hopes of a meet. Turns out I was a bridge too far east. I shot the GE's on the eastbound as they approached, just after the westbound rolled out of sight.


For once, the clouds rolled in just as the traffic level slowed. I saw two more trains before we left the area. We had a Dairy Queen supper with the son & heir to the throne, who was up for a couple of double cheeseburgers.

All in all, a great day of fanning. I even managed to get my exercise and avoid a heart attack at the same time. Thanks for looking, and keep looking 4 trains!

Western Adventure

On Sunday, August 24, having missed out on a run to Staples for the weekend, and inspired by a post to the OMR list, I got the bug to head over to the western end of the Staples Sub for some photo ops. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day, so Mrs. L4T who is always up for a drive, said "why not?".

So it came to pass that around 3 PM we loaded up and headed west with a destination of somewhere around Lake Park sometime today. The sun was still pretty high in the sky and quite a ways south so I decided I would stake out the Frazee area for a little while as the s-curve gives you decent afternoon light for eastbounds. We waited for a train with no luck, and after about 45 minutes I decided to head to Detroit Lakes to get gas, since I had heard it was the cheapest location in the state at the time.

While we were gassing up at Holiday, an eastbound coal train cruised through DL with a 1x1 DPU consist. I knew I could beat him back to Frazee so we headed back to the s-curve. As I turned off Highway 10 I spotted an empty headed my way as well, and really moving. I wasn't able to get ahead of him for a shot. I did set up for the loads and got BNSF 9999 leading the train. The engineer gave a friendly toot on the horn as he passed.



I knew the DPU was pointed to the rear and quickly ran down to where the track curves toward the east so I could shoot him going away. The sun angle wasn't the greatest, but this was the first time I have seen an ES44DC used in coal service, especially as a DPU. They aren't unknown on grain trains, leading or DPU, but the coal trains are pretty much all GE AC units or some type of EMD. Obviously there is no rule that can't be broken. After all, BNSF has ACe's leading manifest trains as well.


Having captured that train, hunger pangs were starting so Mrs. L4T and I stopped at the Burger Time in DL and grabbed supper, eating as we continued west. I heard the dispatcher give a warrant to an eastbound and tell him there were two Z's headed west so I knew there would be some traffic into the sun this evening.

I set up first at the old wooden bridge just west of the Highway 32 overpass near Hawley. I'm new to this area so was just experimenting. Shortly after I arrived I saw a headlight to the west. Turned out to be another coal load, and he was working hard dragging the coal up the hill. This train had two units up front and one at the rear.



Quite a change from the trains that fly through Wadena at track speed. Here you could really feel the power that is needed to lift heavy trains up the grade.

Mrs. L4T encouraged me to work the curve under the Hwy 32 bridge into a photo. Soon the first Z train of the evening showed up.


With that I was off to Mt Muller, my destination for the evening. I knew another Z was on the way, and I heard him hit the detector at MP221. I had no idea how close I was cutting this, though, until I parked and started climbing the hill with a pop in one hand and lawn chair in the other. I heard a curious roar and suspected a train. Dropping my cargo, I sprint-waddled up the hill as I unlimbered the camera, only to be greeted with this:


I felt like the Navy SEAL who has to take a shot after a 3 mile dead run. I literally had less than 5 seconds to zoom, compose, and release the shutter. I was pretty happy with how it came out.

After taking a minute to gather myself and find my cargo, I took a seat at the top of the world and waited. The scanner was in the car, with the antenna, and soon my cell phone rang. Mrs. L4T reported that "someone was talking on the radio about Wadena and Richards Spur and stuff". When I asked if they mentioned Main 1 or 2 she responded that if I wanted that much detail maybe I should come down and listen myself. She did offer that she had hear Glyndon mentioned as well so I surmised an eastbound was getting a warrant. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later I heard a horn drifting across the landscape from the west. I got a shot of the power as it rounded the curve heading toward Lake Park. You need to click on this one to see the power.


As I watched the train recede into the distance, another headlite popped up right beside it. Another westbound! This one was a merchandise train with two Dash 9's up front, the lead one in H1 paint.


It was getting time to head for home, so we packed up and pointed the Escape east. I spotted a CP northbound as we entered DL and got permission for one more chase. After an interminable wait at the Hwy 10/Hwy 59 light, I scooted north and caught up to the slow moving freight just a few miles north of town. I tried to catch him at the slough where MN Chris once took a great reflection shot (can't find a link to it now), but the light was poor, so I settled for this instead. The CP train had a single GE for power.


All in all, a fun and rewarding afternoon and evening with a cooperative partner. The weather and scenery could not have been better. Thanks for listening to this long-winded story, and be sure to keep looking for trains.

Jim, out.

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

The Week that Was

Work found me travelling West-Central Minnesota this week, with a couple of days spent in Randall and a day in Lake Park as well. Along with last Sunday's exploration in Detroit Lakes, I have been working the west end of the Staples Sub pretty hard.

The first photo I want to share is from Tuesday AM, when I found a short mixed freight train entering Staples yard from the west just as I was also entering Staples from the west. I stopped to take a couple of shots as he passed under the signal bridge at Dower Lake. Here is the one I like the most:


What do I see in this picture? Well, I like that it includes the station sign for Dower Lake. Also, anytime something in the picture can seem to "dwarf" the train, for some reason it appeals to me and in this shot that is what the signal bridge does. Personally, I will also remember this shot because I thought, "what in the world is the BNSF using two AC motors on a 188 axle merchandise train for?" Things like that intrigue me for some reason. Anytime I see something out of the ordinary it sticks in my mind. I know most of the people passing by on Highway 10 just notice two orange locomotives, but to me it is much more than that. Do you suppose the crew wonders about this as well, or do they just write it off to the workings of the big corporation and are thankful they got a new unit to lead in?

Wednesday I had to head back to Randall bright and early, and instead of taking County 7 to cut the corner, I heard there was a coal empty coming off the Brainerd so I followed 10 to check him out. I was glad I did, since he had to stop and wait for traffic which gave the opportunity to shoot the Distributed Power Unit on his train.


I'm not much of an artist when it comes to photography (or anything else for that matter) but I am a little proud of this photo. Once again, though, a question comes to mind. Compare it to this picture-do you notice anything unusual?


They are both DPU's-one on coal and the other on grain. In both cases the ditchlights are off. But in the most recent one, there is a FRED hung on the loco coupler and tied into the train line. On the shot from 2006, no such thing? These are the questions that keep me awake at night. It's also what keeps it fun for me to go trackside.

Anyway, sorry for the digression. We have progressed to Thursday at this point, and I am in Lake Park. Mrs L4T agreed to accompany me and she spent the day in Fargo. When I was done with my duties, she picked me up and we spent some time railfanning the area between Hawley and Lake Park. I know that is a popular fanning area but I have never spent any time there before. I was very impressed with the scenery but track work resulted in not too many trains. I found a location I like very much, up on a hill above a curve as you look east, with the Lake Park skyscrapers on the horizon. You can barely see them in this shot.


The only westbound I shot while I was there:


I told Mrs L4T that I thought we should find the owner, buy the property adjoining this location, and build a house there. She was not so sure that was a good idea. Anyway, it was a new and very appealing location and I will make another visit there someday.

A Friday evening visit to Perham for ice cream gave me the chance to stake out the curve just east of town for a little while. Just as we parked a headlight appeared well down the tracks and I had time to get ready for the approaching train. I shot him as he rounded the curve at speed.


I like the way he is leaning into the curve.

That's all for now, I am heading out to see if there is any action. Hopefully this weekend will give me time to work on part 2 of my coal car study. Thanks for reading this whole thing!

Jim