Mish Mash

 The first Sunday of 2021 found me trackside on a sunny day. The hint of a southbound on the Missabe sent me searching for a nicely lit location and I settled on the curve at Jeffrey Road. Before long the IC 6261 showed itself and put my shutter release finger to work. 

I had a hard time deciding where to head next, and after some poor decision making I ended up at Ratika Road in the hopes of getting something usable on the former DWP. I wasn't overly successful, and wound up with this:

Further away from the lake the frost was still hanging on, so I headed back up 2 when I noticed a train lined into Proctor. Maple Grove road let me get the limestone GE's returning to Proctor.

With that I headed home. In the afternoon Mrs. L4T agreed to ride shotgun on an outing that took us over Superior way to the other railroad. I had the drone charged up for taconite loads at State Line. 

So that's my mish mash of photos from the first Sunday of the year. 

Under the Overcast

 Unlike vampires, railroad photographers love sunlight. I'm no exception to this axion, probably worse than most, to the point that Mrs. L4T often scolds me for complaining that "the light isn't right for a picture here". 

So it's probably obvious that heavy overcast makes it harder for me to motivate myself to head out trackside. But the clouds do have the advantage of allowing you to shoot in just about any direction without worrying about backlighting. In fact, if you can't see shadows, it hardly matter which way you point the camera. 

All this is a long introduction into my train chasing trip yesterday morning. I didn't leap out of bed and hit the road, but after a couple of leisurely cups of coffee and contemplation of what to do with a day of vacation, a glance at the monitor told me that CN was calling with a northbound heading up the hill and something else coming south. After bundling up and grabbing the appropriate gear I headed west. The next check of ATCS showed the southbound lined to hold the main at Coons far a meet with the northbound coming up the hill. It wasn't long after settling in at Munger that the northbound came at me, working hard on the front of a long vehicle train.

An EMD up front is always a treat, and that BC Rail unit behind was a nice change of pace too. 

Although the plan had been to shoot the northbound, the southbound, then head for home, no one told the RTC about my plan. They had a northbound lined out of Proctor right behind the vehicle train, so it wasn't but a few minutes before this empty pellet train with solid EMD power passed by, gaining on  the vehicle train. 

Someday I will get an over-under at Munger. Yesterday was not that day. But being pretty confident that the next train is coming from the north, let's chase this guy and get another shot. Off Highway 2:

And finally it was time for the southbound. Leaving the house I had high hopes for a loaded pellet train, but instead I got limestone empties with a GE in charge. Canosia Road:

All in all, not a bad hour and a half door to door. And the solid overcast I discussed at the start of this post allowed me to get trains travelling both directions on this section of track without worrying about backlight. Maybe Mrs. L4T has a point. (But don't tell her.)

Like Old Times

 The days are getting short. We lose daylight both morning and evening, which means it's usually dark when I get up this time of year. This morning was no different. 

A glimpse out the window as the sun peeked above the horizon showed a fresh blanket of snow, maybe 3 inches, and with flurries continuing. ATCS told me that a northbound was heading out of Superior, so with the OK from Mrs. L4T I bundled up and headed out into the snow. The roads were less than ideal, but I figured I had plenty of time to catch the train somewhere north of Proctor. That idea was dashed upon reaching Jeffery Road, as the train was speeding north. Pressing on, I made it to North Coons with but a minute to spare, and grabbed a shot of what I figure was the Ranier local based on the fact that the train had a pair of SD60's for power and only a few cars. 

With one headed my out of Superior, I backtracked with the intent of catching the next northbound somewhere closer to Proctor. I decided to swing by the yard on the way and managed to get a limestone train being made up while the customary switch engines stood by. A pair of DMIR leaders is always a win. 

Then it was off to Stark Road to wait for the northbound. Didn't take too long, but I heard him blow for at least 3 crossings before seeing him. Anticipation was killing me. Then this:

I planned to head home after that train, but with a southbound showing approaching Proctor, I texted the Mrs. telling her I would be a few minutes late and was rewarded with pellet loads.

 Made it home in time to get a text from Mr. Mackey informing me that the WC heritage unit was headed my way. Well, clouds and fog or not, that merited a return trip. Munger seemed like a safe spot to intercept that train. But first, the CN had to run this limestone empty to Proctor so why not shoot that too?

Then it was the moment we have been waiting for-the arrival of the WC heritage unit. I spent a little battery on that.

And that was that. I headed home with a good day's railfanning in the bag. Thanks to Dan Mackey for the heads up on the WC unit. Would have missed it without that tip. 

The title of this post is Like Old Times, because this outing reminded me of many trips I made to Staples while I lived in Wadena. It felt like I am starting to become familiar with locations in the Twin Ports area, and that reminded me of how I used to feel along the Staples Sub. Good memories. 

Sunrise at Proctor

With a couple of weeks vacation carried over from 2013 to 2014 and the requirement that it get used up ASAP, I took the first couple of workdays of the year off. This morning, Mrs. L4T and I polished off a pot of coffee, and after a peek out the window I decided to head to Proctor to enjoy the sunrise. 

The yard switch job with DMIR 215 pointed north was puttering about when I arrived, well away from my vantage point. That didn't stop me from capturing the sun as it rose in the southeast, preparing to illuminate the yard. 

There was another train tucked back in the yard as well. Limestone loads behind a quartet of SD40 variants were working their way out as the sun climbed in the morning sky. I felt for the conductor who was handling the switches as the train progressed through the yard trackage. It was -21 when I drove up and didn't feel like it was warming up any. 

One more shot as he approaches the bridge. Every time the train throttled up the exhaust formed an almost steam engine-like cloud. Very impressive. 

A loaded pellet train was sitting at the scale, and I wanted to work that into a photo. Got my opportunity when the limestone loads stopped to get a switch before heading out. Oh, and there is our old friend the 403, trailing today. That means that technically the first shot in this post has both remaining maroon Missabe units in it, although you sure can't identify them.

It was about this time one of my pinkies was ready to snap off, so I headed to the Holiday in Proctor to warm up for a bit. Also needed to pick up milk. After that was done I stopped back to see if the sun had climbed enough to illuminate the pellet train, sure enough it had. I grabbed a couple shots of that, even though the wind was preventing any spectacular steam clouds from lingering.

All in all, a productive hour or so. Might get the chance to do it again before I have to head back to work Monday.

Fighting Traffic

The title is kind of a tease. The traffic referred to is not on steel rails, but instead on Interstate 35 in Duluth. After work today, I drove over to Duluth, and spotted the rear end of a train leaving Rices Point yard. With no place I needed to be, a short chase seemed like a no brainer. That was until I saw the traffic jam the interstate was. I grabbed the first exit I saw and headed for the city streets. Finally arriving at the overpass near the paper mill, it turned out the delay had not prevented a nicely lit shot of a pair of GP's with some empty (stone?) hoppers heading into Mike's Yard. Not exactly what you would call Staples Sub scenery.

And that was that. I sure was glad that the delay on the interstate (due to bridge work on the Blatnik Bridge) didn't prevent me from getting the shot.

Wednesdays with Dan (This one is Late)

This is one of those posts that somehow slip through the cracks. Getting out along the tracks with Dan last night reminded me this was in the hopper so thought it would good to share it.

Way back on August 8 (seems like an eternity ago to me) something inspired me to do a little investigation of the downtown Superior area and sure enough I was able to locate the depot.


Since I was halfway to Minnesota already, it seemed only proper to finish the journey and see what was brewing down by the paper mill. In the dim recesses of my memory it seems I was chasing after one transfer or another and finding out just how quickly the can make it across the bay compared to me when I have no idea where I'm going. So I tried to make the best of it and shot some sugar stone.


Blundering along the interstate, I spied yet another limestone train, this time tucked down along the ore dock. A little exploring and I had this view:


If memory serves, just after that shot I retreated back to Wisconsin to meet up with Dan. After I told him about the CN limestone train, he led me to the proper location for a shot.


Oh, and he shot the train himself.


Last stop was CP Rices Point, where the traditional pair of GP's was shuttling cars in and out of the port, offering opportunities for some shots.


I believe after that shot we retreated to the depot where I had the chance to get to know some of the Great Model Railroaders of the Twin Ports (GMRTP for short-rumor has it the pronunciation is something like "Gomertop"). Anyway, thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and putting up with my incessant questions.