Fire One

Mrs. L4T and myself were set to celebrate Mom's Day with a trip to the Staples Dairy Queen this evening. After a lazy day recovering from the physical effort of helping our son move yesterday, we decided to head out about 5 PM. A quick glance at the ATCS display revealed a westbound train approaching Wadena, so I prompted the guest of honor to hurry and get ready. Even with my cajoling, we were a bit late in getting uptown as the train was just clearing the crossing. I vowed to catch up with him, even though he was headed away from Staples. After all, Perham has a Dairy Queen, too.

We reached the Bluffton curve in time to see the tail end of the train. When I glanced up towards the tracks to dream of what might have been had we left a few minutes earlier (could have shot this train in nice light rounding the curve), I caught a glimpse of smoke coming from the ROW. I immediately decided my citizenly duty was to investigate the source of the smoke. As you can see above, it wasn't a conflagration, but the smoke was enough to indicate something was definitely burning.

I wasn't going to try and put the fire out, and thought someone needed to know, so I called the BNSF emergency number and gave them the crossing number as a location. I noticed later that the rail looked freshly ground, and suspect that might have been the cause of this fire.


By this time the westbound was well out of reach. We decided to head east again, in the hopes that something would develop from that direction. I had an inkling something was coming up the Staples Sub, but just as we reached Aldrich, I heard a coal empty call the Staples dispatcher for a warrant as he came off the Brainerd Sub. He got his ticket, and word that he would have to wait for a westbound Z on Main 1 before he could enter the plant at Staples.

This gave us a chance to swing through the drive up at the DQ and grab some tasty fast food-chicken strips for me, and popcorn shrimp for the Mrs. We settled in for supper and to wait for the coal empty to head west. Soon enough the zipper passed and the coal train throttled up. I grabbed a shot as he swung onto the Staples Sub.


After trying a shot of the DPU ACE passing the depot, I decided that maybe we could still get ahead of this train for one more try. Turned out to be quite a struggle.

It took all the way past Bluffton before I could cut him off. I got him again at the Ottertail County 147 crossing as he rounded the curve.


All in all we saw three trains this evening, two backlit eastbounds and the westbound coal train. I guess you could call the tail end of the first westbounder a fourth train but I never caught up to him. I think we did our good deed for the day, reporting a tie fire, but the reaction at the emergency number didn't really tell me if they appreciated it or not. Anyway, it was a gorgeous evening to spend travelling along the tracks in early May here in central Minnesota, looking for trains.

Jim, out

Mother's Day Sightings

As has become a semi-regular tradition in the L4T household, Sunday evening found the wife and I out on the prowl looking for trains. Today being Mother's Day, a special treat seemed in order so the first class Dairy Queen in Staples was the source of our evening out meal.

The gorgeous weather and sunshine drew me trackside and we decided to get our meals to go. This turned out to be a lucky decision as not long after we had found a good spot to observe the tracks I heard a locomotive blowing for the crossing in Staples. I sprinted (at least in my mind) to a spot where I thought I could shoot the COLX empty train as it passed the Staples depot. The result was less than captivating, though.


I'm not sure if you can see it in this shot but there is a newly constructed chain link fence between the depot and the tracks, and it extends well past the depot on the west.

I tried another shot of the ACe as it passed by but it was nothing to brag about. After we finished our delicious double cheeseburger meals, I proposed a trip to Philbrook as the wife had never been there. She was her usual agreeable self, and with news of an impending meet in that location off we went. The wait was less than 10 minutes before the headlight of the westbound showed just to the southeast. A quick grab shot and we were off to see if we could catch him before Wadena.


It was a race, but by taking a bypass around Staples I was able to head him off by the time we passed Verndale. The shots I tried as he crossed the Wing River were not too good, but I noticed an eastbound quickly bearing down on us and fired off a shot of the meet. This loaded coal train was almost all WPSX cars, which are fairly new to the Staples Sub. I have been seeing them on a somewhat regular basis for a few months now. They caught my attention as Wisconsin Public Service is the original utility in the holding company that I used to work for.


One more eastbound was crossing over from main 2 to main 1 as we returned to Wadena, but despite a consist that included an H2 GE, cascade SD40-2, and single CSX and NS untis, no photos were attempted. It was more fun just to watch.

One thing I did shoot was some coal car pictures. I have been accumulating them for a few weeks now as I study the differences and peculiarities of the unit train consists when they pass by. I hope to post some pictures, along with observations, soon.