Homebound under the Clouds

It's funny how times change. Not so many years ago, there were extensive discussions on the OMR list about who had been lucky enough to catch a BNSF loco in the new "swoosh" paint scheme. Those who had captured their first loco decorated this way were envied by the many of us still waiting for a first real-life sighting of such a unit. Oh, how we lamented the seemingly endless string of DC-powered coal trains behind warbonnet SD75's, green giant SD60M's, and the fleet of Oakway lease "power by the hour" SD60's in their attractive blue paint scheme.

Fast forward a few years, and it seems the worm has turned. Nowdays probably a majority of the trains, or at least close to a majority, have at least one of the H3 units in the consist. We railfans have lamented the demise of many models of locomotive, including the SD40-2 series and just about every other EMD 6 axle unit with the exception of the MAC's and ACe's.

But for some reason these old friends seem to be making a comeback. The 40's started to reappear, now designated SD39-2 and derated on paper to 2999 HP. They have become fairly common on work trains and other low-priority service, with new numbers in the 1600 and 1900 series (among others, I'm sure). Their old numbers are being swallowed up by the hordes of new GE's that continue to appear on the railroad. The 40's were followed by the SD75's, some in H2 paint and many others still in good-looking warbonnet paint schemes. The SD60M's, renumbered to make room for new coal power in the form of SD70ACe's, have been showing up for some time now. And finally, rumor has it that some of the blue SD60's are once again out and about, hauling freight trains across the countryside and earning their keep.

Today I returned home from a trip to Hallock, and of course followed the Noyes sub from Hallock to Crookston. Somewhere near Argyle, a headlight showed itself far to the south. It was soon obvious a train was on the way, and I pulled over at a crossing for a shot under the clouds. This train was led by an ES44AC, and had an unusual mate in its consist. First, the leader:


And here's the trailing unit-the first Oakway I have seen underway in I don't even remember how long. Obviously, this called for a going away shot to record the moment for posterity.


Well that was interesting. And so I continued on, anxious to get home. The BNSF's Grand Forks Sub and the CP's DL Sub were thoughtful enough not to disturb my travels. In fact, the next train I saw was stopped on the west side of Perham, but far beyond photo range. With no time to cut through town for a shot under overcast skies, on I went.

Then, this appeared, also stopped, this time on Main 1 east of Perham, near what I call the "Big Woods". 4 matched units, a Z train, what the heck, I'll grab a shot even though it's cloudy. And so I present:


That was it for today. Oh, I almost forgot a grain train on the loop at Argyle, but in no position for photography. I have a couple of shots from the previous day, when they were loading as I passed by, that I'll pick through to see if one is worth posting. Other than that, you now have my entire report on train action between Hallock and Wadena, the afternoon of June 2, 2011. That is all.

A Look Back

One of the things I have learned as a railfan is to shoot what you see while you are trackside. You never know when it might disappear. The traffic downturn and resulting storage of older locomotives over the last several months serves as a potent reminder of this axiom.

I've been working to re-edit a number of photos in preparation for uploading them to my Flickr photostream. I got curious as to whether I had done any railfanning a year ago, so looked in the image folder for August 2, 2008. Sure enough, I had made a trip to Staples that day, and shot a photo that I highly doubt I will ever have a chance to repeat due to the consist of the manifest train.


What are the odds of seeing a mainline BNSF freight train powered by an SD40-2 in the H1 scheme, a rebuilt GP30, and a bluebonnet SD ever again? Such an occurence is unlikely at the very least. Yet at the time I shot this train, it never occured to me that the days of the SD40-2 on the mainline were limited. I knew that they were getting a bit long in the tooth, and new locos continued to be delivered that would someday replace them, but surely not so soon. Yet I was less than two months from seeing my last SD40-2 leading a mainline BNSF train, for some time at least, if not forever. I know they will never again be common out on the high iron.

The investigation of one year ago naturally evolved into what was going on two years ago. Surely I would see nothing from those shots that evoked a similar nostalgia? Well, I didn't have any shots from August 2, 2007, but I did from August 5, and so I took a look at them. This one is surely a scene that is very unlikely to ever be played out again along the Staples Sub. An Oakway SD60 and a bluebonnet Dash 2 teamed up with a GE pumpkin on this manifest as it crossed over from Main 2 to Main 1 in Wadena, headed west.


And stranger still, although I believe I have heard such a thing may still exist, an unpatched SD70MAC was in charge of an empty coal train as it passed through Verndale behind 4 units. I can still remember how I felt when I heard the dispatcher talking to "BN 9618" The consist included a pair of the cream and green MAC's, a leaser SD70 or 90, while the rarest unit given today's situation was the trailer, a "green giant" SD60M.


Sometimes it's good to look back. Not only do fond memories get reawakened, the lesson about enjoying what's out plying the rails today is reinforced. Just like fans of 25 years ago thought the SD40-2's and the C30-7's would never be displaced, we tend to expect that the Dash 9's, GEVO's, and ACe's that rule the road trains today will reign forever. They won't. And everyone who is out trackside, shooting another pumpkin as it treks across Minnesota, is recording something that someone, someday, will look back on fondly, with the comment, "Those were the days.".

Jim

A Chase on the Brainerd Sub

Greetings again from L4T headquarters here in Wadena. This past week found me scurrying about Northern Minnesota with barely a moment to stop and spend any time railfanning until Wednesday afternoon on my journey back to Wadena. I spent most of Tuesday up in the Bagley area with no opportunities to get trackside, then headed east for Grand Rapids to spend the night before continuing on to Virginia.

When I arrived in Virginia Wednesday morning I took a spin by the DWP yard to see if anything interesting was out and I came across a few of these "Mega Log Haulers". I grabbed a quick shot as this is something I have not seen before and who knows when I might see it again. As long as I was there I also photographed some of the conventional log cars that were in the train as well.



Upon completion of my meeting that day, we took lunch at the restaurant nest to the tracks in this area. I can't remember the name of it but it used to be called the Northern Lights. During lunch my companions took great delight in my phoaming as an empty Minorca limestone train passed behind a Maroon DMIR unit trailed by a noodle. I just didn't have time to get outside and limber up the camera but the image is seared in my mind!

I elected to swing by Iron Jct on my way back to Wadena, but no traffic was moving and I heard the dispatcher giving track and time to MOW people so I continued on toward home. About the time I reached Aitkin I heard a coal empty get a warrant to continue west all the way to Staples. He was about 20 miles behind me so I waited for him to show up between Aitkin and Deerwood. I shot him first at an S-curve, then in the cut as he approached Deerwood.



He was making about 48 mph as he called out signals approaching stations, and I thought I might be able to make it to the bridge in Brainerd in time for a shot. As I entered town, I saw the crossing gates begin to flash. Luckily I made all green lights, and pulled over on the street just east of the 210 bridge. A mad dash out onto the bridge got me there just as the SD70MAC rolled across the bridge. I fired off a magazine of shots and this is the one I liked the best:


Interesingly, there was no DPU on this train. I continued west and arrived at Motley just as he crossed the highway, and headed on home to Wadena without pestering this poor train anymore. There were no targets of opportunity in Staples and I made it home with no further stops.

Not a lot of action this week, but I did get a train in a couple of new (for me) locations, and that makes it a success!

Jim