Racing to Randall...and back

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) required a trip to Randall for work, which is always a good thing as it gives the opportunity for railfanning the Staples Sub. I met a coal empty coming out of the sun between Wadena and Staples, but my first photo op was in Staples where a loaded WPSX train was posed behind a pair of Grinstein green SD70MAC's.


The leader had the ugly bare nose, along with one of the odder patch jobs I have seen on one of these units.


Maintenance of Way forces had a 7 hour work window, which dried the flow of trains up to less than a trickle. There was no traffic through Randall for most of the day. There was a crew working on the east siding switch in Randall, though.

When I left for home, I could hear the dispatcher clearing up track and time from a number of crews. There were also a number of eastbound trains stacked up waiting for a chance to continue their journey. The first one I saw was waiting at Philbrook. Right behind him, at the 470th St crossing, I caught this under thickening overcast.


Remember the coal loads I shot in the yard that morning? Well, with the sun swung around to the west, I decided to grab a shot of the DPU as I passed through town. Here's evidence that it's still possible to find a train with three executive painted MAC's as its sole power in 2010, even if they are in a 2+1 DPU configuration.


And that's all the train photos for today. The good news for me is I still had one more day to make the commute to Randall. So, this story is to be continued...

Jim

A Philbrook Surprise

This morning, with a trip to Randall in the cards, I gassed up and turned on the scanner. Within a few minutes the dispatcher was busier than the proverbial one-armed paperhanger, issuing track and time to no fewer than three MOW crews on the east side of Staples. One of the crews involved an even 10 GPS ID's, whatever that is for. Another one sounded like a couple of pile drivers bound for the Philbrook area. Apparently the bridge over the Long Prairie River, just northwest of Philbrook, is being worked on.

From listening to the dispatcher I knew that there was only one train left, a westbound (travelling away from the sun) that had to be somewhere between Randall and me. As I poked my way along back roads, following the Staples Sub as much as possible, I finally reached Philbrook. A glance to the east revealed a headlight. I decided to stay and watch the train roll by, as the lighting was awful for the leaders.

When he showed up (at a reduced speed, he was going to Main 2 at Philbrook to make way for the pile drivers) it turned out to be a crude oil empty. Since every one of these trains I have seen to this time have had DPU's, I moved to take advantage if the rear engine was oriented properly. Here's the result:


Only one train, travelling the wrong way, but still, I thought, it's an interesting shot.

When I reached Randall, the MOW folks were setting up to do some heavy work on the switch east of downtown. They were still there when I left. I swung through Philbrook again, and could hear the banging of the pile drivers at work. Now, as I sit at home, I can hear multiple trains pass through Wadena after the backup caused by the work window. Since I have to head that way again tomorrow, I'm hoping for a little sunshine and some trains.

Jim

Sunday Evening

Our traditional Sunday evening outing came with a twist this week. Mrs. L4T and I decided that a stop the Bullseye in Verndale was in order, and had supper there instead of Staples. Of course, the knowledge that no westbound trains showed up anywhere past Gregory played no part in this decision. I would never let something like "getting supper out of the way before the trains show up" enter into the logic about where to eat.

Anyway, while we enjoyed a pleasant meal, I got to watch an eastbound ballast train pass. That was the only traffic, and after supper it turned out a coal empty had the light to come off the Brainerd sub. Since the timing was so convenient, I decided a photo from the Dower Lake crossing was in order.


The next train was still on the other side of Lincoln, so we ventured down to Philbrook with the hope of catching him there and giving chase. We waited less than 10 minutes before this suspected Becker empty showed up.


As soon as the train passed we were off to the races. I was able to see his tail end pass the 6th Street crossing in Staples and so knew I would have no trouble beating him to the sag at Verndale. With a little time to set up, I climbed all the way up on the roof of the Escape to get this shot. I'm sure the train crew is still laughing, or wondering, about the crazy who was standing on the vehicle roof as the train passed.


Spotted a couple of more eastbounds, but no shots of them. It was a fine evening to spend some time looking for trains along the Staples Sub.

Jim

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.