Some Summertime Action

It's been a while since I posted, and much of the interim has been dominated by clouds and rain. I have had the chance at a few shots, though, and the backlog is starting build to the point I need to get some of these posted.

June 12th was one of the days I have my shortest commute to work-Wadena to New York Mills. Of course, I still had the camera with and just after I got on Highway 10 the 174.1 detector sounded off for a train on Main Two. Hmmm, I should try a shot at one of my favorite locations-the curve just west of Wadena where the tracks climb up out of the mighty Leaf River plain. I didn't wait too long before a fast train rounded the curve behind an ES44DC, leading a few stack cars and a long string of vehicle cars. It was a nice way to start the day.


Friday evening, July 13th, Mrs. L4T and I headed over to Staples to try and avoid the bad luck demons. There was a nice assortment of power in the yard, including eastbounds behind CSX and KCS power. The KCS unit was an SD70-2 in the "Southern Belle" scheme. This was the first time I have seen one leading a train on the Staples Sub but obviously the Friday the 13th demons followed me to Staples and prevented any decent photos due to lighting difficulties. After waiting a few minutes and offering a Dairy Queeen treat to the demons, the scanner announced the impending arrival of a couple of westbounds. I headed south to intercept, with mixed results. I shot the first train southeast of Staples, then chased him back to Staples and got him again as he approached the depot.



I decided to head back to Wadena, and while we were on the way I heard a second westbound cross the detector at Staples. I headed back out to my old reliable location at the Bluffton curve, and this time shot a westbound as he approaches the tangent track at the bottom of the hill.


Interestingly, this train was all NSPX bottom dump hoppers. I can't recall seeing this before on the Staples Sub, but I think someone mentioned seeing a train like this loaded eastbound a couple of days earlier. Anyone know if these are serving the Becker plant nowdays?

Saturday morning I headed to Staples with the intention of catching the KCS unit in the yard in morning light. Of course it was gone, and the other trains that were there the night before were still there. I fooled around with a couple of puddles in the area with ho-hum results. I think the best effort was this one:


There was just enough cloud cover to spoil some nice shots.

I did get one treat that day, though. Rather than a "late eight", Amtrak surprised me with a late #7. Of course the light was wrong for a head on shot but I tried a couple of different things during the very brief stop at the depot. Here is one of my more unique angles.


A quick run to the detector gave me one more chance to shoot him but my camera missed the focus. After that, I gave chase but quickly realized that Amtrak has a distinct speed advantage to Highway 10 traffic as I was unable to gain any ground at all. Anyway, it was a nice surprise for me, if not for the passengers who were waiting for the train.

A trip to Fargo later that day yielded a couple of shots, but those will be the basis for another post. Til then, remember to keep looking 4 trains!

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

Something Old, Something New...

I made a trip to Staples this morning as it looked like a pleasant day was in store. The scanner was quiet as I headed east, and I saw no traffic on the trip over. I was a little worried because I had heard a lot of horns very early in the morning before I left (departed about 0645) and I hoped I hadn't missed the day's traffic.

Last night Mrs L4T and myself had been out prowling for trains with very little luck. I heard an extensive discussion between a Conductor and Fort Worth mechanical regarding an SD75 that would not load past 150 amps, but no other traffic. It sounded like that eastbound might have trouble getting up the hill into Wadena as his only other unit was a GP60M, but when I headed west to intercept he was scooting right along and I heard him tell the dispatcher the unit was now working, although with some surging going on.

The point of the story is that the train was sitting in the Staples yard this morning with a Dash 9 tacked onto the head end as well. I stopped for a photo as I arrived in Staples.


I know it's a stretch, but with the H1 paint scheme on a three digit road number Dash 9, I'm calling this the "something old" part of the story. I guess we could also use the pioneer unit of the final GP model built as well for the something old part of the rhyme. Where's an SD40-2 when you need one?


Since nothing was moving but I could hear chatter on the radio about getting a FRED to talk to a loco, I decided to swing around the yard and see what else was there. Turns out, quite a bit.


A head on shot revealed the train that was fiddling with its FRED as well. Lots of trains tied down in Staples this AM.


When I heard a 9300 series clear a warrant in Wadena, I decided to try catching him near the depot. I didn't have to wait long for MERC coal loads to show up, and the something new part of the equation was in play. A second ACe was pushing, in real fresh and shiny paint. I only have video of the pusher on this 1x1 train, I will try and get it posted as well. Here are a couple of shots in Staples:




I decided to chase him a while, and got him between Staples and Motley, then again as he crossed Highway 10 on his trip to Superior.



While in Motley I spotted a ballast car sitting on a siding as well, with some unusual graffiti. I couldn't resist trying this:


Back to Staples, and the Becker loads were ready to leave. I shot them heading out of the yard onto Main 2 track, and now we have reached the something borrowed (I know, this is a real stretch) and something blue part of the rhyme. Oh well, three out of four isn't bad. Not often that I see a solid set of CITX units operating in this part of the country.



The last train that was leaving was the original merchandise train the wife and I had seen the night before. Shortly, the Dash 9 got a signal and was soon headed east as well.


I headed back to Wadena with a bunch of photos to process and some good memories. I was glad I made the decision to head east this morning and look 4 trains.

Jim

Southern Rainy Days

Over the last couple of days work has taken me to Southern Minnesota once again, and the quirks of my schedule have dictated east/west travel. While the highway network of Minnesota is not neccesarily conducive to these journeys, it does offer the opportunity to parallel some of the lighter traffic rail lines in granger country. Trains are rare compared to the traffic I am used to on the Staples Sub but there are different colored locomotives and different scenery.

On Monday afternoon I left the Olivia area and headed east along the TCW main. Earlier in the day, I had heard a train blowing for a crossing in Bird Island and ran up to the crossing to shoot him as he throttled up one of the CAT-powered geeps that are common to this line. When he notches out the throttle, you would think that there is an Alco prime mover hiding inside the cowl given the quantity of smoke generated.


No more traffic was in evidence as I made the trek east. I did see one loco parked on a siding near Cologne but had no chance at a shot given the sun angle and the lack of access. Soon I broke away from the rail line to head slightly south.

My next opportuntiy for a shot presented itself in Belle Plaine where a UP loco was resting north of the crossing. Once again the sun angle left something to be desired but I shot him amid some trees just beginning to show signs of spring.


And that was all the action for Monday. After a meeting on Tuesday, I headed back and this time chose the rail line that parallels MN Hwy 19 as my target. It was a cloudy, then rainy day that was ill suited for photography most of the way. I met some maintenance of way equipment heading in about 3:30 near Gaylord, but no photos were attempted.

A matched set of Red River Valley and Western units were idling away at the ethanol plant in Winthrop in a steady rain. I stopped and attempted a shot but was not too impressed with the results.


Again, nothing more was moving as I continued west. I made it to Redwood Falls and had supper before heading back to Morton. While I was in the restaurant, the sun came out and I stopped to shoot a trestle in the Minnesota River bottom and dream about how nice it would look with a train creeping across it.


I decided to explore Morton a bit before heading back to the hotel and found a couple of items that were interesting. One, located next to a building identified as the Northern Prairie engine house, was the former home of a speeder car that has definitely seen better days.


There were also a couple of boxcars off their trucks being used for storage. One of them was proudly displaying the logo of a long-gone railroad in the evening sun.


All in all, an intersting trip but one that did not involve a lot of train action. It makes me thankful for the traffic that I can enjoy around home just about any time I want. I need to continue to enjoy the traffic that I am lucky enough to be near while at the same time checking out new places when the opportunity presents itself.