Dash 9's STILL Excite Me

I've bashed GE's, or at least sung the praises of EMD power, many times on this blog. But if GE's were really a turn off I'd likely have to find a new place to railfan, as BNSF has a huge flock of them, seemingly dominated by H2 painted Dash 9's. Some are nice, some are peachy, some look like the National Guard has been doing flamethrower practice on their flanks. I still really like to see them all.

On the way home from New Ulm last Thursday ATCS revealed an eastbound that I might be able to catch near the paper mill in Sartell. Turned out to be good intelligence as the headlight was barely in sight on reaching the crossing. A short wait resulted in this.


Three of 'em, with light on the nose, blasting toward St. Cloud with a baretable train.

I really like to look for trains.

Thursday's Train

After spending Monday through Wedensday in Austin and Owatonna, I was back on the road Thursday afternoon, with a stop in Randall and subsequent trip to the Cities for a Friday meeting in order. As usual the camera was in the car.

Just a couple of miles west of Staples, I encountered this thing, which is likely one of the reasons for the abundance of MOW personnel and the corresponding lack of trains during weekdays along the Staples Sub. Anyone know what it is?


I was just getting ready to leave Randall when I heard a horn, and the train flew through town eastbound as I left. Seemed like a good candidate for a chase, especially with a gorgeous H1 Dash 9 on the point and a pair of CP units rounding out the consist. I caught the head end just as it passed under the overpass at Little Falls, and was well ahead of the train by Gregory. After a stop at the Rice Holiday, the train had caught up and I played cat and mouse with him until turning off to intercept it approaching Sartell, just west of the paper mill. I was lucky enough to get him in a sucker hole:


I already had seen one interesting piece of rolling stock in this train, so decided to grab a shot of a 12-axle depressed center flat towards the rear of the long train. Here's a shot:


That was the end of my railfanning for the day. I decided to cut through St. Cloud and leave the Staples Sub. It wasn't a "big number" day, but I did get a sunny shot of a nice looking loco and some unusual power, so it was fun.