Twin Ports Oddities and More

Well, maybe not all "oddities", but in a few cases, certainly, "things I don't see every day". 

I slipped away this afternoon for a short jaunt around Duluth and Superior, intent on finally taking a few train photos. My first stop was Rice's Point, where I found the CP local power gurgling away on the lead to one of the Port Authority tracks. The most unusual unit for me in this day and age was the SOO.

Just turning around, I spotted this thing in the yard. Now we're getting somewhere on the oddity front. Not sure of the heritage of this former caboose, but it's sure not something I see often, or even ever before. 

TEXX is a logistics outfit that arranges transportation for unique cargoes, according to their website. The unique cargo in this case might be the heavy load shown below, which was spotted in CP's Rices Point yard a couple tracks over from the caboose. 

With those shots in the bag, I headed to Superior, and swung by the BNSF facility. That's where I spotted these freshly painted sno-dozers, waiting patiently for mother nature to provide the conditions that will allow them to strut their stuff. I'm waiting too!

 
Then it was on to the yard, where I spotted a couple of BN grain hoppers coupled next to each other. The difference in paint condition was enough to get me to stop. These photos will go a long way toward helping me get the weathering right on some models in the future. It is amazing how almost anything I can imagine can be found on the railroad in one way or another. A great example of life imitating art.

Finally, after getting a text from Mrs. L4T recalling me for more mother in law moving duty, I started back for Duluth. As I crossed the yard on the 21st Ave viaduct, I spotted a train that forced me to make a short detour. It's not everyday that you can see a pair of former bluebonnet GP's handling a coal train. OK, it wasn't actually an entire train, but it was a goodly sized cut of coal gons, and while the power was another example of why the Twin Ports might be the world's EMD capital, this specific power set-a GP50 leading a GP40X-is anything but common. It was enough for me to call it an oddity, and a day. 

Independence Day

I present you the completion of my backwards-blogged weekend with a short post describing my Independence Day observations. Since I had been warned earlier that BNSF was operating a reduced schedule for the holiday I was expecting less traffic than normal, but my experiences from one year earlier still had me holding out hope for some traffic on this beautiful summer dawn.

After leaving home, the wait was short before some traffic showed. I found an eastbound almost as soon as I arrived at the crossing in Wadena, and decided that since this is the only time of the year when the sun gets around far enough to shoot an eastbound through the legs of the Verndale station sign I might as well take advantage of it. Here is the result.


I continued on to Staples, and since the theme for the day started out as station signs, I decided to work in the Dower Lake sign in a shot as well. I'm not as happy with this one but I was in a hurry-this train didn't cut me any slack.


Trains were certainly scarce, and the Staples yard was vacant with the exception of a string of grain cars and what seem to the permanent residents of this yard, a Sno-dozer and a couple of "vintage" natural gas fuel tenders, which I think are reminders of a past energy crisis. I have been meaning to take these photos for over a year, and now I can finally sleep nights knowing I have recorded these images to disc before this equipment disappears.



Since I was on a mission to record vintage equipment, I decided to take a look at the caboose on the east side of town. It seems to be sporting a fresh coat of paint.


And with that, I returned home.

A trip out in the evening with Mrs. L4T led to one more intermodal train, this time a westbound I captured near Perham.


Happy 4th to the crews that had to work on the 4th, and I hope you made it home in time to shoot off some celebratory fireworks!

Jim...out