Sneak a Peek

One of the great things about living in Wadena is the proximity to the Staples Sub. That is especially true anytime you approach the tracks at a road crossing. There is always a good chance that peeking down the right-of-way will reveal some evidence of a nearby train-whether that evidence is a lit signal, a FRED blinking in the distance at night, the single headlight of a DPU pushing, or best of all, the triangular glow of an approaching train.

Since my Friday started out with a trip to Perham for work, I was anticipating a glance down the tracks as I approached the Jefferson Street crossing in Wadena. The sunshine that was dancing around looked to be short-lived with a cloud bank building in the west, so I figured a perfectly timed eastbound might be my only chance for a nicely lit shot today. Sure enough, fortune smiled on me as the crossing revealed the headlight of a train approaching from the west. Reminded me of the CP "one unit wonders" I read about so often from the railfans just to the south. This train was passing through the part of Wadena hardest hit by the June tornado. As you can see there is still a lot of work to do before Wadena returns to anything near normal.


In Perham, I came across an interesting sight. Seems that one of the BNSF's Aeroflo coal cars got tired and decided to give up the ghost. The first picture below shows how repair crews transferred the load to another similar car (notice what the load in the right car looks like). They then pulled in the side that was bowed out and secured it with a chain, as you can barely see in the second photo.





Finally, on the trip home, I again sneaked a peek down the tracks, this time as I crossed over the tracks on Highway 10. Since another train was approaching I decided to make a quick detour to the Hagerman Road crossing, where the gates were dropping as I arrived and this appeared outside the driver's window:


So that's the story of another day in the life of a Staples Sub railfan. It's a great place to live and to look for trains.

Jim

Wadena Aftermath

I'm certain that many readers of this blog are aware of the violent tornado that struck Wadena last Thursday evening, June 17. There has been extensive media coverage of the widespread destruction this storm caused. I thought I would take this chance to share a rail-related photo illustrating a small fraction of the destruction.


This shot of a covered hopper sitting on the spur serving what used to be the Leaf River Ag fertilizer plant is a good illustration of how things look in a substantial swath of the west side of town. I didn't get a shot of the car laying on its side, which it was after the tornado struck. BNSF's crack employees have the car upright and on the rails today.

The spur itself used to lead into an unloading shed that no longer exists. I think one of the walls of that shed is leaning against what remains of the fertilizer storage building. Also of interest is a large chunk of what used to be Wadena's community center in the picture. That's the silver blob at the right edge of the frame. Another large portion of the community center landed on the southeast corner of the high school, and a third good sized piece was found a couple of blocks further east.

I don't know what the co-op's plans for this facility are, but it was just completely replaced a year or two ago so I expect they will rebuild on site.

Wadena will never be the same. More than 200 homes were seriously damaged or destroyed, and many of the seriously damaged ones will be bulldozed. The west side of town along Highway 10 was littered with snowmobile trailers, school buses, and cement blocks.

But the most important outcome from the tornado was human. Although a number of people were transported to the emergency room as a result of injury, not one person in Wadena was killed. I thank the Lord that people were spared, and also that my own home was not among those damaged. Also, I appreciate the calls and emails from people who know I live in Wadena and expressed their concern, it meant a lot. Thank you!

Jim