A Flurry of Maroon and Gold

Having just arrived home from a four day tour of extreme northwest Minnesota, it seemed like I should share a few photos. More will come later.



Thief River Falls served as the base for this adventure and Monday evening I investigated the Dakota Junction area on the north end of town. The maroon and gold units were on display in force as I spotted three sitting in that area. First, the 1381 captured in what is likely the same spot as Brian shot it the previous day. I didn't put in as much work to get a good angle as my back was killing me.





Just to the north sat a short train with a pair of Minnesota Northern units on the north end and the ex-UP leaser on the south end. It looked like a tug of war but I decided this pair should win:





And finally a nicely painted lease unit that serves the grain elevator at the south edge of the Thief River Falls yard.





That's it for this installment, but look for big news of a sizable new customer on the Noyes Sub and shots of both CP and BNSF trains real close to the border in another post or two covering the trip.

Sampling some Switchers

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like any railfan who wakes up in Thief River Falls, looks out the window to see sunshine, and has a half hour to spare should be obligated to take a swing by the CP yard to see what else is up and about.

So that's what I did this morning. After shooting some pictures of the Farmer's Coop concrete grain elevator (one of my new obsessions) I tracked this down sitting what I think is south of the roundhouse.


It was the beginning of a long day, a day that would interestingly enough involve the sightings of a number of switch engines. The CP engine above was the first, but after reaching Crookston sometime after lunch a little exploration revealed a couple of others. The Minnesota Northern engine is hidden behind this little gem, and there didn't seem to be a way to get a shot that included them both. The heat distortion is really getting to be a problem when combined with the high sun.


Since the day seemed to be developing a switch engine theme, and the trip up offered a look at the unit that lives in Callaway, a return route through Ulen seemed fitting. This engine is hard to get from a good angle AND in good light. I finally got a little better light today, although it was high sun, but the angle was awful. Too much "elevator" stuff around.


While doing a little more snooping, I thought I spotted a crew van in Ulen, although there was no grain train present. This instantly alerted the railfan senses, and after heading south sure enough headlights were spotted leaving Hitterdall. This train is an easy chase, as I think the track is only 10 mph and they absolutely don't speed, so I shot him in a couple of spots between there and Ulen. Since this post is about switchers, though, I will save those for another day.

Spaghetti Junction

There's a place on the north edge of Thief River Falls that I think of as spaghetti junction. How come? Because three different railroads (Canadian Pacific, Northern Plains, and Minnesota Northern) all converge in this one spot. I've never taken the time to figure what belongs to whom, but two tracks come in from the south and three emerge, two headed north and one with a more westerly tack.


I've got a long history of driving by this area. In the 80's when we lived in Baudette, occasional trips to Grand Forks took us down Highway 32. After the move to Wadena in 2004, job responsibilities encompassed Thief River Falls along with Roseau, Warroad, and Baudette, which led to trips past this area. And now, I sometimes stay in TRF while working in the Warren and Hallock areas. This gives me an excuse to drive by on my way to and from work.

That's what I did Tuesday evening, as I returned to TRF from Stephen. I spied a Minnesota Northern train tied down on the north edge of town and swung across a gravel road to get in position for a shot, shown here:


The MNN has quite an attractive paint scheme, and the evening sun lit it nicely. I was glad to be able to get a set of GP units back to back.

When I left for Hallock early this morning on Highway 59, I glanced across the field to see the train still sitting there. Since time was kind of tight I continued on north until encountering something else, which will be the topic of another post.

Jim