Owatonna Struggles

It's been over a week since these feeble attempts at a train picture but since I uploaded them I figured I may as well share them. 3 days in Owatonna seemed to offer hope for some photos but it seems the UP has my number and ran trains right past the office window while I slaved away with work. Darn them anyway.

I did manage to get away one evening for a short run to Waseca to see what the DME was up to. It turned out that they were mostly up to hiding anything photogenic from me. I had to work my way into a spot where I could even see any blue and yellow power, and even then there wasn't much to shoot. Here's the sorry result of my effort.


As I left town on Thursday afternoon, the UP finally offered up something to shoot. They're yellow, but they don't say UP-these lease units must have come home for a family reunion.


So, you drive nearly 500 miles, even go out of your way one evening, and nearly get skunked. This can be a frustrating hobby at times. Still, it keeps me coming back for some reason.

Armour Yellow in the PRB

(Note: I've got enough photos from the PRB area for a couple of more posts. I will also probably write something about "if you go" that talks about the experience we had, and what I would find helpful when I visit again. Until then, hopefully this UP focused feature will entertain those of you who are kind enough to visit this blog.)


Wyoming's Powder River Basin is unlike anywhere else I have ever been. It's not just the extreme level of railroad activity, but also the remoteness, the wildlife, the barren landscape. When someone who has lived almost half his life in Minnesota's Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties calls a place remote, you can pretty much take it to the bank that it's remote.

The photo above is taken at what is a metropolis by the standards of the PRB. Mrs. L4T and I were in Bill when I grabbed a shot of this UP train passing, one of the parade of trains out the south end of the Orin line. We had headed to Bill as it was the closest approximation to civilization in the last 70 or so miles. And it turned out to be quite civilized. Penny's Diner, on the east side of the highway across from the tracks, turned out to make a mean patty melt at a very reasonable price. I think they were surprised to see customers who actually wanted to pay money for their meal, though, as the clientele seemed strongly skewed toward railroaders laying over at the attached motel. It's doubtful that Bill is high on the list of many tourists...but for railfans, it's unmatched. In this shot, the same train as shown above is passing another UP set waiting in the yard to proceed south. The Bill water tower, which carries a UP shield, accents the shot.


Fed and refreshed, it's time to head north. This trip was as much about exploration and experiencing the area as it was about photography. I actually was bypassing photos by early afternoon, in order to learn as much about the lay of the land as possible. Here's one I had to grab, as it showed the expanse of the 4 main tracks that carry up to a hundred trains a day in and out of the area.


Just a bit further north, near Nacco Junction, I met another southbound and caught him as he rounded a curve.


My last train for this post was a load headed south from Coal Creek Junction. This train was just starting the assault on what looked to be a 1%+ grade and was working hard. I stood on the overpass shooting him as he approached, the motors up front thundering as they worked to lift the train slowly uphill.


After he passed under the overpass in a haze of heat and diesel exhaust, I shot him going away. The heat shimmer off the top of these engines was impressive.

This was one of my favorite moments of the day, as the brute power involved in railroading is something that draws me to it and makes me a railfan. The closest to this experience I have had in the past is standing on one of the bridges near Hawley as coal loads grind up out of the Red River Valley, but this train was moving much slower and gave the impression of more effort being expended.


Knowing there was an S curve just south of here, we decided to backtrack a bit and get a shot as he passed through the area. I parked in the wrong spot, as there was a herd of antelope just to the left of this image and I couldn't quite work them in. The frequency of trains in this area is demonstrated by the fact that (unlike me) the antelope barely looked up as the train passed them, finally having crested the hill and beginning to pick up speed.


I don't know if any of the crews that run trains in the area will ever read this, but if they do, THANKS! The way they were willing to give a friendly wave or a toot on the horn was really classy. Across the board, they were as friendly as any train crews I have encountered, if not more so. All in all it adds up to a great experience.

More Southern Minnesota Miscellanea

Given the luck I had had on the first day of this Southern Minnesota journey, I had high hopes for finding some action on the UP while I spent some time in the far southwest corner of the state. After work on Wednesday, I went for a little drive to the east along the UP main to see if I could find a train to chase.

Action was slow, and I made it to Butterfield without seeing any action. As I crossed the overpass there, I caught sight of set of UP power sitting on the spur that heads south out of town. I swung around to get a shot of this three unit set of AC motors.


These units were all dead, and I guessed they must be waiting for a crew to head somewhere to move a shuttle train. The landscape is dotted with huge grain elevators in this part of the state.

Continuing on east, I took the exit for St. James to see if I could catch a switcher at the elevator. I managed to see one a few years ago, and it would have been nice to get a better shot of it. Man, it's been almost 5 years since I shot that, seems like it was only a few months. Time flies.

Anyway, I wasn't able to locate the engine, but there was a set of UP GP's sitting near the depot, so I grabbed a shot of them.


That was all I was able to locate on Wednesday. Not a moving train to be seen. I did take a detour to the Odin cemetary on the way back to Windom, and visited my grandparent's graves.

The next morning I was off to Westbrook bright and early. Westbrook is in Murray County, one of the very few Minnesota counties that has no railroad service. That didn't stop me from pulling over for a photo on my way up there, though. The sun was starting to burn off the fog already.


Yes, I know. I do have a great job.

I headed for home right after lunch. My chosen route took me through Willmar. After a visit there a couple of weeks ago, I figured it was worth an extra half hour to swing by the yard. I found a string of GP units, with a lone SD40-2 mixed in, waiting in the yard. There were a couple of other trains near the depot but no real shots to be had.


Just as I was pulling out, the crossing gates announced the arrival of another train, this one from the west. The light didn't allow much of a shot, but the presence of a KCS unit and what I suspect is one of the final units ever painted in the warbonnet scheme motivated me to take this photo.

And that's the story of my most recent trip south. I managed to see a few trains, and some nice scenery as well. Hope you enjoy the story.

Jim

Southern Swing

I was off to New Ulm this morning bright and early, with visions of some DM&E action dancing in my head. When I arrived I noticed a shuttle train was loading at the elevator. So, after I was done with my meeting, I swung by the New Ulm yard for a look at the power for this shuttle.


I have heard in the past that these trains run with 4 units (including an ACe, a pair of Dash 9's, and an ES44DC in this case) in order to make the grade leaving New Ulm headed west. Rumor has it they have stalled in the past with three units climbing out of the Minnesota River Valley.

As you can see in that shot, there were many clouds about. That affected my next photo negatively. When I made it to Mankato, a train was headed south out of town. I'm not very familiar with the trackage, and I didn't see the power but I made a u-turn and chased the slow moving train down. As the UP line winds out of the valley it passes through some scenic territory. This shot doesn't do it justice but you can get an idea of what the stretch of track is like before they make it up to the plains again.


Very pretty area, I really like the rock retaining wall the train is passing by, and I got a friendly wave from the engineer (you can see him waving if you look close). You can tell how the designers of this line wound it around to help the trains beat the grade out of town. Still, these AC units were really working hard lifting the train up the hill.

As my final destination was on the north side of the cities, a swing by Northtown Yard seemed in order. I made it about 4:45 and got a couple of shots of the deadline south of the St. Anthony Boulevard bridge. There were 19 GEVO's lined up with their stacks capped. I suspect that these units require turbocharger inspection prior to being operated again. Makes the lines of SD75's a little shorter than I have seen in the past. It was good to see the Green Giants again-I sure hope they get back on the road soon.


That was it for today. Not a lot, but way better than nothing. Maybe I will have a little time to get out tomorrow evening, if the weather holds and I don't end up with too much work to do after tomorrow.

Jim

Southwest Minnesota Sightings

Greetings again from the rambling railfan of rural Minnesota. This past week I ventured into little explored (by me) portions of southwest Minnesota in my quest to earn a living, along with taking advantage of some railroad related observations that fate tossed my way.

My adventure began on Tuesday, when I travelled to New Ulm for a meeting. Upon the completion of my work there, my itinerary called for an overnight stay in the area. I selected Springfield as a great spot to overnight, given the proximity of a nice Microtel Inn to the DM&E main. On my way over I passed by the enormous Harvestland elevator complex just east of town, and found a DME GP40 type at rest on the end of a string of covered hoppers. Even through the engine was front-coupled, I pulled over and grabbed a photo since the light was so nice.


An investigation of Springfield on foot later that evening revealed no rail action, and my camera went unused for the balance of the day. I still have hopes of catching a DME train passing through this beautiful small city someday soon.

The following morning, after working in the area until about 11:00, I headed south with a destination near the Iowa border. My route took me through Windom, and I angled off on Highway 60 to get closer to my target. The next rail action I encountered was an engine at the enormous Heron Lake ethanol plant. Even though the sun was high, I pulled over for a photo:


Within moments I heard a horn from the southwest, which I took to mean a UP train would be approaching. I stayed where I was and shot him as he approached the crossing I was at. Again, the light was less than perfect, but I have very few if any Armour Yellow engines in my collection and was not about to pass up an opportunity to add three modern units to my tally.


I then proceeded on to my destination and completed what I had been summoned to do. After a productive afternoon's work I headed to Worthington for the night, but soon found that the recession has not yet sunk into that community as there was no room at the Inn for your humble correspondent. Plan "B" called for overnighting in Windom, which led to another run up Highway 60, paralleling the UP main the entire way. While there were no more mainline trains out and about, I did catch a couple of industrial units along the way. First was this former Conrail SW doing duty far from his former home. He is now assigned to Cargill's Miloma Farm Service Center.



Just up the line I came across the vast Minnesota Soybean Processors complex and discovered a Trackmobile at work spotting covered hoppers for loading.



And that wrapped up the photo ops for the first couple of days of my venture. The photos from the third and final day of the trip will have to wait for another post. Don't forget to keep looking 4 trains!

Jim