Like an Old Shoe

For any readers of this blog who aren't already aware of it, I started a new job, working in the Duluth/Superior area, about a month ago. There is a thriving railfan community in that area, and I have felt very welcome. "Guided Tours" of a few areas have already taken place, with more in the offing. It's exciting seeing places in person that have only existed in photos for me until now.

The best part is getting to know some of the fans in that area. I've long felt that getting to know fellow railfans is the high point of the hobby and so far the Twin Ports have reinforced that belief.

However, the area I called home for 8 years still has a strong hold on me. Commuting back to Wadena on weekends has allowed me to stay in touch with that area. On my way home Friday evening, I caught an empty coal train between Staples and Aldrich. Racing along at highway speed allowed me a short lead by the time I reached Verndale. It only seemed right to stop for a shot at one of my favorite photo locations-the Verndale Sag.


The combination of nice evening light, a familiar coal train behind a pair of MAC's, and a well known location sure combined to make me feel "at home". It's just a matter of time before the Twin Ports are able to provided the same level of comfort. I look forward to it.

The Return of DST

After spending the better part of the afternoon wrestling with TurboTax (which by the way was programmed, with the help of the federal tax code, to drive normal people insane), a distinct need for a mental health break arose. There was the opportunity to head for the basement and staple up another box of ceiling tile, but then again the sun was out. It wasn't too hard to convince Mrs. L4T that we should go someplace. When she asked where I blurted out "Staples". 'Twas not to be.

Arriving in downtown Wadena, rather than a headlight greeting us, there were not one but two trains passing through town. As is normal Main Two was hosting the eastbound, while a crude oil train was headed west on Main One. Entering available data into my railfan calculator the destination of Staples was quickly replaced with "somewhere west of that crude oil train". We were off.

He was rolling along pretty good. I barely arrived at the overpass west of NYM with time to get this shot.


This was a short train. In fact it's a pretty good bet that Christopher Muller could duplicate it on his layout under construction. The detector at MP 174 announced that none of the 246 axles had defects. I figured it out in my head, and counting the three-six axle locomotives and the buffer car, that comes out to 56 tank cars.

A glance to the west as the train passed below the highway revealed another headlight, headed my way. Weaving through traffic allowed a couple of backlit shots of the power on this train. A pair of CSXT GE's were leading a BNSF MAC and a CSXT EMD unit with a spartan cab. My guess is it was a grain train, but it's just that-a guess.





With the low fuel light on we headed back to Wadena. I tried shooting the visitor one more time as he rolled through town with "meh" results. It did provide the opportunity to notice the pair of pile drivers parked on the former Leaf River Ag spur. Maybe that had something to do with all the pilings laying along the right-of-way near the bridge west of the Bluffton crossing. Seems the Staples Sub will be seeing some major work once again this summer. Probably cause some slow traffic days, with the backups hopefully resulting in fleets of train when the light is nice. Like during Verndale Rail. Again, hopefully.

Speaking of light, thanks to the switch back to Daylight Savings Time there was still enough for one more train. Having heard the CSX train would be waiting for one at Staples (someone else was making a pickup, and had Main Two occupied), we knew there was still a chance. Might as well try the sag. And this time, it worked-we spotted a headlight as we crossed the tracks.


This train made it two out of three on the day for spartan cabs. Heck, this one even threw in a four axle unit for good measure. The power set was an H1 GE, followed by a bright and shiny 40 series six axle, a GP50 in original paint, and another GE, this time an H2.


That was it, as Mrs. L4T needed to get home. So with full stomachs thanks to McD's, we headed back for the house, with dreams of good light on evening westbounds dancing in our heads.

A PUSHER?

Actually, I saw a few pushers today. Most of them were what we have come to think of as conventional pushers, or Distributed Power Units. These are the locomotives on the rear (at least in this area) of the train, which are controlled by the engineer up front. This coal train, which was photographed going east through the Verndale sag, had a pretty nice looking MAC pushing. Since the tail end unit was facing the wrong way I only shot the head end power.


After a stop north of Eagle Bend, the journey continued on toward Randall. Since it was lunchtime, a detour down old Highway 10 near Lincoln was possible, and another train popped up, this time what looked like oil cans. I missed the head end, but got the "pusher"-a fairly new GEVO. This was an absolute snap shot as I lumbered up the hill just as the loco disappeared around the corner.


And now on to what I hinted about on Facebook earlier today-a "manned helper", something that should be unheard of on the Staples Sub in this day and age. It seems like those tie cars must be getting loaded pretty heavy, though, as this train showed up passing under the old Highway 10 bridge:


Yes, there is a second hi-rail on the rear, and it's manned-as a matter of fact the two guys in it gave me a funny look as I shot them passing by. Here's a going away shot after they passed under me:


It can't be that they needed the power, as I've seen these trucks move 10 cars on their own. Maybe by tieing everything together they can travel as one "train" and get to where they are going faster, I don't know. Whatever the reason, it was one of those things that really gets your attention. An oddity.

And when I got back to Wadena, sure enough, Chris, I looked down the tracks as I crossed to go home and saw a headlight. It seemed a waste not to try and shoot him, even though the light was terrible. More crude oil tanks. With three units up front this one had no DPU. You can almost smell the creosote boiling off those ties in this shot.


And then it was home, and back to work. I sure wish I could get caught up. For now, I'm thankful for seeing some trains, and the manned helper of July 2011.

Against the Grain

This afternoon Mrs. L4T agreed to accompany me on a railfanning outing. Having done extensive analysis of traffic patterns via facebook posts, mailing list info, and reading chicken entrails, the conclusion was arrived at that the Paynesville Sub deserved our attention, and so it came to be that we set out for locations to the south at about 1500 hours.

Of course, first we had to go north for gas. After fueling up, I headed west on Highway 10 with the intent to intercept the DL Sub and follow it south. Luckily someone at the BNSF heard about my plan and took corrective action. We were less than a mile out of town when an eastbound behind 5(!) EMD spartan cabs made its appearance. All prior plans were scrapped, a u-turn was executed, and calculations regarding speed, sun angle, and time began to be made. So began our afternoon of fanning the east Staples Sub.

My first somewhat presentable shot of the train that coaxed me into staying on home rails was near Cushing. After blowing the Quiken Road shot, I was on a mission to at least get all 5 locos in one frame and that's about all you can say for this. Very neat consist, though.


SWA put him in the hole at Darling to let a stack train by, and then after he got rolling again told the crew they could stop and get a snack at Royalton if they wanted as Northtown had no where to put them. I finally heard them clear up at St. Cloud after taking more than 3 hours to cover the 90 some miles between Wadena and St. Cloud.

The exciting news was that during the chatter between trains and dispatcher, mention was made of a westbound! They have been scarce as hen's teeth due to the flooding in Minot but word was they should start showing up today. Sure enough, they did. After hearing one call a signal approaching Gregory, I decided to take a stand on the overpass just north of Little Falls. After a short wait, here he comes!


As there was a meet at Darling, it was no problem to get ahead of him. I was rolling along nicely when out of the corner of my eye I spyed what looked like a couple of railfans, so stopped to see what was going on. Sure enough, it was a famous railfan-here's Andy Cummings just after shooting the BNSF 7564.


I got the train next just south of Randall, at a curve I've pondered shooting many times before. I think there are some possibilities here.


Finally, here's a location I have shot once before, and it illustrates one of the things I really enjoy about the East Staples Sub-it's more than prairie.


And then another u-turn brought us south again, to chase the 7292. This shot is on a fill near Cushing. The tree on the right edge of the frame is my second favorite tree along the Staples Sub, after the giant just east of Verndale. It was also fun see a C4 in the consist.


Finally, the shot so many of us hoped for 8 days ago-a train headed west through the Verndale sag.


So on a day when things seemed to start out so wrong, they ended up being pretty right. It's good to see westbounds running "against the grain" as it were. Hopefully this is a sign that the people of Minot can begin the long and difficult process of getting their lives back to some semblance of normal. We need to pray for them.

Summertime at the Sag

Summertime, and the shootin' is good, at the Wing River sag. Mrs. L4T suggested a ride, and after a check of ATCS I agreed. We headed east, and I pulled off just outside Verndale, spotting a headlight approaching as we crossed the tracks. Here it comes:


A preview of Verndale Rail 2011.

When we got back to town, I had to stop by Drywall Supply to shoot a couple of the 8 tanks of magnesium chloride the Wadena local had delivered for transloading. Talking to a truck driver earlier in the day I learned that this product will be used on gravel roads in the Park Rapids area to keep dust down. The modeler in me really liked the rust on this one:


And the other white car was decorated by taggers.


This is the first time I have seen this take place in Wadena. Hopefully the local has found some new business that is sustainable. According to the driver I visited with he will have them all unloaded this week. That's a good number of trips to Park Rapids.

Sunshine! And Trains, Too!

After what has seemed an interminable cloudy and overcast period, the sun finally came out in Wadena this afternoon. Since Mrs. L4T and I were planning on a little ride and supper, we decided to hit up the Staples DQ and see if the BNSF was up to anything.

Crossing Highway 10 in Wadena, we spotted a headlight to the east. An empty coal train was waiting on Main 1. I shot him from a distance and continued east, figuring that a zipper would should up to overtake him on Main 2 before crossing over at Wadena.

Instead, the next train was another coal empty sitting at Oink Joint Road. Once again I took the chance for a nicely lit shot, and this one is worth sharing. Of course it would be even nicer with a nose logo on the leader.


It is so nice that the sun is coming back toward the north. Finally, some nose light.

We continued on to Staples, and checked out a number of trains in the yard, but took no photos. I noticed at least one each loaded and empty coal train along with what looked to be a manifest. Then it was off to DQ for supper.

Just as we approached the depot after supper the rear end of a westbound pig train was passing the depot. I figured this for the zipper that would pass the coal empties spotted earlier, and formulated a plan to shoot him west of Wadena, but rapidly pulled ahead of the train. By the time we made Verndale he wasn't visible in the mirror. Then the plan changed again. An eastbound worm train was passing through the sag. With two units up front I guessed there would be a DPU, and was lucky to find it facing the sun. So I sprinted to the other side of the crossing as the train passed to shoot this:


If you click on the photo to view the larger image, you might be able to make out the headlight of the pig train. It wasn't moving anymore. So a u-turn and visit to Verndale was in order, where I managed to get a shot from a good sized snowpile. The third unit is a warbonnet SD75.


He had to stop, as the two coal empties we had spotted on the way to Staples were still sitting there. Seemed to be the evening of snowpiles, as I found another one to shoot the first coal empty as he waited at the CTC signals in Wadena. The power was a matched set of GE's.


I like the way this shot catches some of the industrial trackage in Wadena. The siding that takes off to the right is the K line, which ends a few hundred yards further south but serves Drywall Supply and is a candidate to be extended to the new fertilizer plant that has been built in the Industrial Park on the south edge of town. The line that comes toward you is only used for MOW equipment when the crews are in town, but used to be the siding for the Peterson-Biddick elevator that was razed this winter.

So we managed to get out and see some trains in the sun, and enjoy some DQ food. Not a bad way to spend late Sunday afternoon. Hopefully this will become more common as the weather turns.

The Verndale Shot in October

I've always loved this photo by Christopher Muller. Why? Well, it's a beautiful shot-I especially like the way the sun catches the roofs of the autoracks on the downgrade, at the end of the train. But it also reminds me of the first edition of Verndale rail.

Last Friday Mrs. L4T and I went to Brainerd to get an oil change on the Escape. We were nearly home before meeting a train, at which point I promptly reversed course and sped back to Verndale. I ended up shooting from almost the same location as Chris was at when he got his shot. But now it's October, and the sun has swung quite a ways to the south, resulting in a more sidelit, less contrasty photo.


It's not much of a photo, really, but it did one thing for me. It reminded me of Verndale Rails, past and future, wherever they happen to be held. And that was a joyful thought, as I have great memories of those days and look forward to more in the future.

I suppose I learned that sometimes the intrinsic value in a photo isn't the pixels that are captured, but the memories that bubble to the surface as a result of shooting it. That's certainly the case with this picture.

Jim

A Pair of ACe's on a Sunday Evening

With the sun out, a Sunday evening drive seemed appropriate. Even though there were no westbounds showing on ATCS when I fired it up after the Vikings game, Mrs. L4T and I still planned on a bit of sightseeing. Our plans were hastened when all of a sudden, the computer showed a coal empty pulling out of Staples yard. We were off.

After missing the train in Verndale, and having to chase him back through Wadena, the best option for a shot seemed to be somewhere a bit of color could be included in the shot. That brief period of autumn featuring vibrant colors is already too far along without any shots to show for it. So as we cruised west, one eye was watching for colorful foliage.

A likely spot popped up near the Deer Creek cutoff, and we had built up enough of a lead on the train to get across the tracks so we were on the sunny side. Here's what I came up with:


With no other westbounds showing, I figured we were done for the night. But after stopping at the store, I took one more look at the computer display and was surprised again, as a train was just coming off the Brainerd Sub and was lined up to go straight west. Off to Verndale it was.

Arriving with plenty of time to spare, the next surprise was an eastbound manifest. Since I was waiting anyway, why not try a shot? Here it is.


The eastbound met the coal empty near the west edge of Verndale. This is probably the most acceptable shot of our second ACe-led coal empty of the evening.


I also shot the ACe that was DPU, but didn't post that photo here.

One more train had crept into the picture, but he was just getting to Philbrook and we were running out of light. We headed for home with a pair of ACe's to show for another enjoyable evening of railfanning.

Jim

Verndale Rail Teaser

But first, a cloudy morning backlit shot from my trip to Perham this morning:


I'd love to live on the farmstead where the old collapsed barn rests at the left edge of this photo.

After work today, here's the view that greeted me when I logged onto ATCS (click on the image, and take in the fleet of westbounds SWA had lined up):


That many westbounds that close together just cries out for a quick railfanning outing. Mrs. L4T was agreeable, so after a rushed supper it was off to the east. I had hoped to make it to Staples before meeting the first westbound and shoot BNSF 4444 east but no such luck. A COLX empty had us making a u-turn at CR 9. We shot back to the Wing River sag to shoot a Verndale Rail preview.


Knowing that we would see at least one or two more trains, it seemed appropriate to work from Verndale. The next train I shot at the east crossing, a location I have used probably a hundred times before.


Just after this train passed, an empty off the Brainerd Sub passed the detector at 151.6. Here's an attempt to make the location of the photo very evident.


And again, in short order the detector west of Staples announced the impending arrival of another westbound. This time Mrs. L4T suggested trying a shot near Bluffton, so off we were, to the Bluffton curve. This odd little train was led by a pair of SD70MAC's and consisted of some RRVW ballast cars, a couple of loaded coil steel cars with no covers, and a bunch of old ATSF and BN steel coal hoppers. Oh, how the mighty AC power has fallen.


The first shot of the evening, at the Wing River, was shot at 6:10 PM, while the final shot at the Bluffton curve was time stamped 6:54 PM. I guess trackwork is good for something, that being bunching up the trains. Not a bad 45 minutes of railfanning.

Hopefully this whets your appetite for some Staples Sub action at Verndale Rail 2010. I know I'm looking forward to it.

Jim

Springtime in Wadena...

I peered out the window this afternoon and was shocked to see a shadow on the ground. Amazingly, the sun had finally burned through the clouds for a little while at least. When I asked Mrs. L4T if she was interested in checking out the sun, she answered in the affirmative. And so we were off.

I knew we would likely see at least two westbounds, and I heard the broken up transmission of a detector at some .6 milepost, with a train on Main 1, so I surmised the first one was not far off. I beat him to Verndale by less than 5 minutes. Here's a preview of a possible Verndale Rail shot-you can tell it's springtime when the afternoon sun is far enough around to get a little nose light on this shot.


Since I was on the Verndale bandwagon, I decided to grab the next train right in town. Olsen's Farm Supply has been busy unloading fertilizer cars on the spur here for the last few weeks and two are sitting there now.


We had ideas about heading to Staples to have supper at the Spot Cafe. However, once we arrived, it was closed. New winter hours call for them to close at 2:00 PM on Sundays. That should change soon as winter is rapidly giving way to spring in central Minnesota.

So after a brief tour of the yard, where a single GP was coupled up to the east end of a long string of cars but nothing else was present, we headed back to Aldrich to get a bite to eat at Ted and Gen's. They have fantastic rib sandwiches. Just before we made it into town, I heard an eastbound clear up his Richards Spur to Wadena warrant and decided to try a backlit shot. Another short wait yielded this parade of GE's:


Then it was off to supper. One more westbound passed while we were eating. The clouds had moved in again by the time we finished, so straight home it was. It's after 7:30 as I write this and there is still light in the western sky. It must be spring.

Jim

The Great Valentine's Eve Railfan Extravaganza

Today, unexpectedly to me, the sun came out.

Once I noticed this, the obvious course of action seemed to be to enlist Mrs. L4T in a special pre-Valentine's Day railfan extravaganza. It wasn't too hard to sell her on the idea.

Next up was deciding where to go. Since the gas light was on in the Escape, it seemed like Orton's in Wadena was a likely destination. When we crossed the tracks, the westbound that was showing on ATCS was joined by the headlight of an eastbound. I pumped gas for all I was worth, and raced east, just in time to catch coal loads appoaching the sag near Verndale.


There are a couple of interesting points to this photo. First, you can barely see the wonderful and delicate coat of frost on the trees that didn't survive long once the sun came out. Second, the nose lighting is not very good, part of the continuing struggle encountered when railfanning that section of the Staples Sub between Staples and Perham in the winter. It seems like the trains are sidelit morning, noon and night. The "shadow/highlight" tool sees some use in these shots. The next photo is another example.

Knowledge of a westbound led me to Bluffton. It turned out to be a fortunate stop, but not because the photo was worthwhile-indeed, I am not even going to post it here. But it does provide material for a post of its own in the near future. How's that for mystery?

Having heard that a Becker train would be meeting two westbounds at Philbrook, we sailed back toward Staples for some shots. One westbound was passing through town as we arrived, but two more were still showing so I parked at the east crossing, where I met another fan-sooline14 on youtube was shooting video. We chatted while waiting for a train. Soon enough this guy showed up:


And once again, the sidelighting was brutal. But the company was good, and another train was due, so we waited. Within 15 or 20 minutes, BNSF 4401 west peeked around the corner and I tried another shot. Since I got him again later, I won't bore you with that shot. However, I did notice this reefer just as it passed by, and although I'm not a fan of graffiti, this seemed so original I had to shoot it. This vandal at least knows what type of car he is painting.


The sun was plodding around to the west, and I knew the best chance for nose light on this train was back in Bluffton, so off we went. In another month or so this one will be fairly well lit in the afternoon, but it's still kind of tough right now.


During all this back and forth, we saw three or four other trains, so the Staples was busy on Valentine's Eve. I had originally considered heading west to the Lake Park area, but a cloud bank in that direction scared me off. It likely would have been OK but I didn't want to drive all the way over just to get clouded out. Hey, I've still got that to look forward to then, right?

Then it was home to tear down some wallpaper border in preparation for painting. No matter the railfanning to be done, one must still attend to domestic chores so you can look for trains with a clear conscience.

That's all, Jim

More C4

Last weekend Mrs. L4T and I had to make a quick run to Wal Mart here in Wadena for who knows what,I can't even remember. Any, she questioned my decision to fetch the camera for such a trip, but it turned out to be worthwhile.

The crossing gates on Jefferson Street/Highway 71 in Wadena dropped as we approached from the north, on our way home. I expected a chance to watch a train sail through town before we continued south. But when the lead unit turned out to be one of the ES44C4's it was time to "recalculate", as my GPS likes to tell me. Off we went.


I quickly pulled ahead of the train and crossed the tracks near Verndale for an admittedly crappy photo. However, I wasn't about to let the chance to bag a unit MN Chris had shot slip away. So this is my own attempt at the unique "banged up numberboard" loco he had shot a week or so earlier in Cass Lake.

That is all.

Fish in a Barrel

On Monday afternoon, I made a quick post as I headed out the door, and stuck in a screenshot from the Staples Sub ATCS display. A strange confluence of trains, weather, and time was coming together in rare fashion. On a day off, with nothing pressing to attend to, a fleet of 5 westbound trains was approaching Wadena just as the sun was beginning to work its way down into the western horizon. Suddenly, there WAS something pressing to attend to.

My first order of business was to get the Mrs. engaged. Since this involved a ride, and likely eating out, that was easy. Camera? Check. Phone? Check. Radio? No, that's still broken. Oh well, we can go without that. Our first stop was to fill with gas, then we headed east.

I pulled over at the Verndale sag, and I could see a headlight in the far eastern distance. This was working out just like they draw it up in the railfan playbook! My first shot was of an intermodal train as he came through the sag.


It was time to develop a strategy. With so many trains on the move, how best to handle them? I decided to head east a bit more, and see what the second train was. While I waited a bit longer at the crossing east of Verndale, it was still less than 10 minutes before the second train showed up. This one was COLX empties behind a GEVO and a pair of MAC's.


I decided to chase him west. By the time we reached Wadena, I was halfway to the front end. After we got out on Highway 10, I was able to overtake and grab a shot near the big woods east of Perham.


As long as we were headed west, I decided to shoot him once more before letting him go and poaching the next three westbounds. When Ian and I had been over west the weekend before, we thought the curves just west of Frazee looked pretty attractive, so I headed there. Even though I had been sailing along on the highway, I still had to run to get this, my last shot of the 5630 for the day.


It was about 5:00 by this time, and we decided to refuel our bodies for the chases to come. A quick stop at McDonalds in Detroit Lakes and we were again westbound. Right on cue, the third westbound of the afternoon came through Richards Spur and around the corner, where I was waiting to catch him passing a bit of sumac just beginning to signal fall is arriving.


So far, this journey had been going like clockwork. My idea was to continue working west, as the few clouds that had been dancing with the sun had by now disappeared. So it was off to the Highway 32 overpass, where I shot this same train, albeit with disappointing results. The sun was just too head on. Well, the cure for that is simple-move to the first wooden bridge to the west. I knew that all the trains were well past Wadena at this point, and ATCS revealed that an eastbound should soon show itself. I took up a position where I could handle whatever the BNSF would throw at me. You have to defend the high ground.

Before long, I spotted a headlight well to the west. Its slow rate of advance told me it was likely a coal train, working hard upgrade. Only a couple of minutes later, I spotted some motion to the east as well. I wasn't concerned as the sun was on my side-I knew I wouldn't get blocked out on the westbound. So, I just relaxed and enjoyed the show as the coal loads thundered under me.


The meet took place just as the coal train ducked under the Highway 32 overpass. I ran up along the tracks a ways to shoot the vehicle train in nice light.

I asked Mrs. L4T where she thought the nicest spot in the area was. She told me that the bridge south of town was attractive, and with one more westbound due I decided to run down there for a shot. The light was great as we pulled up, and the farmer's dog that chased us down was really friendly. Some days things just seem to go right.

I waited out on the bridge for about 15 minutes, then heard the train blowing for the crossings to the east. With some time to contemplate the shot, I almost went for something different but after seeing this one I am real happy with what I did.


I got real lucky with the light reflecting off the nose logos, and what are the odds the MAC in this consist would be repainted into the new scheme? I think I should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday too.

Stats for the day: First shot at 4:23 PM, last shot at 6:38 PM. Shot 6 trains, in a total of 8 locations, an average of a about a shot every 15 minutes. Saw one train that I did not shoot, an eastbound in DL. All in all, a great afternoon and evening. Got to eat my quarter pounder in peace, even with this level of action. I have to say that ATCS really worked like it is designed yesterday. It was great knowing that the trains were lined up out there.

I suspect it will be a while before I have another railfanning experience as lucky as yesterday, but I will always have the memories of "shooting fish in a barrel".

Jim