Saturday Night (Not Very) Special

What with it being a long holiday weekend, the sun being out, and not having anything else that HAD to be done, Mrs. L4T and myself decided to run over to Staples Saturday after supper. I knew there were a few westbounds out and thought I might have a chance at a couple in decent light, unlike a recent trip when the clouds got the best of me on a busy evening.

Before we even made it to Verndale, I spotted a headlight and made for one of my standard spots, the dip where the tracks cross the Wing River west of that fair city. I really need to find a longer lens that will give me a clear shot at an affordable price. If such a thing exists.


After meandering over to Staples, I decided to take my laptop uptown to see if I could find a wireless signal to grab in order to view ATCS info while out fanning. Since I had both hands busy, I asked the Mrs. to drive. Before she had even finished parking uptown I heard a coal empty call for permission to enter the Staples Sub. He was close, as the radio was very clear, so I asked Mrs. L4T to make haste back trackside so I could get a photo. She skidded to a stop near the 6th Street crossing as I bailed out to grab this backlit shot of the MAC leading the train. I've no doubt that my antics were a source of great amusement to the crew on the coal train. After all, isn't that why I'm here, to keep the crews entertained on their long journeys across central Minnesota?


After a futile attempt to get my old laptop up and running in order to sniff around for wireless signals, I finally gave up. The battery is decrepit, and while the machine will run ATCS fine when an outlet is available, the inexpensive inverter I have for charging my cell phone and bluetooth headset are overmatched when pitted against the power requirements of this 8 year old Dell laptop.

I took the wheel again, and pointed the Escape west. I made it less than 2 blocks before hearing the detector at 151.6 announce the imminent arrival of an eastbound train. Since I so rarely see trains on this line, I decided there was no way I could pass up the chance at this backlit, wanna be glint shot. I should be ashamed of even posting it, but decided to offer it up as a display of how I can hardly ever pass up the opportunity to photograph a train, even when I know the results will be sub-par.


And with that we headed for home. There's an old saying about a bad day (golfing, fishing, hunting, take your pick) is better than a good day at work. Even though this wasn't a bad day, I think it would be safe to add railfanning to the list of things that are good even when they aren't great.

Jim

A Couple from this Week

Lots of miles this week, but not so much train action. I have already shared my first shot from the week, and it was probably the most surprising one as well.

On my way out of Virginia on Tuesday, I drove by the former DWP yeard and found a DMIR tunnel motor (in CN paint, darn) all alone at the front of a string of loaded ballast cars. Even though the high sun and overcast made photo conditions less than ideal I took a shot of it.


I was in Hibbing until after lunch on Wednesday, when I had to leave for a meeting in Fosston that evening. I didn't see any action along the Lakes or GF Subs until I was west of Bemidji where there were two MOW crews out working on the tracks. I figured that meant no trains for me, but between Bagley and Fosston I spied a headlight and made the first U-turn I could find. The Cass Lake local was speeding east with a whole bunch more swamp mats and I barely got ahead of him for a shot out the passenger window at a crossing. It turned out poorly so no image.

Friday I headed for Perham a little after 0730, and before I even got out of town I heard a train pass the detector at 174.1. I decided to wait for him at the loading dock on the west side of Wadena, and in just a few mintues he showed up with an ES44AC leading.


Last night's shots are nothing special due to the clouds, although traffic was heavy with what I assume was a MOW window for tie replacement having just ended. Mrs. L4T and myself saw 8 trains and I attempted photography on 7 of them.

Hopefully this long weekend will give me a chance to get out and do some serious fanning rather than the hit and miss stuff I get while travelling. I'll be looking.

Jim

A Year Ago...Today

Passing through Staples a year ago today, I happened on a stopped empty coal train waiting to enter the Staples Sub. This train was just coming off the Brainerd, and at the time DPU was less common that it is now.

The weather was gourgeous (much like today) and the nose of the stopped ES44AC was nicely lit. As the tail end of the train was close to a crossing, I decided to try for an "artsy" shot with the power reflected in the shiny rail.


One thing that has intrigued me about this shot, and about DPU's in general, is how some of them will have a FRED hanging on the coupler, while others don't. I hardly believe this is affected by the age of the loco, as this GEVO was a fairly new unit at the time of the shot. I guess I will probably never have an answer to that mystery.

Jim

Cromwell Surprise

On my way over to Virginia Monday, I followed Highway 210 to Cromwell, then headed north on 73. I saw no traffic until I arrived at Cromwell, where a loaded coal train was stopped west of the Highway 73 crossing. I grabbed my camera to get a shot as I crossed the tracks. To my surprise, the second unit was one the KCS "Southern Belle" GE's. I haven't seen foreign power used on these coal trains before at all that I can remember.


Sorry about the photo quality, I only have Picasa on my work laptop to try and edit with.

Virginia is not as exciting with all the taconite plants shut down. Traffic is down to only the CN trains that traverse the area. Clouds moved in Monday evening after work so I didn't even go out and look. Maybe later this week.

Jim, out

Another Sunday Night in Staples

Seeing how Sunday night is "date night" in the L4T household, we are always discussing where to go for supper that evening. Strangely enough, the destinations almost always turn out to be somewhere along the Highway 10/BNSF corridor through central Minnesota. This last Sunday night was no different.

Since we had been hitting the DQ circuit pretty hard, Mrs. L4T hinted that a different atmosphere might be appreciated. Not wanting to risk my reputation as a gentleman, I graciously agreed. And so it came to pass that we headed for The Spot in Staples on this glorious May evening.

As we approached Staples, I spotted a headlight in a location that usually indicates a westbound is coming out of the yard. Sure enough, another string of GE's was easing an H train out past the signal bridge on Main 2, so I swung into the Dower Lake crossing to grab a photo.


Before they made the crossing, they stopped and radio chatter indicated they might be dropping cars in the yard. Given that they would be working for a while, we headed to The Spot and enjoyed a sit-down supper in view of the Staples Sub. Not a train passed while we ate.

When we finished, the H train was still at the west end of the yard, having set out two Dash 9's in the yard. In a moment, a coal empty off the Brainerd called asking to enter the Staples Sub. The dispatcher told him to wait for the H train to leave, while at the same time an eastbound was approaching on Main 2. I ran out to the west end of the yard to grab a shot of the coal loads as they passed the waiting manifest. This Superior bound train then stopped in front of the depot to wait for the empty to make room for him on the single track Brainerd Sub.


As the manifest got underway, I headed back to the 6th Street crossing and set up to shoot the empty as he swung onto the Staples. Finally, some EMD's to break the monotony of the GE parade I had been stuck on, with the exception of the ACe third out on the loaded train. These MAC's had obviously seen serious duty and could stand a trip to the wash rack.


While all this was transpiring, I heard another train clear a warrant at Wadena and decided to try and find a spot where an eastbound might have some light on it. The county road out south of Staples offers a view of the tracks across some muskeg, and I decided to try a long distance profile. It's a real long ways, and this is a spot where a 300 mm lens might offer some help. But heh, it's a different view, and a somewhat lit up eastbound in the evening. Not all bad.



A final note: when I passed the depot in Staples, I noticed there were two bucket lifts and a carry-all type vehicle parked just east of the building. It made me suspect that the long-rumored roof replacement project might just be close to happening. I'll keep an eye on things when I get the chance to pass through and update you on any Staples depot progress.

Jim, out

GE Potluck

With business in North Dakota again this weekend, Mrs. L4T and your humble correspondent ventured west once again Saturday AM. Sun in the forecast and a bit of free time today raised high hopes that traffic would be as heavy as it had been the previous Saturday, when poor weather and a tight schedule prevented any photo ops.

Alas, it was not to be. Having met only a Z train near Frazee, and not having a good spot to grab a photo of him, I arrived at Dilworth with the camera still in the bag. Chatter on the scanner and a headlight on the main indicated an eastbound was likely, however, and we staked out the overpass near Northern Grain to wait for a shot.


With a strong northwest wind and a temperature hovering near 40 degrees, this shot took a toll on Mr. L4T. I certainly hadn't come equipped with gloves in late May, but I could have used them as I waited for the train to arrive.

As you can see, this consist was a mix of GE products, with the GEVO units getting ever more common as time passes. All but coal trains have become almost exclusively GE powered as the recession allows BNSF to store the less efficient power in hopes of a better day. What started with stored SD40-2's has progressed to the Oakway SD60's, Green Giant SD60M's and even the warbonnet SD75's apparently having been laid up. The only EMD's left on the Staples Sub are the MACs and ACes on coal, and 4 axle power on locals.

One unusual (to me) move I noticed as we passed through Moorhead was a loaded coal train passing west through town, headed for the Hillsboro sub and I suppose ultimately Clay Boswell. Is that normal, or does coal for the Grand Forks sub normally swing north in Fargo? Seemed unusual to see coal moving west.

As we headed home in the evening, I stopped and grabbed a few shots of the Stockwood Fill, with no trains anywhere to be found. After finishing up with that, I headed for Hawley, and soon heard BNSF 6130 (I think) get a warrant for Richards Spur-Wadena. The dispatcher asked if he was one engine, and the conductor came back, no we are 6 units light power. Huh? I sped up to maximum authorized speed plus a bit, and finally spotted this consist nearing DL. I was able to just keep up, and when we made it through town I finally caught him leaving Frazee as the light gave way. This is a going away shot of the mixed bag of GE's going...somewhere.


And that's all there was to see on a long day, Wadena to Fargo to Grand Forks and back. Traffic was light, but as always, if you look long and hard enough, you will find something that surprises.

Jim, out

Stockwood Fill

Any railfan who has ever travelled Highway 10 from Detroit Lakes to Dilworth has noticed the 7 miles or so of mainline that is on an elevated grade heading east from Glyndon. While shots from the Highway 10 side of the tracks are rarely well-lit, trains can look very impressive making their way along this trackage. I don't have any presentable shots of trains on the fill, but this shot by Mitch Wahlsten is the best I have seen showing a train in action coming "down the hill", as the crews say on the radio when calling the Dilworth Yard.

The question that always pops into my mind when I am travelling this route is "where did this come from and how did it get there?" For the answers to those questions I would direct you to this photo-essay describing the background and construction of the fill. After you read this piece, titled "Toils on Weak Soils", you will never look at the Stockwood Fill the same way again. A couple of the statistics from the article demonstrate the effort expended in construction: more than 2 million board feet of lumber and 5 million cubic yards of fill went into the (partially) successful effort to ease the grade out of the Red River Valley for eastbound trains. To this day, you can see heavy trains work hard all way to the Lake Park area as they lift their loads out of the basin of the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz.

Yesterday, on the way home from North Dakota, I grabbed a few shots of the fill, even though there was no traffic moving while we paralleled the tracks in this area. The fill starts in the Glyndon area, just barely noticeable at first, and rises to a height approaching 50 feet before the tracks begin to follow the Buffalo River valley eastward.




In a couple of the shots you can see remnants of the compression ridges caused by the sinking of the fill as it was installed. The Highway 9 underpass gives and idea of how massive this fill is, and helps a person imagine how much work went into building it.

Next time you travel Highway 10 in this area, take a moment to think about and appreciate the effort that went into building it.

Jim, out