Happy New Year's Morning

It was COLD this morning. Heck, it's still -8 as I write this, just after lunch. But the weather didn't stop me from getting trackside this morning.

With a couple of eastbounds on the move between Dilworth and Detroit Lakes, I headed west from Wadena with the rising sun just beginning to illuminate the landscape. My plan, such as it was, involved continuing west until I encountered a train, and then deciding what to do next at that time. The radio issued occasional hints of action but little of concrete value. As I passed by Perham, my first hard bit of evidence came in the form of the MP 203 detector warning me of a train on Main 2. Knowing that this almost had to be the first eastbound, I made a reverse move (u-turn) and staked out a location just to the east of Perham. After a very short wait I got my first train on 2010, at about 10 minutes after 9 AM on January 1. This H1 Dash 9 was leading a Z train. Somehow, the road number seemed to fit the date:


A glance at ATCS showed me that a westbound was due shortly, and I headed to New York Mills to contemplate whether there was a shot of the next eastbound to be had there as well. I heard the westbound pass the detector at MP 174, and shot a GEVO leading a manifest at the west crossing in Mills.


This manifest had a DPU, which it seems is becoming more common in the area. I got a shot of the Dash 9 pusher for history.


Right after this, the dispatcher (someone who I hadn't heard before) called the Z train asking for a roll-up. I figured this must mean the second eastbound (which I knew was behind BNSF 5488, as I heard them get a warrant earlier) was close. Turns out they were still at MP 201 so back to Perham it was. I set up again for video and still photos of what turned out to be a short grain train meandering through middle Minnesota.


Since he wasn't making much speed, and I was thinking about heading home, I decided to jump ahead of him for a couple of shots as he approached the CR 75 crossing just west of Wadena. Here's a series of three shots as this train climbs up the grade from the Leaf River crossing.




I kind of like the middle one.

And with that, I decided to return home, to warm up a cold foot caused by an influx of snow over my boot top. Mrs. L4T has asked whether she should plan anything for supper and I told here we would have to play it by ear tonight and tomorrow, as the weather looks conducive to heading west. Tonight's forecast low in Wadena is -27 so I think it's more likely I will have breakfast at home tomorrow.

Jim

2009-Year in Review

I've been pondering doing a "year in review" post for a couple of weeks, and even made a list of some the memorable experiences I had railfanning in 2009. I figured it would be tough to come up with a list of unique happenings-after all, how exciting can it be to get out trackside and aim the camera at a train?

It was surprising when the list ended up being to cover in a post. A whole bunch of neat things happened in the area this year-some of them that will be repeated, and some that won't. I went in the ditch for the first time while chasing trains (which I hope NOT to repeat). BNSF's ES44C4's were common on the Staples Sub for a couple of months, and I managed to catch more than half of the 25 units in this area. I was lucky enough to encounter a "monster train" as it passed through the Little Falls area. I made it back to the Kate Shelley bridge for the second year in a row. I got a shot of the Brainerd local doing some street running. And I got to spend time with a bunch of fellow railfans. These are a sample of what I was lucky enough to experience this year.

But I decided to focus on what I thought were my top 5 railfanning experiences, and in true David Letterman style, am counting them down in reverse order. So here goes:

At number 5, just about a year ago I became the proud owner of a new camera. I have about a year under my belt now with the Pentax K200D, and am at about 5000 shots. So far I have been fairly happy with the camera, and would definitely do it again if I had the choice to make. There was (and is) more of a learning curve than I expected, but that's part of the fun to me. One tip to anyone using a camera that takes AA batteries for power-buy a set of the Energizer Ultimate Lithiums. I am on my 4th set. Yes, I do get more than 1000 photos from a $9 set of these batteries. Amazing.


One other thing I have learned, because I am stubborn and won't take advice without having it proven to me the hard way, is that all the advice about the importance of lenses is 100% true. If there is one piece of equipment that I would love to have for railfanning right now, it is a fast, high quality, medium range telephoto lens. I now realize why people buy these lenses even though they do cost an arm and a leg.

PS: I must be a glutton for punishment, because I actually kind of enjoy the abuse I take as a Pentax owner. So bring it on.

Number 4: My experience with ATCS. I was a late adapter, and actually was running a server from house for a few months before I started using ATCS myself. It has changed the way I railfan just like fishing with a depth finder changes the way you fish. The change is not all good, as the thrill of the hunt can be reduced, but being ready for more of the trains you see, and outings being more productive, makes up for that. The real change for me came when I found the feature that lets me publish a screenshot to my webserver every minute and access ATCS from my BlackBerry while trackside. Combined with a scanner, this is very powerful railfanning technology. I often know what is coming and where it is well in advance of arrival. I would hate to give up ATCS now that I have experienced it.

In the show position at number 3, I slotted in the day Mrs. L4T and I spent in the Powder River Basin area in October. The sheer volume of trains was amazing, and the weather cooperated for the only day of our vacation. I would be thrilled to return and shoot coal trains again. The scenery is totally different than anything I see in Minnesota, and the spectacle of loaded coal trains working their way up 1% grades while you stand on an overpass is hard to top. 2009 was the second consecutive year that the Mrs. agreed to travel to a railfan Mecca with me, and I sure hope that trend continues in the future! If you get the chance to visit Wyoming, by all means, do it.

I put my first ever experiences with working steam locomotives in the Number 2 slot. July found the SP 4449 headed east across the Staples Sub. I chased it from Detroit Lakes to Staples, and was flabbergasted at the number of people that came out to see the Daylight engine pass through the area. It was everything I had imagined and more. The cry of the whistle as 4449 approached a crossing, especially leaving Staples, is a sound I will never forget. I also caught the return trip as the engine passed through Bluffton, and the crowds were once again large. People love steam engines, especially when they are working. This is one of my favorite shots of 4449 on the Staples Sub.


And strangely enough, between these two trips, I got to ride behind a working steamer when I attended the Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag. So in 2009, it didn't just rain steam sparks on me, it actually poured.

A long time ago, when this blog was in its infancy, I posted something talking about why I do this. One of the big reasons was because of the people that I meet and interact with through railfanning. That was driven home this year at the Verndale Rail get-together, which is my Number 1 fanning experience of 2009. The turnout was very good, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Even the BNSF cooperated, running a fair number of trains on a decent afternoon in Verndale. We enjoyed good food, videos, stories, much debate about camera brands, and most of all, time spent with people who share the same interest. What a great bunch of people to spend an afternoon with. MN Chris was a big part of putting this together and I wanted to again say thanks for pushing this.

Here's hoping that 2010 holds out the promise of many calls of "Hot Rail!"

Jim

Post Christmas Snow in the Sun

Having suffered from a railfan drought for almost the entire month of December, Mrs. L4T and I decided to head out this afternoon to check on a train that was showing westbound from Staples. Since the sun angle in the Wadena area this time of year is not at all conducive to afternoon photography, I headed for the only spot where there was a chance for nose light-Bluffton.

After a short wait we we greeted by an empty Dairyland Power coal train, headed up by three EMD's. I shot him as he crossed the bridge over the the Leaf River.


One more shot as he approached the grade crossing, kicking up a cloud of the fresh snow we received over the Christmas holiday.


The defect detector at MP 174.1 told me this train had 442 axles, which meant only 106 empties, a bit shorter than the average coal train on the Staples Sub.

I suspected there was an eastbound out and about as well, and as we chased the coal empty west, sure enough, we met an eastbound Z train. After a U turn and short chase, I grabbed a photo near the same location as the first two, unsuccessfully trying to capture the setting sun as the train passed. A matched set of three Dash 9's in the H2 scheme is getting to be less common than it once was.


And then we headed home. Hopefully the chances we get to check out the rail action will increase over the next few months, along with the length of the days. All for now.

Staples Snow Squall

A quick trip to Brainerd today gave Mrs. L4T and I the chance to check Staples for any rail action. We met a Herzog inspection truck on the way over, and they must have found a problem at Aldrich as the section was just beginning with what looked to be replacing a chunk of rail on Main 1, I believe.

A couple of trains in the yard at Staples, but we didn't have time to stop on the way over. After an appointment at Mills Ford and a quick shopping stop, we were on the way home in light snow flurries.

I spotted a coal train resting on the Staples Sub from across the lake as we approached Staples. If he was moving, it was mighty slow. As we entered town, there was a stopped train (looked like Becker empties) east of both crossings. I decided to grab a shot even though this area is might cluttered by wires.


Looks like a couple of pretty fresh GEVOs on the point of that one, along with an ACe in third place.

I could see some trains in the yard from that vantage point, and so we ran down on the south side of the yard from where I was able to get this. The snow was picking up a bit at this time.


Couple of loads in the yard, and a MERC empty waiting to head west. I heard another train on the radio, a westbound that had just passed Lincoln, but needed to get home and go back to work.

Another interesting item in that second shot is the trainset furthest to the left. I presume it's a stored Laskin Energy set, all black BN steel hoppers. It's been sitting in Staples for a few weeks now. I've never seen one being stored here before.

Met a couple of eastbounds as we travelled the final leg home to Wadena. I didn't see any more MOW action but suspect something was going on further to the west that had one main tied up. If I could have made it back out an hour or so later, I might have had some action as all those parked trains headed for Dilworth.

Seeing some trains in the white stuff kind of got the juices flowing again. Hopefully I'll start to get a little time to get out and about, get some photos, and find the time to post them.

Jim

It's Been a While

Yes, I haven't been posting for a couple of weeks. There are a few shots that I could probably weave into something, but I haven't had the ambition lately, for whatever reason. Crappy weather plays into it somehow, I'm sure. Takes a lot of the fun out of railroad photography.

Today, though I was lucky enough to stumble across something that warranted unlimbering the camera even though the weather continues to live up to the definition of crappy. A business trip to Hawley gave me the chance to check out the Staples Sub. I didn't stop for any shots on the trip over, but on the way back I met a train just as I approached Walmart in Detroit Lakes. When I spotted the lead engine, I made an immediate U-turn.

After a short chase I got ahead of this mix of grain cars behind an SD40-2 (or at least that's what it says on the frame) and an H3 GP unit. I predicted early this year that I might never see another one of these classic units lead a mainline train on the Staples Sub. Happily, it looks like I was wrong.


And strangely enough, I was in New York Mills yesterday and spotted what I though was three SD40-2's leading an eastbound through town. I had no chance to get a photo due to work obligations but was kind of watching to see if any other fans might have spotted the same thing, or I was just imagining such a sight. The above photo makes me think my eyes might not have been playing tricks on me.

As I passed through DL, I looked south from the Soo Line overpass on Highway 10 and saw that a meet was happening. I decided to swing around to see if I could ID the southbound, but it was gone from the Willow Street crossing when I arrived. The northbound had crept under the Highway 59 overpass by this time so I ran up by the diamond to shoot a local as he approached.


I spotted a couple of more trains on the way back to Wadena, including what looked like a very short Z train led by a warbonnet Dash 9. But with heavy overcast and the light fading, I decided to let him go, so I have no other photos to share from today.

But to see an SD40-2 once again gracing the rails of the Staples Sub made the day worthwhile. It's discoveries like this that keep me looking for trains.

I Saw a Train

Actually, Mrs. L4T was along, so technically, we saw a train. The particulars: Saturday, in Aldrich, MN, which is not so unusual, it was a westbound coal empty (yawn), GE on the front (ho-hum), and the sun was shining.

What?

Yes, the sun was shining. So I took a photo, which I share with you here.


Obviously late in the afternoon, and that time of year has arrived when shooting on much of Staples Sub is tough due to the sun being so far south. The section of track from Staples to Aldrich is one of the areas where you can get a little afternoon nose light. We were on our way to Staples when I heard this guy clear up his warrant on the Brainerd Sub so crossed my fingers and made for Aldrich. I beat him by about a minute and jumped out for this shot. It would have been nice to get a little further east and avoid the tree shadows, but at this point I'm just thankful that the sun shone enough to create shadows.

The we headed on to Staples, for supper and to see what was in the yard, which was about nothing on Saturday evening. I did take a couple of shots of the depot sporting a new roof. Here are some compare/contrast shots. Before:


After:


And again, before:


And after:


I know I've questioned the likelihood this building could survive before but with the work that has been done, its chances look to be improving. Poor pigeons are going to have to find a new place to call roost, though.

And that was it. Supper was at the Spot, and very tasty. A couple more trains were spotted after dark, which comes all too early time of year. Soon enough we were snug in our house and dreaming of solid consists of SD40-2's rolling freight trains to and fro.

Jim

Coal to Newcastle

Mrs. L4T and I piled into the Escape and pointed it east on I-90 early the morning of October 7. I had a rough plan in mind, which called for paralleling the Black Hills Sub as far as Newcastle before peeling away from the tracks to traverse the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. Our target for the evening was somewhere in the Medora area.

We passed the WyoDak power plant as we headed east out of Gillette, and could see Donkey Creek Yard to the south. I was hoping for some action along the highway and the BNSF didn't disappoint. I caught a loaded eastbound before we even made it to Moorcroft. My first shot of the (very cloudy, again) day was of the power on a TXU train as he entered Moorcroft. Matching MACs!


We made a quick stop in Moorcroft and I figured the train would pass us by. There must be a grade up out of there, though, as he was grinding out of town as we left. The tracks curve away from the highway, but I knew I could get ahead of him and took a side road to the southwest a couple of miles out of town. I had to wait for the train to show up, and got him as he snaked up the hill. See if you can find the antelope in this shot.


With miles to go before we slept, working this train wasn't really an option. We were off again, and it wasn't long before another load showed its DPU. TXU again, this time the power was a matched set of GE's. I leapfrogged him to Upton, site of a small Black Hills Power generating plant. As the track curves back toward the highway here, I stopped to shoot him under very cloudy skies. But before the loads showed up, an empty from the southeast came bounding into view.


The loads behind the GE's showed up as the empties were passing by. Didn't leave much to work with but since I was there I pressed the shutter release on this.


Somewhere in this general area the land had gone from treeless prairie to, all of a sudden, pine trees. It was like there was a line, with grass on one side and trees on the other. I've no idea what caused such a drastic change.

Anyway, I once again sped past the loaded train in search of another shot. Some curves just outside Newcastle seemed promising, and I took a peek, but decided to head into town. In the meantime another empty showed up and I didn't even get a shot. I decided to stake out the loads where the track passes along the hill on the north edge of Newcastle. The sun was even playing games with me by this time.

The loads took more time to arrive than I expected, but finally showed up. I got a couple of shots as they passed through town, but even with nice scenery I couldn't make much of them. The sun wasn't helping, either, as you can see in the second shot.



And we had arrived at the end of our journey with the Black Hills Sub. Highway 85 beckoned us toward the Black Hills, and we headed north for what turned out to be a gorgeous drive. I'll be posting some of those shots on my photostream over the next few days.

That's it for my Powder River Basin adventure. I got one day of fantastic weather, a lot of trains, and a good feeling for what the area is like. I would love to go back someday, and would be able to use my time more efficiently now that I have an idea of what is what. If you ever have any questions about the area, I would be glad to offer any information I have. Just email me and I'll be in touch.

Jim