Racing to Randall...and back

Yesterday morning (Wednesday) required a trip to Randall for work, which is always a good thing as it gives the opportunity for railfanning the Staples Sub. I met a coal empty coming out of the sun between Wadena and Staples, but my first photo op was in Staples where a loaded WPSX train was posed behind a pair of Grinstein green SD70MAC's.


The leader had the ugly bare nose, along with one of the odder patch jobs I have seen on one of these units.


Maintenance of Way forces had a 7 hour work window, which dried the flow of trains up to less than a trickle. There was no traffic through Randall for most of the day. There was a crew working on the east siding switch in Randall, though.

When I left for home, I could hear the dispatcher clearing up track and time from a number of crews. There were also a number of eastbound trains stacked up waiting for a chance to continue their journey. The first one I saw was waiting at Philbrook. Right behind him, at the 470th St crossing, I caught this under thickening overcast.


Remember the coal loads I shot in the yard that morning? Well, with the sun swung around to the west, I decided to grab a shot of the DPU as I passed through town. Here's evidence that it's still possible to find a train with three executive painted MAC's as its sole power in 2010, even if they are in a 2+1 DPU configuration.


And that's all the train photos for today. The good news for me is I still had one more day to make the commute to Randall. So, this story is to be continued...

Jim

A Philbrook Surprise

This morning, with a trip to Randall in the cards, I gassed up and turned on the scanner. Within a few minutes the dispatcher was busier than the proverbial one-armed paperhanger, issuing track and time to no fewer than three MOW crews on the east side of Staples. One of the crews involved an even 10 GPS ID's, whatever that is for. Another one sounded like a couple of pile drivers bound for the Philbrook area. Apparently the bridge over the Long Prairie River, just northwest of Philbrook, is being worked on.

From listening to the dispatcher I knew that there was only one train left, a westbound (travelling away from the sun) that had to be somewhere between Randall and me. As I poked my way along back roads, following the Staples Sub as much as possible, I finally reached Philbrook. A glance to the east revealed a headlight. I decided to stay and watch the train roll by, as the lighting was awful for the leaders.

When he showed up (at a reduced speed, he was going to Main 2 at Philbrook to make way for the pile drivers) it turned out to be a crude oil empty. Since every one of these trains I have seen to this time have had DPU's, I moved to take advantage if the rear engine was oriented properly. Here's the result:


Only one train, travelling the wrong way, but still, I thought, it's an interesting shot.

When I reached Randall, the MOW folks were setting up to do some heavy work on the switch east of downtown. They were still there when I left. I swung through Philbrook again, and could hear the banging of the pile drivers at work. Now, as I sit at home, I can hear multiple trains pass through Wadena after the backup caused by the work window. Since I have to head that way again tomorrow, I'm hoping for a little sunshine and some trains.

Jim

Staked Out in Staples

After an email from Ian a few days earlier, Saturday morning was arranged for a two railfan meetup at the Staples depot. Anytime something like this is planned, you hope for good weather and lots of trains. We got at least half of this combination right that Saturday AM.

I left Wadena sometime after 6:00 AM with clear skies above. Leaving the house I heard a train blowing for the crossing in Wadena. Turned out to be a westbound Z-I saw the tail end as I approached the Jefferson Street crossing. Peering after the train revealed the headlight of an eastbound, so I decided to shoot my first target while sitting across from the depot. Here, what I think was a Becker load passes in front of the Leaf River Ag fertilizer plant.


A chase to Staples seemed in order, and I hadn't even reached Verndale before meeting a coal empty-this train was also led by a faded MAC/ACe combo. I would see three trains with this power set in my first hour of the morning. My shot at getting the DPU of the empty and the leaders of the loads didn't quite work out, so next stop was CR 9 east of Aldrich-the same spot where Ian shot this train, later in the summer. As you can see the sun angle crosses the tracks for just a couple of months a year in this spot.


Off to Staples, where a westbound managed to stab us by just a few moments. Just the thing you don't like to see happen, but it means there is traffic moving I guess.

Anyway, after a short wait, ATCS showed another eastbound lined to cross over at Dower Lake and enter the Brainerd Sub. Most likely a MERC coal train, and sure enough it was. Here Ian stares it down with his dimunitive new camera, waiting for the slow moving train to get a bit closer.


And here's my shot of the second coal load, as he twists along the curve in Main 1. So kind of the railroad to put a curve here to add interest to photos.


My last train was a stacker lead by an H1 GE. This one was on Main 2 as he was staying on the Staples Sub (of course).


With my son home for the weekend, I needed to head home. I wished Ian luck and ran back to Wadena, never seeing another train although I expected one anytime.

Thanks, Ian, for the company and great conversation. This little encounter really whetted my appetite for Verndale Rail. Can't wait to see many of you there in a few weeks.

Jim

Poaching

Late yesterday afternoon, I snuck into MN Chris country via back road for an evening meeting. Having arrived at a secret location a little over an hour before the start time, I decided to turn on the scanner and find a nice spot trackside to eat my orange and drink my diet coke.

I was shocked to hear 161.520 come to life as a defect detector at MP 70 point something (about 5 miles east of Bagley) announced the passing of what had to be a coal train, given the axle count. After waiting a matter of minutes, here he comes:


The water tank has always fascinated me. I would love to have seen GN steamers pull up for a drink "back in the day".

So on a day when I drove almost 200 miles and paralleled railroad tracks for none of it, I still managed to see a train. Keep the faith!

Jim

"Check, Please."

That's what I said to the waitress at the Spot Cafe in Staples as a pair of warbonnet SD75's drifted west through town this evening. But let's back up just a bit and set the stage.

Mrs. L4T had managed to pry me away from a frenzy of benchwork building, as I strove to complete a mainline run around the half of my basement that has been taken over by model railroading. So it was that we headed to Staples around 4 PM to take nourishment and see if there were any sights to behold. A paucity of westbound trains motivated us to eat as soon as we arrived. We were entertained while we ate by a pair of eastbounds-the first one a manifest train headed up by a pair of SD75's and a third unit in a GP30 body, and the second one a stacker behind a couple of Dash 9's. We were finishing up supper as the stack train passed, and while it was rolling through Staples, the westbound showed up. As I said earlier, this 364 axle manifest train had a pair of warbonnets for power. We quickly got our check, paid, and made chase.

Building clouds were playing havoc with the sun from time to time, so with the chance to shoot the train during a sunny interval I quickly pulled over at the location of the detector at MP 151. Here's the shot:


I had been able to overtake the train due to his slow speed through Staples. By the time he passed the detector this had all changed, and it was a race to get ahead of him again. I finally passed the head end just outside Verndale, but once again fell behind passing through Wadena. The train didn't have to stop for a pair of red lights.

I had hoped to shoot him near Bluffton, but no joy on that. I didn't catch the power again until New York Mills, and decided to chase him to Perham and try a photo on the west bank of the Ottertail River.


I was again lucky with the sun, and we decided to call it a night. Back home it was, to spend a little more time thinking about the best way to build that tricky piece of corner benchwork. All for this time.

Jim

Springtime in Wadena (Part II)

Two months ago, it would seem that I announced the arrival of spring to the Staples Subdivision prematurely.

On my way home from this week's road trip, a westbound coal empty coordinated its arrival at the Wadena interlocking with my own arrival at the First Street crossing. What better time to capture the flavor of early May here in Wadena?


No, that's not plain old Pentax noise in the photo. It's honest to goodness snow, and when I pulled up at home just a few minutes after snapping this picture, it was barely beginning to stick to the grass and still falling. The weatherman doesn't seem to think we'll get MUCH snow. That's heartening thought, as we sit here contemplating Mom's Day.

Jim

It's Hard (but not Impossible) to Stop a Train

Toward the end of a long day, as I neared Austin, I encountered a northbound ICE manifest train picking its way along the 10 mph track between Blloming Prairied and Owatonna. Even though the clouds were thick, why not try a few photos? It's not like I had any pressing engagements this evening.

So after a u-turn and a run back up US 218 to Bixby, I fired off a couple of shots. These are the best I could do with the editing software on my work computer.



As I waited for the slow-moving train to approach a grade crossing, someone in an orange railroad vest drove up in a pickup. He asked me if I had reported a tree down on the tracks. I told him I hadn't, but there was another pickup a little ways further north parked near the tracks. The railroader thanked me and took off north.
After getting my shot I followed.

Amazingly, I found an open spot in the foliage just as the sun peeked through a crack in the cloud cover. It seemed as is fate would allow a nicely lit photo of this train after all. But just as his headlights appeared, the train speed went from 10 mph to zero mph. Now what?

Peering down the right-of-way, I thought maybe I could see something on the tracks. The rail in the pickup went racing down a gravel road, and since the train was stopped, I drove a little ways down the highway and pulled over. Sure enough, a good sized tree had blown down across the tracks. After asking the engineer and conductor if they minded me taking some pictures, and them telling me to go ahead, I shot a few. Here one of the crew members is snapping a photo of his own:


The crew was waiting patiently for help to arrive. Since darkness was rapidly approaching, I decided to move on, and thanked them for their cooperative attitudes. It was fun to talk with railroaders encountering something a bit out of the ordinary.


And that's my story of how it's hard, but not impossible, to stop a train.

Jim