Coal Cars-Part 1 BN/BNSF Cars

Ever since I moved to Wadena in 2004 I have been watching coal trains shuttle back and forth between power plants or the MERC terminal and the mines out west. At first, they all look the same, but as time goes by you start to notice detail differences.

The first batch I want to take a look at are the BN/BNSF cars. My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that these cars are used to serve the Becker plant, some of the moves to the MERC terminal in Superior, and can be used to fill out almost any other coal trainset that moves on this line.

I'm not an expert on car classes or manufacturers. One of the purposes of this post is to try and learn something about identifying the various cars I see.

First up is my personal favorite BN car. These little cars just look "husky" and tough to me and I really like to see them included in a consist. There is one similar DEEX car that does not have open ends and I like that car as well, but this is my favorite.


I keep expecting to see them fade away, as they have been around for quite a while as evidenced by the "BN" reporting marks and paint job. However, at least one of them has been repaired and repainted into its old road number recently. I shot this within the last couple of weeks.


It appears these cars will soldier on at least a while longer.


Another old car that I really enjoy seeing is very common on the EVIL trains that serve Laskin Energy Center-the classic BN steel hopper car.


These cars are also frequently seen in a string of aluminum gondolas, as at least some of them are equipped with rotary couplers on both ends and connect strings of cars that have the rotary ends reversed.

Recently there have been some other hoppers showing up on these trains that I believe the BN must have gone out and obtained for this service second handed. Here is one example, shot a few weeks ago passing through New York Mills loaded in a train of all hopper cars:



The more modern coal gons have a wide variety of paint jobs and heralds, ranging from what must be almost the original to the latest "wedgie" logos. Here are a few examples.








I think the four cars above are all basically the same, with different paint jobs reflecting the era of purchase or repaint. If there are obvious differences, help me out and give me a heads up. Thanks!

Mother's Day Sightings

As has become a semi-regular tradition in the L4T household, Sunday evening found the wife and I out on the prowl looking for trains. Today being Mother's Day, a special treat seemed in order so the first class Dairy Queen in Staples was the source of our evening out meal.

The gorgeous weather and sunshine drew me trackside and we decided to get our meals to go. This turned out to be a lucky decision as not long after we had found a good spot to observe the tracks I heard a locomotive blowing for the crossing in Staples. I sprinted (at least in my mind) to a spot where I thought I could shoot the COLX empty train as it passed the Staples depot. The result was less than captivating, though.


I'm not sure if you can see it in this shot but there is a newly constructed chain link fence between the depot and the tracks, and it extends well past the depot on the west.

I tried another shot of the ACe as it passed by but it was nothing to brag about. After we finished our delicious double cheeseburger meals, I proposed a trip to Philbrook as the wife had never been there. She was her usual agreeable self, and with news of an impending meet in that location off we went. The wait was less than 10 minutes before the headlight of the westbound showed just to the southeast. A quick grab shot and we were off to see if we could catch him before Wadena.


It was a race, but by taking a bypass around Staples I was able to head him off by the time we passed Verndale. The shots I tried as he crossed the Wing River were not too good, but I noticed an eastbound quickly bearing down on us and fired off a shot of the meet. This loaded coal train was almost all WPSX cars, which are fairly new to the Staples Sub. I have been seeing them on a somewhat regular basis for a few months now. They caught my attention as Wisconsin Public Service is the original utility in the holding company that I used to work for.


One more eastbound was crossing over from main 2 to main 1 as we returned to Wadena, but despite a consist that included an H2 GE, cascade SD40-2, and single CSX and NS untis, no photos were attempted. It was more fun just to watch.

One thing I did shoot was some coal car pictures. I have been accumulating them for a few weeks now as I study the differences and peculiarities of the unit train consists when they pass by. I hope to post some pictures, along with observations, soon.

Southern Rainy Days

Over the last couple of days work has taken me to Southern Minnesota once again, and the quirks of my schedule have dictated east/west travel. While the highway network of Minnesota is not neccesarily conducive to these journeys, it does offer the opportunity to parallel some of the lighter traffic rail lines in granger country. Trains are rare compared to the traffic I am used to on the Staples Sub but there are different colored locomotives and different scenery.

On Monday afternoon I left the Olivia area and headed east along the TCW main. Earlier in the day, I had heard a train blowing for a crossing in Bird Island and ran up to the crossing to shoot him as he throttled up one of the CAT-powered geeps that are common to this line. When he notches out the throttle, you would think that there is an Alco prime mover hiding inside the cowl given the quantity of smoke generated.


No more traffic was in evidence as I made the trek east. I did see one loco parked on a siding near Cologne but had no chance at a shot given the sun angle and the lack of access. Soon I broke away from the rail line to head slightly south.

My next opportuntiy for a shot presented itself in Belle Plaine where a UP loco was resting north of the crossing. Once again the sun angle left something to be desired but I shot him amid some trees just beginning to show signs of spring.


And that was all the action for Monday. After a meeting on Tuesday, I headed back and this time chose the rail line that parallels MN Hwy 19 as my target. It was a cloudy, then rainy day that was ill suited for photography most of the way. I met some maintenance of way equipment heading in about 3:30 near Gaylord, but no photos were attempted.

A matched set of Red River Valley and Western units were idling away at the ethanol plant in Winthrop in a steady rain. I stopped and attempted a shot but was not too impressed with the results.


Again, nothing more was moving as I continued west. I made it to Redwood Falls and had supper before heading back to Morton. While I was in the restaurant, the sun came out and I stopped to shoot a trestle in the Minnesota River bottom and dream about how nice it would look with a train creeping across it.


I decided to explore Morton a bit before heading back to the hotel and found a couple of items that were interesting. One, located next to a building identified as the Northern Prairie engine house, was the former home of a speeder car that has definitely seen better days.


There were also a couple of boxcars off their trucks being used for storage. One of them was proudly displaying the logo of a long-gone railroad in the evening sun.


All in all, an intersting trip but one that did not involve a lot of train action. It makes me thankful for the traffic that I can enjoy around home just about any time I want. I need to continue to enjoy the traffic that I am lucky enough to be near while at the same time checking out new places when the opportunity presents itself.

Wacky Wadena Local

Saturday evening the wife and I decided to go for a ride and see if any trains were out and about. A visit to Dairy Queen was also part of the plan. Since this was more of an informal railfanning trip I left the scanner in the Escape and just took the camera in the car.

When we got to the Highway 71 crossing in Wadena, a quick glance to the west told me a westbound had just cleared the crossing. I pronounced that we were off to the races and would be chasing the train as the sun was just right for a westbound. As I waited impatiently at the light I hoped I would be able to catch him by the time I reached New York Mills.

Imagine my surprise when we got to the County Highway 75 crossing just west of Wadena and I saw the westbound headlight in my rear view mirror. The only way I could have got ahead of the train that quickly was if it were first, real short, and second, not moving very fast. The first fact was quickly obvious, but the second was changing fast.

It was a VERY short Wadena local, three locomotives (the first time I have seen that) and only two boxcars behind them. A quick grade crossing shot out the window and a plan had formed in my mind.

We were off to the Hwy 10 overpass between Perham and NYM, where I shot him as he approached.


Before I got out of the car I told Valerie to be in the driver's seat with the engine running ready to go when I jumped back in. She was, and as soon as I managed to climb back in, we were off. With my expert coaching she paced the 53 mph train very well, and I shot this:


As you can see, a fairly unusual second unit for this train. The four axle GE's are rarely seen on the local, as a matter of fact I have only seen that once before when a pair in warbonnet paint did the duty.

When we got to Perham, I rewarded the Mrs. with some kind of waffle bowl brownie concoction and praised her pacing ability. My camera skills, on the other hand, leave something to be desired. The trip back to Wadena was uneventful, and the only other train we saw was an eastbound Z train heading through Wadena just as we got back, that was crossing over from Main 2 to Main 1.

Nice weather, and an unusual train, combined with good company, made for a fun evening of train watching.

Prairie Observations

On Wednesday the 30th I travelled from west of New Ulm to Austin in southern Minnesota. I chose to take Hwy 14 to Owatonna then head south on 218, a route that parallels the DME/ICE conglomerate almost all the way. Even though the weather was a bit dodgy when I set out around lunch time, I hoped to get some shots of DME trains traversing the prairies of southern Minnesota.

My first sighting was in Sleepy Eye, where I stumbled across this item of DME MOW equipment on a siding on the west edge of town.


I'd like have seen some of the battles this plow has fought over the years clearing cuts drifted shut by the wind. Another interesting thing about this find was the road number, which was shortly proven to be very close to a DME GP40 type loco that I came across in New Ulm. I stopped at the depot to eat a sandwich while watching for train traffic, but the only action I caught was the crew climbing aboard this unit to head out for an afternoon of switching around the New Ulm area.


I paralleled the south bank of the Minnesota River in the hopes I would catch a train in the valley between New Ulm and Mankato, where there is the chance of a very scenic shot. However, there was no traffic to be had this early afternoon and my next stop was in Mankato, where I found this Pro Rail switcher resting between assignments in a yard along the highway.


After I found my way out of Mankato, I discovered the reason for the lack of traffic on the east/west main on this day: a Maintenance of Way crew was replacing a culvert near Janesville. I stopped and shot a couple of photos of the operation, which obviously had the railroad tied up for some time.


After seeing this I figured the chances of me encountering any more trains was slim, but I was surprised when I reached Waseca and found two eastbounds waiting to enter town. Flaky light and a lack of access to the area limited photo opportunties, but given that one train was led by a pair of KCS GE's, I shot a few pictures anyway.


By this time I had programmed the DME road frequency into my scanner (Thanks Hudson!) and soon heard a warrant being cleared near Owatonna. It sounded like a westbound was close, and I swung south about a mile to the tracks and immediatly spotted the westbound behind a pair of SD's, the leader still in CP red. I decided to try a sweeping landscape shot, with what I feel are less than stellar results. I needed to be a little closer to the bridge to make the shot what I really wanted. I did notice that heat waves were starting to affect the shots taken over the black fields.


Within about 15 minutes I encounterd my 5th and final train of the day when I was leaving Owatonna headed south on 218. Just on the south edge of town I came across this stopped ICE train behind a handsome matched set of SD's. With the light in pretty poor shape by this time and the head end of the train very close to the crossing photo options were limited but here is what I got:


All in all, it was more traffic than I expected to see, but I also learned that I need to learn some new approaches to photography to capture the best angles offered by the rolling hills and scenery this area presents. I'm kind of excited about heading back down after things have greened up and especially this fall when the "amber waves of grain" show up.

Wow-That was Cool!

Today was a real treat. During the course of work I noticed a unit train being loaded at an elevator, and after I got done with work I swung by to shoot some pictures. After one or two shots an arm came out of the cab window of the old GP unit and waved me over. I walked over and the engineer asked me what I was up to. I told him just shooting some pictures and he invited me up into the engine.

This was pretty cool, but after chatting with him for a couple of minutes (interrupted by frequent calls to shove the 50+ car sting a few feet further forward to facilitate loading) he asked if I would like to head up to the loading office to shoot some photos. I jumped on that and asked it was really OK. He said sure, I'll call ahead on the radio and tell them to expect you. Wow!

I got a shot of the George in the loco before I left. He said a lot of guys don't like his job because it can be boring, but he really enjoys it. He is the retired manager of the operation.


He was a great guy and we had a really nice visit about railroads, grain prices, and a number of other issues.

I headed into the elevator facility and parked out of the way. When I got to the truck unloader they asked if I was Jim, and I said yes. The guy I talked to said "George said you would like to go up into the loading room-follow me." Next thing I knew I was up there, looking out over a 60 car string being loaded. Here are some shots






They can load a 110 car shuttle train in 10 1/2 hours. The elevator they were loading at has enough storage to load almost 20!!!! shuttle trains from what they can store, and they are getting more grain delivered all the time. This particular facility is on the DME and they hand it over to the BNSF at Florence, I think. This train was bound for the west coast but some trains have domestic destinations as well.

The entire process is computerized, and samples are taken from the corn being loaded into every individual car and tested for quality. There is a scale integrated into the loader and the computer knows how much each car weighs. Very technologically advanced!

All in all a really cool experience. I was impressed with what a system they have and at least 4 guys were busy all the time loading this train. Here is a shot of the loco I got after stopping back when they were done.


Thanks George and the rest of you!

What Could Have Been...

Presented for your enjoyment-a story of railfan frustration.

After I arrived home on Thrusday night, I didn't feel like checking email or anything else. I just wanted to relax and try to recover from my trip. Friday was a catch up day for me, cleaning up paperwork and work email in preparation for being out of town all week next week as well. So when I finally got around to my stuffed personal inbox Friday evening, imagine how I felt when I read this:

Re: Photo http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=193693

Hi Jim, I work at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. We're doing a story this Sunday
in our Travel section on the Empire Builder route from St. Paul to Seattle. I
contacted Amtrak for photos and they sent a nice one from Glacier. But
they also recommended railpictures.net. I found your nice image from
Staples, Minn 193693. With your permission, may I use it for this article? I
would certainly give you credit. I would need to know by Wednesday, April
23. Thank you.

Best regards,Diana Boger

Features Designer

St. Paul Pioneer Press

I was mighty disgusted with my failure to monitor email at that point. Just as soon as I was finished kicking myself in the nether regions, I immediately sent off a reply explaining the situation and offering cooperation if another opportunity like this ever came up. Like that would ever happen to me.


I can remember the day I shot this picture-July 4th last year, when I got up early and called Amtrak for an update on the Builder. I really like this shot-it's something different from the normal wedgie on the prairie that I usually shoot.


Oh well, live and learn. It really was cool to even get contacted about using a photo you have taken.

UPDATE: On April 28, I received another email from Diane, saying she was sorry she was not able to give more notice and that as it turned out the Sunday paper was too full to publish an Amtrak photo that week anyway. So, nothing was lost in the end. Still was an exciting communication, though.