One Shot Wonder

On the way home from my Iowa trip, I decided to head across Hwy 14 from Owatonna and then north from New Ulm. The objective was to parallel some of the DME and see what was out and about.

As we approached Waseca, I was on the lookout for trains. I have caught trains waiting to enter town from the west in the past, and today was no different. I grabbed a couple of shots in high sun, and this was the most presentable.


You can see that two trains are paused, waiting for authorization to head east. This was the only action I spotted on the way home, with the exception of one train on the Staples Sub that was leaving Randall westbound as we stopped at the C store there for refreshements. I never saw him again, and don't know what is was or where I got by him.

Just wanted to share that blue shot.

Jim, out.

High Bridge High

On the evening of Thursday, August 7, I was guided by a former co-worker on a tour of the Boone, IA area. First thing, I want to say thanks to Dick for the information and the tour-it was great!

And on to the trains. If your idea of Iowa is that it's one huge, flat cornfield, prepare to be surprised. There are a lot of flat cornfields, but that's not all there is. The Kate Shelley High Bridge is the tallest and longest double track railroad bridge in the United States. Of course I have some photos, but they don't (and can't) convey the scale of what you are looking at when you first see this bridge.

A replacement bridge is currently under construction right alongside the existing bridge. It is a huge project, projected to cost more than $40 million. The new bridge will allow trains to cross at track speed rather than the slower speed they are now limited to, and is supposed to accomodate heavier cars as well.

But before we get to the bridge itself, we have to travel through Boone. On the way into town we encountered a westbound UP merchandise train that was stopped for a crew change. It was a handsome assembly with matched EMD comfort cab locomotives sporting the classic UP "wings" on the nose.


There was an eastbound ballast train waiting to depart in the yard, and I took some backlit shots but nothing that is worthy of posting. I was excited at the amount of activity we were seeing, though.

Dick drove around Boone a bit, showing me the Boone & Scenic Valley RR facilities. This was a nice looking area with a lot of interesting equipment and I would like to visit sometime when I could ride that operation.

Next we headed west of town, visiting an old overpass, where we found an empty coal train stopped well east of the overpass. I again shot him but he was so far away there wasn't much to see.

Next stop was the high bridge itself. We viewed it from the north, off the Wagon Wheel Bridge, which crosses the Des Moines River just a few hundred yards from the Kate Shelley. As soon as I got out of the vehicle I heard a train blowing for a crossing to the west, and figured he had to be an eastbound as we had not seen anything headed that way. In just a couple of minutes he rolled out onto the bridge, with three units leading a stack train. I put my batteries to the test as he crossed the river.



This was a high powered stacker, as he had two units on the tail end as well, with at least one of them operating.


It was quite a treat to get to see a train cross the bridge, and under sunny skies as well. The new construction currently taking place is very obvious in these photos. There is an extensive construction area at the west end of the bridge, which we drove by a bit later.

We ran back to the overpass I mentioned earlier to watch the stack train pass under it, and I snapped the DPU's going away. That was my first experience with seeing stack trains with DPU power.


We ran down to Moingona, the site of the bridge where Kate performed her heroics, and got a look at the plaques and depot in that location. It's a nice display and said it was open by appointment.

Passing through Boone on the return trip, the sun was getting very low, and there were trains waiting to leave the yard and waiting to enter the yard. First, the train waiting to leave, a nice glint shot.


The light was very nice for that shot. After waiting for what seemed like half an hour for the westbound, we finally headed out toward him and arrived at a crossing just as he started to pull. We simply ran out of light by the time we had a shot.

Here's one more, of Dick as he catches the eastbound waiting to leave Boone yard.


All I can say is thanks, Dick, for the tour. It was a great evening and I would have never seen all this without your help.

Later, Jim

Staples on an August Saturday Morning

Having been surrounded by UP Yellow almost the entire week, I felt the need to get back to soothing Cascade Green, with a little peachy pumpkin orange thrown in, this morning. When I need to see some BNSF action the best bet for me is to head Staples way, and that's what I decided to do this morning after seeing that the sun was going to shine.

I didn't even make it out of Wadena before I was jerked to the side of the road by the sight of this creation resting in the Drywall Supply siding south of the main in Wadena.


I was a little concerned that they would be out grinding this morning, leading to a slowdown in traffic. I decided to continue on anyway, with the hope that there was something interesting in the yard or that I would get lucky with trains.

Turns out there were trains about, as you can see in this picture shot from the edge of Highway 10 between Verndale and Aldrich. I didn't have time to get in a better spot and couldn't pass up two green SD40-2's leading a train.



As you can see there was a bit of fog about and I was hoping to get a dramatic shot, but the sun cleared the fog quickly and I never had the chance. Maybe next time. I probably need to get going earlier.

An eastbound cleared a warrant when I passed through Aldrich, but with the fog about gone I decided to head to the first crossing in Staples to get that picture. The result included the depot, which continues to deteriorate.


That building has to rapidly be approaching the point of no return as far as restoration is concerned. There are still tarps on the roof and windows broken out on the top floor allowing pigeons free access to the interior.

With a pause in traffic, I ran over to the south side of the yard to grab a shot of the power on a parked grain train. Both units were dead, and this train never moved while I was in the area.


Next up in the eastward parade was a merchandise train lead by an unusual collection of motive power, including the ubiquitous C44 on the point and a classic -2 bringing up the rear, both bracketing a remote control SW1500. I see these occasionally on the Staples Sub, and assume they are moving somewhere for service or inspection. As best as I could determine, this engine was running as part of the power consist on this long train. And, as befits its purpose, they even did a little switching in Staples, stopping to tack 21 cars to the head end of the train they brought into Staples from a powerless train that was in the yard. Here is a shot of the light engines as they head down the yard lead for the pickup.


While the 1013 was digging the 21 cars for Northtown out of the Staples yard to tie onto the front of his already long train (it was about 450 axles when he came into Staples) what to my wondering eyes did appear but another merchandise train on Main 1, this time behind a 40-2 and Union Pacific GE. Having just returned from my Iowa trip, I was surprised to see this rare visitor to the Staples Sub.


After this train had passed, and the train led by 1013 was coupled up and doing a brake test, a kid came along on the south side of the yard looking to cross the tracks. Since there was a train in his normal crossing location, he decided to move to the east and cross in that spot. I got a picture of this action.



My last train of the morning came by just before 0900, when a coal empty off the Brainerd Sub drifted into town behind SD75M BNSF 8255. I grabbed a backlit shot of the cab that I kind of liked...


And then I realized that I had never seen an SD75M leading a DPU train before. Are these engines equipped to lead in DPU configuration? This was the only unit on the head end. I waited to see what was pushing, and it turned out to be an ES44AC. I believe this is the first time I have seen any DC motor as part of a 1x1 DPU consist. I'll have to watch for this in the future.

Given that I knew what was on the end of the train, a chase back to Wadena seemed in order. I barely made it through Verndale in time to catch him crossing the Wing River, as seen here.


Thus ends the story of Staples on an August Saturday morning. Thanks for sticking with me this far.

Jim, out.

Iowa Trip, Part 1

Tuesday morning found me southbound with a destination of Ames for a work-related event. Since I knew that the UP main passes through town, I left with the intention of doing everything I could to shoehorn some railfanning into the time I had to spend in Iowa.

Of course work comes first and the only chances I had were early mornings and one evening, but big yellow came through for me with some action, and it turned out that a former co-worker was also at this event and familiar with the area, so I had an expert guide for a bit of the time I was there. That evening will be covered in another post, while this post will include observations and photos from a couple of brief mornings I spent in Ames.

On Wednesday morning, I headed uptown and found a spot where Duff Ave. crossed the double track main. Slight curves both east and west of here promised interesting photo angles and there was a public parking lot along the tracks.

I only had about half an hour trackside, but just before I had to leave a headlight popped up to the east. I knew it would be a backlit shot but I decided since I was in Iowa I was going to see what I could do with it. The tracks pass through a wooded area right next to downtown and I was looking right down the throat as I shot this photo.


I believe this was a train of empty CWEX gons. One thing I noticed as he approached the crossing was that this is a whistle-free zone, and the horns mounted on the crossing guards were not very loud when you were out of the street right of way. I did learn later that they were loud in the right of way though.

I was so intrigued by the train that I wasn't ready for the DPU when it passed by, so no nicely-lit shot of the rear of the train. I filed this away for future reference.

That was it for the morning half hour, but on Friday morning I decided to stake this location out once more. After a brief wait I heard an eastbound approaching and set up to catch him as he rounded the curve to the west. It was another CWEX train, this time loads headed for a powerplant.


Before this train even showed up, I had spotted another headlight far to the east, and since I couldn't see the eastbound, I didn't know who I would get a shot at or which train was on which track. Turns out they were running "backwards" to my mind, with the eastbound on the north track. You can see this on my next photo, which catches the DPU on the coal loads as it passes around the curve to the east while a westbound grain train occupies the south track.


Obviously I missed the lead power on the grain train, but it seems like everything I saw had at least one unit on the rear, and I remembered my mistake from the previous day. I was ready when the DPU on the grainer passed and shot him as he sped away from me.


That's all there is for morning shots, as I needed to get back to meetings. I was pretty happy with catching at least one train each morning, and while I will always be a BNSF fan if for no other reason than geography, it was fun to see some Armour Yellow for a change.

Soon I will have the photos from my evening trip ready, including some shots of the Kate Shelley High Bridge and around the Boone area. Until then,

Jim, out.

Standard Staples Saturday Morning

Given the choice between a bike ride uptown and running to Staples for the chance at some train photos on Saturday morning, the choice seemed simple. I left home before 0700 for the run to Staples and set up at the depot.

Action was fairly slow and I waited more than a half hour for the first train to show. Turns out it was a merchandise train led by an SD40-2, with a couple of GP types trailing. Three locos and three different paint schemes.


It was only a matter of minutes until the next train came through. This time it was a westbound, and I shot him from the shade of the depot. A pig train with two former Santa Fe units up front, still wearing the warbonnet livery.


Soon another eastbound rolled by, and it was another merchandise train. The leader on this train was a newer GEVO with a CSX Dash 9 trailing. This train was running wrong main and it turned out he ended up waiting for traffic in Lincoln.


The traffic he waited for was this Z train, that passed through Staples a few minutes behind him. I had moved to the west end of Staples yard (Dower Lake) for this shot. I will tell you this-when this Z train passed by he was travelling faster than any other train I have ever seen pass this point. Trains always slow for Staples, but he wasn't wasting any time by drifting past the yard tracks. I take it this train was running a little behind schedule and intended to correct that fact in a hurry.


I decided to shoot him multiple times, as someday I will look back at the matched consist with fond memories. I've no doubt it will be sooner than I can imagine that three H2 pumpkins will be seen as a rarity when run as a set.



That's all I have for this installment-next time I plan to share a few shots from the Wadena area, as I made my first fanning trip by bike on Sunday morning. Until I get a chance to post them, thanks for reading, and keep looking 4 trains.

Jim, out.

The Last of July

I've not much to offer for the week that was-my ratio of trains to miles travelled approached my low for the year, I suspect. Given that I paralleled or crossed portions of the Staples Sub, Brainerd Sub, Casco Sub, and Hinckley Sub of the BNSF, as well as samples of former DMIR and DWP trackage and a portion of the CP mainline between the Twin Cities and Buffalo over the past week, my photo inventory for the trip is scant. I guess thats what being busy and working long days will do to a railfan.

I'll share what I have. On leaving home Monday morning about 0600, I was hoping there would be a train in the Staples yard, as the sunrise would light it nicely. Before I even got to Verndale I was pacing a Z train eastbound and managed to get a couple of minutes ahead of him by the time I reached Staples. Sure enough, a waiting eastbound in the yard was mine to photograph. I shot this merchandise train behind a unique power set-the cream of EMD's 60 series power.


A classic "triclops" SD60M still in its original BN paint is trailed by a sibling of this series-a GP60M fresh from an assignment on the BNSF employee passenger special that travelled Minnesota and North Dakota about a week earlier. I thought the combination of four axle and six axle 60 series power was interesting. I wonder if the SD feels like a Clydsdale when paired with the speedy GP unit?

I only had to wait a moment to shoot the Z as it passed this parked train in Staples. The UPS train was headed up by a pair of GEVO's sandwiching a Dash 9.


And with that, I was to go trainless for the next two days, with my next sighting on Wednesday evening south of Virginia. I ran in to Shelton Junction in time to find the last (thanks for the tip Dave S.) maroon DMIR SD40-3 on the point of another Minorca train headed for Two Harbors. I might have pushed the speed limit as I made the move to beat him to the CR 7 crossing where I grabbed this picture.


I know it is almost identical as the shot I got last week (see this post) but it's a rare unit and I get few chances at it. I decided to try a backlit shot at Ramshaw and here is the result.


And that's the end of this week's photos. I did spend the night in Buffalo on Thursday, and the volume of trains was impressive. When I drove into the Cities the next morning for a meeting I was impressed with the scenery in the area. I will have to make it a point to try and free up a couple of hours sometime when I am in that area for some fanning.

The trip home on Friday offered a couple of BNSF trains heading into the sun, but I had been gone all week, and my #1 goal was to get home and see Mrs. L4T. I made it and am glad to be back. Next week I will be in Iowa and hope to get the chance for some trackside time along the UP main.

Jim, out.

A Couple of "Matched Sets"

Welcome back, and thanks for stopping. Clear blue skies this morning tempted me and I gave in, heading to Staples for a couple of hours of fanning.

The rear end of a stopped coal train about half way down the yard got my interest up immediately as I drove into town. I soon found out that he was waiting for an empty train coming off the Brainerd Sub. With one loco up front I figured the empty would have a DPU on the rear, and took a chance it would be facing east into the sun. Turns out I was wrong, but I shot him as he passed the power on the loads as they waited near the depot for a green signal and a warrant.


This was just the first of many GE's that would make themselves known this morning.

Since the yard was empty of power, with only a string of mixed cars sitting, I decided I would try and catch the loads as they left Staples. I still think there is a shot to be had at the bridge on the east side of town, but this isn't it.


Not that I'm going to quit trying.

Just as quickly as things had started for me this morning, they stopped. I could hear the dispatcher talking to the Empire Builder as he tried to make up time on the run to St. Cloud (must have missed him in Staples by only a few minutes!) but there was nothing else happening. Finally, I heard a train clear his warrant in Wadena and I set up at the depot to wait for him. Dispatch didn't give him another warrant as he said the "Rice guys" were out and he needed them to clear something first. When he passed the detector at 151.6 it announced this train had 282 axles, so I expected to see a Z train. Sure enough, it was.

Turns out the power on this train was three Dash 9's all in H2 paint. The leader has a little optional paint on the nose as well.


And then I sat and waited. And waited. And then I decided to head for home. It was just plain and simple very quiet.

Just as I reached Verndale, I heard another MAC clear a warrant in Wadena, and I hightailed it to the turkey farm crossing on the west edge of town. With a minute to spare, I was set up and ready to watch him head down the hill to the Wing River bridge, one of the heavy grades in Wadena County. I expect BNSF to set up a pusher station in Wadena any day, with the locos resting on the old GN line between assignments. (Jim said, with tongue firmly planted in cheek). You can get an idea of what Minnesota Mountain railroading is like in this shot.


With that task accomplished, I headed for Wadena again, and made it all the way to Oink Joint Road before a headlight spurred me to make a U-turn and rush back to the place I had just been. Here came the matched set of the day, four new GE's heading up the most haggard mix of grain hoppers this side of the wrecking yard.


Now I don't think I have made any secret of my preference for EMD power on the point of trains, but this was one of the prettiest sights I have seen all summer. The power, at least. The train would shame the cheapest railroad CEO in the land with its appearance.

Having bagged two eastbounds in a span of 10 minutes, I felt safe heading home. Once again, before I even made it to Oink Joint, here comes another headlight, right on the blocks of the GE. By this time I am wondering if my lawn will ever get mowed. I decided to try something I have been thinking about for quite a while-there was a center pivot right up against the tracks near the Wing River and I set up to shoot the train as it passed, hoping to get a rainbow in the shot as well. You can see by the result I still need to work on this concept as well.


All in all, a productive outing. For once, I didn't peer down the track looking for another train when I headed home, the grass needed cutting and I was the one who was going to do it. I was thankful for the chance to catch some trains and two of them had unusual matched sets of power. Remember, even a bad day of trainwatching beats a good day of almost anything else!

Jim, out.