Time for another chapter of "Winter Railroading on the Northern Plains!" 
I missed last week because of a computer crash, and if no one objects I'll make up for it this week. The weather really hasn't changed at all since December: it's cold, it snows once a week, the wind dies down and then it gets really cold. After a couple of wimpy winters, this one is giving real excitement! For the past two weeks I've been poking around in Codington and Grant counties (northeastern South Dakota) and then east into (Lac Qui Parle) counties in Minnesota. The train traffic is not very high there, but the weather is the harshest in the state. That sort of makes up for the lower volume in my book. 
The images:
1. Geeps are alive and well here in Branchline Land. Here, a string of geeps has just pulled into Watertown, SD after a trip to Willmar, MN. The Watertown local pulls a mixed train of mostly ethanol tankers up to Willmar, then returns with empties the next day. The lead engine here is a GP-38-2, a common engine in these parts.
2. A snow plow is resting in the Watertown yard. There's a plow on each end with a couple of geeps in the middle. The snow hasn't been all that deep, but the winds can pack it like concrete!
3. West of Summit, SD, about two miles west of I-29 there is a huge cut on the old MILW line. Line stretches from Appleton MN on the east and Glendive MT on the west, a distance of nearly 500 miles. From what I've heard there's usually only ~4 trains a day on it. I've been wanting to get a night shot of this cut for a number of years and finally got a train! Unfortunately, I only had x8 small flash with me. All my big monolights were at home! 
The cut is nearly 200 yards long, and I could only light about 150 feet of it. I spotted the train at Appleton and raced the 63 miles ahead to set up. Train took three hours to get to me, which meant sitting out in below zero cold until 10 PM, three hours from home. There were a lot of fine ice crystals flying around in the wind, which cause the spikes of light from the headlights.
4. Ethanol plant at Dawson, MN. I climbed up on a big pile of snow to take the shot. This is an old MILW line that was stubbed at Madison MN when BNSF took over. It angles up NW from Hanley Falls MN and the Marshall Sub.
5. As luck would have it, they were putting together an ethanol train to take back to Willmar MN. Instead of lighting up the hotel, train, and elevators here I simply upped my camera ISO and lit the engine with two small flash, set to quarter power. I talked the conductor into briefly pausing the train at my hand signal so I could use a slow shutter speed. It worked! Owner of the old railroad hotel said he'd cooperate with me for future shots here. Remember O.W. Link's, "Mainline on Main Street?" This is as close as I'm going to come.
6. I set up south of Clarkfield MN to intercept the ethanol train. I had to wait over two hours! There was a nice snow drift over the tracks here and I was expecting something spectacular. However, dispatacher gave slow orders because of the intense cold (rails can snap) and it was only doing ~20 mph. Instead of BAM!!! the engine just sort of shoved the drift out of the way. While that was disappointing, you gotta love that bright red ATSF engine against a black night sky! 
7. Bonus shot: same train nears Hanley Falls MN. I only need two small flash at full power for these kinds of shots.
I'll be back out again this week of course. This is one of the best winters we've had in several years and I want to make the most of it! Hope this wasn't too many shots to post at once.
Kent in SD
