No one has anything to show this week? I have to say I hit the jackpot! Wife & I drove up to Pipestone, MN late Tuesday afternoon to hike out to a waterfall. On the way home I followed the BNSF Marshall sub back to Garrettson, SD to see if anything was moving. I spotted a whole bunch of lights where there shouldn't have been any, and went to investigate. It was a Loram grinder! I parked and walked over to the supervisor's truck and asked what time they were leaving in the morning, and he replied, "We run at night. We're leaving now headed north." WOW! I've been wanting to catch a grinder working at night for the past 20 years--my entire foamer career! I catch them in the daytime every now and then, but never at night. I hurried back to my Subaru Forester and broke the news to my wife: change of plans, we're going after it! She asked how far it was going and when it would knock off, and I told her it was running until 6 am the next morning. She started to fuss a little, but I told her this is what happens when you marry a foamer.
We followed it from Garrettson, SD to Holland, MN for about 6 hours. It was moving at 20 mph and only doing the curves. My wife was actually getting into it--they are SUPER COOL to watch! I didn't have my Nikon D800E & f1.4 lenses with me, just my Nikon D500 with f2.8 zooms. I normally use those for sports & wildlife, not night shooting. They would have to do though. Turns out it did a decent job, thankfully. We'd drive ahead to a good curve, I'd set up the camera & tripod, and we'd wait for it to catch up. I'd jump out and shoot and then off we'd go. I know the Marshall sub like the back of my hand and knew exactly where to go. The last spot was on the north edge of Holland, MN. The Loram came and sparks were really flying! I took my shots and as the train went out of view around a tight corner, I looked over and saw my wife on the side of the road with her pants down taking a whiz. At the same time I looked over and here came the grinder backing up for another pass! The spotlights on the rear of the train hit her rear, and she quickly jumped up and was back into the car. I was laughing so hard I missed a shot or two, but being a hardcore foamer I composed myself and got back on task. The Loram went back around the curve to our south, and then came around again. A double header! After it was gone I got back in the car and in a serious tone said to my wife, "For me this was the chance of a lifetime. I've been wanting to catch one of these for twenty years, and what do you do? You MOON THE TRAIN!" She protested and said, "I did not! And nobody saw me anyway." I pointed out that the two spotlights on the train's rear were aimed on her rear, not the tracks. I told her she was lucky I didn't have my radio with us because you can bet the entire gang was laughing! I told her I was mortified and embarrassed. She replied that after living with me for 35 years she knew that was an impossibility. I should have taken a video of her but I was laughing too hard. I did take a few clips as the D500 is halfway decent with that. So, that's my story for this week. All the way home my wife accused me of knowing the train was going to back up but I deliberately didn't tell her. I countered with how I knew the BNSF roadmaster who was there and he'd be telling every railfan I knew about it. I think I'll hang out along the RCPE line for awhile. We got home at 3 am Wednesday morning. It was hard staying awake at work the next day, but it was worth it!
Kent in SD
Video clip:
(That thing was loud!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...n/dateposted-public/
Do open the photos and look at full size. Lots of detail in them! The D500 and Nikon f2.8 zooms didn't let me down here.
