I'm going to call this week's adventure "Spring in Minnesota!" It had been fairly warm--above freezing during the day. Then, the temperature dropped, the wind picked up, and it began to snow. I headed north along the BNSF Marshall (MN) sub, and found the trains were running! It was all coming together. The only catch was the roads were getting really bad, and an oncoming car and then a pickup truck spun out as they approached, barely missing my little Subeeboo Forester. I was thankful they missed, and also that my wife wasn't with me. (She would talk about it for years. ) All in all, it was probably the best train chasing day I've had so far this year. It warmed up again this week and most of the snow melted. However, there's an actual blizzard blowing in the weekend--14 inches of predicted snow, 15 degree temps, and 50 mph winds! If the roads are open I'll try to get some shots.
1. Sherman, SD. S/B grain train crossing the MN/SD border.
2. Ruthton, MN. One of my favorite shots because it really gives the feel winter railroading on the Northern Plains.
3. Shot of same train as it closed in.
4. S/B grain train (empty) near Lynd, MN. The snow was getting deeper.
5. I set up flash for a night shot at the trestle and waited four hours, the radio was silent. No train came, so I reluctantly packed up and headed home. Sure enough there was a n/b just 20 minutes south. The roads were very bad and I had to drive 40 mph all the way home. Got there around 2am Monday morning. Went back on Monday night though, and nailed this shot pretty quickly! If you look closely at the bottom left of the silo you will see a horse.
Kent in SD