Midweek Photos 4/19/2017

Hmm.  No replies yet.  I've been out there with my camera, but I've had some obstacles.  In January, I blew out the engine on my RAV4, and it took a month to get that fixed.  In February I "blew out" my heart, and that had me mostly out of action for most of a month.  Two weeks ago I blew out the transmission on my RAV4, and it won't be ready until Monday.  My wife is convinced I need to dial things back a bit for awhile.   Anyway, I still got out some and nailed a few shots.  This is the see-saw time of year--one day it's in the 70s, two days later it snows again.  At least grain prices have gone up a bit more and trains are finally moving.  Do click on the thumb nails below to see the larger version of the photos.  There is a lot of detail in them.

1. Freight depot at Letcher, SD.  This is another of those fading prairie towns, this one built along a MILW branch line (now the BNSF Core Line.)  Photo was taken with a Chamonix 4x5 camera, Acros 100 film.  The lens was a Petzval made in Paris by Eugene Derogy in 1858.

2. Blunt, SD.  Yet another disappearing prairie town just east of Pierre, SD.  This on the old CNW line, now RCPE (Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern G&W.)  Hoppers still sitting in storage.

3. Renner, SD.  A six-pack courtesy of the D&I Railroad (DAIR Dakota & Iowa.)  This is a short line that took over another MILW branch line.  They haul quarry rock from Dell Rapids SD to Sioux City IA.

4. Summit, SD.  An e/b BNSF manifest on the old MILW Highline (now Appleton Sub.)  Fortunately the rain held off until after the train came.

Next week I'll be in Chicago for the annual CRPA convention.  Wife is once again going along, and we intend to poke around the small towns along the Mississippi River and southern Wisconsin along the way.

Kent in SD

I was in Washington DC over the weekend and while I had the pleasure of riding into Union Station I only grabbed this one picture from my phone. 

Nathan

Tim O'Malley posted:

 

Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-0 no. 26 took DL&W caboose 889 on a short trip through the yard.  

 

This photo shows a small but effective feature of a number of -- if not all of -- "Northeast cabooses".  I have always admired the common-sense awnings welded onto the car above the side windows.  Somebody was thinking clearly, and rear-end crews throughout the Northeast received a small benefit.

Easter Sunday saw Baldwin 26 pick up the caboose from the roundhouse area.  After attaching and conducting the brake test, it was back to work on the Hops.  

Nice start to the day with visitors patiently waiting to board.  

Here is the train passing Union Pacific 4012, the largest steam locomotive ever built.  Bigger than 26 and the caboose combined.

Caught this Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern eastbound holding at Black Hawk, SD on March 30th. A quartet of six axle power, SD40-2's and -3's, heads up the freight, which extends though the tunnel under I-90.

Seen at an art exhibit