Midweek Photos 4/9/2014

Some foreign power on CSX tracks Westbound through Berea, Ohio

One of NS new environmentally friendly locomotives?

Just a few quick pics from last week on BNSF's Mendota Sub.

Here's a shot of "The Daily Double" stopped on a trestle near town here yesterday morning. They shuttle chips back and forth to a paper mill a few miles from here several times a day...

I helped tear down Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-0 number 26 while at RailCamp at Steamtown in the year 2000! I never would have thought it would have taken this long to get her back together again! Glad to see it happening though!

It's been a wild week weather wise.  The temperature dropped down into the 20s, the north wind blew hard, and the snow started falling horizontal.  I fixed dinner as soon as I got home so I could be out there by dark.  I headed for one of my favorite spots, a hump bridge near Manley, MN on the good old BNSF Marshall Sub.  It's a nice spot, it's close, and the Marshall sub never disappoints!   At twilight the Sioux Falls, SD local got a warrant and began to pull out of the siding at Hills, MN.  Very quickly they called in an emergency.  The powered switch got clogged with the heavy snow, and the lead engine was straddling the siding and the mainline!  They hit the brakes and sat there until help arrived.  That took an hour for the section foreman and a small crew to show up, and most of an hour to get things set right.  Meanwhile, traffic was backing up for miles!  The dispatcher was getting nervous.    Finally the local was able to back up, get the switch squared away, and get out of there.  By then it was dark, and snowing even harder.  I set out a few flash to catch the line of s/b trains and sat on the old hump bridge, waiting for the parade to begin!   And come they did--I went home after the third one.

1. The local, stuck at SSS Hills.

2. S/B number three

3. A close up of the cab--"Look, up in the sky!  It's a bird! It's a plane!  No wait, it's a FOAMER! 

On Saturday I got up early and headed West, out to the center of South Dakota following the DME tracks.  I figured if I spent enough time and drove enough miles I'd catch a train somewhere.    I was three hours from home when I finally heard some chatter on the radio.  A pair of engines had been dispatched to pick up a string of loaded grain cars at Onida, SD.  This is a spur not too far from Pierre (Peer,) that has a couple of huge elevator complexes.  I've never seen a train on it before, so I was excited.    I got there and discovered the crew was out of hours and the train was being parked.  Relief crew wouldn't be around until four hours later!  Crews out here are railfan friendly and they advised that an e/b would be leaving Pierre about 6 PM.  I drove the remaining miles to Pierre and found the e/b dark, with a w/b stuck in front of it on the line.  It wasn't going anywhere any time soon.  At Pierre I was four hours from home, and it was already closing in on 7 PM.  The tracks speed is slow here, and at this rate I wouldn't be home until 4 AM.    I decided to bag it and go home.  This was the third time in three attempts I've been skunked on the DME line.

4. The DME train parked at Onida. I don't normally shoot dead wedgies, but the light was nice.

Back to the hump bridge at Manley,MN.  I've been going there for over decade and have met many local railfans as it's a popular place.  A couple of times I saw a high school railfan there, waiting for something to show up.  He was pretty friendly and I gave him a few tips about some other spots.  Imagine my shock when I went back to the spot later and saw a white cross with his name on it.  I found out he had killed himself at that very spot one dreary April day last year.  When I go to my favorite spot now, I mostly feel sad for awhile.  Such a waste.........   Every day is a gift from God, to be thankful for.

5. N/B local at Manley hump bridge.

Kent in SD,

On the Northern Plains

Awesome shots.