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Saturday, July 27, 2009 - Day 1
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CP 8502 and 8827 lead a grain train past a signal at Sparta, WI. |
We awoke early on Saturday, July 25th to start our four day odyssey. The goal for Day 1 was to work towards the north end of the Mississippi River and shoot trains on the BNSF and Canadian Pacific in the area between Alma, WI and St. Paul. As we motored along Interstate 94 near Tomah, Wisconsin the scanner finally crackled to life with a CP track inspector. The ever friendly dispatcher “KGB” quickly gave the inspector track and time to go west at Raymore, and then informed him that there was an eastbound just leaving Medary, which is a siding location near La Crosse. A quick stop at Sparta was in |
order to capture two big CP GEs leading what appeared to be a CP grain train through town (above left). Not much to write home about, but the first train of the trip had been photographed.
Now back on the interstate, as we neared La Crosse the scanner once again came alive with transmissions from the BNSF Dispatchers, and it appeared there was a lot of traffic. There were a couple of eastbounds preparing to leave the yard and head for Chicago, as well as a couple just arriving La Crosse. We elected to skip them and move on however, as we had a goal of making it up towards Alma as soon as possible. Besides, I’ve done the shots around La Crosse and could do them again much easier. At one point the BNSF St. Croix dispatcher talked to an “Empty Alma Crew,” indicating there was a good chance we weren’t too far behind a crew deadheading to Alma to pick up an empty coal train. Unfortunately we also heard him talk to a train or two between Winona and La Crosse that we had no chance of catching, but we pushed north.
As we arrived Alma, we discovered there was indeed an empty coal train at the Dairyland Power Plant, and it also sounded like they were having some trouble getting the air to pump on their train. The dispatcher called them at one point to ask when they thought they might be ready to depart. He said he was about to give a warrant to a Z train up by St. Paul, and he needed to know what to plan on for them. This was good news; we had an eastbound on the way.
We headed up to a location on the bluffs above Alma called Buena Vista Park. There is a wonderful scenic overlook here that provides a nice view of the town, the lock and dam, and the BNSF tracks below. This shot was my first goal for the day. |
I was hoping for a nice sunny shot, but by now the clouds had other ideas. As we waited the 45 minutes or so for the train to reach our location, big puffy clouds moved in and thickened up. I was hoping the train would appear in one of the sucker holes, but that was not to be. A horn blast announced BNSF 6616’s arrival in Alma with a train of trailers and intermodal containers. Even without the sun, I really like this view.
The crew of the coal train was now ready to go, but when they called the dispatcher he informed them they would have to wait for an east- |
BNSF 6616, one of the railroad's new ES44C4s, leads a Z train through Alma, WI. |
BNSF 1010 leads a manifest train past the lock and dam at Alma, WI.
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bound train that was near Trevino. It turned out to be BNSF 1010 leading a Conrail unit on a manifest train (left).
By this time the empty coal train was out near the main line, and both trains could be seen passing near the power plant (right).
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BNSF 1010 passes an empty coal train on the loop track at the Dairland Power Plant in Alma, WI.
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Two different types of bulk freight transportation meet in Alma, WI . |
The dispatcher decided it was time to let the coal train out of the siding onto the main. However, the crew was informed they still had two westbounds that would be going by before they could move onto the westbound main line. We moved down to the pedestrian bridge by the lock and dam for a closer look. At left, BNSF 9853 leads two more burners and 60 empties by the tug R. Clayton McWhorter, still working to get his set of barges through the lock. |
A westbound Z train led by BNSF 1006 flys past an empty coal train at Alma, WI . |
Shortly after passing under the bridge he stopped to wait for the conductor to be brought up to the headend. In just a couple of minutes the first westbound Z train came flying by on main 1. |
Having had enough shots around Alma, I decided to see about setting up for the second Z train a little further north. When he suddenly called the dispatcher for a new warrant and indicated he was only a few miles behind us, we stopped at Nelson for a shot. Of course the sun came out and backlit the train, but the pan shot I tried of the lead engine came out okay. |
A pan shot of BNSF 992 leading a Z train at Nelson, WI |
Coal empties roll through Pepin, WI. |
We continued northward, stopping at Pepin to see about a photo location for a last shot of the empty coal train that was now out and on the road. Everything was back lit of course, so I set up for a shot at the station sign in Pepin (left).
It appeared traffic on the BNSF was going to get suddenly very quiet, and so I pulled off at a little park just north of town to contemplate what to do next. As though I had ordered the information, the CP River Dispatcher suddenly came on the radio to speak with train |
As seen from almost two miles away, CP train 882 runs along the Mississippi River south of Lake City, MN |
882. 882 is the loaded CP coal train to the power plant at Portage, WI, that usually has BNSF power. The crew informed the dispatcher they were at Lake City, MN and dispatcher PAT said that 882 would be meeting three westbounds between Minnesota City and La Crosse, 283, 291, and “an ICE train.” It was good to know the CP was going to be busy in the early afternoon. As they were speaking, 882 appeared across the Mississippi. I tried a shot of the train, which was roughly 2 miles away (right). Not the greatest, but I don’t think it turned out too bad considering the gloomy conditions. |
Since we had some time, we decided to head north on the Wisconsin side of the river and explore the photo locations. I was kind of hoping a BNSF train would appear along the way, but unfortunately all we got was rained upon. We crossed over the Mississippi at Red Wing, MN, and started heading south along the CP to see about setting up for the westbounds. As we motored south of Lake City, we met train 291, a one unit wonder. He called to take the siding at Lakeview, so we whipped around and managed a shot at he entered the siding. |
CP 8564 on train 291 enters Lakeview Siding. |
The eastbound he was meeting came through shortly, a fairly long manifest train led by two more CP GEs (right).
So they weren’t the most exciting trains in the world, but it was nice to have caught a couple more trains. We decided to sit at a pull-off at Maple Springs and wait for something to develop. Once again, very little happened other than it began to rain on and off. After about 45 minutes I noticed there was a cloud line pushing in our direction from the North. Maybe we’d get some sun yet! As we waited, we were suddenly surprised by a train coming up behind us. 171, the ICE train |
CP 8604 rounds a curve near Maple Springs, MN |
Train 171 rolls over a birdge near Lake City, MN |
the dispatcher had mentioned earlier, had arrived! Because I didn’t have any advance warning I wasn’t really ready for him, and so we chased north to try and find another photo angle. It turned out to be a good thing, as the cloud line was just moving through, and the sun appeared just south of Lake City as ICE 6445 led the DME 6050 over a small bridge.
We thought briefly about giving chase, but with having to slow down through Lake City we quickly realized we were being left in the dust. We turned around and headed back for Maple Springs to explore |
CP train 199 rounds Benson Curve near Maple Springs, MN. |
another photo location I’d been wanting to find. It’s a shot that requires a short hike through the woods to get up the bluff a short distance for some much-needed elevation. As I started into the woods to try and find the way up, my dad suddenly hollered that another train was coming. Drat! I hurried out of the woods and managed an okay shot as 199 hurried through behind the CP 8777.
I went back into the woods and after a few minutes found the angle I’d been looking for. Now all I needed was a train, but the scanner was quite silent. |
A BNSF stack train hurries through Pepin, WI .
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The only traffic for the next two hours were a couple of BNSF eastbounds across the river; a stack train (left), and a all-rail taconite train (right.) I tried a few shots as the trains passed through Pepin, WI, about a mile and a half across the water. |
A BNSF taconite train passes several sail boats out on Lake Pepin.
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Finally a couple of CP trains appeared, at least on the radio. 580 was just coming into Lake City where he had some local work to perform, and the dispatcher began to coordinate with him if he could meet his |
SOO 2066 leads a rather good sized train 581 through the curves at Maple Springs, MN.
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counterpart train 581 who was at Wabasha. Finally, we had another westbound. Shortly he appeared, and with a bandit (a former Milwaukee Road locomotive) leading! The sun even managed to stay out as the SOO 2066 wove through the curves along Lake Pepin (left and right). |
The 2066 may be a rough looking engine, but I'd take it over the trailing unit any day!
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SOO 2066 prepares to make a set out at Lake City, MN |
Since he was stopping to set out seven flour cars at the next town and he was the only well lit train around, we decided to give chase. We found him again stopped at Lake City, and it was here I noticed an unusual addition to the coupler of the lead locomotive (see the large version of the photo at left). |
581 sets out seven cars at an industry in Lake City, MN.
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I managed a couple of run bys as he made his set out (left) and then passed 580 on the way back to his train (right). 580 was significantly shorter than it's counterpart on this day anyway. |
The power from train 581 returns to it's train as the CP 4525 on train 580 goes about it's work..
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Since 581 was still the only well lit train in the picture and we wanted to go North anyway, we kept following. As they left Lake City they informed the dispatcher their next stop would be at Red Wing to do some more work. While we were waiting I explored the depot a little bit, and we watched as the same tug we had seen at Alma in the morning chugged past on its way to St. Paul. Finally as the sun kept getting lower in the evening sky, 581 departed for Hastings past the depot. It had been cloudy, but the sun came out just in time for the shot. Perhaps it was the power of the sunflower? |
Having finished it's work 581 departs Red Wing, MN |
Sunset at St. Paul, MN |
With that we decided to call it a day. 581 was going to be stuck working at Hastings for a while, and the sun was getting low on the Horizon, so we headed to find a room for the night in St. Paul. We were right near Dayton’s bluff however, and as sunset progressed I decided we needed to make a quick stop on top the bluff for a couple last shots. No trains appeared to provide a nice streak shot unfortunately, but the sunset over the city was still pretty spectacular. It was a great ending to a pretty decent day one. |
