Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! A couple of weeks ago I was in North Carolina shooting the Blue Ridge Southern (BLU) and the NS. While photographing the NS near the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, I got a shot of the infamous Pumpkin Car TCMX 20821.

I almost missed the shot on the pumpkin car because I was so focused on the power for the train, it was 4 C44-9Ws, 2 SD40-2s (one of which was NS 1625, one of the last High Hoods) and a GP38-2.

The BLU was one of the highlights of the trip. We caught the T31 in Asheville, interchanging with the NS. They picked up about 30 loaded woodchip cars. My friend Hunter was conductor and gave a friendly wave as he passed us. The train had 3 SD45 bodied SD40M-2s. It reminded me of the Skally with the BLU's knock-off paint scheme.

 

Here we caught the T31 closing in on Canton, NC. 

Canton is home to a large paper mill. We got to watch the crews switch the plant out, and I got this nice scenic shot of the plant.

Epic Adventure Pt. 1

Last winter I proposed and epic adventure to my friend HK. What if we covered a ton of ground in Minnesota and North Dakota in 3 Days? I had certain hot spots in mind and HK and I refined the trip over a couple of month and then "BOOM!" it was here. In three days we covered around 1280 miles. The first day of the trip we started in St. Paul, MN. We bypassed our normal spots and we picked up the BNSF Staples Sub. in Elk River, MN. A better morning could not have been had. The sun was behind us and BNSF had stacked a steady stream of eastbound (EB) trains at us... here are a few of the highlights from before lunch on day 1:
The Saint Cloud local came screaming through with the extended cab GP50 BNSF 3158 on the point.

Next in line was an unit oil train from the Bakken Oil sands. We noticed an odd splash of color in the consist... 

The second unit was the NS 8101, the Central of Georgia heritage unit. What a surprise!

That was followed by another unit oil train. The odd thing here was an ES44DC on the point in the H2 paint scheme. 

A few miles up was another unit oil train. This one had BNSF 9794, an old school SD70MAC on the point, with the NS Operation Lifesaver C40-9W #9256 in the consist.

 We finally got a little manifest action, led by BNSF ES44C4 #6626 another mile up the road.

Soon we made it to Little Falls, MN and we let a westbound (WB) empty oil train catch up with us. We photographed this one from the old Soo Line bridge (now Soo Line Trail). BNSF ES44C4 #6962 was notched up and putting the miles down after clearing a track crew. The airhorns on this one popped me a couple inched off the bridge deck. What a great start to the day...

Pigs Eye Code Blue

I had an half an hour to spend around Pigs Eye Monday, and it was possibly the finest half-hour I've ever had railfanning. It started with a chase down the hill. There were 2 NS SD70ACes on the point of an EB Manifest:

I looked south to the yard and I could see a WB CSX fertilizer train getting ready to roll out with a triple header of CSX power.

As those two clear I see a BNSF manifest and an Earthworm holding to head East. As I admire them a BNSF Ore MT rolled up. That covered my Dash-9 fix as well as ES44DCs and SD70MACs.

The UP made there standard appearance, putting together a manifest to send down to Shakopee.

I headed over to the shops and looky-looky! More of the new CP GP30C ECOs!

And the pair of out of town guests that have eluded me all year! The Indiana Railroad SD9043MACs!

As I was getting ready to leave, I caught a CP transfer at the bluff with some great looking DME power on the point!

Shortly there-after the TCWR rolled through.

Not too shabby, eh? And people wonder why Minnesotans would put up with Sub-Zero temps half the year. The railfanning makes it worth it!

A Dynamic Duo

The UP was utilizing its trackage rights over the Skally to run an southbound manifest to Hoffman Yard in St.Paul. What made this one interesting was the power lash-up. The UP had some NS power on the point. A pair of high hood SD40-2s were running long hood forward down the line.NS 3210 is an ex-SOU unit. I built this using a Mark 4 Design hood, MbE Sinclair antennas and bell, BLMA horns, lift rings, cut levers, mu hoses and grab irons. You'll notice the bell is on the long hood as this was forward on this unit. This SD40-2 has the earlier NS logos on the long hood.NS 1634 is an ex NW unit. This unit has already been updated into the newer "Horsehead" NS logo. This unit also uses a M4D short hood (he uses a 3D printer and prints the bell right with the nose). BLMA air horns, cut levers, mu hoses, lift rings, grab irons, cab shades and a MbE Sinclair round out the details on this unit.These units will be heading off to auction soon and hopefully be off to a good home right after new years. With these two done, I have 8 engines left to finish in my personal challenge!

NS 5169

For some reason the Skally has been seeing some NS power lately. These engines will not on the line for very long, they just happen to be running through on their way to other parts of the country. This week NS 5169 was leading a very short NTWSUP north.You might be wondering why there are running long hood forward, well that is forward for this engine. I don't think we'll be setting any of the ILSX or SCXY engines up that way, I doubt it would make the crews very happy.
On a scenic note, you can see some of the static grass I have begun experimenting with. I'm not sold on Woodland Scenics grass and will be trying others to find the right look coming up.

Why I Love Minnesota Part 2

NS 9-40CW 9829 heavy on the throttle out of Northtown yard at University.CN ES44DC 2243 leads a mixed freight into the CP Shoreham yard.CP SD40-2 #6067, hiding in Shoreham, waiting for the main to clear.The Shoreham yard crew using CP (SOO) MP15AC 1553.I was able to get the shots in these two posts in less than 2 hours. Not to shabby.