Western Railroad Discussion > Along the Mississippi in Minnesota report

Continuing the midwest trip report from last month. Still in Minnesota, Friday October 10th was spent on CP's line along the Mississippi River. After spending the night in La Crosse, WI, this day began cold and foggy so we decided to head west for Winona, MN.

1) Starting with the end of our first train of the day, the CP local slowly makes its way down Wall St in Winona with a pair of covered hoppers and a Soo Line caboose/shoving platform.

2) A few blocks south, a head-end view of GP20C's 2304 and 2291 as the fog starts to burn away.

3) We found the CP H-20 with 6255 and 5957 making a pick-up in Winona so we waited for him, just east of town at Homer.

3 more parts...

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4) Back at Winona in the UP yard, we found UP 1965/1976/2351 building up a train that would eventually head east over the CP.

5) The Empire Builder was running late again, seen at Minnesota City with units 137 and 158 along with 11 cars.

6) After meeting #8 at Winona, the next train was a westbound stack train with GE's 9352 and 8732. Our first location was along the river just west of Minnesota City.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/14 01:27 by oyw.

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7) Another shot of the 9352 taken at Weaver, the fall colors were almost there but not quite yet.

8) We broke off the chase at Kellogg, MP330.

9) We heard another train coming west so we went back to the spot overlooking the river. It turned out to be the H-19 with a pair of SD40-2's, DME 6366 and CP 5872 with a matching string of covered hoppers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/14 01:37 by oyw.

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10) Another shot of the H-19 from along the highway near Altura.

11) Things got quiet as we followed the tracks to Red Wing, it was too early for dinner so we decided to try and follow the railroad west for a few miles. One of the things John had been hoping for were the Indiana Railroad SD9043MAC's used on coke trains over the CP. Not the greatest shot but a headlight soon appeared and he got his wish with INRD 9001 and 9007 on an eastbound load at Welch, MN.

A chase of an eastbound at this time of day was pretty much impossible so this would be our last shot. We stopped for dinner back at Red Oak before making a straight shot down to Waterloo, IA, where we would spend the night. Stay tuned for our results from Saturday, which would be our last full day of sunshine, thanks for looking.

OYW



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/14 01:59 by oyw.

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Love those first three shots. Could have been 30 years ago.

great shots

oyw Wrote:
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> 10) Another shot of the H-19 from along the
> highway near Altura.
>
> 11) Things got quiet as we followed the tracks to
> Red Wing, it was too early for dinner so we
> decided to try and follow the railroad west for a
> few miles. One of the things John had been hoping
> for were the Indiana Railroad SD9043MAC's used on
> coke trains over the CP. Not the greatest shot but
> a headlight soon appeared and he got his wish with
> INRD 9001 and 9007 on an eastbound load at Welch,
> MN.
>
> A chase of an eastbound at this time of day was
> pretty much impossible so this would be our last
> shot. We stopped for dinner back at Red Oak before
> making a straight shot down to Waterloo, IA, where
> we would spend the night. Stay tuned for our
> results from Saturday, which would be our last
> full day of sunshine, thanks for looking.
>
> OYW

Number 10 is not near Altura. Altura is about ten
miles inland and was served by the Winona and South
Western, later the Chicago Great Western(until 1962).
The actual location is near Weaver, Minnesota.
Nice photos, however, hope you enjoyed scenic SE
Minnesota.

Another fine series of fabulous photography! You do outstanding work along with seeking out the good locations to shoot from. The results are great shots for all of us to enjoy. Keep up the good work!

Great decision to head for this area, awesome bunch.
JB

Very nice photos. Beautiful area with really cool trains. Nice to see those UP EMD sets.

SR2 Wrote:
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> Number 10 is not near Altura. Altura is about
> ten
> miles inland and was served by the Winona and
> South
> Western, later the Chicago Great Western(until
> 1962).
> The actual location is near Weaver, Minnesota.
> Nice photos, however, hope you enjoyed scenic SE
> Minnesota.

Thank you SR2 for the correction and yes it was a very enjoyable visit, beautiful area with lots of friendly people.

Thanks again.

OYW

If EHH sees that local with 2 engines and only two revenue cars it may not last long!

Excellent photos from a very familiar area, thanks for sharing!

Posted from iPhone

NICE pics!!! Thanks for sharing.

CNW8531 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Another fine series of fabulous photography! You
> do outstanding work along with seeking out the
> good locations to shoot from. The results are
> great shots for all of us to enjoy. Keep up the
> good work!

Thanks Angus, sorry we couldn't meet up, sounds like you're doing good now.