Western Railroad Discussion > Montana Rail Link F45-392 "The Gas Local"

Greetings,

I have just returned from a <<GREAT>> four days of railfanning the Montana Rail Link. I have one teaser shot for now, don't worry there's more!

Robby F. (Mr. MRL)



*MRL F45 no. 392 leads the daily "Gas Local" weastbound toward Arlee, MT on MRL's 10th Sub.
*The power for Monday, July 26 '04 was F45 (392), SD-35 (705), and F45 (390).
*Time: 7:59:55 PM

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What a lashup! Can't find that anywhere else. BTW, was F45 #393 up and running, or is it still dead in Livingston? Thanks, Jeff

I have pictures of all four units doing mainline haulling. MRL 393 has been "helping" trains over Mullan Pass.

Here.

Robby F. (Mr. MRL)


*MRL F45 (393) is the lead helper on a Pasco, WA bound "V" train on Tuesday, July 27 '04.
*Time: 3:36:16 PM.

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I was in Montana the last week of May and at that time the Gas local was powered by 3 SD35's. Which looked quite cool to me. MRL 391 and 393 were in the middle of a helper set. I was even reported by the crew of the gas local to the DS for "lurking" around Pipeline while they were switching.

SEOD

Awesome stuff Robby! Glad you had blast! Wish I could have been up there.

Keep them photos coming!

Best Regards,
Harry

Enjoyed the photos. I saw this same consist about an hour earlier at Thompson Falls making up the train. My pictures aren't nearly as good as yours, though.

Winston Hill

MrMRL Wrote:
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> *MRL F45 (393) is the lead helper on a Pasco, WA bound "V" train on Tuesday, July 27 '04.

Robby, are you sure that was a "V" train heading for Pasco? Most likely it was either a M-LAUPAS or H-KCKPAS or more likely a V-KCMPTL headed for Portland beyond Pasco.

Glad you had a safe trip. The smoke moved in from either forest fires in central Washington or Alaska the last 24 hours so you made it just in time.

Paul Birkholz
http://www.mtnwestrail.com

All I know is that when it left Helena, the dispatcher referred to it as "the V train" but from what I could tell, only the last 16 cars were hauling Ford F-150s.

Roby F. (Mr. MRL)

MrMRL Wrote:
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> the dispatcher referred to it as "the V train" but
> from what I could tell, only the last 16 cars were
> hauling Ford F-150s.

The "V" trains that cross MRL usual have a mix of traffic on them. I have seen a few "V" trains that don't have a single autorack in them and look more like "H" trains. I think they had whatever they can in Pasco, Spokane, and/or Missoula. The containers may have vehicle parts though. It sometimes seems the only thing the symbol denotes on these trains is what department is getting billed for the move. ;-]

So, for your notes you probably saw the V-KCMPTL (Kansas City, MO to Portland, OR).

We'll make you "Mr. MRL" yet! ;-P

~ Paul Birkholz
http://www.mtnwestrail.com

Robby,

It is nice you got some blue shots but there are several reasons to come to Montana to railfan, A)there are trains, B)there mountains, C)there are rivers. Try to back off from the side of the tracks and add some of the scenery to the photo of the train. Trains fit in well here so save the nosey stuff for places where the train is the horizon. You will appreciate it later on when you look back at your early railfan photos if you set the scene with the train rather than filling the frame with just the locomotives.

I am glad you enjoyed your time in Montana and the MRL and weather cooperated. Come back again when you can.

Oh, you mean like this?? I had the "Heritage" members in mind for those first shots.

Robby F. (Mr. MRL)


*Two ATSF SD75Is & an MRL SD45 lead a 590 axle grain train eastbound on MRL's 2nd Sub at MP 189.5.
•This is one of the harder locations to shoot along the "Mighty Mo" river.
*Time: Wednesday, July 28 '04 - 7:51:05 PM

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Yeah, that's the stuff! I'm up burning photos to CD-r for the MRL calendar contest. I would post one as a sample but I am one of those darned Heritage members and I can't post.

Oh, grain TRAINS go west and grain EMPTIES go east on the MRL.