Western Railroad Discussion > 50's, 60's and 70's

The past streak of three days with blue skies has been fantastic after nearly two weeks of all clouds, so I took a few days off and did some local railfanning while catching up on errands and stuff that I couldn't do due to working 12 hours every day. Luckily both BNSF and the DMVW put out, and it was an abundance of EMD's!

On Thursday I woke up to a headsup text saying that the Ross Local would be 90 cars back into Minot, so I took off West and dealt with 4" of fresh snow on Hwy 2, but it didn't keep me away from the BN SD60M's leading!

1) BNSF 8127 leads the L MON8331 through Berthold, ND, kicking up fresh powder:

After grabbing some ribeyes from a local butcher in Berthold, I headed home. I hopped back on the computer and saw NS 6766 leading an oil load that was called out of Minot, so I took off for Karlsrhue, a town I had never been to before. I drove aimlessly looking for a shot before I gave up, parked and went for a walk into a farmers field. Little did I know that about 50 feet into his field was a drainage ditch, that had of course drifted over and I soon found myself chest high in snow! I crawled my way out and continued my trek, now wishing I was about 50 pounds lighter. I found a series of small grain bins and waited for the train, which I would hear blowing in the distance. Unfortunately it clouded over at the last minute, but the experience is what it's all about, right?

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On Friday I slept in, ran an errand and did some exploring online for Athearn retailers nearby. Little did I know I had a hobby shop right in Minot! I took off for it, just to check their selection, and while on my way I got a text from a friend that's "in-the-know" with the DMVW, the local shortline. He had said that the wayfreight was heading South with only 2 SD50F's for power... Of course the skies were clearing, so I made note to head home after the trip to the hobby shop to grab the camera. Upon arrival at the shop, which was a tiny place, I found the wall of trains and did some exploring. The old lady, who was from Peru and in her 60's had no idea about trains and only ran the place because her husband died and left her with the store. She had no idea of what was on the shelves but told me to have at it and see if there was anything I liked. I picked through the locomotives and found a Proto 2000 Soo Line GP38-2, an Athearn RTR Montana Rail Link SW1500 and a BNSF covered hopper. The lady's daughter, who was fairly good looking and in her 20's (with a BIG diamond ring on her finger, sigh...) rang me up and gave me a 20% discount. I walked out the door happy as a clam that there's a hobby shop in town, which I know will be dangerous for the bank account!

I got the camera and headed South on the highway, looking for the DMVW, and had no luck. I was just about to turn around and head home as I had dinner plans with a friend when I saw the "golden triangle". Sweet, and the sun is still out! The engineer was very friendly and loved to smoke em up, and even gave me his card with his number and email and asked for me to send some shots. They did a crew change and the setting sun ducked behind high clouds, so I took off for home after getting them in a handful of spots.

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And now we come to the part of the 70's, as SD70ACe's. I stayed up late last night and decided to sleep in today seeing the forecast for 100% clouds and 3" of snow. I was pleasantly surprised to wake up to blue skies and 35* temps so I checked the computer and saw two oil empties coming West with pretty good power, so I made some lunch and headed out for the day. The first train, a U-NSDTND0-03T (Reybold, DE to Trenton, ND oil train) was led by NS 1057, a new ACe. I headed down to Simcoe on the KO Subdivision and waited, but was greeted by two Eastbounds running back to back before the cans showed.

The second one, a V-TACLPC1-13A, cruised by running on color, and then the ACe's pulled down to the block where I popped a few shots and rushed off for Surrey, which was the next spot.

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The NS oil can had to fuel downtown, so I went back out for the second oil train, when things got a little risky...

While waiting for train to show up, and just as it came into frame, something moving caught my attention. I looked left and saw a dog running towards me down the snow packed road. Not a fan of running dogs coming at me, I prepared myself to jump in the bed of my truck if things got nasty. While the dog made the 1/2 mile trek down the road, I noticed it was favoring it's hips, like old dogs do sometimes when it's cold.

The train showed up, I fired off a half dozen frames and look to find the dog, and it's at my feet, looking up at me, tongue out, and with it's big blue eyes, I just knew it wasn't an attack dog. Little did I know that this Siberian Husky had only 3 legs, and just wanted some attention. I let him sniff my hand, which he licked and then put a paw out for a hand shake, all while howling like huskies do.

This guy brightened the mood and put a smile on my face, proving that sometimes it's the little things you don't expect in life that end up making your day.

So, the train I was shooting while being watched by the dog was KCS 4105 West, an Epping, ND bound oil empty, which rounded out my 3 days of foam with three series of EMD's.

Thanks for looking.

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That was one enjoyable essay -- and the best photo, to me, is that blue-eyed boy looking for a little attention...Thx -- B

Really enjoyed your stories and photos, Steve... esp the one of the Siberian Husky. A friend of dogs is a friend of mine, indeed!

Ya' know....you look at a picture like the one of that dog and you have to wonder how anyone could be cruel to an animal. Nice little essay and some great train shots. Thanks for posting.

Great photo series and essay/ Good you thought to take photo of dog like that. I know sometimes myself I get so caught up in the trains forget to capture some of those other neat moments.

Bob Jordan

Nice story and great shots. I bet you had enjoyable days off. To bad you didn't have some ribeye for the pup! Dave

Cool shots.

An excellent day I would say.
JB

The GE's will be around for a while but the Blues Eyes priceless

Dale Miller
Langley, BC

Fantastic shots and essay! I agree the Blue Eyes are priceless.

Thanks for sharing.
Ronda Thomas

Yeah, I love dogs, too! Best things God ever put on Earth. Except maybe for Barack Obama....NOT. LOL!
Ron

Fantastic pictures, I think the DMVW units are Awesome! I will hop on board with everyone else and admit that I like the shot of the dog, maybe because I have a Siberian Husky as well:}

NIIIICE set of pics!!!! Thanks for sharing.