Western Railroad Discussion > Toto Tuesday: FOWLing up a pipe dream

On the surface this thread is about a timely tip concerning a semi-rare unit pipe drea.. I mean train running westbound over my hometown KP. The weather was perfect for a short afternoon chase, so I left my duty station behind the scanner and went forth to give chase. But there is a twist! Dig into the captions to discover the underlying story:

1. Looking east from an unnamed public crossing just over a mile west of Belvue, KS. An expected headlight has appeared nearly 2 miles to the east. In the foreground traffic is steady on the US 24 overpass. The Nemaha County Coop elevator juts up from the middle of town over the tree line and highway. I can hear the engineer whistling for the Schoeman Rd crossing east of town.

2. My approaching target is has just passed over the second of 2 crossings in Belvue. I watch as a tiny but well-known human figure scurries out onto the overpass. Look close: in this frame he stands out against the bright white elevator. Look closer: it also seems that several birds are now orbiting around his airspace…

3. Even through the 400mm boomer the small figure is unrecognizable. What is recognizable is he stopped directly over the path of the train, just like a railfan with a camera. Of course, I already knew his identity. Indeed, it is TO’s own “mg8711”, the very same one who tipped me off about this train*. Unfortunately, it looks like all of his furiously flapping fine-feathered friends may be fouling up his overhead framing of our pipe drea… I mean train.

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Maybe those pesky feather-brained aviators gave our mg8711 a break, and cleared his airspace just in time. Maybe he can post a shot, without getting the bird… Oh yeah, while I’m at it I guess I’ll show one you of my results:

4. UP 7696 leads a 1x1 unit pipe train just west of Belvue, KS on June 9, 2018. UP 7132 was the DP unit, which I didn’t shoot until I was at the end of my chase in Ogden…

Thanks for the tip!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

*I woke up this AM and was pleased to see he has earned today’s IOTD. Makes a fan proud to know him…



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/18 07:26 by santafe199.

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Even from the backside Lucas is better looking, certainly skinnier, than both of us. (unless he has a big beer belly). BTW you're sure into the "birds" lately.

BB

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bmarti7 Wrote: > ...  Even from the backside Lucas is better looking ... 
Unfortunately I have to concur on that one...

> ... BTW you're sure into the "birds" lately ...
As luck would have I got my own bird-bombing on this same train down the road at Ogden. "Film (as they say) at eleven"

;^)