Steam & Excursion > 261 Today - Random Dumb Luck

Headed home today after two  weeks on the road, and decided to take a bit of a different route west from the Twin Cities.  35 going south was all screwed up anyway, so I decided I'd go out US 212 and follow the TC&W, as I've never managed to catch them moving.  Just east of Cologne I thought I saw a railfan-esque character setting up for a shot on one of the side roads, so I had some hint something was in the area.  Crossing over the tracks west of town, I spotted a TC&W GP38 with a short passenger train in tow.  Well, that's definitely different, so I  whipped the car around and went back to the crossing in town. Didn't have much time to set up the shot, and being last there I took what I could get.

The funny thing was that until 261 came into view, I didn't even realize it was on the train.  There was another photographer in the backfield way behind the rest of us, but I didn't think he'd matter until I saw 261 and realized I'd need to turn around for the "real" shot.  I guess luck was definitely with me today, not only did I catch a train on a line where I'd never caught anything, but also caught a mainline steam trip that I didn't even know was running.   Too bad I didn't have time to chase it a bit more, but it was already after 1 and it's a long way from MSP to COS. 

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