Random MN Railranning Pics

This month will be a little quiet on the modeling side. I just finished a work trip that had me going from Minneapolis to Vegas to L.A. to Portland to Atlanta and back to Minneapolis, and that was the easier half of the month. So I don't go too long without a post, I thought I would share some random shots I took last time I was home.
Independent Locomotive Service in Bethel is getting a new office, er... should I say depot? It looks like construction was well underway so hopefully the office staff can stretch their wings a little in this new building.

Down on the Minnesota Commercial the late January snow slowed down the Hugo Line a little. Here, some gondolas bound for Hugo are left on the run around track at Structural Wood Products in White Bear Lake. A crew would run them North another day. The three leased high-side gondolas are a nice change from the usual low side MNNR gons.

Up in Cambridge on Feb 3rd, congestion at Northtown Yard had sidings plugged all over the Twin Cities Division as trains couldn't be processed over the NTW hump fast enough. Here we can see the SB CP manifest passing an idle BNSF SUPNTW. CP SD30C-ECO #5017 passes INDR (CEFX) SD60 #6011.

Back down in Saint Paul, a BNSF Z Train just backed out of Midway Yard onto the main. A very clean BNSF ES44C4 #7183 and BNSF C44-9W #5468 prepare to depart for Chicago.

At the same time the Z train was getting ready a nice 3 pack of MNNR power was getting ready to take the cars for BNSF interchange from the MNNR "A" Yard over to NTW. MNNR SF30B #42, MNNR B39-8E #84 and MNNR B23-7 #43 were all looking great in their new colors.

Epic Adventure Pt. 7

We headed to the large Cargill Elevator in Breckenridge It is right next to the RRVW yard and seemed to be a busy place. ILSX GP39-2 #1389 and RRVW GP38-2 #2628 were working cuts of cars the yard.

Next door at the elevator RRVW SW1200RS #1276 was getting ready to pull a cut of cars through the loadout. The engineer eased the throttle up to where we were photographing from. He opened the window and asked if I wanted to ride with!

HK gets credit for photographing the moment. The engineer thought we were with a group from corporate who had come out to tour the facility. I rode through until the first car was spotted for loading. Luckily HK found me as I was now 1/2 mile from where we had parked. This really tipped the day to epic!

Here are the elevator switchers. They are owned by the elevator, but leased to RRVW when they are not in use (at least that's what the engineer told me). The second unit is RRVW SW1200RS #1213.

Heading south from town we caught another earthworm, this one let by BNSF Dash 9 #5447. It was kicking up pheasants as it cruised the countryside at track speed.

By the time we hit Norcross, MN we were catching grain trains 2 at a time. Here BNSF AC44CW #5707 overtakes BNSF ES44C4 #6688 which was sitting idle on the siding. This isn't quite the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from here.

Epic Adventure Pt. 6

Wow, I really need to get caught up on posting Epic Adventure pics. After rolling south out of Grand Forks, we headed south to Fargo, ND. This started a stretch of earthworms like I have never seen before. The first was being loaded at the rural elevator in Thompson, ND by ILSX TR4a #916. This ex-BRC unit still sounds like it's running strong!

The next unit grain train was led by BNSF Dash 9's 4793 and 4743.

From Fargo we made a quick run West, to Casselton, ND, at the Ethanol Plant there we found this little jem, NIWX NW2 #9251. The Northern Illinois & Wisconsin is a leasing company based far south of here.

After cheching out the Ethanol plant we headed back East to Dilworth, MN and the awesome BNSF yard there. BNSF ES44DC #7343 was leading an auto train just east of town.

At a crossing on the east side of the yard we caught a nice 5 engine lashup on an oil train with some CSX run through power in the mix.

 After Dilworth we turned south again. Next stop: Breckenridge, MN. The first engine we found in town was RRVW GP10 #404, this one is sublettered for MOW and was hooked to the ditch sprayer.

 By the elevator in town we found a pair of forlorn CF7's RRVW 309 and 303 have been sitting a while.

Looking at the front of 303 behind the Jordan Spreader you can see the damage from a vehicle collision that side lined the unit years ago. The spreader has probably seen more action the last couple of years that the engine.

 

There was unit power for another grain train sitting by the elevators, but they wouldn't be the most interesting item of note while we were in Breckenridge...

Epic Adventure Pt. 4: Crookston

As the dawn cracked on day 2 of the Epic adventure I was frustrated. My camera was acting up and the overcast skies looked liked they might start raining at any moment. My frustration would turn to overwhelming bliss by the end of the day. This was to be possibly by greatest day of railfanning ever.  HK and I grabbed a quick bite at McDonalds, because the hotel coffee wasn't going to cut it. We wandered towards the elevator on the south end of town. It was still early, with no action yet, so we got a chance to photograph this great ex-CP GP9, now lettered ILSX 1334.

Next we stopped by the Minnesota Norther Crookston shops. The crew were just beginning to arrive for the day. Once the boss signed off on us taking pics, we grabbed our shots (I hope the crews enjoyed the cupcakes I left). Inside the shops a couple of beauties were hiding. ILSX GP7 #1381 was hiding on one end.

MNN GP9 #1383 in matching paint was on the other end. You'll notice the numbering of ILSX, MNN and SCXY all fit in the same sequence.

Outside ILSX SW1500 #928 was waiting outside the doors. She would be switching the yard in a few minutes.

Two of my favorite engines were warming up, getting ready for a run to Erskine on this fine day. Ex-CN, Ex-KCS SD40-3 ILSX #1340 (now without snow shields) and ex-GTW GP9r MNN #1356 were ilding away. 1356 has a more unusual Spartan cab, this was done by the Canadian National shops.

An oldie but a goodie. This SW1, ILSX #79 was built for the Frisco, but went to BN next. Now it hides behind the shops waiting to hopefully serve a grain elevator or two before too many more years pass.

Here were were a mere hour into day number two and we were off to such an awesome start. Who knew how good the day was going to get?

ILSX 1337

Another fine engine has joined the Skally fleet. ILSX SD40-2 #1337 had rolled out from the Holt Shops. 1337 started life as SOO 778, before going on the Canadian Pacific roster as CP 778.

This engine started as a Mid-Production Kato SD40-2. The long hood was spliced with a Kato Early UP Non-Dynamic hood (easier said than done). It got Trainworx lift rings and mirrors, BLMA grab irons, a MbE Winter Hatch and Firecracker antenna as well as a Sunrise Strobe Light. The cab shade, mu hoses, fans, grills and wipers are BLMA, the All Weather Window is a GMM piece.

Inspired by my visit to the Holt shops, I weathered it to look like the prototype, you can barely make out where the CP logos were still. This unit also got an MRC Sound decoder and MT couplers.

Epic Adventure Pt. 3

Turning North from TRF we stopped by the Holt, MN Independent Locomotive Service Shops. The owner wasn't in today so we grabbed a couple pics and were on our way.Pardon my pictures, my camera started to go a little crazy on the trip. Nikon was nice enough to replace the lenses and fix some other internals after I got back.
A new addition to the ILSX fleet, ILSX 1328, is an ex-NS SD38. It was in service as a CEFX unit hauling coal from Bear Run Mine to the Duke power plant in Beehunter, IN.

 MNN 910 is a former BCR TR4A.

 ILSX 180 is an ex-L&N GP38AC.

ILSX 1337 is an ex-SOO SD40-2. This would be a great engine for the Skally Line to have... Check out the dynamic grid from MILW SD45 #12. It is used for load testing engines.

Passing through Warren, MN the elevator manager at Northwest Grain was nice enough to let us shoot CHS NW2 #1009. This engine was ILSX 1009 and in WSOR colors unit it's recent rebuild. The new colors are sharp! BNSF was using the balloon track at the elevator to unload a wind turbine blade train, but there was no good angle on that one. With the sun setting rapidly on us we made our way to Crookston, MN and Epic Adventure Day #1 came to a close.

Epic Adventure Pt. 2

Not having made it half way through our first day I had no idea how amazing this trip would be. After battling a never ending onslaught of east bound trains, we finally found a moment of peace in St.Cloud, MN. There were some BNSF GP38s there that we would catch running light a little later, but my favorite piece of motive power in town was Northern Lines Railways (NLR) ex-BN GP10 1411.

Moving north from St.Cloud things got a little light as a couple of WB coal drags made their way up the single track portion of the Detroit Lakes Sub. This one was headed up by a pair of SD70ACe's that we caught up with in Audobon, MN.

After getting our fill of BNSF for the day we turned the car north and under cloudy skies we headed to Ulen, MN to check out ILSX SD40-3 #1341 at the West Central Elevator.

Taking the back roads from Ulen to Thief River Falls we ventured off the beaten path a little. We would point the car at any Prairie Sky Scraper we could see on the horizon. The motto of the trip seemed to be: "Why not? When will we be this close again?" The next turn took us to Hazel, MN to a freshly painted, but not numbered CHS SW1200.

After a good amount of the day on the road, HK and I finally drove through TRF. In town there we found ILSX SW7 #1373 at the local elevator. It was tied up to a scale car, no doubt performing state checks on the lines elevators.

Over at the TRF roundhouse was a fantastic looking spreader, one of several we saw on the trip. CP has spent a few dollars getting ready for snow duty. SOO 900078 looked eager for snow that was a long ways off now.

So many projects...

I have been re-evaluating by current project lineup. I am prioritizing 5 engines and setting myself a deadline (we'll see what day I pick to get these done).
ILSX (NREX) 6158 is a Spartan cab SD9. The prototype for this engine is in Hills, MN. I'd love to see it on the Skally Line, so that build has begun. It will be in H1 paint when I finish.

 ILSX 1338 is the second H1 engine I'll be doing this go around. It is an ex-CN SD40 so it will also have a set of those sweet MbE intake snow shields. I've already gotten the brake wheel in the proper position, a different cab on the engine and Trainworx radiator screens installed. The grab irons are BLMA.

 ILSX (LTEX) 213 is an ex-DMIR SD38-2 that would really help on some Skally unit grain trains. There will be a scheduled grain train called "The Main Streeter" and I'd like this 38 in the consist.

SCXY 1352 is way behind schedule. I need to build 1 handrail (the side not pictured) and repaint the yellow to something brighter. The decals are made, I just need to get it done.

 SCXY 1363 is in the same boat as 1352. I need to chop the front battery boxes off, build handrails, fix the pilots and so on. I also need to add the funky electrical cabinet on the conductors side and because I waited so long I need to repaint the airhorn silver. So much to do and so little summer left...

Rush City Memorial Day

 As I drove to spend Memorial Day with a Veteran of the Korean War, I decided to swing through Rush City and check on the current motive power. SCXY 1363 and 1352 were lashed together, enjoying the day off, while the newest arrival to the line sat nearby, waiting to jump into service. ILSX GP10 1345 (ex-BN 1418) has been brought to the line to help with the expected traffic generated by Tiller Corp, a large new sand loadout facility in North Branch.

I can only hope the 1345 stays on the line for a while. If they need help painting it in Skally colors, I'll definitely volunteer to help!