With July 4th falling on a Friday this year it gave the
opportunity for a nice, long weekend up at the in-laws lake place. I'd
decided
way in advance that I would use one day of the weekend to go out
trainspotting. Not on the 6 train a day Brainerd sub but over to
Staples, about 20 miles west of Brainerd. Staples is where the BN
transcontinental line divides going east to the twin ports of Duluth
and Superior, South it heads to the Twin Cities and all points east. A
check with regular Staples railfanners on the outstateminnesota Yahoo!
group confirmed that it could be a pretty busy day. That was all I
needed to know. So, Saturday morning dawned and after a quick breakfast
I was on the way west before 8am and nothing but blue sky in front of
me. A
quick stop for coffee in Brainerd bolstered me and as I crossed the
Mississippi I looked over and saw an Eastbound coal train headed for
Superior. For a moment I debated wether I should do a "U"ie and race it
back to the road bridge at the far end of town. But traffic was a bit
heavy so I headed onwards confident that the day would reveal better
stuff to me. The drive to Staples is pretty unremarkable and it wasn't
until it glanced over to my left and saw a 4 unit lash up heading south
that I realised I was getting there. The Amtrak station is easy to find
and there's plenty of wide open space about to park the car and find
safe places to trainspot. Barely had I been there 2 minutes when I saw
headlights in the distance and I knew my first train was on the way. A
C44 and an unidentified SD40 hauling a long train of autoracks.
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In the middle
distance in the above shot you can see some trains lined up in the
yard. I was hoping that these would be clearing out quickly for my
viewing pleasure. When they didn't I got in the car and drove down to
the yard hoping for some kind of better view. Not knowing Staples well
and not wanting to awaken the ire of any BNSF employees. I snapped this
shot of a quartet of SD40's. 8118 and 6380 were paired together on one
train,
8118 is leased from First Union Rail. It carries the FURX
reporting mark under the cab window. 6913 and 6793 are paired together
on another container train
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On the other side of
the auto racks was some other power. But had to drive all the way
back to 6th street over the tracks past the Amtrak station and keep
going for another quarter of a mile or so to see what was there. The
trip was worth it. ES44 7543 C44 5059 and NS ES40 No. 7640 waiting with
what looked like a grain train.
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It didn't move. It
didn't look like it was going to move for a while. So headed over to
the Amtrak station to take a look. The decreptitude exhibited there was
embarassing. Amtrak is clearly so short of money that it can't afford
the upkeep of its buildings. A pretty sad state of affairs if you ask
me. I was jolted out of my feeling sorry for Amtrak by the distictive
horn of an SD70 approaching from the south. I was way out of place for
any picture and that fence in the way wasn't helping one bit. So I
opened the back door of the car and jumped up on the sill (I should
have come in the truck...) and was greeted by one of the most fantastic
sights in Trainspotting. A pair of brand spanking new SD70 ACe's
running elephant style. I'm just sorry I was out of place for this
shot. This angle, shot into the sun just doesn't put over how pristine
these babies are. They looked utterly, utterly, gorgeous.
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I strolled back to
the car, wondering where I should go next in search of good photo
angles. When there was the blast of another westbound train horn. Up
this time was another freshly painted loco, an ES44 this time heading
up an NS (ex-Conrail) SD. With an ordinary C44 bringing up the rear on
a mixed freight. I've got to admit that the BNSF livery looks
pretty darned good on a loco when it is clean. While this mile long
freight train was going by I heard the sound of another horn and a
eastbound crossed behind it. I cursed my luck for missing that one.
I've no idea what was on that train.
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Not wanting to be
caught out of place anymore. I headed back to my first spot, the 6th
street crossing. Where within a couple of minutes I was rewarded with
another westbound. More auto racks lead by warbonnet liveried C44 No.
747 and another No. 5178 behind. As this passed, I heard the horn of
another westbound train coming off the line to the Twin Cities. Aaagh!
I wasn't going to be blocked again was I?
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Pretty much, for as
the last cars of the auto train cleared out, the westbound freight
eased its way into the yard lead by a C44 and an SD40 I think.
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Once the crossing was
clear I walked back to the car and decided what to do next. It was
close to 10:30 and I was getting peckish. But before I could decide
what to do I glanced up and saw, in the distance the headlights of
another oncoming train. This time I had a mixed bag of an SD40 and
something that looks like it might be a Geep. The driver of the SD gave
me a cheery wave. It's always nice to be acknowledged by the crew
rather than receive "one single digit rampant" ( I believe Americans
call that being given the bird)
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So, that train
cleared out and barely had I got to the car when there was yet
another horn from a west bound. I sprinted back to the crossing
supported my camera on the crossing lights gantry and snapped this NS
pair on a container train. It looks like an SD40 and perhaps an ES40
behind it.
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Well, After that my
hunger got the better of me and I decided to head for home. I'd really
enjoyed that 2 hours there, 10 trains in a little over 2 hours. Let's
not forget the one I was blocked on that makes it 11. I will defintely
be going back. Though next time I might just go back in the late
afternoon to see If I can get some better shots of the westbounds as
they come off the curve from the Twin Cities line.
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