BNSF grain train in New Ulm, Minnesota
June 15, 2007 Outbidding other people while attending Gopher Rail last February, I took home tickets to ride on the North Shore Scenic Railroad as well as the Lake Superior Railroad. My wife and I planned to head to Duluth the weekend of June 16th. Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until the Tuesday before our trip to call the hotel to make a reservation. I called the Holiday Inn and was surprised to learn they had no rooms. Puzzled, I called another hotel and got the same answer. By the time I called the fifth hotel, in Cloquet, I finaly asked whats going on up there. The answer was Grandmas Marathon. Having lived in Minnesota most of my life, I should have known the race is held the same weekend every year.
Feeling shafted and not wanting to lose out on the three day weekend I had lined-up, I switched gears from planning to ride trains to chase trains; this required a change in location. But where to go? The answer came to me as I checked over an old railfan itinerary I made up about 8 months ago. The plan back then was to chase the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern (DM&E) around southwestern Minnesota, as well as search for more industrial motive power used by local grain elevators and industries. Running this by the wife, we made new plans to set-out early Friday morning. Destination: Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Leaving the cities via HWY 169 we passed over the eastend of the Union Pacific Valley Park yard. Peaking over my shoulder I spied CN 2462 sitting with a few blue painted C40-8Ws sitting in the yard. Disappointed that I could not get a shot, we trudged onward.
Arriving in Mankato, MN we stopped at the UP's yard along the way to see if there were any units of interest. Sitting alone in the yard was the same GE 80 Tonner I had snapped pics of last summer. This time she was lettered LOCX 5. With no other units around, it was time to put the journey into high gear. From Mankato we headed west to New Ulm, MN in search on the two ex-IMRL GP9s. Pulling into town we spotted headlamps on the rails to our east. Off the main road, we traversed the streets until we came upon a westbound DM&E train. Being out of position for pictures, we moved onto find the GP9s that were somewhere just down the road.
At the first grain elevator I found my prize! Both units sat idle, side-by-side, just waiting for their pictures to be taken. As we were leaving the elevator, I noticed two lines of hoppers at yet another elevator in town. Seeing a hose connecting air lines on both cuts of cars, we ventured to the next grade crossing to see what might be on the other end. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a BNSF "swoosh" GEVo on one side and a BNSF Warbonnet Dash-9 hooked up to the other line. I snapped a few pics and off we went.
The next stop along the way was Sleepy Eye. Not expecting to see much in the way of industrial power, I was glad to find I had caught up with the DM&E train I had seen in New Ulm. The train was being lead by a former Canadian Pacific dash-two; a nice catch, but adding to my surprise was finding another lone DM&E GP40 waiting its turn to depart west, behind the first.
Getting my fill of Sleepy Eye, we headed to Springfield to find the Harvestland GP10. As we neared the elevator, there she was, sitting just off the road. Unfortunately, this day she was down for maintenance; it was being worked on by several people. Not one to go away empty handed, I waited until the guys to climbed off for their coffee break and grabbed my picture.
Changing direction, we headed south towards Heron Lake. Leaving the tracks behind for awhile, we had time to take in the sights of southern Minnesota. Arriving in Heron Lake, we made our own tracks to the bio energy plant, but were shut out as there was no sign of the ILSX GP9. Feeling down, we drove the short distance to Miloma where I was expecting to find an ex-Conrail SW1200. Finding her sitting idle, I got my shots and was ready to go when an horn in the distance made me turn my head to the west. I was just in time to catch an eastbound Union Pacific train, led by a very clean ACe. Another six pictures in the camera and off we went.
Making our way to Interstate 90 in Worthington, we turned back, westward, this time our mission was clear: seek out and catch the Minnesota Southern.
Arriving in Luverne, we turned off the Interstate and followed a county road along the rails. As we drove I noticed the condition of the trackage was very poor and uncertain if trains even used these tracks any more. A few miles down the road my silent question was answered. The green GP7 #1365 was seen through some trees. It was sitting alone on the rails. Getting one picture, all I wanted, I set out to find the other GP7, this one would be the #1379. With the scanner running all day, mostly silent, I was jolted by noise from the scanner when I heard the unmistakable voice of someone counting off distance while making a reverse move. Knowing there were no other rail lines nearby, it had to be the unit I was looking for. A short drive west of the first unit there she was, the ILSX GP7 1379 still wearing the Nobles Rock lettering on the long hood.
Wow! I thought what a great day. Seven hours after we left the cities we had caught almost every industrial unit we set out to find and the addition of several DM&E/IC&E units made the trip that much better.
Handing the driving duties over to the wife for the last leg of the run to Sioux Falls, I spent the time going over the pictures all the while thinking what tomorrow would bring. Stay tuned for the events of day two's adventure.