Natural Progression
Of all the Bloomington District searchlights in my immediate area, the Monticello intermediate has been on my bucket list since day one. Timing, losing the train, and just plain not knowing the right way to actually access the signal in the first place all kept me away from this spot. But, armed with the newfound knowledge that it is in fact much easier to get to than I realized, and also that D17 was restricted to just 30mph due to a faulty EOTD, it was high time to make a move.
That move, of course, was soaking my foot in icy water climbing down the embankment behind the motel to get to the tracks. Also sitting in the snow and getting my pant legs wet. There's a theme here. Oh, yeah, I also shot the signal and D17, so that made it worth it. The train had slowed in town dramatically, which I was glad for as it was a very close race from Bement thanks to an impassable car ahead of me that was paaainfully slow. Initially I thought the trains reduced speed was also going to make racing the train to Lodge easier, which it would have (although it took ages for the train to actually pass to let me get back to my car) had they not throttled up hard at CP Mills. So, it was time to race straight to Mansfield instead!
Natural Progression
Of all the Bloomington District searchlights in my immediate area, the Monticello intermediate has been on my bucket list since day one. Timing, losing the train, and just plain not knowing the right way to actually access the signal in the first place all kept me away from this spot. But, armed with the newfound knowledge that it is in fact much easier to get to than I realized, and also that D17 was restricted to just 30mph due to a faulty EOTD, it was high time to make a move.
That move, of course, was soaking my foot in icy water climbing down the embankment behind the motel to get to the tracks. Also sitting in the snow and getting my pant legs wet. There's a theme here. Oh, yeah, I also shot the signal and D17, so that made it worth it. The train had slowed in town dramatically, which I was glad for as it was a very close race from Bement thanks to an impassable car ahead of me that was paaainfully slow. Initially I thought the trains reduced speed was also going to make racing the train to Lodge easier, which it would have (although it took ages for the train to actually pass to let me get back to my car) had they not throttled up hard at CP Mills. So, it was time to race straight to Mansfield instead!