CPKC Ballast Empty
Last weekend I was on my way home from Milwaukee and decided to take the scenic route up the river instead of HWY 94. I got up to Goodview and noticed this ballast train without a crew tied down on the DME. Should I wait? Nah, who knows when they'll get a crew and its cloudy anyways, so I left. I found some eastbound traffic with trains 250 and 260 around Reads Landing and hung out there for a shot, by then the clouds started to clear. I glanced at ATCS to check on the second eastbound when I noticed there was a light off the DME into the siding, the ballast train! Google maps said it was a 40 min drive to Dakota where I thought I might first see it, so I decided to roll the dice and race back south. I found their tail end going through Homer when I cleared Winona, they were doing every bit of track speed (60 mph). I finally got to the west end of Donehower just in time to setup for a shot passing one of the river houses. Worth the drive back, not sure when I'll see three KCS SD70MAC's on a train again. They've been running pretty frequently on ballast trains but I haven't been able to catch too many.
CPKC Ballast Empty
Last weekend I was on my way home from Milwaukee and decided to take the scenic route up the river instead of HWY 94. I got up to Goodview and noticed this ballast train without a crew tied down on the DME. Should I wait? Nah, who knows when they'll get a crew and its cloudy anyways, so I left. I found some eastbound traffic with trains 250 and 260 around Reads Landing and hung out there for a shot, by then the clouds started to clear. I glanced at ATCS to check on the second eastbound when I noticed there was a light off the DME into the siding, the ballast train! Google maps said it was a 40 min drive to Dakota where I thought I might first see it, so I decided to roll the dice and race back south. I found their tail end going through Homer when I cleared Winona, they were doing every bit of track speed (60 mph). I finally got to the west end of Donehower just in time to setup for a shot passing one of the river houses. Worth the drive back, not sure when I'll see three KCS SD70MAC's on a train again. They've been running pretty frequently on ballast trains but I haven't been able to catch too many.