F's, semaphores and a story
Burlington Northern train 127 with A-B-B-A Fs is heading west for Grand Forks just west of Boylston (Superior) Wis. on Feb. 11, 1978. The train is splitting a pair of ex-Great Northern semaphores, which would be gone in the next year. But there's more here that meets the eye.
At the time, BN dispatchers for these lines were located in Superior, and my routine was to give them a call and ask if any F units were lined up on trains. When I called the dispatcher, he told me train 127 would have three Fs, but there would be a geep leading. "Hmmm..." I thought. So I said: "Well I'd really like to get the Fs. Any chance you could have them take the geep off and put an F on?" There was silence for a moment, and then he said: "I don't see why not." So that's why you have a solid set of Fs in this shot.
If any railroaders out there know the purpose of the target sign along the tracks is, I'd like to hear what it was all about.
Today this is the approximate location of the end of double track out of Superior at milepost 15.9.
F's, semaphores and a story
Burlington Northern train 127 with A-B-B-A Fs is heading west for Grand Forks just west of Boylston (Superior) Wis. on Feb. 11, 1978. The train is splitting a pair of ex-Great Northern semaphores, which would be gone in the next year. But there's more here that meets the eye.
At the time, BN dispatchers for these lines were located in Superior, and my routine was to give them a call and ask if any F units were lined up on trains. When I called the dispatcher, he told me train 127 would have three Fs, but there would be a geep leading. "Hmmm..." I thought. So I said: "Well I'd really like to get the Fs. Any chance you could have them take the geep off and put an F on?" There was silence for a moment, and then he said: "I don't see why not." So that's why you have a solid set of Fs in this shot.
If any railroaders out there know the purpose of the target sign along the tracks is, I'd like to hear what it was all about.
Today this is the approximate location of the end of double track out of Superior at milepost 15.9.