High Speed Pacer
285-1 SOO 6614 West of MQ 8-8-90
On the morning of August 8, 1990, we were poking around Marquette, Iowa, in search of railroad action. The scanner was dead. We crossed the Big Muddy into Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where both the BN and a WICT train slumbered. Then the scanner crackled "High ball, 6614." Hmmm. Where was 6614? The high ball came over the Milwaukee Road channel, but we were just there and nothing was happening. A few seconds later, we heard, "Movin' 6614." Wow! That means it has a caboose! We zoomed back over the bridge and into Iowa. Marquette Yard revealed nothing, except that there was no evidence of the flangeways being recently disturbed to the north or the south. So we zoomed west, checking grade crossings. We did not have a good map. The roads did not follow the track but eventually we saw freight cars moving in the distance. Got ahead of it, and here was the first runby. No idea where we were, except that we were west of Marquette.
285-1 SOO 6614 West of MQ 8-8-90
On the morning of August 8, 1990, we were poking around Marquette, Iowa, in search of railroad action. The scanner was dead. We crossed the Big Muddy into Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where both the BN and a WICT train slumbered. Then the scanner crackled "High ball, 6614." Hmmm. Where was 6614? The high ball came over the Milwaukee Road channel, but we were just there and nothing was happening. A few seconds later, we heard, "Movin' 6614." Wow! That means it has a caboose! We zoomed back over the bridge and into Iowa. Marquette Yard revealed nothing, except that there was no evidence of the flangeways being recently disturbed to the north or the south. So we zoomed west, checking grade crossings. We did not have a good map. The roads did not follow the track but eventually we saw freight cars moving in the distance. Got ahead of it, and here was the first runby. No idea where we were, except that we were west of Marquette.