Not British Columbia...
BCOL 4618 leads a G889 (grain empties) along the frozen Galena River. This is the first train over the snow covered CN rails this morning after an overnight dusting of snow. In the distance the sound of snow blowers and skidsteers clearing pavement floats on the air, but the scene in Grant Park is still relatively serene and peaceful on this Sunday morning. In the cab, the conductor on BCOL 4618 has just rung up the BNSF dispatcher with the goal of getting a smooth run from Portage (Galena) to East Dubuque and the end of their day with a crew change at Dubuque. They'll get that good run as after confirming their TGBO, "Okay, here we go, signal indication" was the answer from the BNSF dispatcher in Fort Worth.
The tri-state area was coated in several snow falls this week, finally turning the brown landscape back to white again as it should be this time of year. Reports of a BCOL leader, albeit in CN paint, running west on the CN across Illinois this morning was enough to get me out of the house on a sunny Sunday for a bit of a chase. I guessed I could assume he'd be to Galena around 2.5-3 hours after he was reported by Genoa, Illinois, and so I headed out with the goal of making Grant Park in Galena my first stop. I didn't do too bad in my guess - I only had to wait about 30 minutes before the cowl unit snaked around the corner and through the freshly snow-covered scene.
Not British Columbia...
BCOL 4618 leads a G889 (grain empties) along the frozen Galena River. This is the first train over the snow covered CN rails this morning after an overnight dusting of snow. In the distance the sound of snow blowers and skidsteers clearing pavement floats on the air, but the scene in Grant Park is still relatively serene and peaceful on this Sunday morning. In the cab, the conductor on BCOL 4618 has just rung up the BNSF dispatcher with the goal of getting a smooth run from Portage (Galena) to East Dubuque and the end of their day with a crew change at Dubuque. They'll get that good run as after confirming their TGBO, "Okay, here we go, signal indication" was the answer from the BNSF dispatcher in Fort Worth.
The tri-state area was coated in several snow falls this week, finally turning the brown landscape back to white again as it should be this time of year. Reports of a BCOL leader, albeit in CN paint, running west on the CN across Illinois this morning was enough to get me out of the house on a sunny Sunday for a bit of a chase. I guessed I could assume he'd be to Galena around 2.5-3 hours after he was reported by Genoa, Illinois, and so I headed out with the goal of making Grant Park in Galena my first stop. I didn't do too bad in my guess - I only had to wait about 30 minutes before the cowl unit snaked around the corner and through the freshly snow-covered scene.