IARR at Ackley
Iowa River Railroad 3802 has made the regular weekday run to Ackley with some tank cars of industrial strength corn squeezins and other byproducts. A warm day haze a lot of fog and haze hanging in the air as the snow is melting, but the sun has cut through. Here at a siding on the former Minneapolis and St. Louis Line just south of Ackley that serves as their interchange with the CN, the crew has run around their train and are sorting out their pick up to take back south with them. Soon they'll depart for the slow run over the roller-coaster line back to the Pine Lake Corn Processors plant near Cleves. I don't know my M&StL history well enough to know if that switch stand is authentic to their ownership of the line, but either way it's always a neat prop and I think the only one left on this short stretch of track.
The IARR 3802 was typically handling the train solo in this era because the railroad's GP30 was down for the count. Another similar sharp-looking GP38 would show up a few months after this photo was taken.
IARR at Ackley
Iowa River Railroad 3802 has made the regular weekday run to Ackley with some tank cars of industrial strength corn squeezins and other byproducts. A warm day haze a lot of fog and haze hanging in the air as the snow is melting, but the sun has cut through. Here at a siding on the former Minneapolis and St. Louis Line just south of Ackley that serves as their interchange with the CN, the crew has run around their train and are sorting out their pick up to take back south with them. Soon they'll depart for the slow run over the roller-coaster line back to the Pine Lake Corn Processors plant near Cleves. I don't know my M&StL history well enough to know if that switch stand is authentic to their ownership of the line, but either way it's always a neat prop and I think the only one left on this short stretch of track.
The IARR 3802 was typically handling the train solo in this era because the railroad's GP30 was down for the count. Another similar sharp-looking GP38 would show up a few months after this photo was taken.