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Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado
Central Ave.
I contend this location to be the mouth of the Soo Line. Sure, there were other spots in which to enter or depart Shoreham Yard, but this was certainly the most impressive arrival and departure spot. It's pretty easy to visualize the second main sitting where the road is, and further down the "golf course" it opens up to four tracks. Those four tracks were hammered on a 24 hour schedule not unlike any other important yard in America, but the nestled confines of Shoreham were unique. Of course the yard included buildings for paint, heavy repairs, a car shop, and a roundhouse that was only recently torn down. Fond Du Lac, Stevens Point, even Thief River Falls can certainly boast of their importance as well, but Shoreham, through my rose-colored glasses, was the pinnacle.
The grandeur had certainly evaporated by this fall day in 2006, the WC Transfer had the old SOO all to itself. Many days were just like this, as the only traffic that the CP had to traverse the Central Avenue control point would be occasional ballast trains, and the one-off call for headroom for the intermodal shuffler called the "House Job." No 940 for Chicago would be calling.
As it was to the neighborhood unaware, they may have thought at least four trains still used these tracks on any given day. While Shoreham no longer functioned as SOO's Minneapolis hub, and the Withrow Sub itself stopped being a thru-route, there was still action in the form of the trackage rights holder. For those of us who enjoy the "why and how" of the story, the general operation during this era was as follows:
The Stevens Point based road crew (Train 5, T005, STNB, and in CN years A40581) would deliver the inbound train off at New Brighton a few hours after midnight if on time, and the Transfer crew would get on and start the day by dumping off their UP, TC&W, PGR(?), and MNNR destined cars into the MNNR yard at said location. Generally speaking, it worked best to have the BN cars on the rear of the train, CP's in the middle, and the MNNR cars on the head pin to simplify this.
Next, they would take the remainder of their train (CP and BN's) West into Minneapolis. Often they would cut their BN cars off in one of two locations West of CTC New Brighton (Townhomes or Stinson) before descending down "Shoreham Hill." If the CP pickup at Humboldt would be short (10 cars or so), they also could leave the BN's on the high line (where the CN boxcar sits above) if both cuts would clear the respective switches they sat between. The latter was a rare occasion during 2006.
On their way back East from CP's Humboldt Yard, they would stash their pickup in between the Foley Wye, or if too much footage as was the case this day, they would leave the cars on the high line. After tying down the CP's, they would go fetch the BN cars again, usually heading back up the hill to Stinson. Once tied on, they would get a lineup back down into Shoreham on "the loop" and then wait for the BN to take them.
After trading cars at Northtown, it's time to head back into Shoreham and pick up the aforementioned CP's again at the Foley Wye or Central Ave. All of the above has happened on this day, in as little as six or seven hours often, as they wait for the signal up the hill only to shove back onto the cars sitting on the high line. They will make Shoreham Hill from a dead stop, lord willing and the creek don't freeze.
Once they arrive back at New Brighton, there are still more handbrakes to tie and air tests to be done. The train, now Eastbound, pounds across the MNNR diamond and pulls up to the East leg of the wye between the mainline and the yard. If they had Ashley Furniture intermodal from the BN on the headend, they would cut behind the last intermodal car and shove down into the yard to make the final pickup with the MNNR. The MNNR traffic was usually heavy in steel coils, boxcars of 50' and 60' variety, lumber, and seasonally TCWR grain hoppers.
After pulling out of the MNNR and back onto the main, the conductor would drive the air test and put the train back together one final time. The usual move was to shove the train back West to clear the CTC signal guarding the CP/MNNR diamond, although on some occasions if necessary for other moves they would head to Cardigan Jct. or even Withrow, MN. Keep in mind, during the 2005-2007 years, it was semi-regular to get trains of 150+ cars heading back to Stevens Point. This was no neighborhood local.
This game of hot potato and track polishing was an everyday occurrence until the CP quit running all of their traffic over the BN's St. Paul Sub. Westbound traffic out of St. Paul yard now only uses the BN for about two miles before getting onto home rails at Soo Line Jct. With that traffic pattern change, all of the rigmarole above simply cannot take place anymore, and therefore the CN-CP interchange was moved to Cardigan Jct (IE: out of the way), and the train no longer ties down on the main at New Brighton.
While the Transfer no longer makes four trips up and down Shoreham Hill, the neighborhood isn't missing out on any action. The gray SD40-3's are sure lacking, though.
I got to spend a few minutes last November photographing this Northern Harrier male - way out there in the middle of an open field. This is basically "session over" as it took off. Nice to have something actually take off in my direction instead of being a butt shot. On the other hand, one does get a brief feeling of what being prey might be like. The male is known as the "gray ghost" and quite the ladies man, evidently able to handle a handful of chicks at once over an extended area.
Behold! The latest Banksy rat mural, right on Canal St and West Broadway. This one is particularly clever—look closely: yes, it is finished! :)
This means I am now passing by two of these murals on my way to work, and a third one is right there in the Soho / Chinatown area as well, to be uploaded shortly.
I was lucky enough to snap a picture of the work in progress, to be posted in comments below.
Update 11/18/08
I noticed today that it is gone :(
Yes, we are still alive and running crazy!! Linda and I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!! We had a nice trip to North Carolina and have been doing some shooting since returning. We have many new images to share with you and can't wait to catch up with your images!!
It is a rare treat to photograph a male Northern Harrier in South Florida !! Most of the Harriers we see are females!! Again we hope everyone is well and thanks for looking!!
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While out for one train and finishing that chase, I head over to Pig's Eye, only to hear J42 getting ready to leave for Humboldt with CP 7015 leading. They show up as they pass the locomotive facility, with an eclectic lash up, consisting of CP Heritage 7015, 5024, 8819 & KCSM Gray Ghost 4531. I decided to give chase to Humboldt, something that turned easier than expected. Here they are as they roar through St Anthony
Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado
KCSM 4542 ("Grey Ghost" AC4400CW) leads CPKC 246, seen here having arrived at Bensenville Yard and pulled out of the east end for headroom, within Franklin Park city limits.
I went out in the coldest day thus far, clear and sunny and very few fools outdoors. as luck will have it, The Gray Ghost flew right towards me... fumbled with gloves and frozen fingers but did get a few usable images. 2017 is shaping up as a Harrier year.
Miss Lyalh made EXPLORE again :o)
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CEFX 3109 East cuts through the stiff breeze as it heads for Portage on the most frigid day of 2016 thus far. For many, these gray Alstoms have never been anything but a let down. In a somewhat sick way, I have always had a soft spot for these and their fellow "rebuilt for order" more colorful siblings of SD40/SD40-2/SD45 ilk. Numerous reporting marks were given to this massive rebuild program, which started in earnest in 1999 to quench CSX's power shortage.
The first batch was under First Union, and they all came in a lively green and silver scheme which ranged from 3000-3052. Next up was under Alstoms' own reporting marks (GCFX), which were pumped out in three scheme variations from 3053-3102. The final installment of the order was placed under Citi Bank initials, and this batch was largely rebuilt from former SP and Santa Fe SD45 hulks, ranging from 3103-3152. The 3103-3112 were in the typical gray with white chevrons, but the SD45 shells were all dressed in a vibrant blue with two italic white and green stripes on the long hood. All engines were outfitted with the same microprocessor and updated cabs, which makes spotting these rebuilds as simple as looking at the thicker plastic window gaskets.
But with it being 2016, these "fresh" SD40 rebuilds are now old again. And many from this impressive rebuild program have already found new homes on shortlines and regionals in strange side sales that make you wonder what holding company even owns which ones. Much like how they all came together, a scattered mess of Canadian and US SD40's and SD45's, they have dispersed in reverse to try and escape the torches. And with NS needing some extra power at the moment (a phenomenon I am still confused by) I guess this one fit the bill alongside the CEFX 3143 and former SOO SD60's.
The vast majority of these Alstoms that haven't been sold off yet are still on CSX property, as they were intended, but have since been stored (save for a FURX or two). So I am fairly certain that this is my last time shooting a true gray ghost leading a Class 1 train.
Farewell friend.
View in Original size: www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/52724597390/sizes/o/
NORTHERN HARRIER-GRAY GHOST-01203613-
this Male Northern Harrier gave me the death stare while it was hunting for its next meal. Typically their eyes are always pointed down searching for prey, this guy happened to look my way for a split second.
"Gray Ghost" nicely near the parking in front of the check-in station. Did some flying around and returning. I didn't get any flight shots worth keeping - there was lots of cloud cover and that didn't help my photos.
Right place, right time. This is a dream shot for me that became a reality on 02/02/10. This male Harrier has been so hard to capture on the camera. I almost thought this shot was impossible. After spending all of last year and several full days this past week, I am thrilled to have this photograph. What a challenge it has been! Very poor lighting, or a break in the clouds only to be disappointed to not see a trace of this bird. Snowy conditions, smog, you name it, it has been very difficult. I was with my good friend Brett Colvin when I litterally had 3 seconds to capture this bird on the glass. Countless hours come down to 3 seconds....
I am very grateful!
Shot unedited.
Gray Ghost on his favorite perch by the end of the trail, with good lighting from this direction (and a little later in the morning).
Harriers, unlike most hawks, hunt with sound, and their facial feathers make make a disk-like antenna shape that 'collects' the sound, like an owl's facial feathers do. This photo shows this well.
KCSM 4545, a "Grey Ghost" AC4400CW, hustles north along the C&M with westbound CPKC freight 249 at Deerfield, IL.
Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado
Cruising the fields and greenways of Plainfield and Bolingbrook. Endangered in Illinois. Interesting fact: For this species, there are two females for every male. Note: I swapped the first and second photos after some comments were made.
The male northern harrier is also known as the "Gray Ghost". Here he was hunting near the entrance to the Sacramento NWR