View allAll Photos Tagged narry
The Moon on 12th, 13th & 14th of January, 2022, showing daily increasing illumination, seen through my twelve inch Dobsonian Telescope. Each was a single exposure with my Canon 5d Mk4.
With less than a month until Pan Am disappears as an independent regional I figured I should do a bit more documentation before the end. So despite wanting to go to Palmer I passed on the B&A and headed to Ayer figuring AYPO would be a sure thing. Alas there was narry a proper painted unit to be found which I suppose is the proper way to document the last dying gasps of everyone's least favorite railroad.
A pass through MassDevelopment's Devens business park found an unidentified local or yard job gathering up boxcars to pull from the Sappi warehouse located off the west side of the yard. MEC 7594 is a GE C40-8 blt. Jun. 1990 for CSXT with the same number.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday May 6, 2022
With less than a month until Pan Am disappears as an independent regional I figured I should do a bit more documentation before the end. So despite wanting to go to Palmer I passed on the B&A and headed to Ayer figuring AYPO would be a sure thing. Alas there was narry a proper painted unit to be found which I suppose is the proper way to document the last dying gasps of everyone's least favorite railroad. This has got to be the only case where a soulless Class 1 like CSXT will be the lesser of evils!
Anyway, AYPO (daily Ayer to Portland manifest) finally got a roll on out of town with yet another bedraggled ex CSXT patch job C40-8 leading. So making the best of less than ideal conditions I incorporated a few old wayside elements as they begin to accelerate toward the Willows where they will diverge from the Keolis/MBTA Fitchburg Line onto the old Stony Brook Branch (all part of modern day Pan Am's east west Freight Mainline). The old granite Boston and Maine era milepost standing guard here just west of the Sandy Pond Road crossing denotes the mileage to North Station in that old road's namesake city.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday May 6, 2022
With less than a month until Pan Am disappears as an independent regional I figured I should do a bit more documentation before the end. So despite wanting to go to Palmer I passed on the B&A and headed to Ayer figuring AYPO would be a sure thing. Alas there was narry a proper painted unit to be found which I suppose is the proper way to document the last dying gasps of everyone's least favorite railroad.
A pass through MassDevelopment's Devens business park found an unidentified local or yard job gathering up boxcars to pull from the Sappi warehouse located off the west side of the yard. MEC 7594 is a GE C40-8 blt. Jun. 1990 for CSXT with the same number.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday May 6, 2022
With less than a month until Pan Am disappears as an independent regional I figured I should do a bit more documentation before the end. So despite wanting to go to Palmer I passed on the B&A and headed to Ayer figuring AYPO would be a sure thing. Alas there was narry a proper painted unit to be found which I suppose is the proper way to document the last dying gasps of everyone's least favorite railroad. This has got to be the only case where a soulless Class 1 like CSXT will be the lesser of evils!
Anyway, AYPO (daily Ayer to Portland manifest) finally got a roll on out of town with yet another bedraggled ex CSXT patch job C40-8 leading. So making the best of less than ideal conditions I incorporated a few old wayside elements as they begin to accelerate toward the Willows where they will diverge from the Keolis/MBTA Fitchburg Line onto the old Stony Brook Branch (all part of modern day Pan Am's east west Freight Mainline). The old granite Boston and Maine era milepost standing guard here just west of the Sandy Pond Road crossing denotes the mileage to North Station in that old road's namesake city.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday May 6, 2022
While countless fans flock to CN's former Missabe Road mainline to chase the ore trains behind their vintage power, their nextdoor neighbor is largely eschewed. But BNSF continues to be a major player in the ion ore business with exclusive access to two of the six currently producing taconite pellet plants in the Iron Range region. Serving the Keetac and Hibtacc plants of US Steel and Cleveland Cliffs in Keewatin and Hibbing respectively these facilities are west of the DMIR along legacy Great Northern Railway routes. While some ore moves via long all 'all rail' routings much of it flows to Superior and the massive ex GB Allouez ore yard and docks. The primary route for these trains among the heaviest in North America is via BNSF's Allouez, Lakes, and Casco Subdivisions. The latter basically parallels the former DMIR northward some places literally in sight of their competitor.
Despite this proximity you see comparatively very few photos of BNSF operations along the Casco. I suppose this makes sense given that trains are much less frequent and they run with mundane modern wide cabs and similarly modern ore hoppers. However there is an exception to that rule and we got intel that on this day the biweekly (I think) road local was to be heading south from Kelly Lake Yard with a lead unit still in Burlington Northern green.
After confirming with a friend at BNSF that a crew was indeed ordered and we took the leap of faith and drove 90 minutes north. Upon arrival we sure enough found the train built in the yard with three units and the advertised BN leader but all shut down and narry a soul around. But we gave it a bit and soon enough a taxi arrived, the units were fired up and the crew called for permission out of the yard. This is all welded rail, CTC, and 50 mph territory and with no opposition they got lights the length of the line 49 miles south to Brookston. After getting one shot of them pulling we drove 40 miles south (50 by car) for our second shot and made it with only minutes to spare.
After that we were afforded one final shot thanks to some permanent slow orders on the big curves along the St. Louis River. BNSF's MKLLSUP (manifest Kelly Lake to Superior) is now on the Lakes Sub at about MP 55.4, having swung off the Casco Sub at Brookston about 2 1/2 miles west of here. This view looks compass north off the US Route 2 overpass with the train seen snaking thru the turnout at the east end of the nearly 10,500 ft passing siding.
Cascade Green SD40-2 BNSF 1943 (blt. Feb. 1979 as BN 7145) is trailed by rebuilt GP38-2 2240 (orginally blt. Sep. 1970 as straight GP38 ATSF 3551) and sibling SD40-2 1663 (blt. Mar. 1978 as BN 8012) with a long train of ore cars and general freight.
The one thing I remember about this is how thrilled the crew seemed. Over on the CN it was mostly scowls and half hearted disdainfully flaccid waves but this guy had a giant smile and a huge enthusiastic wave the three times he saw us. Maybe BN guys are happier or maybe he just never sees railfans and was glad to finally get some love and recognition, but whatever the reason it sure was memorable and joyful!
Stoney Brook Township
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023
After a pretty disappointing Friday on my two day one night trip to Pan Am district one I wasn't sure what to try on Saturday. Normally nothing runs east of Waterville on weekends except SAPPI but unsurprisingly that NMWA from Friday spent 12 hrs there and never left. I heard in the morning that a Waterville crew on duty at 0900 was going to taxi up there to finish building it and come back west. But first they had to taxi to POWA and bring it in so I headed for a leisurely breakfast and then a walk and a little exploring across the river as seen in this shot: flic.kr/p/2nmvVMi and a few others.
The normally morning SAPPI turn down from the mill in Hinckley had been running in the afternoon all week to accommodate track work but being a Saturday I wasn't sure easy they would do. So I took a detour around noon to see if I could find them and sure enough I did...tied down at the derail with narry a crew in sight. Presumably they were still on afternoons even though it was a weekend and no MofW crews were out working.
So I settled for a few stationary shots here and then started east to Northern Maine Junction to see if my luck might ever turn.
GP40 MEC 350 is one of the oldest on the roster having been blt. Jul. 1967 for the New York Central Railroad as NYC 3050. She then passed to PC and CR before coming to Guilford in the mid 1990s.
The current Hinckley Branch diverges from the freight main at CPF 110 a couple miles east of Waterville and extends a bit over 9 miles compass north (railroad east) to the Sappi Fine Paper mill just out of sight to the left. Until 1971 the branch extended about 5 miles further to its end near downtown Skowhegan.
Train Sappi 3 has been brought out by the contract plant switcher crew and tied down east (compass north) of the plant entrance road here at MP H9.25. Sappi stands for (South African Pulp and Paper Industries) the Johannesburg based parent of Sappi Nort America that is headquartered in Boston and operates four mills on the continent. The Somerset Mill as it is known was built by the S.D. Warren Company in 1974 and became Sappi property in 1994 when it acquired the S.D. Warren Division from Scott Paper (which had owned it since 1967).
This mill is purportedly the single largest customer on the entire Pan Am Railway's system. To learn more about this mill click here:
Skowhegan, Maine
Saturday May 14, 2022
While countless fans flock to CN's former Missabe Road mainline to chase the ore trains behind their vintage power, their nextdoor neighbor is largely eschewed. But BNSF continues to be a major player in the ion ore business with exclusive access to two of the six currently producing taconite pellet plants in the Iron Range region. Serving the Keetac and Hibtacc plants of US Steel and Cleveland Cliffs in Keewatin and Hibbing respectively these facilities are west of the DMIR along legacy Great Northern Railway routes. While some ore moves via long all 'all rail' routings much of it flows to Superior and the massive ex GB Allouez ore yard and docks. The primary route for these trains among the heaviest in North America is via BNSF's Allouez, Lakes, and Casco Subdivisions. The latter basically parallels the former DMIR northward some places literally in sight of their competitor.
Despite this proximity you see comparatively very few photos of BNSF operations along the Casco. I suppose this makes sense given that trains are much less frequent and they run with mundane modern wide cabs and similarly modern ore hoppers. However there is an exception to that rule and we got intel that on this day the biweekly (I think) road local was to be heading south from Kelly Lake Yard with a lead unit still in Burlington Northern green.
After confirming with a friend at BNSF that a crew was indeed ordered and we took the leap of faith and drove 90 minutes north. Upon arrival we sure enough found the train built in the yard with three units and the advertised BN leader but all shut down and narry a soul around. But we gave it a bit and soon enough a taxi arrived, the units were fired up and the crew called for permission out of the yard. This is all welded rail, CTC, and 50 mph territory and with no opposition they got lights the length of the line 49 miles south to Brookston. After getting one shot of them pulling we drove 40 miles south (50 by car) for our second shot and made it with only minutes to spare.
BNSF's MKLLSUP (manifest Kelly Lake to Superior) is hammering at track speed southbound approaching the Hwy 8 at MP 63.2 on the Casco Sub. This trackage dates from 1901 when James J. Hill's Eastern Railway of Minnesota built north in pursuit of iron. In 1905 the railroad was leased to the Great Northern and two years later was outright purchased and has remained in the family ever since. Cascade Green SD40-2 BNSF 1943 (blt. Feb. 1979 as BN 7145) is trailed by rebuilt GP38-2 2240 (orginally blt. Sep. 1970 as straight GP38 ATSF 3551) and sibling SD40-2 1663 (blt. Mar. 1978 as BN 8012) with a long train of ore cars and general freight. This spot is almost exactly 2 1/2 miles due west of the famous Culver Curve on the Missabe that has probably been photographed more in day than this spot has been in a year!
The one thing I remember about this is how thrilled the crew seemed. Over on the CN it was mostly scowls and half hearted disdainfully flaccid waves but this guy had a giant smile and a huge enthusiastic wave the three times he saw us. Maybe BN guys are happier or maybe he just never sees railfans and was glad to finally get some love and recognition, but whatever the reason it sure was memorable and joyful!
Culver Township
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023
With less than a month until Pan Am disappears as an independent regional I figured I should do a bit more documentation before the end. So despite wanting to go to Palmer I passed on the B&A and headed to Ayer figuring AYPO would be a sure thing. Alas there was narry a proper painted unit to be found which I suppose is the proper way to document the last dying gasps of everyone's least favorite railroad. This has got to be the only case where a soulless Class 1 like CSXT will be the lesser of evils!
Anyway, after shooting two trains in Ayer both with ugly patched C40-8s I headed to Lawrence but alas LA-1 wasn't working and the two yard engines (one of which was yet another patched GE!) were just parked. I waited for a few uninspiring shots of AYPO again and then got a tip that BO-1 was headed to Peabody. Having gotten skunked last time I tried that due to a track inspector taking the branch out of service in front of the train I figured I'd try again.
Well when I got to the area I checked Rousselot first, but the rail heads were still rusty so I knew I hadn't missed them yet and they must be on their way out. So I started following the line back to Salem when I found them....and just my luck.
Look close and you'll see a maintainer squatted down to the right working on MEC 502 sitting here just short of the little bridge over the North River. When I went to investigate further why they weren't moving I noticed that the loco and and five hoppers were timetable east (compass west) of the Grove Street crossing and two tanks were cut sitting west of it. The rear truck on that rear car was derailed and the rail was rolled beneath. Just for fun I drove to the next crossing and could see the ties chewed up for at least 1200 or more feet that it bounced along before they came to a stop. At the 5 mph or less they operate on the Danvers Industrial the crew probably didn't feel anything and didn't even notice....I honestly kinda wonder how they found out? Did they look back and see? Did someone call it in? Did they finally go into emergency? Who knows...but regardless looks like the rails behind me are going to stay rusty a bit longer!
Ugghhh Pan Am....good riddance....I can't wait to shoot a CSXT geep here...maybe they'll actually make it!
Salem, Massachusetts
Friday May 6, 2022
While countless fans flock to CN's former Missabe Road mainline to chase the ore trains behind their vintage power, their nextdoor neighbor is largely eschewed. But BNSF continues to be a major player in the ion ore business with exclusive access to two of the six currently producing taconite pellet plants in the Iron Range region. Serving the Keetac and Hibtacc plants of US Steel and Cleveland Cliffs in Keewatin and Hibbing respectively these facilities are west of the DMIR along legacy Great Northern Railway routes. While some ore moves via long all 'all rail' routings much of it flows to Superior and the massive ex GB Allouez ore yard and docks. The primary route for these trains among the heaviest in North America is via BNSF's Allouez, Lakes, and Casco Subdivisions. The latter basically parallels the former DMIR northward some places literally in sight of their competitor.
Despite this proximity you see comparatively very few photos of BNSF operations along the Casco. I suppose this makes sense given that trains are much less frequent and they run with mundane modern wide cabs and similarly modern ore hoppers. However there is an exception to that rule and we got intel that on this day the biweekly (I think) road local was to be heading south from Kelly Lake Yard with a lead unit still in Burlington Northern green.
After confirming with a friend at BNSF that a crew was indeed ordered and we took the leap of faith and drove 90 minutes north. Upon arrival we sure enough found the train built in the yard with three units and the advertised BN leader but all shut down and narry a soul around. But we gave it a bit and soon enough a taxi arrived, the units were fired up and the crew of BNSF's MKLLSUP (manifest Kelly Lake to Superior) started moving slowly down yard track 17 to thr Casco Siding while calling for a signal out of the yard. While largely empty these days and with only a few tracks remaining, Kelly Lake Yard was once a very busy location for sorting cars from different mines back in the raw ore days. Today BNSF's giant taconite pellet trains don't needs switching as they pass by headed to the HibTac Sub that diverges just north (railroad east) of the yard.
This is about MP 106.8 on the Casco Sub and in the foreground is a siding to one of the very few non iron ore related customers in this area. This line is all welded rail, CTC, and 50 mph territory, so with no opposition they were given signals the length of the line 49 miles south to Brookston. After getting this shot here we drove 40 miles south (50 by car) for our second shot and made it with only minutes to spare and it was one of my favorites of the trip. If you missed it you can find it here: flic.kr/p/2oCBD1H
This trackage dates from 1901 when James J. Hill's Eastern Railway of Minnesota built north in pursuit of iron. In 1905 the railroad was leased to the Great Northern and two years later was outright purchased and has remained in the family ever since. Cascade Green SD40-2 BNSF 1943 (blt. Feb. 1979 as BN 7145) is trailed by rebuilt GP38-2 2240 (orginally blt. Sep. 1970 as straight GP38 ATSF 3551) and sibling SD40-2 1663 (blt. Mar. 1978 as BN 8012) with a long train of ore cars and general freight.
Kelly Lake
Hibbing, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023
While countless fans flock to CN's former Missabe Road mainline to chase the ore trains behind their vintage power, their nextdoor neighbor is largely eschewed. But BNSF continues to be a major player in the ion ore business with exclusive access to two of the six currently producing taconite pellet plants in the Iron Range region. Serving the Keetac and Hibtacc plants of US Steel and Cleveland Cliffs in Keewatin and Hibbing respectively these facilities are west of the DMIR along legacy Great Northern Railway routes. While some ore moves via long all 'all rail' routings much of it flows to Superior and the massive ex GB Allouez ore yard and docks. The primary route for these trains among the heaviest in North America is via BNSF's Allouez, Lakes, and Casco Subdivisions. The latter basically parallels the former DMIR northward some places literally in sight of their competitor.
Despite this proximity you see comparatively very few photos of BNSF operations along the Casco. I suppose this makes sense given that trains are much less frequent and they run with mundane modern wide cabs and similarly modern ore hoppers. However there is an exception to that rule and we got intel that on this day the biweekly (I think) road local was to be heading south from Kelly Lake Yard with a lead unit still in Burlington Northern green.
After confirming with a friend at BNSF that a crew was indeed ordered and we took the leap of faith and drove 90 minutes north. Upon arrival we sure enough found the train built in the yard with three units and the advertised BN leader but all shut down and narry a soul around. But we gave it a bit and soon enough a taxi arrived, the units were fired up and the crew of BNSF's MKLLSUP (manifest Kelly Lake to Superior) started moving slowly down yard track 17 to the Casco Siding while calling for a signal out of the yard. While largely empty these days and with only a few tracks remaining, Kelly Lake Yard was once a very busy location for sorting cars from different mines back in the raw ore days. Today BNSF's giant taconite pellet trains don't needs switching as they pass by headed to the HibTac Sub that diverges just north (railroad east) of the yard.
This is about MP 106.8 on the Casco Sub and in the foreground is a siding to one of the very few non iron ore related customers in this area. This line is all welded rail, CTC, and 50 mph territory, so with no opposition they were given signals the length of the line 49 miles south to Brookston. After getting a few shots here we drove 40 miles south (50 by car) for our second shot and made it with only minutes to spare and it was one of my favorites of the trip. If you missed it you can find it here: flic.kr/p/2oCBD1H
This trackage dates from 1901 when James J. Hill's Eastern Railway of Minnesota built north in pursuit of iron. In 1905 the railroad was leased to the Great Northern and two years later was outright purchased and has remained in the family ever since. Cascade Green SD40-2 BNSF 1943 (blt. Feb. 1979 as BN 7145) is trailed by rebuilt GP38-2 2240 (orginally blt. Sep. 1970 as straight GP38 ATSF 3551) and sibling SD40-2 1663 (blt. Mar. 1978 as BN 8012) with a long train of ore cars and general freight.
Kelly Lake
Hibbing, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023
En route from Sydney to Southampton.. Old time freighters with narry a container in sight.
Minolta SRT101, Minolta MC 135mm f2.8, Kodachrome 25, Epson V700
After a pretty disappointing Friday on my two day one night trip to Pan Am district one I wasn't sure what to try on Saturday. Normally nothing runs east of Waterville on weekends except SAPPI but unsurprisingly that NMWA from Friday spent 12 hrs there and never left. I heard in the morning that a Waterville crew on duty at 0900 was going to taxi up there to finish building it and come back west. But first they had to taxi to POWA and bring it in so I headed for a leisurely breakfast and then a walk and a little exploring across the river as seen in this shot: flic.kr/p/2nmvVMi and a few others.
The normally morning SAPPI turn down from the mill in Hinckley had been running in the afternoon all week to accommodate track work but being a Saturday I wasn't sure easy they would do. So I took a detour around noon to see if I could find them and sure enough I did...tied down at the derail with narry a crew in sight. Presumably they were still on afternoons even though it was a weekend and no MofW crews were out working.
So I settled for a few stationary shots here and then started east to Northern Maine Junction to see if my luck might ever turn.
GP40 MEC 350 is one of the oldest on the roster having been blt. Jul. 1967 for the New York Central Railroad as NYC 3050. She then passed to PC and CR before coming to Guilford in the mid 1990s.
The current Hinckley Branch diverges from the freight main at CPF 110 a couple miles east of Waterville and extends a bit over 9 miles compass north (railroad east) to the Sappi Fine Paper mill just out of sight to the left. Until 1971 the branch extended about 5 miles further to its end near downtown Skowhegan.
Train Sappi 3 has been brought out by the contract plant switcher crew and tied down east (compass north) of the plant entrance road here at MP H9.25. Sappi stands for (South African Pulp and Paper Industries) the Johannesburg based parent of Sappi Nort America that is headquartered in Boston and operates four mills on the continent. The Somerset Mill as it is known was built by the S.D. Warren Company in 1974 and became Sappi property in 1994 when it acquired the S.D. Warren Division from Scott Paper (which had owned it since 1967).
This mill is purportedly the single largest customer on the entire Pan Am Railway's system. To learn more about this mill click here:
Skowhegan, Maine
Saturday May 14, 2022
The thing about people is you never rely know them.
Everyone has secrets, some darker than others.
Gambler, adultery, debt, sexuality, spying, criminal, illness, money, background.
The mystery is part of the thrill.
Those who follow me know I like to mix up 'Monochrome Monday' posts with selective color now and then and this frame seemed to lend itself perfectly to that effect. What better way to tell the story of Pan Am in one image as they are finally about to disappear after a half century or wreaking heartache on New England Railroading.
Let's hope these rails have a future that sees them pulled from the mud, leveled, aligned, and ballasted with a few ties added to get them up to a respectable 10 mph instead of the 'walking speed' that is still too fast!
As for this shot, this is the story I wrote with another normal color one I posted last week:
With less than a month until Pan Am disappears as an independent regional I figured I should do a bit more documentation before the end. So despite wanting to go to Palmer I passed on the B&A and headed to Ayer figuring AYPO would be a sure thing. Alas there was narry a proper painted unit to be found which I suppose is the proper way to document the last dying gasps of everyone's least favorite railroad. This has got to be the only case where a soulless Class 1 like CSXT will be the lesser of evils!
Anyway, after shooting two trains in Ayer both with ugly patched C40-8s I headed to Lawrence but alas LA-1 wasn't working and the two yard engines (one of which was yet another patched GE!) were just parked. I waited for a few uninspiring shots of AYPO again and then got a tip that BO-1 was headed to Peabody. Having gotten skunked last time I tried that due to a track inspector taking the branch out of service in front of the train I figured I'd try again.
Well when I got to the area I checked Rousselot first, but the rail heads were still rusty so I knew I hadn't missed them yet and they must be on their way out. So I started following the line back to Salem when I found them....and just my luck.
Look close and you'll see a maintainer squatted down to the right working on MEC 502 sitting here just short of the little bridge over the North River. When I went to investigate further why they weren't moving I noticed that the loco and and five hoppers were timetable east (compass west) of the Grove Street crossing and two tanks were cut sitting west of it. The rear truck on that rear car was derailed and the rail was rolled beneath. Just for fun I drove to the next crossing and could see the ties chewed up for at least 1200 or more feet that it bounced along before they came to a stop. At the 5 mph or less they operate on the Danvers Industrial the crew probably didn't feel anything and didn't even notice....I honestly kinda wonder how they found out? Did they look back and see? Did someone call it in? Did they finally go into emergency? Who knows...but regardless looks like the rails behind me are going to stay rusty a bit longer!
Ugghhh Pan Am....good riddance....I can't wait to shoot a CSXT geep here...maybe they'll actually make it!
Salem, Massachusetts
Friday May 6, 2022
#flicker #niallhoran #harrystyles #louistomlinson #liampayne #like #onedirection #narry #slowhands #niall #zaynmalik #flickerworldtour #l #d #likeforlikes #thistown #art #treatpeoplewithkindness #boys #bird #harrystylesliveontour #fff #direction #zayn #soloharrystyles #larry #stripthatdown #toomuchtoask #midnightmemories #bhfyp
While countless fans flock to CN's former Missabe Road mainline to chase the ore trains behind their vintage power, their nextdoor neighbor is largely eschewed. But BNSF continues to be a major player in the ion ore business with exclusive access to two of the six currently producing taconite pellet plants in the Iron Range region. Serving the Keetac and Hibtacc plants of US Steel and Cleveland Cliffs in Keewatin and Hibbing respectively these facilities are west of the DMIR along legacy Great Northern Railway routes. While some ore moves via long all 'all rail' routings much of it flows to Superior and the massive ex GB Allouez ore yard and docks. The primary route for these trains among the heaviest in North America is via BNSF's Allouez, Lakes, and Casco Subdivisions. The latter basically parallels the former DMIR northward some places literally in sight of their competitor.
Despite this proximity you see comparatively very few photos of BNSF operations along the Casco. I suppose this makes sense given that trains are much less frequent and they run with mundane modern wide cabs and similarly modern ore hoppers. However there is an exception to that rule and we got intel that on this day the biweekly (I think) road local was to be heading south from Kelly Lake Yard with a lead unit still in Burlington Northern green.
After confirming with a friend at BNSF that a crew was indeed ordered and we took the leap of faith and drove 90 minutes north. Upon arrival we sure enough found the train built in the yard with three units and the advertised BN leader but all shut down and narry a soul around. But we gave it a bit and soon enough a taxi arrived, the units were fired up and the crew of BNSF's MKLLSUP (manifest Kelly Lake to Superior) started pulling while calling for a signal out of the yard.
They are about MP 106 on the Casco Sub as they pass thru swamp land along the West Swam River just out of the yard and a half mile south of the US Route 169 overpass. This line is all welded rail, CTC, and 50 mph territory, so with no opposition they were given signals the length of the line 49 miles south to Brookston. After getting this shot we drove 40 miles south (50 by car) for our second shot and made it with only minutes to spare and it was one of my favorites of the trip. If you missed it you can find it here: flic.kr/p/2oCBD1H
This trackage dates from 1901 when James J. Hill's Eastern Railway of Minnesota built north in pursuit of iron. In 1905 the railroad was leased to the Great Northern and two years later was outright purchased and has remained in the family ever since. Cascade Green SD40-2 BNSF 1943 (blt. Feb. 1979 as BN 7145) is trailed by rebuilt GP38-2 2240 (orginally blt. Sep. 1970 as straight GP38 ATSF 3551) and sibling SD40-2 1663 (blt. Mar. 1978 as BN 8012) with a long train of ore cars and general freight.
Kelly Lake
Hibbing, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023
my climbing team together at the summit of mt. rainier, 14,441 ft (4401 m).
kneeling (l to r): jen, me
strong-arming: boone :o)
back row (l to r): josh, sam, ron
we could not have asked for more perfect conditions to get up here. full moon shining on the night ascent, making for some spectacular glacier scenery to distract from the pain. not a cloud in the sky. winds were the calmest ever...narry a breeze on the summit, which is unheard of.
despite the smile, i was SO tired when this was taken. i actually fell asleep on my pack in the summit crater, just basking in the sun. i have had no less than 5 friends tell me they napped at the summit, and i could not understand how that was possible. um, i totally get it now guys!
all in all, an incredible time. had 3 distinct moments on the climb where i was scared out of my mind and doubted my own sanity for being in those situations, but it was cool to get past them and keep going. holy adrenaline rush. i am totally never doing this again, but am thrilled to have been able to try, even once.
**shout out to ron, our fearless team leader: 67 years old, and this was his 10th rainier summit! you rock, ron!
Members of the up & coming Reggae Band "The Tuff Gang" that I met during my recent trip in Jamaica. I spent a few days hanging out with them in their "home base" (Kingston) exploring their universe and taking some pictures.
From left to right:
Yezer "Yaz" Root
Narry Berry
Abijah Livingston (aka Asadenaki)
Michael Graham aka "Genius"
Some of their tunes here: soundcloud.com/tuff-gang-1
Petyr, fair Petyr, where to begin?
With your three stubby legs, and narry a chin.
Your uneven arms, that drag on the ground,
While your two wonky eyes look all around.
Fungus has sprouted from foot and from head
Science would tell you-he may be half dead.
But still we adore all your curious parts,
Especially your head, and all of its smarts!
Sweet little monster, orange as can be,
We welcome you gladly to our family!