But wait there's more!

So on the last post, I said I thought I saw another headlight from an eastbound train.

I wasn't sure, but I had time to kill.  Unfortunately, I was going to have a bugger of a time finding another place to park.  The north shore of Minnetonka is a pretty popular place to be seen.

I pulled into the next public parking lot that was about 1/8th of a mile east of where I started out.

It quickly became apparent that I was not going to get a parking spot there.  The lot was full, but there were some people walking their very elderly parents to their parked car.  But there was were also three cars in front of me waiting for that spot.  And as soon as I pulled in there, three more  cars had the same idea about the spot and line up behind me.

I heard the train coming, and thought that I was completely out of luck. I grabbed this one out the window of the lead unit.

Grab and Go Action!

then after a little while,  the people ahead got their spot, but I still wanted my picture!  I pulled ahead, and off to the side of the lot exit to let the cars behind me out.  I got a few strange looks, but that was ok.  I knew that this loaded coal train had a bonus!  

Instead of having three locomotives pulling, many of the trains have two units pulling, and one pushing like mad on the back end.  I wanted this pusher, or Distributed Power Unit (DPU) as they are officially known as.

After about thirty seconds of watching coal cars roll east, I saw the heat rising from the exhaust of this bonus DP unit!

DP Action!

And with that, it was time to head back for home.  A nice day of railfanning action!

End of Summer Wayzata Trip

Every time I am on the road to or from work and I see a train crossing the highway, I think to myself that I should get out and do a little railfanning.  Usually schedule, procrastination, and weather collude against such trips.  On a recent weekend though, things came together and I struck while the iron was hot.

 I wanted a change of scenery as well.  Part of my doldrums have come from going to the same spots around town too often.  While these spots have plenty of trains rolling through, they are far from scenic.  I had been to the depot in Wayzata before, and while scenic, is kind of a gamble on train count.  But I wanted another shot at this location. There are about 10-15 trains a day rolling through, which is about 1 every 2 hours or so.  If they clump up, there is a good chance of being skunked if one can only stay for an hour or two. As I drove down there, I prepared myself for that very possibility.

Fortunately there was plenty of things to keep my camera busy.  The location is the former Great Northern depot along the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, in the city of Wayzata.  The line used to be part of the original northern transcontinental railroad, built by rail magnate James J Hill.  Lake Minnetonka is a very popular lake on the western side of Minneapolis.  There is a lot of wealth in the area, so there are also a lot of nice boats and interesting people to see there.

The shot I wanted / needed would be of a westbound train.  This was dictated by the low sun in the west.  When I got there, I had an hour or two max to get my picture before the sun went down.  My other goal for the trip was to just use my 50mm f1.8 lens,  I won a few battles with this lens, and the lens taught me that I still have some practice to do with it.   I’ll explain more about that in a later post. 

A view of the lake from the west end of the depot grounds.  If I got a shot, this is where it would come from.  There was very little chance of a train sneaking up in this area.  There are several crossings in the area, and with heavy vehicle and foot traffic at the crossings, train crews make liberal use of the horn.  So I set about exploring the area.   There are a few fishing piers and docks within walking distance, so I went for a walk.

View to the east

I walked along some of the docks to look at the boats.  Most  of the boats at the docks were covered up, but this boat was showing a little more than her neighbors. With the 50 f.18, you can't zoom in our out, so to get more or less in the frame you have to back your body up.   I ran out of room to back up, one more step and I would be in the drink!

Something Marie...

There were still no trains at this point, so I walked down a ways to some piers at the east end of the area to see what the sight lines were from there.  My original location was better, but there was a little more boat traffic here.

This boat had a beautiful sound as it idled away waiting for it’s upcoming trip.  Someone was going to have a good time, as the coolers were loaded to the hilt with choice beverages. 

She sounded nice!

American flag flying from the stern.

Flying the Red, White, and Blue

Abeautiful wood boat, maybe a Chris Craft?

What am I?

 There is lots of chrome on the instrument panel.  A few more dials and levers than on my Lund!

Lots of beautiful wood and chrome

Dials and Levers

But there were still no trains though.  I thought that I was going to get skunked as I was rapidly running out of daylight.  While I was waiting, I saw a couple snapping pics of each other with their iPhones.  I went down and offered to take a few of them together.  They were in town from California for a wedding, and were appreciative of getting their picture together.

The couple on the bench

Now I don’t think the railroad dispatches trains with karma in mind.  At this point there was only a few minutes of daylight left, and I was feeling good about the trip even without getting a train shot.  I saw some cool boats, talked with a few fishermen, and did a good deed for some tourists.  I had the camera packed up, and was ready to walk back to the car when the horn sounded across the lake.

My train had arrived, and from the proper direction!  I got the camera back out and framed my shot.  I metered the scene for good exposure, and waited for him to roll into view.  With fall just around the corner, the need for grain cars out west is starting to pick up.  A westbound train of empties was on this evening’s menu.  A couple of big GE’s were barely turning over moving this one along a nice flat stretch of the line.  The people that will occupy the large development that sprouted behind the train will get this view several times a day, lucky bastards!

Success!

 With the shot on the memory card, I made a pit stop and hopped back in the car for the ride home.  In the name of safety, I looked both ways at the crossing and saw did I see another light?

Feral Alco

So today me and my lovely wife were driving across an industrial part of Minneapolis to pick up a foster dog.  This neighborhood has several tracks crossing the street without gates or lights.

Feral Alco seen roaming Minneapolis

My wife, being driver spotted the end of a tank car starting to roll across one grade crossing from behind some trees and a low building.  The crewman on the car looked like he was ready to hop down and flag the train across.  Luckily some of the other cars noted that we were stopped, and then noticed the small train trundling across the street.

On the back end, was Minnesota Commercial #316 loafing along giving the cut of cars a nice push.  #316 is a 1962 graduate of the American Locomotive Company (Alco), and started it's career with the Chicago and Northwestern.  It is pretty rare to see a feral Alco these days, but they are out there.  Feral as compared to domesticated ones (Museums and tourist lines ) or stuffed and mounted specimens.

What were the lessons from this little encounter?

1. If there are tracks, make sure you look for a train, no matter how decrepit the track looks, no matter if there are no gates or lights.  This crossing just had the crossbuck
2. For the railfans, make sure you have a camera at the ready.  I left the DSLR at home thinking that no train would be seen this day on this trip.  Luckily, I had time to dig out my smartphone.  Not the best camera, but it worked here in a pinch.

Warm Astro Nights

So we have been experiencing some really warm weather up here in Minnesota of late.  For mid March, it has been freakishly warm, pushing 80 during the day and still in the 70's or upper 60's a few hours after sunset.

Last night I went to visit a brother out in the country, and we took a walk in the warm night to some train tracks about a 1000 feet from the house. Southern Minnesota has a distinct lack of hills, so there were great views all the way down to the horizon in almost all directions.

You could distinctly make out the winter Milky Way as it crossed from Auriga down into the space between Orion and Canis Major.  And then I thought, that any night you can view Orion while wearing just shirt sleeves is a good night.

Conjunction Junction

Every so often, we get to view a nice arrangement of the planets with each other, or with each other and the moon.  These events are called conjunctions.  Although the planets themselves are still millions of miles apart, the appear to sit right next to each other in the night sky.

Conjunction Over Suburbia

Tonights show is provided by the Venus and Jupiter, about as far apart as one can get in the real world.  Jupiter has stayed fairly still, with the planet Venus rising up in the night sky to meet it.  As the days progress, Venus will rise higher, while Jupiter will sink towards the horizon to end it's current night time apparition.  The two do make for a nice pair.  In a couple of weeks, the separated pair will be joined by a waxing crescent moon.

The Dog Star

With the new Astro Pup, Sophie, dogs have been on the mind of us here at Astro Rails.  On the clear nights, when Sophie goes out for her evening patrol,  I wonder if she notices the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius.  Located in the constellations Canis Major, or the Big Dog, Sirius is visible due south in the night sky this time of year.

Sirius got it's dog star nickname in ancient times.  People thought that because in the summer time, the star was daytime sky, that it was helping to make the summer temperatures warmer, thus the dog days of summer.

The boys of summer make a winter appearance

Taking schnauzers for their special walks is a round the clock operation. Some of these occur first thing in the morning. This time of year, first thing in the morning is about an hour and a half before sunrise, or about 5:45 am local time.

You can get a 'sneak peak' of the upcoming season's night sky by going out later in the evening. Or, in this case early in the morning. In the winter time, the night is long enough that you can get peek at the night sky for several months in advance. So when I went out this morning at 5:45, the morning sky looked like it would at around 11:45 pm cdt four months from now.

In the summer time, your sneak peak in the morning isn't as far ahead, as the night time isn't as long.

You can use this to your advantage in the fall, as you can get a preview of the winter sky while observing in warmer weather clothes and without the risk of snow.

Happy observing!