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!

Astro Pup

There is a new member of the Astro Rails staff. Her name is Sophie, and she is a rescue miniature schnauzer.

Schnauzers are what got me restarted on the backyard astronomy hobby. It was on a trip to my wife's family farm several years ago that I took our schnauzers at the time, Molly and Emma out for their special walk.

While waiting for dogs to do what dogs do outside, I looked up at the clear, dark sky and the million little diamonds of light. I thought then, "hey, this is pretty coool, why haven't I done this for so long?

For most of the last year, since our last dog Emma passed, when i look up I've mostly seen the stipple of our indoor ceilings. Since Sophie will need these special walks to, I hope to be looking up at a lot more stars, even if more than a few are hiding behind the city lights.

Happy New Years from Astro Rails!

May your rail lines be busy,
May you skies be dark and full of stars,
May your dashboard lights stay off in the car,
and May your lakes be full of eatin size fish!