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.