October 2011 Local Action

Photos by Dave Ingles

Amidst the great weather that began October, before going to the Mississippi River (see separate file), we made a quick trip north to check the level of fall color. Since the Wisconsin Central became CN, I get to Byron Hill and Fond du Lac once a year, at most, and this was 2011's trip. Naturally the CN was quiet, although we knew we were trailing a northbound but hadn't seen it, nor the power. It got by us at Theresa, so we just went on up to Byron, at the top of the grade, for this first shot of him, from the Highway F overpass, at 11:43 a.m. Units are 2697/BCOL 4623/8825, on a 146-car train I suspect was #335. Used to be, running "right-handed" here on the two main tracks between Byron (a mile south of this vantage point, at Highway Y) and Valley (south end of Fond du Lac, by the Route 41 overpass) was not the norm, but it appeared to be on this day.

The corn south of this farm had not been felled, so there was no shot as i planned on the sweeping curve, shootable from Route 175. North of the farm itself, the light angle wasn't as good, but here it is anyway.

A surprise digital-only 3rd chance occured in downtown Fond du Lac, near the old Soo depot site, at about 12 noon.

Whatever happened to the old-saw that you can fix anything on the railroad with a ball-peen hammer? Not on this car, please!

I collect slides of the Alberta grain cars with city names on them; not all have them. I've seen dozens of smaller town names, but this was for Calgary was a first sighting. It took me a while to decode the reporting marks a decade or more ago when these first began showing up thru our area. Cars on the CN are ALNX, while those on the CP are ALPX.

We never made it to the shop area, not that you can shoot there unless you're discreet and stay in your vehicle. We were cut off at Lakeshore Drive crossing by the yard office, went north on 45 to Subway Road and west, only to be cut off on the shady side as a northbound began pulling out of the yard toward Oshkosh (engines 2308/8890/IC 1016). Back in town, we knew this southbound was ready to go, and he pulled out as I was obtaining Subway sandwiches at the trackside Scott Street store, to-go. So here we caught up with up starting up Byron Hill, from Lost Arrow Road at the bottom, at 12:45 p.m. The train is #446, engines 2522/IC 2464, never got a car count.

Here he is at County F atop the grade at 12:55.

The blue GE's are former LMX leasers from GE, bought by CN and assigned to IC.

CN was running nothing else, and we paralleled #446 all the way home, here seen in Waukesha across the Fox River at 2:20 p.m. as we got back in town but got caught at the stoplight.

The next day, Mon. Oct. 3rd, found me out and about locally as the great weather continued. Here's Amtrak #8, engines 78/54 with 11 cars and Craig Willett in the cab, at Pewaukee at 1:58 p.m., only about 15 minutes off schedule.

Coming off the two main tracks at CP's "Pewaukee" and under the Highway 16 freeway overpass a mile west is CP #281, engines 9718/8645 with 90 cars at 2:05 p.m.

Climbing Cemetery Hill in southern Waukesha at 2:30 is CN #446, engines 2526/BCOL 4607 with 80 cars. I had gone from Pewaukee on the CP to Duplainville just as this guy started up to cross the CP diamond and managed only a slide, at 2:16.

Another southbound CN train surprised me in Waukesha, and I got only a slide, no digital, of a Herzog-hopper ballast train, engines IC 1016/CN 5782 with 49 cars, at 2:39. So I went home, then out for Amtrak #7, here at MP 101 in Brookfield on the CP, engines 20/11 with 11 cars at 4:14 p.m. spot on-time.

We still had IC 9562, an ex-GM&O GP38-2, as local engine for the last train of the day, coming by the Waukesha depot at 4:46. It's train #335, engines 5979/IC 2701, with 77 cars. The local, L504, has just backed into the "tie-up" track after his return from Burlington, Wis.; often he goes up to Duplainville to set out his cars before tying up.

Friends alerted us the next day, Tues. the 4th, that Heritage unit 156 was on a Hiawatha trainset, but at the south end, where normally an NPCU former F40 control cab car is, so this set had a P42 on each end. This is train #335 crossing the Menomonee River drawbridge arriving Milwaukee at 2:30 with 167 on the front of the usual 6 cars with 156 on the rear.

For his departure as #338 at 3 p.m., we set up at Maple Avenue in Milwaukee. Used to be, you'd see a big coke plant in this shot, to the right of the tracks. At the left were two C&NW tracks that used to lead to the Washington St. interlocking, where they crossed the Milwaukee Road toward the C&NW lakefront depot. That was the route of the Madison, Wis., passenger trains. No. 338 vied for first departure from MKE today with #8, the Empire Builder, running about an hour and a half late.

That's the "KK" river drawbridge you see, short for Kinnickinnick.

Here's #8, engines 95/5, with 11 cars at 3:08, 4 minutes after #338. The Hiawatha was on 1 Track, as he must be to make the Airport station stop.

We got one more train locally before heading to the Mississippi River valley the next day. Here at North Duplainville at 4:35 is CN #335, with fresh 8911 leading 2428 with 109 cars. He is slowing down to make his customary setout at Weyer Road, MP 104.75.

Our Waukesha local engine was changed from IC 9562 (ex-GM&O 742) to IC 9571 (ex-GM&O 751, one of the last four locomotives GM&O received before the 1972 ICG merger), so a token portrait had to be taken at the depot, at noon on Oct. 9th.

Next day, this is the third train photographed but first with digital, after Amtrak 8 and CP 298. It's CN #335 at MP 103, 5689/5634 with 136 cars at 3:36 p.m.

Just a sample of our fall color in our neighborhood in Waukesha, Sunnyside Drive a couple of blocks east of our home, at 2 p.m. on Oct. 12th.

This is Amtrak #8 on the 12th, engines 57/167 with 11 cars at 115th St. in Wauwatosa at 2:36, about a half hour late.

Three days later, #8 again, this time in Elm Grove, next town west of Wauwatosa, engines 5/78, 11 cars, Mr. Willett in the cab, 3:31 p.m., a little tardier than on the 12th.

After the Amtrak anniversary train appearance (see separate file), the following Tuesday, the 18th, I was in downtown Milwaukee to fetch friend Rick Moser off a Hiawatha (he was in town to attend a slide show), and I lucked out with this train, a CP (DM&E) ethanol train with engines IC&E 6426/6412/CITX 3101, at 2:26 p.m. at 13th St., just west of the Amtrak station, where Rick arrived about 5 minutes later.

After the visit of Amtrak's 40th Anniversary train to Milwaukee and our trip to central and western Illinois (see separate files), I was out shooting on two more days before leaving town again on Nov. 4th for the Lexington Group in Transportation History's annual conference, this year in Knoxville, Tenn. On Oct. 28, CP #276, with an all-blue trio of leaser SD40-2's passes MP100 at 3:22 p.m. behind NREX 7268/CEFX 3149/CEFX 3168. This location is at the north end of an upscale subdivsion, and just across the tracks is the large Fox Brook County Park, and there is a well-worn path up to the tracks from the street. Sometime last summer, CP --or someone--stenciled "No Trespassing" on the outside rail of the south (No. 2) track, and soon after the freight passed, two teen-age girls sauntered up and across the tracks on their way into the park, making for a great "Operation Lifesaver"-type pair of photos. I'll give 'em this -- they did not step on any one of the four rails!

One of my favorite "oddball" spots locally along the CP is this retention pond in an office park at Milepost 103, and on Oct. 29th the Empire Builder scoots west right on-time at 4:17 p.m. behind units 88/190 with the customary off-season consist of 11 cars. This sequence concludes local action for October 2011.

This page was designed and is maintained by Mike Condren. If you have materials
that you would like to contribute, contact me at mcondren@cbu.edu