MRL Blog

After a heavy (and windy) snowstorm Saturday night in Northern Idaho I was anxious to get out Sunday morning 1-20-08 and start taking pictures at Sandpoint.  I went down to the truck and noticed the wind had drifted the snow around my truck.  This photo was taken after I had cleared the windows and knocked down some of the snow around my door.

I figured it would take 4WD to get out of it and I was right.  There was compact snow and ice on the roads but I made it to the Sandpoint depot OK.  I saw a couple of westbound grain trains pass by but nothing was going east on the MRL.  So I decided to head south and follow one of the grain trains figuring I was not meant to get a good shot at that signal west of Noxon.  As I got to Ramsey I heard the dispatcher ask the H-PASSAG if they were ready to go.  The crew said yes and I realized this was an MRL train and it was only 10:00am.  Maybe the photo I wanted could still be taken.  So I turned the truck around and started back towards Sandpoint and was soon driving east from Kootenai towards Montana.  It wasn’t until I was passing Heron that I heard the Kootenai detector go off.  My eastbound was on the MRL and I would arrive at Noxon ahead of it in plenty of time.

After parking I set up and waited by the signal.  There was a beam of sunshine coming right down onto the signal.  Soon I heard rumbling from the west.  I was ready when the train came rushing around the curve with snow swirling behind.  I tried to time getting the lead unit in the sunshine.

But this wasn’t the H-PASSAG.  It was an empty grain train.  I wasn’t really happy with this photo.  I thought the train was too far back.  But I knew I had another train coming so I waited again, and soon another rumbling from the west.  This time the sunbreak was gone so I waited until the power was even with the signal.  Again lots of snow swirling and I liked this shot more than the first.

After the train was by I noticed how scenic the mountains and river were so I took a few photos.

Back at the truck I was looking at my photos on the camera when I was surprised by another eastbound grain empty.  But it was slowing down.  Apparently the detector just west of here never went off so they were going to stop and inspect the train.  I saw this as an opportunity so I drove east from Noxon and set up on the overpass by the Noxon Dam and only had a few minutes to wait for the BNSF 4133 East to go by after the inspection was complete.

Back in the truck I heard detectors around Trout Creek going off and knew I had a westbound coming so I waited at Noxon to see what it was.  Turned out to be a nice lashup of BNSF 996/BNSF 106 on an M-LAUSPO.  The skies were clear further to the west and the sun had not yet set so I continued west and thought I would try from the HWY 200 overpass at Denton Slough west of Clark Fork.  This shot looked real nice with the poleline gone and I had yet to photograph anything there since they were removed.  The sun was still out when I arrived well ahead of the train but the sun was real close to dropping behind the mountains.  I was a bit nervous I would lose my light but soon heard horns to the east and then a headlight appeared in the distance.  The scene looked real nice in the viewfinder and I knew this was probably going to be one of my favorite shots from the trip.

I then got back in the truck and managed to just get ahead of it into Hope for one more photo. 

The sun soon went down and I continued west to Sandpoint and then to Cheney for the evening before heading for home Monday morning.  I was glad my goal had been met.  I photographed the signal west of Noxon and as a bonus gotten a nice photo of the BNSF 996 west of Clark Fork.  It was a very good trip.

Brian Ambrose

Earlier this month I was informed that the ex-NP searchlight signals between Heron and Noxon, MT on the western end of the MRL were still standing.  They had been in the 2007 budget to be replaced by more modern signals but because of the heavy snow in the area the signal crews could not get to them for removal.  The signal at MP 73.9 just west of Noxon can be accessed right off the Heron-Noxon back road so I made a goal to get back there and photograph it while I could.  I had been there in September of 2007 but my one photograph of a train passing it was pretty bad light wise.  At the time I figured that was going to be my last chance for a shot there.

With a goal of a better photograph at signal 73.9 I arrived in Sandpoint, ID Friday night 1-18-08 and while snow had been forecast for Saturday it was just gray and gloomy when I left the motel.  Lots of snow on the ground though.  The shot I wanted requires an eastbound and as my luck would have it, none ran in the morning!  I knew I had an eastbound coal empty coming as I could hear the BNSF 8282 coming north on the Funnel towards Sandpoint.  It started snowing lightly while I waited at Kootenai for it.  When it showed up about 1:00pm it was moving fast!  The power made my heart sink though.  BNSF 8282/8222/8295/EMD 9064.  Three pretty clean Warbonnets and an SD60!  Oh how I wanted to get a photo of this train showing the power clearly.  But the photo I had in mind at Noxon is a nose on shot!  However my goal all along was that signal west of Noxon and while it was painful to drive on ahead of it I knew the road conditions may be worse east of here and I had no idea how easy it would be to park on the back road.

Getting to Noxon I had to backtrack after crossing the bridge and head west again to the signal.  Across the river I could see a westbound coal train going by.  Turns out my coal empty was going to meet it at Heron which also meant it was going to be a bit of a wait at the signal after all.  I arrived in plenty of time and noticed I was losing my daylight.  Finally I heard the 8282 coming and set up for my shot.  As it came around the curve the headlights flared brightly coming straight into the camera wiping out the shot!  I could not believe it.  No good shots of this train.  I went back to my truck and started back out to the highway.  Heading west from Noxon I could hear another eastbound meeting that coal train further west.  Didn’t hear where so I figured it must be Colby.  I turned up the road to Heron and waited at the crossing as snow started to really come down.  After about 10 minuted the crossing bells started ringing so I jusmped out and just got this shot of the H-PASNTW with BNSF 8195/8027/8271 at 4:36pm (M.T.) 

Considering how late in the day it was I thought the shot wasn’t that bad.  Made me feel a lot better!  I then continued west back towards Sandpoint and the dispatcher contacted the BNSF 5272 East and asked about their DPU.  I could not hear the reply but I knew another train was coming.  I figured I could not make Hope so I parked off the highway by backing into deep snow between Clark Fork and Hope and had just a few minutes wait for what appeared to be an M-SPOLAU.  The photo is pretty dark (it was late after all!) but it does show a single BNSF C44-9W leading a very long freight. 

The DPU was a single C44-9W shoving on the rear (BNSF 5248) but it blurred so badly I didn’t even save the image.  I then made my way back to the motel in Sandpoint and just in time as it was nearly dark, the snow was really coming down and the wind was just howling!  I enjoyed being inside the motel room looking out at the snow piling up and being glad I wasn’t out in it.  I didn’t get the shot at the searchlight signal west of Noxon I wanted but there is always tomorrow. 

Part two of my report will follow later.

Brian 

The final day of my vacation to the eastern end of the MRL started out bright and sunny at Livingston.  Driving over to the depot there was a westbound waiting for helpers.  Once added the train started moving west.  The sun angle was poor for a westbound but I followed it up towards Muir anyway and took this photo at 9:36am.

Power was the BNSF 4066/EMD 9036/BNSF 8717.  The back shot of the helpers looked much better as far as the sun angle went.

I then drove back to Livingston where a westbound grain train had arrived and was waiting for the 3 unit helper from the 4066 West  to come back.  I knew that would be awhile so I drove east of Elton and waited to see if a westbound would show up.  I got lucky as about 30 minutes later a westbound came around the curve with what I thought was a couple of BNSF H1 SD40-2’s.  Turned out the lead one was an ex-BNSF H1 SD40-2 lettered for FURX having all the BNSF markings painted out.

Reminded me of that BNSF 806 with the primered front end.  Not sure which was worse.  But like the 806 this was headed the right direction so I made the best of it.  I took photos of it all the way to Livingston where it stopped to wait for helpers.  The grain train had already left so I fugured the helpers will be back before too long.  The train was kind of short so I thought those 3 SD70ACe’s would be kind of overkill for the hill.  While waiting I photographed the dead line again with the MRL 652 leading the string of dead units.

I then noticed a couple of SD’s heading east towards the end end of the yard and drove that way to investigate.  The MRL 382 and 303 were coming out to get added to the FURX 7214 West!  They tacked onto the rear of the train while I drove up to the head end to wait for departure.  I heard horns from the west as the 3 unit helper was coming back.  The FURX 7214 then got underway and is shown here leaving Livingston at 11:53am with helpers drifting back to the yard.

And here are the rear end helpers 382/303 shoving on the westbound.

I followed the train to East Muir and photographed it from the top of the cut.

And once again a shot of the helpers.

The westbound met a grain empty at Muir so I had an eastbound chase back towards Billings.  Here the eastbound with BNSF 5237/654/4112 is coming down into Livingston.

The sun angles were pretty poor the further east I got and at Big Timber the train stopped to meet a westbound, a loaded coal train that I could not do anything with as I was on I-90 east of Big Timber.  I waited at Quebec for a very long time with no eastbound and then I heard a detector to the east go off telling me another westbound was coming.  I barely made it to this curve east of Quebec for the H-KCKPAS with the BNSF 4186/1091.  

I decided it was time to head to the airport in Billings for my flight home so I got on I-90 and started east.  I have not driven a mile when I see headlights coming around the curve.  EMD 9014 leading a green 9200 series SD60M heading west on an “M” train.  My heart sank.  Only one leading this trip and I am on I-90.  All I can do is keep on going.  Near Craver is a westbound baretable with a Warbonnet B40-8W and H1 B40-W.  Another good one missed.  And east of Rapids is another westbound coal train with a clean “Swoosh” leading.  Somehow the FURX 7214 did not compare as well to these other westbounds.  Well, that’s how railfanning goes.  There will be other good trains to chase at other times.  I got to the airport in plenty of time for my 6:15pm flight back to Seattle.

I had the chance to explore new photo locations and saw a lot of trains.  Plus seeing many small towns decorated for Christmas was a treat.  It was a good trip!  Hope you enjoyed the report and photos.  And Merry Christmas to all as today is December 25th!

Brian Ambrose      

Saturday morning 12-15-07 in Livingston, MT was the opposite of yesterday morning.  Very overcast but no snow had fallen.  After checking out the yard I decided to head west and hope to intercept an eastbound.  As I neared Bozeman I could hear two trains meeting.  A westbound grain train was in the process of cutting off helpers as an eastbound ML was starting to move out as I drove up.  Once the ML was clear of the east switch the train stopped and the helpers lined out onto the rear to assist the long freight up Bozeman Pass.  Leading the ML was the 253/4311/4303/315/4307 and shoving on the rear 4315/4314/4312.

I headed up to Westend to photograph the train just before entering the tunnel.  The train arrived at 10:03am and I got my first photo of the ML.

I then made my way over to Muir where it was snowing.  Moments later the 253 rounded the curve and I got probably my favorite photo of the trip.

A quick turnaround for the going away shot with the snow kicking up pretty good.  The 315 sure does look outmatched by the bigger units doesn’t it?!

A bit further east of Muir I photographed the helpers drifting downgrade at the rear of the train.

Right on the heels of the ML was the M-SPOLAU with 6 units up front, the four trailing were MRL.  Shown here at Muir heading downgrade at 10:31am.

Back shot showing those four MRL unit.  Lashup was BNSF 4066/EMD 9036/MRL 355/314/252/255.

As they continued down to Livingston the dispatcher told them they’d be setting out 2 of the MRL units for a LAUSPO when they met further east.  A westbound coal train departed once the BNSF 4066 had arrived at Livingston.  Leading was BNSF 5833/9443/EMD 9027/9004 with the same three SD70ACe’s off the ML shoving on the rear.  Here the coal train is at West End about to meet an eastbound grain empty,

I followed the grain empty back to Livingston and let iy go there as I wanted some photos of the stored power.  The sun was out making for some nice roster shots.  The MRL 12 and 18 were the two I wanted the most and got.  I figured that the M-LAUSPO must be getting close by now so I started driving east to intercept it.  Just east of Carney I saw it moving west quickly.  Luckily I was on the frontage road so I made a quick U-turn and the chase was on.  I was quite pleased with the power.  BNSF 9224/FURX 7933/MRL 314/355 made for a nice looking lashup.  After a few shots east of Livingston I got this coming through Livingston at 2:26pm.

It headed out of Livingston with out any other power assisting so the going was pretty slow.  Here the M-LAUSPO is just west of Livingston.

Another photo from the same location.  The lighting here with the dark clouds in the background was pretty nice.

I heard an H-KCKPAS at Livingston so I turned back to catch it leaving.  Even had a sunbreak leaving Livingston but here is the short train climbing up to Muir with the BNSF 4677/6865 minus the sun. 

The Boeing cars just make it more interesting.  Here is a back shot showing the three trailing the power west of Muir.

Driving back down to Livingston a westbound U-train had arrived and was sitting outside the depot waiting on helpers.  CEFX 1020 and BNSF 8114 are leading.  Wish I could have caught this one coming into Livingston!

And one last shot of the westbound at Livingston. 

It was well after dark once the train started moving west.  After dinner I headed back to the motel for the night. A sunny day was forecast for Sunday so I had hopes for a good day before heading back to Billings for my flight home.

Final installment will be tomorrow.

Brian Ambrose     

Friday morning 12-14-07 was bright and sunny but very cold.  After leaving the motel in Billings I headed east to the BNSF’s Forsyth Sub to photograph a few trains there first before heading west to the MRL.  Around 10:00am I was on the freeway headed west with a loaded coal train on the line from Forsyth and a loaded coal train on the line from Sheridan paralleling each other.  It was interesting to watch.  The coal train was a Centralia load and while the grain train got to Huntley first it had to wait for the coal train which went ahead of it.

After the grain train got on the move I headed to Billings where I caught up to the coal train.  I tried to photograph it passing the depot but it was just ahead of me there.  It stopped at the grade crossing for a few moments as an MRL switcher with four cars entered the main so I was able to get just ahead of it for a photo passing some old buildings in Billings.

The MRL 52 was moving very slowly eastward so I easily got ahead of it for this photo.

I could then see the loaded grain train approaching so I headed back to the Billings depot and photographed the BNSF 5096 West with the BNSF 908/FXE 4686 trailing.

I then went back out to I-90 and started west.  Nothing ready to leave Laurel so I kept on going and at Columbus I could hear a meet going on at Craver just to the west.  Luckily the westbound was waiting on another eastbound so I arrived before the second meet took place.  The westbound turned out to be a westbound grain train with the BNSF 806 up front.  I headed to the east switch of Craver as the light there was good for an eastbound.  Soon the BNSF 4552 East showed up leading an empty coal train 12:17pm.

After it was by I continued west on the frontage road past the westbounds head end which was just pulling out of the siding and the line looked to curve into the sun judt up ahead making for a better sun angle for the westbound.  Not only that but there was a set of searchlight signals at a grade crossing making for a nice photo prop.  As the BNSF 806 rounded the corner I looked at it and noticed something did not look right.  As it got closer I realized the nose was primered.  Was it ever ugly!  Of course it threw me off and I missed the photo of it splitting the signals and took the picture just a bit too late. 

But this train was all I had so I kept on chasing it anyway.  West of Quebec I found a nice S-curve and photographed the BNSF 806/4360/7572 there.

Also west of Quebec was a set of searchlights with one having the milepost of 666.  Just had to photograph this “beast” there plus it made up for messing up the shot west of Craver.

I then drove on to Big Timber to check out the ex-NP depot there.  After arriving I noticed it had metal paneling all around it.  That frustrated me a little bit but I also noticed an ex-NP cantilever signal bridge at the east end of the siding which I thought would make for a much better photo prop.

I lost interest in the 806 at this point and took a few photos of the cantilever signal with the Crazy Mountains behind.

Then the Big Timber depot just so I would have a photo of it.

Then I drove back to Columbus to wait on a westbound I hoped would come out of Laurel.  At 3:00pm the detector east east of town announced I had my westbound.  I drove to an overlook just west of Coulmbus and photographed that westbound coal train I had seen in Billings this morning.  Power was BNSF 5786/CEFX 1013/BNSF 5951.

The sun was getting really low so I waited at this small bridge just east of Quebec and got this shot of the train crossing it before it went down completely.

I continued to follow the coal train west towards Livingston where I was spending the night scouting out the line for good locations to shoot the next two days.  Just west of Elton I found this antique at a private crossing.  Interesting watching it change from green to red as the coal train entered the block.

At Livingston I checked into my motel and heard that there was a winter storm moving this way from the west.  Should make for an interesting Saturday!

Day 3 will follow.

Brian Ambrose

Every December I make a Christmas trip to find some “small town Christmas atmosphere” and for 2007 I decided the MRL’s east end would be a good place to go.  I was also interested to do some exploring between Billings and Bozeman since I had done very little railfanning in that area an was curious to see what I have been missing all these years.

My flight on Horizon from Sea-Tac to Billings Thursday morning 12-13-07 landed on time a little after noon and even thought the pilot reported it was Christmas like in Billings with snow falling as we left Sea-Tac it turned out to be partly sunny when we landed with no snow on the ground anywhere.  But the sunshine looked nice!  I soon had my rental car and was heading down the hill to the tracks.  As I crossed the MRL main line I was surprised to see a headlight to the east.  I quickly parked and with camera in hand saw it was a single MRL GP9 running long end first towards me by itself.  Noticing it was the MRL 109 recollections of a much earlier time entered my mind.  The 109 has special meaning for me.

Back in July of 1966 when I was 11 years old my dad took me on a road trip to Glacier and Yellowstone Parks in Montana.  We stopped at Paradise and I took my first train photo of NP GP9 210 sitting outside the depot.  The NP 210 still survives today, as the MRL 109.  Considering the number of GP9’s NP had and the number of them in operation today on the MRL my seeing the same one 41 years later caused much reflections of that day with my father so long ago.  

Moments later it moved towards me again and stopped right next to where I was which gave me a chance to get a good close up look at it.  Luckily the GP9 was running long end first as from the front end it didn’t resemble the NP 210 that much any more.  It was chop nosed by the MRL some time ago.  But from the rear end, still pretty much the same as when I first saw it.  Next it backed onto the track all the tank cars were on and shortly after that started pulling them west.

The MRL 109 then blew its horn for the crossing and to my surprise, it was a sweet sounding NP horn.  Perhaps the original or from another ex-NP unit but the sound sure pleased me!  As it was pretty cloudy to the west I headed east towards Huntley where the sun was still shining.  I explored a bit just west of Lockwood around MP 222 when I heard a rather “non-NP” horn from the west.  It was an eastbound BNSF general merchandise train and even though it was backlit I wanted a photo of it anyway.  9 units and not a single BNSF H2 in the consist!

Power for this train was the 6913/6358/2537/EMD 3/3186/2218/3135/9229/BN 9584.  Quite a variety of power!  I tried to beat it out to Huntley but it and I arrived at the same time so I just watched it race on by.  As I drove through Huntley I noticed something was missing.  I knew there had been a fire at the depot but I didn’t know it was gone!  I drove back and took a look.  Nothing left but the foundation.  Too bad as one of my goals this trip was to photograph a train passing the depot.  Somehow a train passing the depot foundation just isn’t quite the same!   I then spent the rest of the afternoon photographing trains on the Forsyth Sub and headed back to Billings for the night after the sun had gone down with plans to spend Friday morning on the Forsyth Sub again and the afternoon on the MRL.

The next installment will be of Day 2.

Brian Ambrose,

Renton, WA 

As I am going to be chasing the MRL from Billings to Bozman later
this week I thought I would finish up this report from a few weeks
ago of photographing the MRL’s Paradise Local 11-26-07.

After spending Sunday night at Plains I awoke Monday morning to cold
and overcast skies. My plan for the day was to get photos of the
Paradise Local so I headed over to Paradise where I found the MRL
131/402 at the west end of the yard. They then moved to the east
end and began making up their train. Around 9:45am they let the
dispatcher know they were ready to head east and only going as far
as Tri-Cor before heading west again. They had 8 cars as they
pulled out of Paradise. This is at MP 217 east of Paradise.

>

Past Quinns I thought Bridge 209 would look pretty good so I waited
for the 402 here,

After stopping at Toole to let some MOW near St Regis clear the
local continued on to Tri-Cor. Here the train is arriving.

Quite a bit or work was performed here. The 4 empty woodchip cars
were replaced by 4 loaded ones and two loads of lumber were picked
up while 1 empty center beam was set out. After nearly an hour of
switching they were ready to head west.

This is near Toole and a little bit of sun poked through as the
train slowly rounded the curve.

The train now had 9 cars, the 4 loaded woodchips, 2 centerbeam
loads, 2 empty centerbeams and the tank car. I photographed it
again at Plains and Weeksville before headed to Woodlin for it’s
arrival. Here the train is coming around the curve to Woodlin.

It pulled up past the east switch of Woodlin and then after the
switch off the main line was thrown started backing up to the hill
spur.

First work was setting out the tank car and picking one up.

I did not know this industry was even here. Any information on it?
I am guessing the car being set out was a load? After this was
complete the train continued back to Thompson River Lumber and the
two empty center beams were left there. Nothing was picked up.

Then the cars were rolled down the hill past the power and moved to
the Woodlin Siding to be picked up by a through freight. Here the
train is in the siding as a bit of sun shines through and the power
is about to be cut away.

The two units then headed back to Paradise light power their days
work completed. With not much else going on I headed west towards
Sandpoint.

Hope you enjoyed the report and photos!

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA

Most people plan their trips to MRL in the spring or summer months
for good reason. It is hard to take photos of trains when it starts
to get dark at 3:30pm! That is usually the situation during the
winter months. Of course it is hard to get photos of trains in July
with a snowy background.

I have made very few trips to the MRL in November. For one thing
the weather is always unpredictable and as mentioned before, fewer
daylight hours to work with. But the weekend after Thanksgiving I
decided to give November and the MRL another try. Weather reports
before leaving looked pretty bleak. Lots of overcast skies thruout
the weekend. But I was determined to photograph some MRL led trains
so I left the home in Renton Friday morning Nov 22 driving to
Sandpoint, ID for the night. Saturday I drove out the MRL to Noxon
but ended up driving up to the ex-GN at Troy as things were not
going too well for me down on the ex-NP that morning. Saturday
evening I spent the night in Plains, MT.

Sunday morning 11-25-07 dawned surprisingly clear and cold. I drove
out to the Paradise depot to wait on the westbound Gas Local. I
began to get a bit nervous after waiting nearly an hour and nothing
showing up. Soon I heard horns and turned to see the train was
finally here at 9:35am. I was expecting the SD70ACe to be leading
but SD45-2 331 was up front with the the 4308 trailing. The train
had just 10 tank cars this morning too. So the chase was on.
Backlit nearly all the to Pipeline the best spot I could find was at
MP 14 west of Weeksville.

After arrival at Pipeline the empties were assembled and set aside
as the ten loads were spotted. As this was being finished the crew
was asked to put the cars on the next track over as it would be
easier to unload them there. The crew said fine and went to work.
In the meantime a short time westbound was getting close so I set up
along the Woodlin Siding to catch the BNSF 9298 West. This turned
out to be an M-LAUSPO with the 9298/1108.

Note the loaded woodchip cars on the head end of the train. After
this train passed by at 11:10am the Gas Local lined out and left
Pipeline at 11:30am. Here the train is passing under the Hwy 200
overpass leaving Pipeline.

I had no trouble staying ahead of the train and photographed it
again at Eddy, MT.

Earlier this morning as I was driving west I noticed a location
between Weeksville and Plains with a nice mountain backdrop I
thought would be great for an eastbound. Well I had an eastbound
and was quite pleased with the results.

I photographed the train again at Plains and Paradise and then
followed the Gas Local out the Evaro Hill line. This spot is just
west of Dixon, MT. Notice the snow is starting to get a bit deeper
the further east I go.

As I arrived in Dixon I was impressed with the overall wintery scene
and the depot standing all alone. This was one of my favorite
photos of todays chase.

I continued east towards Ravalli and liked this curve so pulled off
the highway for another photo. Another favorite shot.

The last shot was at the east switch of Ravalli.

I figured I had enough photos so I headed back to Paradise where I
soon learned I had missed a couple of westbounds. (next time
Dave!) So I headed east towards Superior hoping for another but the
sun soon set with no other trains showing up. So I headed back to
Plains for dinner and watched TV in the Motel.

I’ll have Mondays chase of the Paradise Local on another installment
in the next couple of days. Hope you enjoyed the report and photos!

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA