Leaving North Dakota, Heading Home – 27 July 2008

[Jimbaux wants to be the magazine she bases life on.]

Almost As Quickly As It Began, It Ended

One of the more formative experiences of my adulthood was coming to an end on 27 July 2008, for it was the day that I left North Dakota, even though most of the seminar participants had left the day before.  I had my own reasons for sticking around, which will have to remain classified.

Three States, Three Railroads

Just like the five-day Great Northward Pilgrimage, which you saw last month, I stretched the southbound journey over about five days.  Day 1 had me actually originating across the river in Dilworth, Minnesota, then back into Fargo to see both of the Empire Builder trains at the depot there, then back into Minnesota for sleep and BNSF action, and concluding in South Dakota with Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railway action.  Here is Amtrak’s eastbound Empire Builder arriving at the depot.

That’s not why we were there.  The westbound Empire Builder was.

The Empire Builder is Amtrak’s daily passenger train between Chicago and Seattle via Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot, Glacier National Park, Spokane, and several other smaller places.  It is named for James J. Hill, the founder of the Great Northern Railway, BNSF’s predecessor on this line.

The train moves forward to allow the sleeping cars to come to the platform.

In so many meanings, I was telling her goodbye.

So long, North Dakota.  It has been truly real, “radically joyous,” as she said.

It was time to leave Fargo behind.  It was time to go to sleep.  I was now on my own, both liberating and suddenly a bit lonely.

Dilworth Action

Good morning, Minnesota!  I awoke and checked out, and it was nearly 12:00 CDT when I took this picture of the C-ABMBES0-62.

The train was bound for Becker, Minnesota.  I like Minnesota.

Thirty-four minutes later, we’re racing back up the overpass to get a shot of a stack train.  As we are running, let’s make a brief pause to get a shot that shows both a stack train and the yard job working the eastern end of the yard.

Here, as I screech to a halt, is the Tacoma, WA, to St. Paul, MN, stack train.

I then headed south out of town, staying away from Fargo, but I actually wasn’t technically done with North Dakota, because at Breckenridge, I crossed back into North Dakota at Wahpeton since it was the logical route southward for where I wanted to arrive in South Dakota, but I took no pictures on that part of the journey.  I was now in South Dakota, and I had made hotel reservations in Brookings so that I could spend the afternoon and the next morning foaming the DM&E.

A Bad Welcome to Brookings

I had made hotel reservations in Brookings, South Dakota, and I went and got the room before I went hunting trains, but I was disgusted by what I saw there as I arrived.

No, I didn’t alert Days Inn about this; I meant to do so when I got home, but it’s too late now.  How crappy is this?

And my room didn’t smell that much like a non-smoking room either.  I was not inclined to complain while I was there, for some reason; yeah, that’s hard to believe, isn’t it?

Train Time!

Maybe the reason why I didn’t complain was because I was eager to get trackside and see the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railway while it still existed!  The takeover of the line by the Canadian Pacific Railway was eminent but not yet official, but RJ Corman crews were working to replace the jointed rail with continuous welded rail.  Here is DM&E train M-WAHU — Manifest – Waseca, MN, to Huron, SD – near DeSmet.

The continuous welded rail was being laid in anticipation of coal trains being on the line along with an extension into the Powder River Basin to break the duopoly that BNSF and Union Pacific have on that traffic.  None of this, except for the laying of continuous welded rail, ever happened.  Demand for coal fell, and the CP offered up this part of the DM&E for sale, keeping other parts of it.

Both Jointed And Welded Rail Simultaneously!

Look closely at the track as we see the train leaning over to its left at Manchester.

Do you see that the rail on the left is the new continuous welded rail while the rail at the right is the old jointed rail?  Since crews had just finished work which allowed this train to pass under a slow order, and since that jointed rail was likely replaced the next day, this is really a one-of-a-kind shot, at least for this location!

The train is moving on track that has decades-old jointed rail (from the C&NW days) on one side and new continuous welded rail on the other side, and it is causing the train to slightly lean over!

Here is a cropped view of the image above, and, again, look at the rails on the mainline.

Isn’t that neat?  I just happened to be there on the date that this shot was possible.

Iroquois

Here we are a few miles further along.

That was taken near the elevator at Iroquois, and the below shot was taken west of that elevator, which you can see in the distance.

Yes, my friends, this is the DM&E.

Huron

We’re now in Huron where the train terminates, and we see the conductor lining the switch after the power gets pulled off of the train.

Well, I think that the local tavern here has a DM&E connection!  🙂

Huron has several murals.

After that, and possibly a meal (I don’t remember where I ate that night), it was time to travel eastward back to Brookings for a night in that crappy Days Inn.  What would tomorrow bring?  We shall see.

That’s all for the pictures.  Which one was your favorite, and why?

Merci beaucoup,

Jimbaux