Return of The Challenger
CNW units, Cotton Pickers, and a run on the DMU
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DES MOINES IN JUNE Return of The Challenger CNW units, Cotton Pickers, and a run on the DMU |
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PHOTO |
NOTES |
| At the end of the old DMU line, there is an old truss bridge that crosses the Des Moines river, which can be seen in the far right of this picture. On this day, BN 2916 delivers a pair of box cars to the Des Moines police dept. The tracks cut right through a parking lot where the DMPD park their cruisers! | |
| The Spine dispatcher has issued a warrant for a north bound, which means that our BN local has to wait it out at the "BN Diamond" south of Murray St. Here is the train waiting at the signal to go east. | |
| CNW 8681 came in on MNLDM, and departed on MDMKC. Here is the Dash 9, about to head south in Short Line Yard as the second unit. | |
| This ex-CNW switcher was pushing grain cars for Heartland Coop. As you can see, the safety yellow has faded to white, and the engine used to be housed at Avon before coming to SE 18th St. | |
| UP 1078 | This remote control line-up looks more like an A-B-A set of GeeP's! Here, RCU UPY 104 is sandwiched by UP 1078 and 1242 as it crosses Short Line Jct. |
| Ankeny Job | The Ankeny Job came down the Ft. Dodge line with a short train full of cotton pickers. When it got to the junction at SE 18th, it had to hold for job 06, shown in the photo above |
| Enough of this CRAP, you wanna see pictures of the steam engine!! | |
| 3985-at Hull Yard -front | When Chad, Jennifer and I arrived, UP 3985 was parked just north of Easton Avenue. We had expected it to be near the yard office. Because of some road construction, we figured this way it would be much easier to chase the train. |
| 3985- wide angle | The morning sun looked great on the big steamer. But then, at the last second as you push the button, here comes Gomer Pile wandering right into the path between you and the train. There's always some doof that ruins your picture of the steam engine. |
| 3985 South of Pleasent Hill | We left the steam engine and set up on a desolate road known as "Old Hwy 46." It used to cross the Des Moines river just south of the BNSF/NS "Glake Yard," but was closed when the old truss bridge over the river was torn out. After about an hour wait, 3985 came around the corner at 8:30 AM, following a grain train. Dana Grefe pointed out that their appears to be an extra rider in the cab, the mysterious man in the green hat. He's waving it in this shot. |
| 3985 pacing at speed | How about that timing? We got to the south side of Carlisle just as the engine rounded the corner to begin paralleling Highway 5! Unfortunately because of the crowd, it was almost impossible to get a good shot. Here is one as it darts out of the brush. |
| 3985 at Beech | At Beech, we arrived to a line of cars at Hwy. 92 bridge. When we parked, a man actually got on the tracks and started walking south! When he was about the middle of the highway bridge, on the tracks, the 3985 could be seen rounding the curve. At that point, the man took off running, and took his shot right on the right-of way!! He's in the left side of this picture. And we wonder why some railroad guys hate us? Also, note the mystery man in the green hat again. |
| UP 6793 | We had heard the UP 6793 south get a warrant right after the steam train, so we decided to find the scenic overpass south of Beech and get a photo of it. |
| LAST WEEK'S UPDATE | 6/10/02: Chasing the Challenger with Dick Tinder; Marshalltown to KC Jct. |
