The Flickr Graincar Image Generatr

Rolling through the undulating hills West of Casper, Wyoming, BNSF SD60M #1444 and an accompanying sister 60M power up the Casper Local as they haul westbound towards Bonneville, WY with a decent load of tank cars for switching later in the evening.

A cool old Klemme Coop car has just come back from being repaired at the Apache Railway car shops and is ready to get back to work. It's now owned by the Caney Fork and Western Railroad in Tennessee, but some of the CNW reporting mark can still be seen above the patch.

The 50 was staged at the large AGP plant, poles down, for a time while work was done elsewhere. The Iowa Traction motors are really dwarfed by the modern cars they move. This plant is a big customer on the Iowa Traction both literally and figuratively. IATR has tracks onto this property from the north and UP serves this facility from the south. October 16, 2023.

It's been a long time since the C&NW was around and even longer since they owned tracks through this part of South Dakota. Even though it's fading into the past it's nice to see signs of the C&NW here in Redfield. September 10, 2023.

RCHU roars between the elevators at Harrold, SD. The Pierre Sub covers a lot of lonely miles but there are places such as Harrold where robust grain shippers have grown up alongside the tracks. September 10, 2023.

One more look at Harrold as the train rolls off to the east. The high-level conveyor over the mainline is an interesting aspect of this complex. There is also a unit train loadout with a loop just off to my right. Trains destined to and from the unit train elevator make the mainline a little busier to the east of Harrold than it is to the west. September 10, 2023.

Compared to shuttle trains on some of the "bigs" trains crossing the RCP&E are an interesting mix of cars, many of them from a previous generation. This selection of 6 includes some of the covered hopper cars I took note of.

Plenty of cars came to the RCP&E at the time of its formation from DM&E (via CP). Bought new by DM&E they're starting to show their age, but I still like to see the logotype of the company that saved this line from the scrapheap. September 10, 2023.

Compared to shuttle trains on some of the "bigs" trains crossing the RCP&E are an interesting mix of cars, many of them from a previous generation. This selection of 6 includes some of the covered hopper cars I took note of.

Another second hand car rolled into the RCP&E fleet. A neat private car still wearing it's original paint job. I like when a car has been patched so long that the patches have worn off, acting to preserve the lettering underneath, applied 44 years before.
September 10, 2023.

Despite spending the night in Miller, I was on my way an hour west back to Pierre. I know how long it can be between trains out here and I wasn't about to let this one go. Besides, despite it being morning, there are some nice shots where the line turns south at Blunt headed for the Missouri River. After the tabletop flat prairie running from Miller to Harrold, the line starts stepping down into the Missouri drainage. Coming off one such step the elevators of Harrold are seen on the horizon, the mainline passes between the two groups of elevators. September 10, 2023.

An older covered hopper still mostly painted for the Mid Iowa Grain Cooperative sits in a string of cars waiting to go to the Apache Railway for cleaning. This 4,700 cu. ft. Pullman Standard car was built in August 1980 and was probably part of a large order for cars for a co-op group as it was a popular practice for them to do back then. It was a nice surprise to find this in the sea of railroad or leasing company owned grain cars that fill the tracks in today's world.

A quick cruise by the Apache Railway yard uncovered this Santa Fe covered hopper. Having been built in 3-1979 as part of the ATSF Ga-190 class and still bearing its AEI label, this American Car and Foundry product was a cool find.

As "my" eastbound ground up the west side of Providence Hill I was able to catch up to them. I did a rather ho-hum view of them splitting some signals here but terribly backlit. Being my first visit here I didn't realize that a more interesting view was to be had just ahead at the top of the grade. Oh well, I did take this opportunity to record some side shots of cars I found interesting in the manifest.

An older cylindrical hopper still on the job after nearly 44 years, started out in the COOP fleet. Some scrapes and bumps but overall with paint that has help up better than what I've seen on cars half its age. September 4, 2023.

As "my" eastbound ground up the west side of Providence Hill I was able to catch up to them. I did a rather ho-hum view of them splitting some signals here, terribly backlit. Being my first visit here I didn't realize that a more interesting view was to be had just ahead at the top of the grade. Oh well, I did take this opportunity to record some side shots of cars I found interesting in the manifest.

This train had a number of RCP&E headed back east, some of DM&E vintage. I'm impressed by how good some of these cars still look 26 year after going to work. Long live the DM&E. September 4, 2023.

As "my" eastbound ground up the west side of Providence Hill I was able to catch up to them. I did a rather ho-hum view of them splitting some signals here but terribly backlit. Being my first visit here I didn't realize that a more interesting view was to be had just ahead at the top of the grade. Oh well, I did take this opportunity to record some side shots of cars I found interesting in the manifest.

Here is a granger lines veteran in well-worn C&NW colors. It followed the lineage of the "ALCo Line" from CNW to DME to RCPE. Every year that ball 'n bar fades into history a little more.
September 4, 2023.

My short, rewarding, visit to the Columbia Basin Railroad was done and I pointed my truck east. The first stop was Hatton on the Lakeside Sub. A meet was going down between a long eastbound manifest and this oil train. The eastbound would be a useful foil as we headed towards Spokane together this afternoon.
September 4, 2023.

Knowing this train and its outward facing DPU I went back to lining up the shot I'd been waiting on much of the day. The grainer has almost completed it's turn off the south bank of the Snake River with its high crossing to tackle the rugged path along the Palouse River. The waters of the Palouse River are seen above the bridge, it empties into the Snake behind the bluffs at the right edge of the photo.

Once I had this shot in the bag I could tell the light had swung around more than I realized. The sun would be out of position by the time anything came south. September 3, 2023.

The light on the DPU was a little better, as it had been at the Joso Bridge. Such is railroading in 2023, cross the continent to see the UP along the Columbia River, find KCS power. Again, no complaints, the river, the sage, the code line, lots to love. September 2, 2023.

I obviously didn't do the math and hadn't given this train as much as a second thought until they curved into view on the Ayer Sub. After shooting this train on the Joso Bridge I had no intentions of "chasing" it and with all the time I took between there and Wallula never would have imagined I overtook it. Yeah it's a dirty CP GE but I was happy to record my first train in Oregon regardless.
September 2, 2023.

I reached the campground along the Snake River after dark. Even in the moonlight the Joso Bridge was an awe-inspiring sight and I heard a few trains cross it during the night as well as the Great Northwest Railroad Co (Watco) run to the Ayer Jct. interchange then back up river.

The day was just getting light as I heard another train cross the bridge headed north. With the scanner on I heard something about a meet at Joso Siding on the other side. I embarked on a bleary-eyed scramble out of bed, rounding up the camera, heading out of the camper and up the hill behind for a view of the bridge. The sun was a couple minutes from clearing some low clouds to the east but I tried to show the scale of the structure and how it dominates the valley.

This bridge was high on my bucket list for this trip and it didn't disappoint. As for the unit grain train (I think it was grain) I wasn't surprised by the CP power up front. Most of the traffic on UP's "Washy" line shows up as whole trains off CPKC via the Eastport, Idaho interchange/border crossing.

The Washington Route 261 span over the Snake River, at right, is an impressive structure in its own right but somewhat dwarfed by its proximity to the Joso Bridge. The UP bridge is truly in another league. September 2, 2023.

Another less-than-shocking sight was the appearance of a KCS unit as DPU on the rear of this unit train. After the CP-KCS merger this year the fleets have blended rather quickly. Logically it makes sense in 2023, but seeing a KCS SD on it's own soaring over the Snake River hardly seemed "natural". September 2, 2023.