SP 4449 has departed Minneapolis, GPS tracker shows her just north of St. Cloud now. Here's wishing them a safe trip back to Portland. Thank you, Portland, for letting us enjoy her for a while!
Oops! I'd better go check the schedule for this trip again. Make certain nothing has changed. Hope that weather and hoardes of screwballs will cooperate in my region. Boxcab E50
Tracy, I hope they weren't staybolts! I got a lot of info from the 261 crew that they did quite a bit of work on 4449 while she was in their shop. Glad she is on her way back. As of an hour ago she was tied up in Dilworth (I think) near Fargo, so the first leg has been accomplished.:tb-biggrin: Ken, on the return trip, she is scheduled to arrive in Whitefish Saturday the 17th, and remain there all day Sunday the 18th. Depart Monday for Spokane. Hope you can get up there. I don't know how your mobility issues will effect your ability to board, but despite the fact that we advertise no tours, I'm sure one of the crew members would let you check out the SuperDome. I wish I was on this trip--for sure you could get aboard. :tb-sad:
Hemi, as I'm sure you know, the scenery through Glacier National Park is just incredible. Has it snowed up there in the last few days? I will look forward to your shots. :tb-biggrin:
In Great Falls, we had snow last weekend. It was single-digits cold here. This weekend, we're expecting 50's. So there goes my extreme-cold-steam-condensing-from-a-beautiful-steam-loco shot! I was hoping to replicate this somewhere on marias Pass!
A most excellent steam chase over Marias Pass! Other than a choice couple knuckleheads weaving, driving like complete morons, and using both lanes of a 2 lane road, it was a great chase! Pics when I have time to upload...
Bummer day. They had little radio chatter, no GPS, so we could not figure out their schedule. It was tentative arrival in Whitefish, 1600 hours. Well, they were WAAAAAAAAY early in there. My wife had to work, so we could not leave earlier. No chasing, and fighting a herd of spectators. Bleh. Oh well, ran into a former neighbor and had a nice chat. A few photos. There was BNSF activity, but it was being routed way around the back of the yard for crowd safety. Probably through Ten Track. Thus, no pictures there, either. Blocked by rows of cars. All kinds of rumors about a changed departure schedule. Tomorrow, Monday during darkness? Nobody knew what was happening. :tb-mad: Boxcab E50
Hemi, Looking forward to them! The troops have let me know they are safely tied down in Whitefish and will remain there all day tomorrow. :tb-biggrin:
The schedule tends to be very fluid. I remember during the double-header a few years back when the 4449 with the 844 had returned to Portland it was originally supposed to head out the Kenton line a bit but instead it was backed through the North Portland tunnel and into Albina Yard. I could hear the radio chatter because I was listening at work, so I knew what was going on, but many of those waiting trackside with cameras ended up waiting for nothing. It runs, as I am sure you know, pretty much at the mercy of the roads over which it travels. I think that's why schedules are always so fluid.
What I was relying upon, is the internally published BNSF schedule. It was quite definite in the performance times they expected ,(addressing dispatchers, and others concerned), and if anything, allowed for them to be late, rather than early. They were supposed to be at the depot, 1600 hours and service the cars there. Before backing out, and heading into what is currently called the Layover Track. (Known to oldtimers as the House Track.) Instead they were lined straight into the House Track. Which is a PITA when it comes to getting any decent photos. A lot of other folks who showed up, were also unhappy the train was early. They, too, had planned otherwise. Boxcab E50
My final photo spot was Tunnel 3.7; we chased as far as Coram, and never caught up with he. We got back to Grea Falls at dark. They really didn't fool around, and BNSF took pretty good care of them out there on the Hi-Line. Only once did they get stuck behind a TOFC train, that was at Summit, and followed it to Java. The weather did not cooperate all day. Overcast early, late and in between, we had periods of sunshine. Teaser: 4449 enters Essex, while a throng of fans gathers at Izaak Walton Inn:
Had the clouds worked with me, rather than against me, it would have been much better. Thanks all the same, TM!
Ken, they are supposed to leave at 8 AM and if the dispatcher cooperates, they will. I don't know where the rumor of early departure yesterday came from. Jason Johnson has put the GPS tracker on Google Earth, and I think you can access it from the Friends of 4449 site. I accessed it from "that other site" and it shows stationary in Whitefish, as it should, today. Adam, I'm with you, never get any decent shots, but look at what has been published on the internet since she has been back east. Gangbusters! I look forward to Holiday Express. :tb-biggrin:
