170s train crosses the Mighty Mississippi at Hastings with a trio of blue and yellows.

171 negotiates the S-curve south of LaCrescent, MN. Within minutes the conductor will ring up the CP dispatcher and ask permission into the LaCrescent Yard.

171 rolls north through the Reno Bottoms. June is the time to shoot here. It won't be long before the lily pads will die and turn brown, ruining this shot location.

DME 6370 leads ICE 6432 west on the CP River Sub.

A short local heads east and across the Rock River bridge east of Byron, Illinois after an overnight snow-storm. SAM SMEDLEY PHOTO

Bensenville - Mason City Manifest heads west towards Lanark, IL after meeting its eastbound counterpart at Adeline.

Nothing but blue and gold and all seems right with the world. You'd never know the CP take over the DME/ICE had already transpired from this lash-up.

The Wells, MN local crew brings 75 cars of grain on a Feeder train through Plymouth, MN.

DME 6370 is westbound with a detouring ethanol empty entering Columbus. 6370 is ex-Milwaukee Road, as is this trackage.

Ex-Milwaukee Road duce lives on in 2008 and poses in front of the roundhouse at Nahant.

ICE KCSP rolls west out of Donehower.

After getting the west switch line normal this feeder train is pulling into town to meet a MMQMC. This is a loaded feeder train from Mason City, IA to Kansas City, MO.

6370 is starting to get a run for Double Day hill east of Charles City. This 1% grade tells how the rest of the day will be on this sub. 18mph at the top means that everything is running good and ... (more)

FMCKC has all units working hard to get up the 1% grade into Ionia. This is one of six grades over 1% this train will have to work at to get over the 106 miles of the Mason City Sub.

A loaded KCS feeder train has just departed Nora Springs about 10 minutes ago and is bound for Dubuque for the next crew change. This 75 car grain train came off the Jackson line.