Just another snowy grade crossing shot with Soo 785,708 leading train 910 east through Garnet. Sometimes the memories that go with these stick with you. By the time I shot this photo I'd been railfanning quite awhile along the Soo Line Soo Subdivision in the Trout Lake area. I had become well acquainted with the crews and normally exchanged a bunch of banter with most of them at every opportunity. This particular crew had a pair a GP30's a couple of days previous to this on this same job and were required to take siding at Gilchrist (into a non plowed siding with roughly a foot of snow) for a meet. As they cooled there heels, I was invited up into the cab of the lead GP30 and the young engineer(no fan of GP30's) was moaning about how they were no doubt stuck where they were sitting and would need help getting out from the train they were about to meet. I really pumped him up about having no faith in EMD's finest and was actually shocked that they were able to get loose after the meet and were back on the main with no help. Fast foreword to the day of this photo, same meeting spot, no fresh snow and only a slight berm of snow at the east street crossing. Same engineer grinning down at me about having good power today with the big SD and you guessed it after the meet they couldn't budge an inch. The Head Brakeman and I shoveled the Street crossing all the while laughing our ----- off and 785 then was able to do her thing, but the engineer was noticeably tight lipped as they finally were able to get back out onto the main. Needless to say my cab invites were done for a couple weeks with this crew.
