Spring 2010 Arrives

It’s that time of year again; the browns of winter are beginning to burst forth with the colors of spring. As the temperature becomes more inviting outside, it’s time for this railfan to head trackside with camera in hand.

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Just west of DeSoto, Illinois, a northbound Union Pacific stack train is Chicago bound on the Mt. Vernon Subdivision.

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Amtrak’s Saluki from Chicago has discharged all its passengers at the station in Carbondale. Now the train is turning on the wye north of town. In the background are the coal towers that once serviced the steamers of the Illinois Central. In a few hours, this trainset will return to Chicago as the northbound Illini.

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East of DeSoto, a southbound Union Pacific freight rounds a curve. The budding greenery is very much in evidence.

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A few hours ago we saw the Saluki turning in Carbondale. Here is the same set of equipment, crossing the Big Muddy River as the northbound Illini. As is frequently the case this time of year, water is high on the Big Muddy.

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Following behind The Illini is northbound Canadian National freight A431. Would you have guessed the train is at DeSoto, Illinois?

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At Dowell Junction, a southbound grain train was waiting for A431. Here is that grain train passing through DeSoto.

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Down on the Chester Subdivision of the Union Pacific Railroad, a northbound stack train passes some standing water between Ware and Wolf Lake.

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Following behind the stack train was a short train of auto racks. In this age of digital photography, can we still call this a Kodachrome sky? Somehow “DPI sky” just lacks feeling.

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The sun is low in the sky as Canadian National A431 rounds a curve along a river and through the woods near Balcom, Illinois.

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Photography April 4 and April 8, 2010

Copyright 2010 – Mary Rae McPherson

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