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| On day
2, the SP 4449 "Daylight" finally got exposed to a substantial amount of
the latter. Monday October 11th dawned cold, crisp and CLEAR! This
set the stage for some wonderful photographs as seen below. Drew Mitchem
(driver) and myself (navigator) chased to train as far as Tobin (just west
of Helena) before picking up on the H-KCKPAS with five brand new CSX SD70ACEs
shoving on the rear. The units are being tested in helper service by the
MRL, and by the next day were already filthy. So we were one of the few to
get photos of the units in service while still clean. Photos of those units
will be part of another feature. |
|
|
Exploding
out of the tunnel at Bonita, Montana, near the "Nimrod" detector. |
|
A
little closer view. |
|
Looking
the other way, we see the train passing a photo line that was setup behind
the line I was in. |
|
Charging
through a tight curve in Bearmouth Canyon on what was the Milwaukee Road
grade at one time (the siding is the ex-NP grade). |
|
A
good side view. |
|
And
going away. |
|
Just
west of Drummond, MT. |
|
Passing the "Second most-photographed barn in Montana" at Jens. |
|
After performing a photo-runby at Gold Creek, site of
the final spike on the NP. I catch the steam special coming into Garrison,
MT. |
|
Having stopped at Garrison to perform inspections prior
to the assault on Mullan Pass, the SP 4449 gives a show on departure that
would rival Mount Saint Helens. |
|
West of Avon, Montana climbing the lower portion of the grade. |
|
Having topped the pass, the 4449 descends the east slope
between Austin and Tobin. |
| >>>Return
to Day 1<<< |
|
