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Thursday July 23:
Another beautiful summer day in Minnesota. The convention is over, but Jon and I
are headed for terra incognita, the somewhat isolated (2-1/2 hours to get there)
W&GN Railroad. Despite operating on former Omaha Road (C&NW) tracks, two of the
W&GN engines are painted in Great Northern colors. It is well worth the drive.
http://www.spoonertrainride.com/
We trundle up I-35 northward, then turn off onto the construction-encrusted
State Hwy 70 to Spooner. Once in town, we check out the local museum in the old
C&NW depot. They have an impressive collection of railroad memorabilia as well
as old passenger cars on station tracks outside.
http://www.railroadmemoriesmuseumspooner.org/
Next we head north towards Trego. 4 miles north of Spooner, we come across the
W&GN's new depot. We pull in to have a look around, but don't see any of the
"GN" power. We figure it is out on a run, so we continue north up to Trego.
Following the tracks on side roads....hello, what is this?
 
#1 & #2: Off in the grass to our left is a little SW1, #862 positively glowing
in Omaha Orange and Pullman Green.
It is getting close to our 2pm train time (I pre-ordered tickets - they run a
little "Bay Creek Railway #316" doodlebug up and down the track), so we head
back to the depot.
As we pick up our will call tickets, the station agent lady informs us that the
doodlebug broke down yesterday, so they are running the GN F unit with one coach
as our train! Sweet!
As if on cue, we hear the F whistling for the crossing as it backs down with its
one car train. Jon and I dash up front to snap a few shots of the orange/green
beauty.
#1: Former CNW F7A, now W&GN 423 basks in the afternoon sun ready to take us
north.
We head back to the car, hand our tickets to the conductor and board -- taking a
couple nice open window seats for the trip. We are the only riders on this train
(the previous round trip had 3 riders who got off).
As departure time nears, the conductor saunters back down the aisle and....asks
us if we'd like to ride in the engine cab instead! As I stood there, mouth
agape, Jon managed to answer, "Yes, Yes!" for us both.
   
#1: Our hogger blasts the air horn for a crossing; #2: Rolling north alongside
US Hwy 53; #3: Engineer plays his horn whilst our Conductor takes care of a
little paperwork; #4: Oh, those classic F unit windows...
   
#5: I can't stop grinning like a baboon. Cruising Wisconsin in an F unit. This is
SO much fun!; #6: Another crossing as we curve along one leg of the wye at
Trego; #7: Rolling along the former Omaha Road mainline to Duluth; #8: Crossing
a high fill as we prepare to stop and reverse back to Spooner.
   
#9: Some rafters at "Veazie Springs" the northern-most point of our ride; #10:
Close up of the Engineer's controls - simple, rugged, classic; #11: We roll past
W&GN #862 on our way back to Spooner; #12: Journey's end: Walking back through
the engine room to our coach to de-train. THANK YOU W&GN for a FANTASTIC RIDE!!!
After our legendary cab ride, Jon and I took some snaps of the recently-arrived
Columbia Star Dinner Train equipment.
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/05/columbia-star-dinner-train-equipment-headed-to-wisconsin
(You will need an account at Trains.com to view this article)
Why so much interest in a dark blue train with a Wabash F unit? Well, underneath
the paint of 1950 beats the heart of a genuine GN EMD F7A #364-A! We inquired at
W&GN about the other F unit 1951 (GN EMD F7A #464-A) and were told it was in a
shop offline having some repairs done.
  
#1: Former Great Northern F unit in Wabash dress with its train alongside
Highway 53 near Spooner; #2: Former GN passenger F 1950 (nee-GN EMD F7A #364-A);
#3: Reproduction EMD builder's plate on fireman's side looking good.
   
#1-#4: Four views of W&GN F7A #423 waiting to take the next train out.
What a fantastic topper for the convention! Jon and I headed back to Minneapolis
and took our respective flights home the next day. Even in the boonies of
upstate Wisconsin, the Great Northern Railway spirit is alive and well. Train
Hype and see you all next year!
THE END
 
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