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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Today is a short harbor tour of Duluth/Superior and then a bus drive-by of the
yards and stuff in Superior, WI. I don't want to miss this. I bring my entire
box of Kleenex with me, but the faucet is turned off and I really do feel much
better.
    
School buses! Shades of the 2003 Havre convention (or so I'm told). It's not
nearly that hot -- quite pleasant actually. There's lots to see and we get a
good look at the former GN ore docks as well as various lakers (ore boats) along
the way. We are told boat traffic (as well as everything else) is way down, but
then things are tough all over, Doc.
   
After the harbor tour, we head back to the buses. There's some confusion over
which bus we should get on and all 3 end up heading back to the hotel just in
case someone didn't want to go on the Superior land tour. This turns out to our
advantage as Lindsay, Bruce, Joel and the rest of the boys have this one bus
here all to ourselves! Yes, they said we would be the LAST to have the catered
lunch (courtesy of BNSF), but each of us have our own bus seat so it's quite
comfortable.
    
Well they showed us EVERYTHING in Superior. Twice. I was actually starting to
recognize where we were after passing the same spot 3 or 4 times. We sure got
our money's worth. At the Superior Yard office for lunch, we had a nice sandwich
box under a tent, got a picture of the James J. Hill statue, and a GN-paint
scheme taxi cab, took a pee in a real BNSF crew bathroom and generally had a
grand time!
   
We even had a tremendous rainstorm passing the old NP-GN depot in
Superior. But the oddest site of all had to be the two deer spotted halfway up
the tremendous pile of coal behind a fenced-off, secure harbor area. Say what do
you two "dears" plan on eating up there? You're going to get your little hooves
dirty!
   
They had us off the property and back to the hotel at a reasonable time. So
THANK YOU BNSF -- for being great hosts and showing us around!
Not even time for a nap, but I grab a quick shower and change into my "evening
clothes" (Aloha Shirt and long khakis). Jim Chinquist (bless 'em) buys me my
first glass of cabernet. Now where to sit. This year, we had this rather
annoying, "sign up for a table of 10" thing for the banquet. The only problem is
I never saw the list until just before the chewings. At registration on Sunday,
no one knew about it. Oh well. Hopefully they won't do that at Glacier Park
2010.
    
I finally got to meet Pat Dorin! That was fun. He's the guy who wrote Lines East
(GN) and Iron Ore Railroads to name just two. Pat was also our convention
speaker and he talked about trains on the Iron Range.
For the raffle, I bought $60 worth of tickets. I had my eye on a book on
railroads in Kelly Lake, but it just wasn't in the cards this year. Bill Sornsin
recruited me as a "runner" (at my weight, yeah, I guess I could stand to
exercise a bit) and we both took the door prizes to the winners. The Grand Prize
was a set of F units won by former GN Traveling Passenger Representative, Greer
Nielsen!
This concludes my report for the GNRHS 2009 convention in Duluth. If you
want to hear about the continuation of my trip down to Sioux City, IA and back
(to see GN 1355), read on.
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Thursday, July 23, 2009
A looong drive ahead of me today. Duluth, MN to Sioux City, IA by way of Austin,
MN (the famous SPAM museum!). Check out and start heading south. As I bump along
on I-35, a little message comes on my dashboard: "Left Front Tire Pressure Low".
Oh joy. Once you leave, there's not a lot of civilization south of Duluth.
Up ahead, there's one of those Gas Next Exit signs for "TJ's". Hmph. Wonder if
they're open. Uh-oh, it says TWO MILES. OK, here we go then. Wow, this is really
boonie country. Well here's TJ's in this little bitty town. No one around. No
air pump. Back to the freeway. Next exit has a gas station...but the air pump
doesn't work. Third gas station is the charm. Whoa, my tire was down to 20
pounds! (40 is normal). I fill it up and I'm on my way. Somehow I think yon tire
is going to give me further trouble later on.
I stop at Pine City for some Mickey D's and a tank of go juice. Funny how I-35
becomes smooth as glass the moment you reach the Twin Cities area. I get through
town with no trouble and soon start hitting the construction zones south of
that. Austin, MN appears in my windshield sooner than I realize and the NAV
system takes me right to the Spam Museum. This is great!
    
    
   
The Mrs. and I both love SPAM. Always have. And holy moley look at that GIFT
SHOP! I go a little crazy and buy T-shirts, sweatshirts, all kinds of knick
knacks and, of course, a couple flats of the more esoteric SPAM varieties
(bacon, cheese, Hot N Spicy, etc.). At the cash register, they tell me they can
ship it home, so I don't have to mess with it. It's going ground, so it might
take a while.
I had planned to have lunch at the SPAM cafe across the way, but I'm still full
from breakfast. Off we go. About 3/4 of the way across southern Minnesota on
I-90, the NAV system INSISTS I get off and take this little road cutoff instead
of the I-90/I-29 route I'd been planning. Okay, fine. Have it your way. I turn
off on MN Highway 60 and before I know it I'm on this beautiful, four-lane,
concrete, smooth as silk, expressway. In the middle of nowhere. I cross into
Iowa and highway 60 continues as this beautiful superhighway, as yet untouched
by overweight trucks and a harsh winter. None of this showed up on my map when I
researched. They must have just built it.
As I roll through Iowa, it's becoming clear where all the ethanol gasoline is
coming from. I'm following what appears to be a signaled Union Pacific branch
line and there are dozens of brand new tank cars along the route joining the
ubiquitous grain hoppers. New processing plants appear every 30 miles or so.
The last 20 miles into Sioux City, I'm following both a UP branch and a BNSF
branch and I see trains on both lines (but am out of position to get a decent
picture). I stop at Hinton to take a nifty shot of a couple SD9's at a grain
elevator.
 
In late afternoon, I finally roll into Sioux City. I pull up alongside a long
tank car train (is this Texas?) and grab a couple shots as he trundles by. The
engineer really lets me have it on his horn -- holding the last longgggggggggggg
all way across the crossing.
The unit train of ethanol takes a while to clear. Finally, I wend my way through
downtown and onto I-29. Heading north, I pass what looks exactly like the City
Auditorium I can see in my postcard of GN 1355.
It is a warm evening, so I check in at the Country Inn and drive around Sioux
City looking for a restaurant. I find this place:
http://www.minervas.net/
They are playing Harry Connick, Jr. on the outside speaker as I
enter, so that's a good sign. I am promptly seated and it appears I am the
youngest customer! OK, someone brought their granddaughter, but you get the
idea. During my entire stay, they keep playing Frank Sinatra and swing music. My
kind of place. I start with a couple very nice lime margarita's on ice. The
shrimp on a skewer looks good, but...what am I thinking? This is Iowa. Salt
water is a good 1,500 miles away. So I go with a rack of short ribs which are
excellent. Appetite sated, it's back to the hotel for a good night's snooze.
 
 
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