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AMTK 65 Larimore 30 Jan 08
AMTK 65 Larimore 30 Jan 08

AMTK 65 has the eastbound Empire Builder (AMTK 8) screaming through the tiny town of Larimore, ND, doing all they can to erase the 12-hour hole they're in.

When I lived in North Dakota, I was fortunate enough to have the Empire Builder almost literally in my back yard. The problem was that both the eastbound and westbound trains came through in the middle of the night. Either one would have to be significantly off schedule to ever see one in the daylight.

On this particular day, this one was a half a day behind schedule, setting up for a rare catch. The problem was, I had to work and was scheduled for a meeting about the time it was due to make an appearance. As fate would have it, the meeting canceled and I dipped out from work on a "lunch break". I had been calling the Amtrak number and checking online to best guess when it would be through. I had my scanner and heard the DS talking with the crew. I was able to figure out they were about 20 miles away, and, assuming a speed of 80mph, that gave me 15 minutes to get into position and wait (see, math word problems do have application in the real world). 15 minutes in -15°F ambient air with a 10kt breeze (-36°F wind chill) didn't seem *too* bad, even considering I was basically in my work clothes.

Well, there were never any variables in those word problems like there are in the real world, and that 15 minute wait doubled into 30 minutes before this guy came screaming around the bend. Needless to say, I was frozen to the core.

But I was able to get a rare shot of this vampire unit and another one after the station stop in Grand Forks:
www.flickr.com/photos/chris_paulhamus/10431951484/

I also caught a manifest on the way back to work, and everyone there was none the wiser that I was "at lunch" railfanning...although they might have wondered why I looked a bit like Jack Nicholson at the end of "The Shining"!

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Taken on: January 30, 2008
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Sets appears in:   • North Dakota / Minnesota Railfanning   
Groups appears in:   • Dakota Railroads    • Cool Train Pix    more » • Best Winter Train photos    • Railfan Atlas    • +All Locomotives of the World    • North Dakota Railroading    « less
Camera: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec, 23mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Lens: 17.0-70.0 mm
Aperture: f/6.3
Exposure Time: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Focal Length: 23mm
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: Unknown (-1)
Software: Digital Photo Professional
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AMTK 65 Larimore 30 Jan 08

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