The Royce Files

Hustle Muscle GN 400 Wow. I cannot believe it has been over a year since the last post. And double wow, what a year it has been and now continues to be -except for all the masks. But now for the trains. Last year Fargo hosted the Great Northern Historical Society's annual convention. The organization brought their prized asset Hustle Muscle GN 400, the first SD45 produced by EMD. Some major maintenance was completed on the historic SD45 in February 2019. From what I recall it needed a new diesel engine. I believe it was thought Hustle Muscle might have been out of service for quite some time. Then BNSF stepped up with some shop help to get the engine back in service. Like many of the 1st and 2nd generation diesels, Hustle Muscle's cab is pretty spartan:a control panel, brake and a throttle. Yes there is also a horn and a seat. I don't recall seeing the bathroom. But then there is also this control panel on the rear of the cab. Rear Control Panel in Hustle ...

West of of Dilworth yard  a few miles, the BNSF mainline makes its way into Moorhead and then over the Red River into Fargo. I captured these somewhat boring shots of grain hoppers off of US 10 not far from Moorhead High School on a frigid afternoon. They were sitting still but there was an approaching train heading west on the adjacent track.    Going west just about a mile you encounter a large junction referred to as Moorhead Junction.  Dilworth was a former Northern Pacific yard on the Staples sub-division of the St Paul division. It was also the point where the Fargo division began. I seem to recall that unit trains of coal from the Powder River basin were routed over these lines. It was in an article from an old Trains magazine I had lying around.