Ft. Madison/LaPlata Adventure

Fifteen of us ... 14 by Amtrak from Ohio (I drove from St. Louis) met at Ft. Madison, Iowa, Friday evening for a weekend of rail fanning at favored Virtual Rain Fam camera locations.

The restored, complete with museum, station at Ft. Madison

Following Friday evening and all day Saturday at Ft. Madison, they were to continue by Amtrak (and me by auto) to LaPlata, Missouri, about 120 miles away. That was the plan. But that was before a bridge - or two - along the Amtrak route burned near La Junta, Colorado, cancelling all Southwest Chief trains both directions for several days, thus stranding the Amtrak gang in Ft. Madison. They learned of the cancellation when they arrived for breakfast Saturday morning. Trip planner Bill Snyder learned of it at 3 a.m. via a special alert from the railroad. Following literally dozens of calls to the railroad, the reserved hotels in both Ft. Madison and LaPlata, and bus and livery companies, it was determined the group would take a 15-passenger van to LaPlata, arriving Saturday afternoon. But not before some train watching.

East bound on the busy Transcon just before crossing the river.

Fans of the Ft. Madison fan cam will know this is where BNSF Transcon line between LA and Chicago crosses the Mississippi River on a swing bridge, and there is significant tow boat barge traffic to watch as well.

Headed south on the Mississippi; a common sight at Ft. Madison.

At this point, it was thought the Southwest Chief would be running by Monday morning, the Ohio group's original departure time back to Chicago and on to Ohio. That was the plan. Sunday morning breakfast brought another "oh no ...". It was learned over waffles and cereal, that the train line was still shut down for several days. Two options were left: both included a van ride. One included an hour trip to Ottumwa, Iowa, to catch Amtrak's California Zephyr to Chicago, with hopes that it would arrive at the windy city (it was running several hours late) in time to make connections on to Cleveland; the other was an eight-hour van ride to Chicago's Union Station. But not before some train watching.

East bound at LaPlata Station, currently undergoing a substantial updating, including siding.

One really interesting lash-up witnessed during a day of watching trains from the Observation Point about a half mile east of the station in LaPlata was this one, with two in BNSF livery on the head end, followed by a BC Rail running third, and a Canadian National engine extolling its 100th birthday in fourth.

Two BNSF, a BC Rail, and a CN 100.

Back to the drama. The group left Monday morning to van to Ottumwa and take the Zephyr into Chicago. And ... believe it or not ... enroute, the van hit a deer ... really. The van, with some front end damage, was able to continue. Not so, the deer. No photos of that.

But the Zephyr, and the Ohio gang, arrived in Chicago in time to make their connection to Cleveland and on home to Ashland ON TIME Tuesday morning!

It has to be reported that through all of this, with rising and falling blood pressure, that tour organizer Bill Snyder did yeoman's work in keeping it all together, both personally, and group wise.

Still smiling ... kinda. Great work, Bill.

One final note ... make that additional sidelight ... the final note comes when the group gets back to Cleveland ... is that when the wind is high, as it was all weekend (25-45 mph), they have to use TWO tow boats - one on each end, to keep the large tow (sometimes as many as 15 barges, five long and three wide) straight through the narrow swing bridge opening.

Small tug on the front end, running backward, to aid in keeping the tow in line through the bridge.

More later.