Well I “survived” my first 'Midwest tornado fest.' The severe weather this past Thursday afternoon/evening brought more than 40 tornados to the state of Minnesota and more to the south in Iowa. Two of the Minnesota twisters were deadly. We were lucky in Fairmont to escape any touchdowns or damaging weather. It was a stressful day watching the TV and listing to the radio reports of what was going on all around us, wondering if we would hear the tornado sirens next.

But as is the case, first destruction, then beauty. At dusk, the massive storm front moved northeast, the sky displayed such almost surreal looking clouds. They are 'Aftermath Clouds' or as a weather professional friend said, they are “Mammatus” clouds and they usually show as a particularly potent thunderstorm moves out of an area. Indeed true.

Contrasts

I’ve mentioned before how impressed I am with the mammoth grain structures that tower above the midwestern landscape. Driving around Des Moines, Iowa recently looking for interesting “stuff” to photograph, I found this silo facility along the mostly unused Norfolk and Southern rail yard. I love to show contrasts in my images and this one has several. I love the “large and small” aspect of the modest brick building along the railroad tracks contrasted with the massive silos in back. I also like the white washed paint of the small structure in contrast with the weathered concrete elevator silos. The other interesting element that I really didn’t notice until doing a post-shooting edit is the left window on the brick building has a very bright, yellow shade behid the glass contrasted to the plain, dark window on the right. The small building itself would have made a fun picture, but placing it in contrast with the huge silos adds some punch.

Fitting Gesture

Country singer Billy Currington had a recent hit song that talks about honoring a departed one with a six-pack of beer. The song’s called “God is Great, Beer Is Good and People Are Crazy.” I found a little bit of that going on over the Memorial Day weekend at a local cemetery outside Northrop, MN. Don’t know the story, but it’s likely an old Army buddy stopped by to pay tribute to a long lost friend with a can of Hamm’s beer on the gravestone and some red, white and blue flowers. Actually quite touching. Thanks to all who have given all for our country!

The Joy of Spring

Ahhh youth! If only we adults could still experience the joy of letting go and being a kid once-in-a-while. A good run on cool, green spring grass (yes, even with the Dandelions weeds) as we head as fast as our little legs will take us to the playground equipment is something "adults" don't do very often, if at all any more.

A close college friend of my wife and his two boys stopped by Fairmont for a quick visit today while on business. So it was to the Channel Inn for fried food and burger lunch on the shores of Hall Lake and then across the street to the park, since the adults took WAY too long to finish eating and talking and the boys needed to burn off some energy for the ride home to The Cities.

The point is, deep down inside, we all want to be like kids. But the parent inside us says: "Stop fidgeting, sit nice and don't even think about going out to play." But some of us, like me, need to allow ourselves "to go play" more often. We would enjoy our lives a lot better.

Locomotive Study

One of amazing thing about trains is their massive size. Even a "small" industrial switch engine is big, compared to, say, the average Honda.This old 44-tonner locomotive is sitting on a disconnected spur track in Blue Earth, MN. I like the graphic design of the working parts.

Corn is poppin up in rows in fields around Southern Minnesota. The little guys are about an inch tall. Worries are an overnight cold snap (A 'freeze warning' issued by the National Weather Service) could damage the tender young plants. I love the way the late afternoon sun highlights the tiny corn plants. The rows remind me of the Napa Valley wine country with the row upon row of grape vines beginning to bud. These pictures taken in Martin County Saturday (05-08-10) off Lair Road in Fairmont not far from my house.

'Homemade' Tractor Switch Engine

I love railroads and the Midwest has a great percentage of active rail lines running through it, from major heavy rail traffic routes to the rural branchlines on light rails and well-worn ties. In Fairmont (Mn.) there is an old rail spur that still serves as a grain transload facility near downtown.

Randy Kabe owns Southern Minnesota

Seed Cleaning Service and currently transfers corn and other grain from truck-to-railcar. The small operation is based at a vintage grain and coal elevator in Fairmont, Minnesota. Randy says his company currently receives anywhere from three to 10 empty covered hopper cars per month from the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad’s (off the IC&E’s Jackson Subdivision that operates through Fairmont along with the Union Pacific’s Fairmont Subdivision which crosses the IC&E line in town). Randy says he uses a modified secondhand agricultural tractor to move the cars setout by IC&E crews on a long siding beside his elevator.

He explained his coupler-equipped tractor switcher is a real “homemade,” low-budget piece of equipment that he “dreamt up” to get the job done more safely than the dangerous logging chain method he tried at first.

He bought the used White Farm Boss 4-150 equipped with a Cat 3208 engine and first extended the axles so the huge tires would straddle the railroad track. He then found an old John Deere cultivator at auction and used only the steel beam and 3-point hitch for attaching the coupler, which he got from the railroad. The custom homemade couple setup is adjustable and slides back and forth making it easier to mate with the couplers of the covered hoppers. “Works like a charm,” he said.

How many cars is the Farm Boss able to handle? Randy said, depending on the condition of the ground along each side of the light rail spur, the tractor can move six or seven empty hoppers at a time and can safely pull two fully loaded railcars, though he has moved more. The Farm Boss has even pulled railcars through foot-deep snow during the winter.