Soo Mikado #1003 begins the trip east from Horicon by passing one of numerous farms en route to Hartford.

Soo Mikado #1003 is seen here passing through picturesque rural Wisconsin, and the cliche country farm on the way out of town.

Soo Mikado #1003 storms past the local cemetery in Rubicon, WI.

Soo Mikado #1003 leads a short special onto "fast track" at Iron Ridge, opening the throttle and puttin on quite a show for the railfans.

Soo Mikado #1003 leads a short special into Hartford, the end of the journey for this train; making sure to finish the run with quite a display.

A CN Dash-9 leads a new 70M-2 up Byron Hill with a potash train; there was an SD40-3 on the back shoving. Oh, Don Kalkman, apparently we got up here before it got dark buddy. Nice try though.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, train grinds uphill with the Oregon Nuke Plant towering in the background; a unique piece of rural Illinois scenery.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, train winds its way through a nice reverse curve as the Illinois flatlands transition to rugged hills northwestern Illinois is known for.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, train winds its way through a cut in a scene that could be easily mistaken for somewhere on the Frisco or KCS, not the NW suburbs of Chicago.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, coasts downhill into Monroe Center, nearing the halfway point across Illinois.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, eases into a nice curve in rural Kirkland.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, heads under the IC Freeport Sub on the west side of Genoa.

The ICE's daily Chicago BRC Clearing-Huron, SD, heads west past a vintage early 1900's grain elevator.

The daily-except-Saturday local, the Davis Turn, thumps through Hampshire at a steady 30mph; returning to Davis Jct. after an early morning run to interchange with the EJ&E at Spaulding.

One of the newest additions to the BNSF roster leads a westbound manifest, not exactly the service this engine was designed for; a nice change for a leader though.