The St Cloud local heads east with a very short train in tow. The FURX leaser is a nice change from the usual H4 geeps you see on this train.

Oil loads head east into Big Lake kicking up a snowstorm on a chilly last morning of 2019.

A trio of rebuilt and repainted EMD widecabs lead the Northtown-Grand Forks mixed freight under the signal gantry at Big Lake Station. All three wear the unofficial "H4", which differ... (more)

A pair of SD60Ms lead 4 GEs on the Dilworth, MN - Northtown Yard manifest.

Metro Transit's Northstar commuter trains all have the day off with the Labor Day holiday.

Labor Day finds the St. Cloud local train just throttling up from being stopped waiting for opposing traffic to clear. Northstar commuter rail facility is to the right, accessed by the lead track... (more)

The late afternoon shadows are long as the last Northstar commuter train of the day has just backed into the maintenance facility garage for servicing.

The last afternoon Northstar commuter train of the day waits to depart east to Target Field in Minneapolis. The Northstar Link bus will shuttle commuters to St. Cloud. In the background is Cargi... (more)

A clean Tier 4 hauls an intermodal eastbound on the Staples Sub.

Amtrak 8 flies through Big Lake East towards its next destination in St. Paul with 3 units on point. Not long after I took this, former Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman passed away from a stroke. Rest in P... (more)

An intermodal heads east through Big Lake on the wrong main with a clean dash 9 leading a rare TFM SD70MAC on a frigid, -15 below zero (not including windchill!) morning.

An SD75I and 2 CP units lead an empty grain train west on the Staples Sub in some serious snowfall.

A grain train with some new BNSF hoppers (towards the end) heads east into Big Lake, where it'll stop for an outbound Northstar commuter.

BNSF's "Northstar Holiday Train" arrives the Big Lake transit platform for boarding passengers going on a free ride to St. Paul Union Depot.

A colorful and lengthy Dilworth-bound manifest heads through Big Lake a few minutes away from sunset.