I caught wind of a Dresser turn departing Humboldt late this morning, so I figured the light would be pretty good by the time the train was loaded and headed back west. After being loaded at the q... (more)

Block Operator: Another piece of railroading lost to time is the station agent, or in this case, the block operator. Where train orders were in effect, the block operator would relay instru... (more)

Get 'Em Ready: The station agent gets the train orders ready to hoop up to the crew on extra ballast train. Train orders were used to direct the movement of any non scheduled train, where t... (more)

Hoop 'Em Up!: There are some things in railroading that have been lost to time. Hooping train orders to crews is one. With nothing to date this shot, this could have been the late 70's, a c... (more)

Quaint Settings: Breaking the silence of a peaceful afternoon, a BN ballast train blasts through a rural crossing. Headed for another load of rock. Taken while off duty, wearing full PPE.

Heading West: At lunch time, the morning train crew brings the rock train around the wye, and into the siding, preparing to head west in the afternoon. Taken while off duty, wearing full PP... (more)

Getting Orders: Before departing, the crew get their orders "hooped up" from the station agent. Looks like this SD9 is getting worked today with a heavy load of rock. Taken while ... (more)

In a scene from the past, "Dresser OPR" Don Knudtson hoops up orders to engineer Max Medlin on one of many photo runbys put on by S&B Productions on a sunny day in May. Don is no strange... (more)

Max Medlin grabs orders as Soo 2500 rolls past the restored Soo Line depot at Dresser, Wisconsin. An S&B Productions photo charter

Soo Line on the Soo Line These two former Soo SD60's are in about run 5 as they shove this ballast train through the tipple at Dresser Trap Rock, Inc. Without a digital speedometer, the eng... (more)

Soo Line on the Soo Line: No your eyes do not deceive you, that is the actual grade of the track leading out of the tipple on the North side. By the time you are loading the last car, you a... (more)

After a sleepy winter Dresser is coming to life again with the first trip of the CP Dresser Turn for rip-rap rock coming to town for rip-rap and ballast. A relief crew has just come on duty to bri... (more)

CP is gearing up to battle spring flooding with its first trip of the year to Dresser, WI for rip-rap rock. The conductor is checking in with a quarry worker while two front end loaders are at wor... (more)

A "Soo Line mixed train" from the 1950s" stops at the Dresser depot. This was a photo charter showing a "1970s" BN local I organized with the excellent cooperation of the Minnesota Transportation ... (more)

SOO GP9 559 poses at the beautifully restored former SOO Line Dresser depot with a consist typical of a mixed train of the 50's before heading west to continue the charter.