TLR 2012: Boys Will Be Boys

Have you ever seen 100 grown men jump up and down, giggling with excitement?  If you were in Dell Rapids, South Dakota, this past Saturday, you might have.  The excitement was building as we stood there, waiting for these beautiful Dakota & Iowa locomotives, #2512 and #2513, stop to pick us up.  The track really wasn't as wavy as it appears, it's distortion from the telephoto lens.

Behind the locomotives you can see three bright yellow cabooses.  We were supposed to ride in those cabooses, safely seated and looking out the window.  Not all of us listened, opting instead to stand on the platform of the caboose, directly behind the locomotives.  This was my view for the entire trip.  I didn't win the raffle for a seat in the locomotive, but this was almost as good.

Turn that wheel.  I triple-dog-dare you...

At the end of the trip, after crossing the bridge over Sioux Falls, they parked the train so that we could take pictures of the locomotives.

While we were sitting there, some kids came running over from the park to see what was going on.  One of the guys from the crew let them climb up into the cab for a look.  Meanwhile, I was out front, trying to get a good photo of the headlight gleaming on the rail head.

One more item of business to take care of before calling it a day.  Group photo, with a lucky few getting to stand on the walkway of #2513.  Sixth person from the right, blue shirt, camera around his neck - that's me! First time I've been on an idling locomotive, you can just feel the power rumbling under your feet.  Was I giddy?  Possibly.