Canadian National Railway At Home in the Snow

Last weekend's snow storm brought 7.5 inches locally. Three days later the snow melted away. Canadian National CN Railway services part of this community by hauling ethanol and grain plus much more I suspect. On this day the locomotive pointed to the west, aiding in warming off some of the frozen precipitation.

Snow from Canada, Oh the Irony!

So I'm out looking for snow scenes to photograph since we received the first of the season white stuff last night and this morning. Locally 7.5 inches of wet snow blanketed everything. At the Quaker Oats mills here in Cedar Rapids, four hopper grain cars from the Canadian Pacific Railway were not spared from the frozen precipitation. Its the white cap of snow over word "Canada" that caught my attention. Snow from the Great White North is something generally expected, now it is confirmed! Good one eh?

Eastbound Union Pacific Lines in Central Iowa

The main East - West lines for the Union Pacific railroad runs right through Iowa. Along these tracks have been many, many tons of coal, new automobiles and even the two 200 inch blanks for the Mount Palomar Hale telescope direct from the Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York. Yes, two blanks. The first one delivered developed a crack in the lens and needed to be replaced. It is or was on display at Corning's museum.

Smooth Union Pacific Rail at Mount Vernon, Iowa

Two tracks from the Union Pacific Railroad come through Iowa from the Mississippi to the Missouri Rivers. This closeup of the one rail shows the granite rock ballast (roadbed,) ties, fastener plates and spikes. Recently I read where railroads used thermite welding beginning in the 1930s to join sections of rail together, then polished the join level for that smooth ride which also eliminated some of the clickety-clack sounds. The things you learn.

Underwater Animal Tracks - Protofossil Factories

Animal tracks can be found around water sources. Such is the case with these Canada geese and deer tracks through backwaters of the Cedar River at Palisades-Kepler State Park near Mount Vernon, Iowa. Given the right weather, geologic conditions and time these now watery tracks could become hardened fossil tracks. However, even in drought times that eastern Iowa has experienced in 2012 it is unlikely that these tracks will survive intact following the next rainfall let alone the eons of time. But somehow fossil tracks do show up in the geologic record. We shall see.

End of the Line

This track spur leads away from the end of the line at a rail yard in 42N country. While the staging area is for older rail cars it is not quite the last stop. A look around shows there are no weeds, the rails are shiny and newer gravel bedding underneath the tracks suggest an active, working area. On this day however there isn't even a hint of activity, but it still makes for a great shot. Know that.