Short Summary
   The Glencoe Turn is the eastern most train that operates on TC&W owned track. The crew usually goes on duty at 1900 at the Hopkins depot. If all went well with the St. Paul Turn earlier in the day, the train is blocked and ready to go. With a warrant, the train leaves between 2000 and 2300 and usually doesn't make more than two or three stops. The most consistent stop is at Cologne to interchange with the MPL. At Glencoe the train is dropped off for the Reubel Turn and the the outbound train (inbound Ruebel Turn) is picked up and taken back to Hopkins. The Glencoe Turn usually arrives back in Hopkins between 0300-0600. If the St. Paul Turn runs on Sunday, the Glencoe Turn may also run, but is not guaranteed.
Traffic Handled
Traffic handled is virtually the same as what's handled on the St. Paul Turn. The two big commodities are grains and ethanol/DDG. The majority of the ethanol and DDGs are for the MPL in Winthrop. A lot of the ethanol from the Granite Falls plant goes out on the BNSF at Appleton.
There are only a few customers between Hopkins and Glencoe. The busiest customer by far is Lyman Lumber in Chanhassen which receive inbound loads of lumber. The two remaining customers are Pure Polymers in Cologne and Stockman Transfer Inc in Plato. Pure Polymers receives inbound loads of plastic pellets and Stockman Transfer Inc. receives mostly grain screenings.
1900 at Hopkins
The standard call time for the Glencoe Turn is 1900 at the Hopkins depot. If the St. Paul Turn is running short on the time the Glencoe Turn will be called early to dogcatch the train. This is becoming increasingly common with the new almost daily move to Western Ave. Yard. On Saturdays the Glencoe Turn is usually called by the time the St. Paul Turn arrives in Hopkins to make for a clean crew change. This can vary from 1500-1900.
Most of the time the train is blocked and ready to leave, but sometimes it is not if the St. Paul Turn was short on time. Sometimes the train is partially blocked and only a few more moved are required.
In a perfect world the blocks will be arranged like so: MPL (in any order), Lyman Lumber, Pure Polymers (if any), Plato (if any), Glencoe, Ruebel, peddlers (empty hoppers), Granite Falls ethanol/DDG and finally any Sisseton & Milbank Railroad (SMRR) traffic. Any additional traffic is placed where applicable. Unfortunately, this isn't a perfect world and the Glencoe Turn often leaves Hopkins with the train not 100% blocked properly. This is especially true when the train is big (more than 85 cars). The only blocks that have to be blocked are the MPL, Lyman and any other customers between Hopkins and Glencoe.
Departing no later than 2300 the train usually has a straight shot to Glencoe except for a setout at the siding in Cologne for the MPL. The pickup is made on the eastbound trip.
The MPL setout can be done in Poly track in downtown Cologne as well as Bongards if the siding is full. If there are any cars Pure Polymers in Cologne or Stockman Transfer in Plato those are worked on the westbound trip. Lyman Lumber can be served going west as well but isn't very common since the switch is for eastbound movements and requires the power to be split, but it's entirely up the crew of the train.
Once arriving in Glencoe between 2100 and 0200, the train is typically left on the main track just east of the engine house. Power is serviced (fuel, sand, ice etc.) and new paperwork is received from the clerk. If there is a Lyman Lumber car to be setout going back east the crew places it on the east end/headend of their outbound train. Occasionally some blocking has to be done for the St. Paul Turn. If the Glencoe Turn arrives in Glencoe before the Reubel comes back, the Glencoe Turn has to wait since that is their outbound train. If there wasn't a Utility Job that or if some things just came up, the Glencoe Turn sometimes has to some work around Glencoe. When the work is finished the train heads east between 2300 and 0400 with a final destination of Hopkins. Return Trip
If the MPL was in Cologne the day before, the Glencoe Turn stops at Cologne again to make the pickup. Two stops are made so that the crew doesn't have to jostle around the cars in Glencoe. Sometimes the MPL runs into Glencoe and if that happens the Glencoe Turn has to take the MPL power and any cars for the MPL that came from the west to Cologne. The pickup can be at Bongards, the siding or Poly track in Cologne.
The next stop is usually Lyman Lumber in Chanhassen. Lyman Lumber can be difficult to serve because the switch is facing the wrong direction to do it while going westbound and if the train is longer than 38 cars when eastbound, the train (with the exception of the Lyman cars of course) has to be left west of town or else they would be blocking crossings. The emptie(s) are pulled, the load(s) are spotted and the train is now ready to head home for Hopkins. Bass Lake Spur BRT is usually requested when leaving.
Arriving back in Hopkins between 0300 and 0700, there shouldn't be any work left to do. When arriving back in Hopkins on a good day, the train pulls up to the 5th Ave. crossing and cuts the power and goes to the depot. Occasionally, some blocking may need to be done that the Reubel boys failed to do. Depending on how much time the crew has left, this work might be left for that mornings St. Paul Turn crew. If there is a Savage turn that morning the cars for that train may be cut apart from the St. Paul Turn train, but not always. Now the St. Paul Turn takes over. That's it.
Do not think of any of this information as absolute truth. After all, we are talking about a railroad here. Things change constantly. I tried to be as clear as possible while remaining detailed. If anything is unclear, you want me to expand on something or if you have any questions drop me a line. If you have any corrections, additions or updates please let me know. Thank you.
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