In and Around Glencoe
< When To Get There - Photo Spots - Utility Job
- Ruebel Turn - Glencoe Turn - NSI Trains >
ailfanning in Glencoe
is relatively easy but the amount of shootable trains can be low. Out of the available four, only one train is guaranteed to run in daylight, especially during the winter months. That one
train is the Utility Job. The crew reports for duty at 0700 in the offices at Glencoe, which is right next to the engine house. If you're coming
to Glencoe from the east, you want to take your first right turn once you get into downtown Glencoe and you will see the offices and engine
house down the road.
If you do get skunked and don't see any trains, there usually is some interesting equipment
around town to see. The engine shop which usually has a unit parked outside, typically on the west side of the
shops. If that fails, there is a track on the west end of town that is located across the mainline from Seneca Foods.
For a number of years the two remaining ex-NS slugs have been stored there, but I was told they have been recently moved. Not sure where the
slugs are, but probably still in Glencoe somewhere. The TCWR 1503 is usually floating around Glencoe as well.
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Milepost: |
471.9 |
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Trains: |
(4) Utilty Job, Ruebel Turn, Glencoe Turn, NSI |
Best Time:
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Morning, however nights are busiest |
Customers:
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(3) Seneca Foods, Hutchinson Iron & Steel,
Medalion Kitchens |
| Radio Freq:
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ARR 51 160.875 Ch. #1 Yard
ARR 90 161.460 Ch. #2 Road |
| Notes:
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TC&W Headquarters and engine shop
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Also stored is various types of rolling stock.
As previously mentioned, Seneca Foods is located on the west side of town and on the east end of the storage track
is where Hutchinson Iron & Steel is located. Seneca Foods, previously Green Giant, ships outbound canned foods and gets switched by the
Utility Job almost every morning. Hutchinson Iron & Steel ships outbound scrap metal in gondolas. The third customer is Medalion Kitchens located in the former Young America Corp. building, a few blocks
west of the shops on 12th St. There is a possibility for a fourth customer to be added, but it's still in planning stages. The company is
from Finland and wants to locate in the Glencoe business district with rail service. Hopefully it works out.
In addition to the TC&W, Glencoe is also the headquarters for the Minnesota Prairie Line (MPL). It's becoming
increasingly rare, but the MPL occasionally runs into Glencoe from Norwood. The main reason for the MPL to come into Glencoe is for maintenance
on the locomotives. There is a shop on the MPL in Morton, but it's not capable of any extensive work and the engines need to be brought to
Glencoe for their 92-day inspections. I think cars are or were occasional brought into Glencoe as well to be interchanged with the BNSF at Appleton,
but I'm not sure. Lately, the Glencoe Turn has gotten the privilege of doing this work so the MPL coming into Glencoe has been rare or non
existent.
Glencoe has one of the few remaining Milwaukee Road depots along the TC&W. It is still
owned by the TC&W, but is just used for storage. It's located between the Independence elevator in downtown and Seneca Foods.
When To Get There
If you want to take photographs or video, the best time to show up is mid-morning. The Utility doesn't head for Seneca until at least
0800 as they have paperwork to go through and have to service the locomotives. When I've gone to Glencoe, I try to show up around 0830. I
wouldn't recommend showing up any later than 0930 because the Utility Job has left westbound as early as 0930, plus the light is better earlier. It's good to show up a little
early anyway so you can shoot the train in good light while it switches Seneca. If a NSI
empty is running that day, it arrives between 1330 and 2000.
It's unfortunate, but the busiest time is when the sun is down. The Ruebel Turn is often the first
to arrive from the west, between 1700 and 0300. The next train is usually the Glencoe Turn arriving on average about 2330. The NSI load, which
in the winter makes its entire trip under the cover of darkness, arrives shortly after. Typically arriving about midnight, the NSI and Glencoe
Turn meet in Glencoe almost every time. If you want to see the trains at night, get to Glencoe at about 2300 and check to see if the Ruebel has
arrived. If not, I would head west as you probably have two trains coming at you, the Ruebel Turn and possibly the NSI Load. A scanner is a must though
since for the first few miles the road leaves the tracks and it would be easy to pass a train a not know it. If you do pass a train, you'll hear
the crew clear their warrant when they arrive in Glencoe. You can also choose to head east to intercept the Glencoe Turn, but the line is much
harder to follow as no single road follows the tracks east of Cologne.
Photo Spots
Glencoe isn't known for it's scenery, but there are a few decent locations to shoot trains. Roads follow
the tracks in town so it's easy to see what's available. The shots listed here are by no-means the only shots in town, they are just a few that
I've found when I've been in Glencoe. The numbers in the links correspond to the numbers on the map.
A decent shot can be had for westbounds on the east side (1) of the engine house.
Morningside Ave. is a nice spot for both eastbounds and westbounds. In the westbound shot (2) you can see the
Glencoe watertower and it's also the west end of the Glencoe siding. The eatbound shot (3) is also nice
because the Independence elevator is visible in the background and there are some trees to use behind the engines. Yet another shot for
westbounds is in downtown at the Independence elevator (4) and just west of the elevator is the Glencoe depot.
On the west side of town at Seneca Foods you can shoot the Utility Job spotting and pulling cars inside the building (5)
which is kinda cool.
Utility Job
As I said earlier, the Utility Job is the guaranteed train in Glencoe. On duty at 0700, the Utility's usually
starts out with making any power changes that are needed and servicing the locomotives (sand, fuel , ice etc.). If the engine house wants a
switch, this is when it's done. It can be difficult to get close to the engine shop, but no other builds block it on the west side so it's
nothing a telephoto lens can't fix. The Utility Job usually is messing around the engine house until at least 0800.
 :
| | Only a portion of Glencoe is visible, click on the map for the full view. |
A road goes right up to the building, but it is TC&W property, so keep that in mind. If something is
parked on the north side of the shop, you can get to the north side but you need to drive about a 1/2 mile west to the first crossing and then
take the first right. That will put you on a dead end street and it stops west of the shops. This is where the telephoto lens will be most needed.
Once the Utility Job finishes the work at the shops, the crew heads over to the west side of town to switch
Seneca Foods. This is the closest thing to a yard that you will find in Glencoe. There is a crossing and parking lot just east of the Seneca
Foods building so access isn't much of a problem. Seneca Foods has three tracks (I think) plus a track that goes into the building that is
used to load boxcars. Buffer cars are required when the Utility is switching in the building because the locomotives are not permitted inside
the building, for obvious reasons. If Hutchinson Iron & Steel has any cars, the Utility usually does it at the same time. If an empty is spotted
right away, sometimes it's loaded by the time Seneca is done.
When the Utility Job is switching the local industries, that is often when you can get the train (including the
Ruebel Turn) in the best light. Seneca Foods and Hutch both have west facing switches so the engines are on the east end during switching. Occasionally,
The Utility Job has to go to Bongards or any other station east of Glencoe and do some work. This is only done when the Glencoe Turn was running
late the night before and had to skip work in order to make it back to Hopkins within their hours of service. This isn't common practice, but
it's nice when it does happen as you get more opportunities to shoot the train going east in the morning. This also delays the trains westbound
departure from Glencoe so your chances of getting it in good light are better.
Once all of the industry work is done, the crew runs light power towards the engine shop to tie onto the west end
of the train the Glencoe Turn brought in the night before. If any blocking of the train needs to be done,  | The Utility Job switches Seneca Foods while
the Glencoe Turn waits for a crew to arrive. |
it's normally done now. If the Glencoe Turn brought in a big train, often the Utility Job will added a unit or two at this time. The
additional units are not added earlier because they are not needed for switching. If no additional work is needed,
the crew begins to
perform an air-test in preparation to head west. The head end of the train at this time is sitting west of the engine shops and east of the
first crossing. Access to the tracks between these two points is somewhat limited because houses and businesses line the ROW making photography
difficult. It's not that big of a deal, considering that when the air-test is being done, the light is still pretty bad for westbounds.
While the Utility Job was out switching the local industries, the Glencoe Carmen inspect the inbound Glencoe Turn
train for any defects. If any BOs are found by the carmen or during the air-test, they must be setout prior to departure. This is bad for the
crew, but it's good for the railfan as the light improves with every minute that passes. The train departs between 1145 and 1430 on a typical day.
With the air-test complete, the crew calls the dispatcher to get a warrant on channel 2 (AAR 90). The crew usually
gets their warrant before they start to pull, so you can get a head start on the train. Around this time the crew talks with 'Glencoe Base' they decide on an on duty time for the Ruebel Turn. Once everything is completed, the train departs
westbound and the Utility will change crews with the Ruebel, usually at Bird Island.
When the Utility Job finally does leave town, you want to get on 212 and head west. When in town, there
are only two entrances to 212. Plently of roads go south towards 212, but only two actually connect to it. Two are on the eastside of town near
Burger King and the offices and the other is on the wetside of town. Highway 22 is the only road on the west side that connects to 212. Highway 2 crosses over 212 on a bridge. The first time I chased the
Utility Job west I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out where I could get back on 212. Hopefully you have an easier time with it.
Ruebel Turn
Despite being a 'Turn', the Ruebel Turn technically only goes eastbound in Glencoe. Of course there are
exceptions, but on a normal day, the Utility Job takes the train west out of Glencoe but the Ruebel Turn crew is in change when the train returns
to Glencoe.
The Ruebel Turn's role in Glencoe is small compared to the Utility Job, but I'll try my best to tell you what I know. If you have anything
to add send me an e-mail.
The Ruebel Turn typically changes crew with the Utility Job at Bird Island and continues onto Ruebel. The Ruebel
Turn arrives in Glencoe anywhere from 1700 to 0300. Running eastbound in the late afternoon or evening generally isn't considered a good thing
by railfans. The only good thing about it really, is that it can make for some nice glint light late in the day. West of Glencoe and until Granite Falls the
land is pretty flat so you can get the absolute last rays of sunlight. There aren't too many trees along the tracks either so shadows aren't
much of a problem.
The arrival time in Glencoe varies so much because this is where the majority of the TC&W's traffic originates
from. So, if the crew has a light day, they can arrive in Glencoe as early as 1400. If there is a lot of work, they will probably die on
their hours of service and the train will be 'dogcaught' by the Glencoe Turn that night. It also largely depends on when the Utility Job left
Glencoe. You will get a warning before the train arrives because the crew has to call 'Glencoe Base' to get permission into the yard limits. When arriving back in Glencoe, the Ruebel Turn leaves the train on the siding on the east side of town near the engine house. On
occasion the train is left on the west end of town near Seneca Foods. I think this is done when the train is in excess of 5000ft, the length
of the siding on the east side.
Once the train is tied down, the Ruebel Turn runs light power to the engine house and ties up. They may do some
additional work, but I don't think it's much, if any. The train then sits until the Glencoe Turn arrives and takes it east, usually without the power.
Glencoe Turn
The Glencoe Turn is another train that is difficult to see in daylight at Glencoe. The Glencoe Turn is one
of only two night jobs on the TC&W, the other is the NSI load. The most common way for the Glencoe Turn to end up in Glencoe with the sun up
is when the St. Paul Turn is very late getting back to Hopkins from St. Paul (past midnight).
 | The Glencoe Turn makes a rare appearance
under the sun in Glencoe and heads for Hopkins. |
On a normal night, the Glencoe Turn arrives in Glencoe anywhere from 2100 to 0300. If you have a radio/scanner
with you, you will be able to hear the train approaching because the crew calls 'Glencoe Base' as they are going through Plato to get a roll-by
from the clerk. The roll-by is done at the first crossing east of the engine shop and the train slows to about 10 MPH so you'll have plenty of
time to get to the tracks.
When in town, the Glencoe Turn leaves their train in the siding near the engine house for the Utility
that coming morning. The power is then serviced and paperwork is brought into the offices for the clerk. Occasionally, the crew needs to go to
Seneca Foods to pick up a car that's going east. If power needs to be changed, it's typically done at this time. The crew spends anywhere from
two hours to six hours in Glencoe.
Once all the work is finished, the crew ties onto their train, which is usually sitting just west of the
engine house and performs an air-test. With the air-test complete, the crew gets a warrant and heads east to ultimately reach Hopkins.
If the Ruebel Turn dies en-route to Glencoe, the Glencoe Turn gets the pleasure of dogcatching the train.
When this is done, the Glencoe Turn crew often dies before they can reach Hopkins. Sometimes the Glencoe Turn crew even dies in Glencoe, making
it possible to see the train in daylight. Good for railfans, bad for train crews.
NSI Trains
The NSI (NorthStar Intermodel) trains are the only trains to run straight through Glencoe, not even a crew change. Currently,
the NSI Load comes through on Monday, Wednesday and Friday night. The empty runs the following days in the afternoon on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This leaves Sunday as the only day that a NSI train does not run.
 | One of the first NSI Empties slows for a stop at
the Glencoe offices to drop off a crew member. |
This is temporary however, because in March of 2008 the TC&W is predicting
that a NSI Load will originate at Montevideo at least five days a week. A NSI train still might not run on Sunday, but there will be one in each direction
every other day of the week.
If you're in Glencoe, the best way to catch a NSI train in Glencoe is to listen to the radio/scanner. You will hear the crew call 'Glencoe Base' to get permission into the Glencoe yard limits so you should have plenty of warning. A lot of the time both the load
and empty only receive a warrant to Glencoe, but not through. So, you will also hear the crew clear a warrant and probably get a new one right
after. The most effective way to find the train would be to head in the appropriate direction and meet the train along the way.
The NSI Load arrives at night, around midnight. The empty arrives no earlier than 1300 but usually before 2200. It really depends on how fast they get out of Shoreham. On average, the empty probably arrives
at about 1700.
< TC&W in the Twin Cities - Hopkins/St. Louis Park - NSI Load - Ruebel Turn - Utility Job
Glencoe Turn - St. Paul Turn - NSI Empty - Savage Turn - Unit Ethanol - Unit Coal - DDG Trains >
Hopefully this is of some use to you. If you have any questions, let me know. If you find any errors (grammatical or information) or if you have something you'd like to see added,
send me an e-mail and I'll get back to you. Thanks for reading.
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