On the night of January 5, 2006, Modoc Northern Railroad's GE B23-7 no. 1011 and leased UP C40-8 no. 9212 laid over in the Union Pacific yard at Klamath Falls.  The next morning, they headed east with a train to Alturas.  I was fortunate enough to be able to take the day off and chase the train as far as I could before losing daylight - which ran out at about 5:00 p.m., leaving me waving good bye to the crew at Modoc County Road 75 a few miles west of Alturas.

Here's a timeline and narrative of the trip on January 6, 2006.

9:30 a.m. found me parked at the cattle auction yard next to the UP main at KAGO crossing, just north of Texum as the mist burned off of Lake Euwana.  That's BNSF's lift bridge, center, giving access to a couple of mills, a propane distributor and a chemical loading facility on the west side of the Klamath River.  Downtown Klamath Falls shimmers in the distance.  Anybody know when the last time was that the bridge was raised?

Photo coordinates: N42 11.582 W121 46.234

At 9:50 an eastbound Union Pacific intermodal train led by UP 4874 rolled by on the track that the MNRR train would soon be using.

Photo coordinates: N42 11.465 W121 46.231

In the distance, that little spot of white to the left of the tree is 1011's headlight as it starts rolling.

Photo coordinates: N42 11.465 W121 46.231

At 10:03 the MNRR train, consisting of MNRR #1011, UP #9212, 20 covered hoppers and two centerbeam flatcars, enters the just-vacated track.  If you look closely, you can see Union Pacific GP38-2 #300 following our train out of the hole.

Photo coordinates: N42 11.465 W121 46.231

At 10:12 our train passes KAGO crossing.

Photo coordinates: N42 11.465 W121 46.231

As our train slows to a stop at the Texum wye switch, it is overtaken by a Union Pacific freight on the main, headed up by #8352, at 10:15.

Photo coordinates: N42 11.137 W121 46.349

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