Four DAIR Geep's fresh out of the wash bay tie up for the weekend.

With the cold months of winter now over, it was time for me to hit the road on another railfan journey. Over the years I have traveled to many places around the country. During each visit, I had not been able to see all that each location offered. When there is somewhere great and my visit short, I make a note to go back at some point. Sioux Falls, South Dakota is one of those places! I last visited in 2007. While there I missed out on two railroads: the Dakota and Iowa (DAIR) and Ellis & Eastern (EE). What else was there to do when I saw that the weather forecast was full of blue skies and warm temps in South Dakota? A plan was hatched to head west for a long weekend of railfanning.

I always enjoy travelling small county roads and old trunk highways that follow the tracks. Heading out my route took me along the Twin Cities & Western (TC&W) to Granite Falls, MN. Along the way I hoped to get a picture of the ILS power [Independent Locomotive Services leased unit] that is assigned to an ethanol plant in Renville, MN. Things looked hopefull after a long, uneventful ride from TCR-land to Renville. I was excited to see lots of covered hoppers and tank cars. My hopes where high. However, as with many attempts in catching an elusive locomotive - such as this one had been - I was unable to get a picture of it, let alone see the unit. Striking out in Renville, I set my sights on Granite Falls.

My new direction would take me south. I would follow the BNSF's Marshall Sub to Pipestone, MN. In Pipestone, I would resume driving west and enter into South Dakota. The tracks along this route have been traveled by me several times and I know the locations of every industrial locomotive, including one at the ADM facility in Marshall. It has been just as elusive to me as the ILS unit in Renville. It was on the way, so a stop was needed for a look and see.

Following the BNSF line, I now had the radios on and scanning for any hint of traffic on the rails. 15 miles out of Granite Falls I did not need a radio to tell me I would not be seeing any trains along they way. Four Hyrail trucks sitting on the tracks was a good sign the trains would not be coming my way. Driving through rolling hills and past wind farms along Highway 23 is always a nice sight, but not as nice as what caught my eye as I pulled into Marshall. Moving railcars!

Driving towards the ADM facility, I paced a string of tank cars that were slowly moving next to the plant. Finding a spot where I would be able to see the locomotive, I waited for what I expected to be a gray and blue ADMX locomotive. To my surprise, as the locomotive came into view, I saw a black GenSet from Motive Power. It seems that the ADM SW-type locomotive had left Marshall and was replaced by this new clean emission MP1500D. Getting off as many shots as I could before the unit disappeared again, I felt somewhat better about the trip so far.

Continuing towards Pipestone I made a quick stop in Ruthton, MN to take a look at the former TCW CF7 rebuild that now works at the CHS elevator in town. The last time I saw this unit was back in 2007, still painted in her former road colors, maroon and gold, and retaining her TCW number 304. Today she is now painted white with CHS markings and has lost her number. Stopping only for a quick shot, for comparison sake, I was off and running.

I was now close to South Dakota. Ready for my planned stop in Dell Rapids, SD and the DAIR. After a 22 mile detour because of road work, I made it safely into Dell Rapids. Not knowing where exactly to go to find the tracks my answer came after a few right turns. I spotted a faint light through some trees about a mile ahead. I drove to the L.G. Everist gravel pit on the eastside of town. DAIR is owned by L.G. Everist and runs from Dell Rapids to Sioux City, Iowa. In Iowa, it interchanges with other railroads or transloaded onto river barges. I spotted two GP9 locomotives going about their duties spotting cars in the yard. Four additional units were being cleaned by a few workers. Not knowing where I should go to try and get some pictures, I decided to set up at the road crossing. Here I would wait out the two units that were working in the yard, hoping they would come my way.

Watching the units come ever so close, only to shove back, out of view, I was happy to see the head lights light up on the other four units that were now clean. When I first arrived I had no knowledge as to where the locomotives would go if they started to move; I got a clue when a pickup truck came up to the switch, the worker got out to throw it. Looking at the tracks, I knew the power would be headed in my direction. As I set up my video camera, the pickup drove past me and on to another switch. The ditch lights on the locomotive were now on and the horn gave a quick blast. I hit record on the video camera and got ready to start clicking way with the camera.

The four light units represent a mixed bag of first-generation EMD power. Two were former Chicago & Northwestern GP50s. The other two, former Kennecott Copper GP39-2 locos, their sister units are two TCW units back home in TCR-land. The units passed by me and made a reverse move back into the yard then tied down by the crew. Getting a camera full of pictures of these units, I turned my attention back to the other two units.

The pair continued to work away in the yard when all of a sudden, my concentration was broken by the driver of the pickup that was helping switch the tracks for the train crew. It turns out, who I figured was a switchmen, was actually the Mechanical Foremen for the DAIR. We chatted for close to 20 minutes. The Foreman informed me about the railroad and its locomotives. Before he left he called the crew that was busy switching and asked if they would pull down to the crossing. He told them, "I have a guy here from Minneapolis that would like to get your picture." The radio was silent with a pause before it crackled with a friendly, "You bet!" The voice lacked the MN accent of home. The employee also gave me a heads up on an empty rock train that would be arriving sometime later in the day. With this, he wished me luck on my quest. I shook his hand and thanked him for the chat. I waited out the units switching and was rewarded with my fifth and sixth DAIR units of the day - a former CRIP (Rock Island) GP9 and a Northern Pacific GP7. As promised, they were now in camera range.

Before I left Dell Rapids, I wanted to get a shot of one of their former Southern Pacific units which was sitting just down the road. It was parked next to the diesel house. As I turned a corner, driving to the house, I spotted a line of six units, sitting on a siding just across the street. The units consisted of Ex-MILW, CRIP, and NP GP7s and GP9s. They all need their picture taken! Even better, all I had to do was turn around to get a shot of the former SP unit. With that I was off and running again.

One more stop to make. It was on the west side of Sioux Falls, I set off to find the Ellis and Eastern. Getting closer to Sioux Falls, scratchy transmissions from the EE 27 came over the scanner, they told me I was close. The crew was calling out the normal "two cars," "one car" counts that I hear back home by crews setting out and picking up cars. Making a turn by the county fair grounds in town, I was rewarded by the sight of the two Ellis units numbered 47, a former Penn Central GP38-2, and 37, a FEC (Florida East Coast) GP10 rebuild. The duo was busy shoving cars back into a cement plant.

While getting my shots, I thought to myself, these are not the units I heard on the radio earlier. So, where were the other units? It remained a mystery I had to solve. Following the tracks a little farther west, I found the remaining three units on the EE roster. In the group I found the EE 27, a GP9, leading up the 17, an SW1200 and No. 7 a SW900. I snapped away as fast as I could, the entire time trying to figure out the number system why do all the units numbers end in seven? Well all I could think of was 7 is a lucky number and I sure was lucky today.

I could not think of a better way to end my day. With all photos, I headed to the hotel for some rest and pre-trip planning for tomorrows' run to Chamberlain, SD and a date with the Dakota and Southern with unknown surprises along the way. Until next time be safe and I'll see you by the rails.