On a recent trip to Casselton where the North Dakota Wing Civil Air Patrol (CAP) homes their glider, in the distance, I heard train whistles blowing the warning at road intersections as the engine drew closer. Normally, when the train passes the airport just yards from the airport border, it’s usually a Burlington Northern freight train. This time, I was surprised to see Red River Valley and Western livery on the two engines that were headed southerly. (Livery in this context means an insignia or symbol that identifies the object as it relates to an individual or corporation.)

The RRV&W line serves eastern and central North Dakota and extreme western Minnesota since 1987. They are a freight hauler and can handle other railroad based services along their right-of-way. They even have a rail car repair facility in Breckenridge, Minnesota where they can repair and inspect rail cars for federal and state regulatory compliance.

About the photo: Captured on my Samsung S20U cell phone, the image was taken in automatic mode on a sunny and clear day. The lens was set to f/3.5, shutter at 1/850 sec. and ISO set at 25. As usual, I imported it into Adobe Lightroom for cataloging and basic adjustments. The image then went to Luminar 4.3 for final adjustments. I toyed with using Luminar’s sky replacement to provide a more dynamic sky to the image but decided the completely blue sky looks fine just the way it is. In most browsers, you can click on the image to enlarge it for a closer look.

John Steiner