Tyler and Dad Trackside

1May/050

Tyler and Dad Trackside

Well, today marked a historic moment. No, it was not the first time the Cardinals have blown a game in Atlanta (see Saturday's results for that). No, today, I packed up my kid in my trusty pickup, and we headed for the tracks. Worst case, we get down there and the kid hates it, and we trudge 15 miles back home. Best case, he loves it, and we have a great time. The result...somewhere in-between.

On Sunday's, Flossie usually takes a leave from Tyler for a few hours, going off to do various things and get some alone time without a diaper to change or kid to feed. We tried letting the dogs watch Tyler, but with the squirrel scenario, they get too involved with the rodent to keep their eyes on Tyler. With no grand-parent within a short drive, and the aunt off running around town on Sunday's, this leaves only the Dad to care for the offspring.

With the weather turning more like spring, and a pretty sky this afternoon, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone--get some fresh air for Tyler, and get in some railfanning for myself. So, after mowing the lawn and Tyler catching an afternoon snack, we loaded up the gear in the pickup and headed south toward the tracks. I was not really sure where I was going to go, as my old stand-by at Owyhee has been gated the past few times I have been down that way. But, I figured I trudge down somewhere east of Nampa, and see if I could find a place to park the pickup and wait for something to show up. I drove to an old spot I have driven past a few times, and decided to take a look at the access road. As it turns out, found a nice little spot out of the way to sit in the afternoon sun.

On our way down Eagle Road, we heard the scanner crackle...and the Nampa DS informed an EB he would take the siding at Kuna for 1, and that 1 was just rolling over the west switch at Owyhee. Oh Tyler...here we go. Luck was upon us, and we caught a nice string of highballs as we zipped down the highway, and shuffled over to Cloverdale Road and maintained highway speed. Twenty minutes later, we drove down the access road and setup the tripod. Soon, a whistle in the distance indicated the WB had cleared Kuna and the EB was out of Kuna and a few miles off. I got the video camera setup, then grabbed my son, decked out in his Wyoming cowboy hat to protect his noggin and eyes from the afternoon rays. Soon, the eastbound rumbled by, a nice set of power today with a SD70M on the point, a GE, then a non-turbocharged GP38 making a nice grumble as the trailing unit. If you check out the video link below, you will notice Tyler's excitement as well about 70-75 seconds into the clip.

It was a little quiet after the EB, and Tyler and I walked around the area, I showed him the rails, showed him the fence, showed him the dirt (did not let him play in it as much as he seemed interested), and showed him an airplane flying around. I had him back in the car trying to keep him entertained when a WB intermodal train snuck up on us. This guy has a SD70M on the headend (surprise surprise), and a Conrail GE trailing. I was going to share with Tyler some of my past days on Conrail, but after the westbound cleared, he became quite hungry. I had a bottle warmer with me, and tried to warm up a bottle for him. Alas, it was a failed enterprise today, and Tyler was not much for cool milk. So, he was a little grumpy (as you can see in the gallery of pictures below) for the next hour or so.

We stuck around for one more westbound, catching a manifest in the late afternoon. This time, I had enough time to get setup and drag Tyler out in my arms while snapping a few pictures. He was a good trooper again, and watched the various cars roll by. After the westbound cleared, we loaded up, and before I was back to the main road, Tyler was snoozing in his car seat. All in all, an enjoyable afternoon in southwest Idaho with my boy.

Pictures from the day: