I wanted to start placing a few caches that could combine my two favorite hobbies - trains, and geocaching. I have loved trains (full-sized) since I was a little kid, my grandfather worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, my great-uncle worked for the PRR, my uncle works for Conrail now, and so on. It's pretty much in my blood. I love to film trains and post them to my YouTube channel - and wanted to highlight some of the areas where I like to watch trains.
This cache, my second, isn't at a place so much where I like to watch trains, but depending on when you visit, you might get to see a piece of railroad history. The Electro-Motive Diesel company (EMD for short) built seven NW3 switching locomotives - all for the Great Northern Railway (which ran from Minnesota to Washington). Out of those seven diesel locomotives, two still exist - this is the only one still operating, at the A.E. Staley plant that you see before you. If it's not parked in the normal location in front of you, then it's most likely switching around cars of corn syrup, which the plant receives every weekday from Conrail. Sure, the locomotive may not look that great, but it's a rare thing in railroading today.
*UPDATE 11/30/18* - The locomotive was scrapped and cut up on site this morning. Sad day...
Because of the houses right across the street, stealth may be required, and please don't come here caching at night if you can help it. If you do, be super stealthy!
Congrats to DEGoldy on the FTF!!