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Favorite railfan locations and/or railroads

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I have several favorites: 1. Wyalusing State Park where the Burlington Northern crosses the Wisconsin River right before the Wisconsin jions the Mississippi. The photos taken of trains crossing the river at sunset are too numerous to count and have even appeared in international travel magazines! Best train count: 9 trains in 30 minutes! 2. Grand Junction in La Crosse, Wisconsin (and from the top of Granddad Bluff) has the heavy use transcon BN Line crossing the old Milwaukee Road (now CP). BN's yard is right there and there is always at least two trains waitng to cross the diamonds. Traffic includes BNSF, CP, Amtrak, UP, CN, as well as interchanging for DME, IMRL which are nearby. Best train count: 23 trains in 58 minutes! (Not including locals or yard traffic) 3. Laurel, Montana! Awesome mountain railroading. BN hands over transcon traffic to Montana Railink in the yard that runs parallel to the Main Street for miles! There's helper service and loco servicing, 1st generation Geeps, fuel tenders, and the Beartooth Mountains as a backdrop! 4. Naperville, Illinois (Not Rte 59!) The California Zepher, the busiest Commuter Line in the country, BNSF intermodal. A train every 15 minutes even at 3AM, and 15 trains in 15 minutes during afternoon commute! 5. Proctor Grade in Duluth watching 140 car ore trains struggle up a 2.2% grade from the docks! Also great because you can see ships bigger than the largest aircraft carriers (1,150ft long) being loaded with ore and coal over 1000 miles from the nearest ocean! 6. Maiden Rock, Wisconsin on Lake Pepin. (The location that inspired Longfellow to write "Song of the Hiawatha." This is a sentimental favorite because I grew up just up the hill. I remember hearing the loneful howl of the "Big Green Giants" echoing off the bluffs as they rumbled through the night. I especially remember standing in the park on the shores of the lake and waiting for those freshly painted Cascade Green engines to appear around the end of the bluff. And once one would appear, waiting and watching for 6 minutes (an enternity for a 6 year old) until suddenly the whole village would shudder and BN would announce her presence with a rush of wind, a blast of the horn, and air thick with diesel fumes! A scene once acted out by S4s and 05As, repeated over 50 times a day for over 100 years! 7. Red Wing. Milwaukee Road and the Hiawathas. Winding between the bluffs and the shores of the Mississippi here meant speeds of 127 mph across Wisconsin to make up the time! OF course that was the 30's and with jointed rail! Now the Empire Builder still manages to kick up the dirt at 90!
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