After leaving ballast cars at Wood Lake, MN, Minnesota Prairie Line power is returning east near Echo, MN. MPLI is a subsidiary of Twin Cities and Western and uses their power, in this case TCWR 302 (a CF7 converted to slug) and 2008.
MPLI operates over former Minneapolis and St. Louis trackage that extended from the Twin Cities to a dead end at the remote town of LeBeau, SD, on the Missouri River (now under Lake Oahe). This portion of the M&StL has had its up and downs, being abandoned by the CNW, the Minnesota Valley Authority acquiring it with some unsuccessful operators, it being deactivated for a while, and now under operation by MPLI.
Landscape photography is difficult due to the challenge of combining good light and good scenery. Good railroad photography enters another level of complexity since it requires the first two while there is a train in view.
