Caption: (Skip to paragraph 2 to read about the locomotive) During the summer I had been making some intensive cycling excursions to the Weyburn Subdivision from Regina when my ride wasn't available for the week. I road biked 55km on the first excursion to Milestone which yielded 8781 S on 148 ( http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=50222 ) which led to a scare on the ride home when my rear tire burst. Fortunately a friend of mine picked me up that day after I lugged my bike 4km in the 32º heat to the nearest town. This time round I came overprepared and my backpack was filled with spare water bottles, tire tubes and bike repair equipment, which almost worried me about a self-fulfilling prophecy situation in which the extra weight risked another burst. Fortunately no such outcome came to fruition and I was able to complete the full 100km ride round trip. Having no space to pack a lunch that day I made a calorie-heavy stop at Canadian Superstore on the way home.

If you know any retired guys from Louisiana in the 90s, MRI 2180 may induce some nostalgia in them, having been built as a GP7 for ATSF, and spending some time in the hands of New Orleans and Lower Coast Railroad around then. A crew who used to run the unit reached out to me on Facebook to explain the inside joke about this unit, explaining that the paint they applied to the locomotive prior to this scheme was originally supposed to be a bright red, but quickly got bleached in the sun to a purple color after entering service. The group of crews who frequented this locomotive gave this ugly duckling the appropriate nickname "Barney" to refer to the unit (Seen here http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2486924 ). Eventually, the locomotive was sold to the NPRR-based (Northern Plains Railroad) Mohall Railroad Inc. leasing company, which apparently happened without much warning to the crews, and worried them that the locomotive had been scrapped. The guy who reached out was relieved to see my pictures of this locomotive, knowing their old Barney lives on, and intends to one day plan a vacation to Saskatchewan hopefully before its current lease ends. Today 2180 currently calls Corinne home to work the Richardson International Grain Elevator for spotting duties when needed.