CP 8279 (SD90MAC - 4300 hp variety) leads a westbound train of temporary grain cars, converted by adding molded tops coal hoppers or gonds. I remember reading something about these conversions at a time when the grain harvest had overwhelmed the railroads' supplies of covered hoppers, so someone was clever enough to design a removable 'lid' that would would convert coal cars into grain cars to ease the shortage. The depot here is one of many C&NW depots designed by architects Charles Sumner Frost; the depot at Fond du Lac, WI was/is virtually a copy of the DeKalb, IL depot here, although the tower in Fond du Lac is trimmed a bit differently, enough to show it is a different structure. I got lucky and caught this different train during a brief stop in DeKalb on my way to Rochelle, IL a few stations to the west.

Photographed by Warren Beckwith, 1999.
Added to the photo archive by Warren Beckwith, August 10, 2020.
Railroad: Union Pacific.

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