The train was officially known as the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Northwestern, but everyone called it the Omaha. The morning northbound pulled out of the Hayward yard with Tor, Ingman, and Olaf Loken on board. By the time they reached the iron trestle, Conductor Clyde Williams had inspected and punched their tickets.
The sixteen-mile train ride to Cable took them across the Namekagon River. Ridge after brilliant ridge displayed tiers of brightly colored trees. The blue of the clear, fall sky was reflected in the small lakes and streams they passed. This blue, along with the deep greens of the pines, contrasted with the reds, oranges, and golden-yellows of autumn.
Near Mosquito Brook, the train passed through a section of cutover pine. Huge, dark stumps were all that remained of what had once been a majestic white pine forest. The rust-brown tops and limbs of dead trees were scattered across the landscape.