Trains: Live from Perham, Minnesota

With many people across the globe staying, working or generally spending more time at home, the ability to Railfan from afar can be an important tool, particularly given the difficulty in traveling to far-flung locations. Otter Tail Channel, a Live Streaming YouTube Channel, recently got in touch to share their live feed from Perham, Minnesota:

Rich Luth, a Perham local started to stream action through the city as a result of requests for ATCS monitoring which reports on rail movements in the USA. Though not necessarily a railfan himself at the time, Rich quickly realised the popularity of the trains and locomotives that rolled through Perham and, with a team of well-informed moderators, eventually set up the live stream that broadcasts Perham to the world. His efforts were eventually celebrated in a local newspaper article. BNSF 6872 & 5114 head a train passing through Perham, MN in July 2018. Screenshot courtesy of Jon Treichel.

The city of Perham, located in Otter Tail County and north of Otter Tail Lake, very much started as a result of the railroad and was even named after the first Northern Pacific Railway president - Josia Perham - in the early 1870s. The railroad effectively cuts the city in half, running parallel to Main Street and between the numerous lakes that surround the area. The vast majority of rail traffic running through is freight, hosted by a wide variety of railroad companies including Ferromex, Canadian National, CSX, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and more. Amtrak services can also be seen on occasion and Perham is conveniently located between the Amtrak depots at Detroit Lakes and Staples. The Staples Subdivision, on which Detroit Lakes, Perham and Staples lie, is the busiest section of railroad in the state of Minnesota. Here, one of the occasional Amtrak services can be seen. The 'Empire Builder' service travels through Minnesota on its way from Chicago to the west coast and vice versa. Screenshot courtesy of Jon Treichel.

The live stream features multiple cameras, east and west, which now offer a high quality 4k view of the trains, with sound, as they pass near the crossing at 3rd Street NW. Services appear at various points throughout the day, with around 4am CT (2am PT, 5am ET, 10am GMT) offering two or three trains within a relatively short period. Perham is no stranger to drama either, with major derailments occurring over the past 22 years, the most recent in 2003. A damaged Amtrak unit was also seen passing through the area in June 2020, captured in separate footage available on the channel.

BNSF 1940 leads a double-header through Perham, MN in July 2018. Screenshot courtesy of Jon Treichel.

A further camera is planned for a nearby Amtrak depot to satisfy the growing number of viewers and subscribers from around the world. What started in 2018 with just 78 subscribers has now snowballed to almost 6000. An Otter Tail Channel Patreon account has been set up to help fund the streams and support comes from local Perham businesses too, like Hometown Repairs and Frank's Auto Body.

For more information and links to the streams, see the Otter Tail YouTube Channel page where you can click the '$' in the chat to become a member and gain access to the additional cameras. Alternatively, you can find a link to the live cams via an ATCS Monitor, by clicking on the 'Perham, MN Live Rail Cam' link.

If you'd like to submit content to We Are Railfans, or share your Railfan story - get in touch via the submission form, or via social media; Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.