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Trackside with Trains.com, Vol. 116: June 29, 2009
Published: Monday, June 29, 2009
Five of our 13 train photographers entered this week's theme: "Meets”
New to Trackside with Trains.com? See a description at the bottom of this page.
Here are this week’s entries (the order of appearance was drawn randomly)...
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My phone rang at 3 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2006, and I answered it to find out I was to report for duty at 5 at Waseca, Minn., to serve as conductor on a freight bound for Winona, Minn. I was thrilled. The DM&E line winding down into Winona is highly scenic, particularly in the fall, and I had the chance at a daylight trip. When the weather is nice and the sun is shining, I still often find myself wishing I'd never left the railroad; at least until bedtime rolls around.
We arrived at Minnesota City that afternoon and switched over to the Canadian Pacific radio channel, as we were approaching their track, and immediately heard a defect detector go off. It reported several hot axles. The crew jumped on the radio, identified itself as "Milwaukee 261," and I recall they used the word, "exempt." My engineer was puzzled: What was that? I explained to him that a steam locomotive was about to go by. My engineer that day was not a railfan, but he still thought that was pretty cool. About that time, we heard 261's crew announce it was approaching its station stop at Winona.
I set out the rear block of our train's cars at the Carlson Pass, then hung a marker on what was now our rear car. As I did, I heard on my handheld radio, "Milwaukee 261, highball." And to the east, coming from the Amtrak station in Winona, a thick cloud of black smoke shot skyward.
With my marker back on, I asked my engineer to back up so I could board the engine. Since the meet was imminent, I had him stop our engine beside the cars we'd just finished setting out. I grabbed my camera from my grip, climbed atop the easternmost hopper from my setout, and snagged this shot. Looking at it today brings be back to one of my best days on the railroad.
One final note: I hope nobody construes this as me saying it's okay to climb on railroad equipment to get a photo. I was allowed to be on this equipment as I was a railroad employee at the time, and it was a part of my train. Under any other circumstances I would have enjoyed this meet from public property.
Nikon D70, ISO 200, 1/500 sec.@F10, 22mm. |
Want a great place to catch a meet? Try Crawford Hill. The famous grade in Northwest Nebraska hosts plenty of coal trains going to, or coming from, the Powder River Basin coalfields. In addition, the trains are moving slowly, so being at the right place at the right time is a little easier.
Areas of Crawford Hill are quite accessible thanks to the Ponderosa Ranch (see Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 52). The ranch has two cabins for rent, and when you stay there, you get access to their property which sits alongside the BNSF main line. This is the case with the vantage point you see in my submission. In the photo, we see a loaded and an empty coal train meeting as they negotiate the hill, on May 19, 2006.
Canon 20D, ISO 100, 1/500 sec. @ F8, 25mm |
Erik Bergstrom writes: This week's theme, "Meets," is so good I can't believe we haven't used it before now. When I received the e-mail from Andy calling for entries, I knew I had several choices to choose from.
The photo I decided on was taken in the Powder River Basin, arguably the best place under the sun to see meets taking place. This photo was taken outside of Bill, Wyoming, as the sun was setting during a consistent rainfall. With elevated tracks and nothing in the distance to ruin the beautiful sky, the camera shutters were firing like fireworks on the fourth of July. (I was with Kent Johnson and Tom & Mike Danneman at the time.)
Now that I'm across town at TasteofHome.com and not privy to the submissions for this edition before it goes live, I'm dying to see the other entries. I can't wait!
Good luck, everyone!
Canon 20D, 1/125 sec. at f/8, ISO 200, 115mm |
Heat waves wrinkle the air on this chilly December day, as both of Canada's Class Is meet at the diamonds in Duplainville, Wis.
Canadian National C44-9W no. 2555 is holding its train on the main, waiting to head north, as CP ES44AC no. 8889 and CP AC4400 CW no. 9767 haul freight east toward Milwaukee.
12/29/2008, 1/1000 sec. @ F/5.6, ISO 800, 300mm
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For this installment, I'm heading back to the same location that produced my entry for Trackside with Trains.com Vol. 110. The area east of Alliance, Neb., isn't a place where I expected to find a pair of Boeing 737s or wind turbine housings riding piggyback on specialized flatcars. However, I did plan on seeing a fair share of coal drags as Tom Danneman, Erik Bergstrom, and I paced the BNSF main line between Omaha and Crawford Hill.
Oddly enough, we were so focused on the unique rolling stock, that we nearly missed the approaching westbound empty. With some quick work from Tom "Wheelman" Danneman, we managed to get into place for a quality meet. Perhaps I should qualify that - I was able to get a shot, but neither Tom or Erik could get their gear going in time to capture this new GE ES44AC gleaming in the afternoon light. This probably represents the first and final time that I nabbed a shot Tom and Bergie didn't get, so I'll proudly post this as my entry this week.
Canon EOS Digital Rebel. 1/400 sec. at f11, ISO 100, 119mm. May 21, 2006, in the Nebraska Sand Hills, east of Alliance, Neb. |
Now that you've seen this week's photos and read each photographer's description of their photo, it's time to vote* and share your comments about this week's photos in our reader forum.
Share your comments on this week's photos in our reader forum.
For those new to Trackside, here's a brief introduction:
Trackside with Trains.com is our online photography feature where any of our 13 railroad photographers can submit a photo to our predetermined theme for each new edition. (Who are the Trackside photographers? Learn more about our photographers.) We share our favorite photo for the given theme and let our readers vote on which photo is best for the given theme. You can also share you comments on the photos in the associated thread in our reader forums (a link is provided at the end of this edition).
* NOTE: Voting for each installment of Trackside with Trains.com is open seven days. For example, we publish each new installment on a Monday, and voting closes the following Monday. If you're reading a past installment and click the "Click here to Vote" button, you'll be taken to our Trackside index page, but the voting option will be gone.
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