A tough slog at White Pass Station (MP 20.1)
Here's an elevated view of the first day of the 2011 spring line-clearing operation at White Pass Station (MP 20.1). Since the railroad doesn't operate all winter, and no plowing is done during that time, the accumulation of snow and ice at White Pass is considerable. There are literally 10-15 feet of snow here, much of which has a very dense consistency. Consequently, the first day of operations was a tough slog. Although bulldozers had been used to some degree to shave off the top layers of snow on the tracks, the remaining snow pack still left the train mostly obscured from the view of the attending photographers. Getting killer shots on that first day was a real challenge, even at an elevated location such as the one I used here, because quite frankly, most of the time, all could see was smoke and flying snow. There was just not much train visible. In this frame, you can see several photographers down on the frozen, snow-covered "Summit Lake" that sits beside the right-of-way for several miles. The only clue that this is indeed a lake is the patch of bare ice visible on the right. In this setting, the train would repeatedly charge into the snow-pack, throwing snow for several yards, before stalling out, backing up and repeating the process. It literally took all day to just get the station and sidings cleared.
A tough slog at White Pass Station (MP 20.1)
Here's an elevated view of the first day of the 2011 spring line-clearing operation at White Pass Station (MP 20.1). Since the railroad doesn't operate all winter, and no plowing is done during that time, the accumulation of snow and ice at White Pass is considerable. There are literally 10-15 feet of snow here, much of which has a very dense consistency. Consequently, the first day of operations was a tough slog. Although bulldozers had been used to some degree to shave off the top layers of snow on the tracks, the remaining snow pack still left the train mostly obscured from the view of the attending photographers. Getting killer shots on that first day was a real challenge, even at an elevated location such as the one I used here, because quite frankly, most of the time, all could see was smoke and flying snow. There was just not much train visible. In this frame, you can see several photographers down on the frozen, snow-covered "Summit Lake" that sits beside the right-of-way for several miles. The only clue that this is indeed a lake is the patch of bare ice visible on the right. In this setting, the train would repeatedly charge into the snow-pack, throwing snow for several yards, before stalling out, backing up and repeating the process. It literally took all day to just get the station and sidings cleared.