Up All Night
Before we delve into the rest of the days surprise chase, we have to take it back a few hours. When word reached us that IC2466 was northbound on CN G889, destined for Dewey, IL, we knew we had to catch it. We scoured all the info on any group we could find, but only learned of its whereabouts after a message to a friend (thanks again Andy). While shooting it in light would have been preferred - and did end up happening - the current position and schedule suggested this would not be so. So, we decided to travel south to meet our blue devil deep in the night.
Despite actually getting pulled over in Arcola (a license plate light out! really? ah, man) on the way and horrendously botching a similar long exposure in Neoga, the night did bear fruit. As always, I'm hunting for grain elevators to replace Lodge, but Hayes was one I've shot a few times in actual fact. My previous long exposure attempt here was okay, but this time around, things went a lot better. Even though I had barely set up in time!
IC2466 led G889 by the old Hayes grain elevator. There's not much info I can find on this elevator, though the text on the panels - lit up by the 2466s lights - claims it was built by a company in Sioux City, IA. It is a classic wooden box elevator, clad with metal, and that makes it a brilliant photo target. Visible on the slowly collapsing elevator and its pair of silos is the green of the Hayes intermediate signal telling that blue devil to absolutely send it north.
We'd find the train coming to a rest in Tolono on the siding, the crew dying there, and we expected never to see it again. Instead, upon waking up the next morning, we learned it was quite the opposite. What an exciting night and day!
Up All Night
Before we delve into the rest of the days surprise chase, we have to take it back a few hours. When word reached us that IC2466 was northbound on CN G889, destined for Dewey, IL, we knew we had to catch it. We scoured all the info on any group we could find, but only learned of its whereabouts after a message to a friend (thanks again Andy). While shooting it in light would have been preferred - and did end up happening - the current position and schedule suggested this would not be so. So, we decided to travel south to meet our blue devil deep in the night.
Despite actually getting pulled over in Arcola (a license plate light out! really? ah, man) on the way and horrendously botching a similar long exposure in Neoga, the night did bear fruit. As always, I'm hunting for grain elevators to replace Lodge, but Hayes was one I've shot a few times in actual fact. My previous long exposure attempt here was okay, but this time around, things went a lot better. Even though I had barely set up in time!
IC2466 led G889 by the old Hayes grain elevator. There's not much info I can find on this elevator, though the text on the panels - lit up by the 2466s lights - claims it was built by a company in Sioux City, IA. It is a classic wooden box elevator, clad with metal, and that makes it a brilliant photo target. Visible on the slowly collapsing elevator and its pair of silos is the green of the Hayes intermediate signal telling that blue devil to absolutely send it north.
We'd find the train coming to a rest in Tolono on the siding, the crew dying there, and we expected never to see it again. Instead, upon waking up the next morning, we learned it was quite the opposite. What an exciting night and day!