Light Luck at Hydro
Would you believe that the image above, was shot on the same day as the preceding fog enshrouded image at Komo? Of the same train?
After shooting M311 at Komo, I headed back west towards home, with reminders of domestic tasks and obligations bringing my photography for the day to a close. I kept my scanner on, as much to fill the silence in my truck as to actually monitor any rail activity. As took the freeway exit for home M311 called their approach to Glen Valley. At this moment the sun appeared through the first gap in the clouds that I had seen all day. With the rest of the sky full of dark rainclouds, the suns rays were intense and direct to the ground, and not reflected from the rest of the ominous bank overhead. After a moment marvelling at this spectacle, a plan formed in my mind. I made a sharp turn down one of the back country roads, and sped away from suburban Vancouver towards Hydro, the nearest point on the line.
At track speed the train would intersect my route in under five minutes, while Google Maps' estimation for my arrival put me at six. In this time the light somehow gained intensity as the narrow window in the clouds began to close. The train called for a clear signal AT Hydro just as I pulled onto the straightaway to the control point. It was a race now! In a complete stroke of luck, the grade crossing at the control point was blocked off and out of service for replacement of the road pads. A freshly place pile of ballast was stacked neatly beside the line, providing a unique elevation source for a sight line above the lineside bramble mound. I slammed the truck into park, flung the door open, and sprinted to the pile. The train was already past my intended shot, approaching the venerable pair of searchlight signals, but nonetheless was a sight to behold as its approach continued. Moments after my shutter closed on the image above, the sun was hidden behind the cloudbank again.
Light Luck at Hydro
Would you believe that the image above, was shot on the same day as the preceding fog enshrouded image at Komo? Of the same train?
After shooting M311 at Komo, I headed back west towards home, with reminders of domestic tasks and obligations bringing my photography for the day to a close. I kept my scanner on, as much to fill the silence in my truck as to actually monitor any rail activity. As took the freeway exit for home M311 called their approach to Glen Valley. At this moment the sun appeared through the first gap in the clouds that I had seen all day. With the rest of the sky full of dark rainclouds, the suns rays were intense and direct to the ground, and not reflected from the rest of the ominous bank overhead. After a moment marvelling at this spectacle, a plan formed in my mind. I made a sharp turn down one of the back country roads, and sped away from suburban Vancouver towards Hydro, the nearest point on the line.
At track speed the train would intersect my route in under five minutes, while Google Maps' estimation for my arrival put me at six. In this time the light somehow gained intensity as the narrow window in the clouds began to close. The train called for a clear signal AT Hydro just as I pulled onto the straightaway to the control point. It was a race now! In a complete stroke of luck, the grade crossing at the control point was blocked off and out of service for replacement of the road pads. A freshly place pile of ballast was stacked neatly beside the line, providing a unique elevation source for a sight line above the lineside bramble mound. I slammed the truck into park, flung the door open, and sprinted to the pile. The train was already past my intended shot, approaching the venerable pair of searchlight signals, but nonetheless was a sight to behold as its approach continued. Moments after my shutter closed on the image above, the sun was hidden behind the cloudbank again.