ericcortinas03
Rio Grande at Greenville
After a busy morning of working around the house, I received word that UP 1989 (Union Pacific's Denver and Rio Grande Western Heritage Unit) was slated to depart Lathrop within a few minutes and head to Radum to pick up 100+ wellcars in storage. At the time, I was walking out of Bed, Bath, and Beyond and had to race home to grab my camera gear before hopping back on the freeway and flooring it to Livermore, where I planned to intercept the train. Despite traffic being a nightmare on the Sunol Grade and into Livermore proper, I made it to the location in which I planned to shoot with time to spare. The spot I chose was Greenville Trestle, which has been on my list a while, and I was excited to finally have a chance to shoot it in nice light. Despite my frantic rush to the site, the train took its sweet time and got held up by ACE commuter trains. In fact, it got so backlogged that I was afraid the shadows were soon going to consumer my shot, as one can see them inching ever so closely to my subject in the photo. Alas, the train showed its nose around the bend after quite the wait and I was able to capture it crossing the bridge with one of the famous Altamont Pass windmills in action, framed between the supports. One shot down and the chase is on... or so I thought. Upon waiting to get out of the dirt lot and back on the road, my car's engine began overheating resulting in any more photos down the line being a no-go. My car was not too happy with me, but after a long drive, I made it back to San Jose and my car was off to Hyundai for service the next day. Stressful in the moment, but nothing like walking away from a shoot with an eventful story to tell!
Rio Grande at Greenville
After a busy morning of working around the house, I received word that UP 1989 (Union Pacific's Denver and Rio Grande Western Heritage Unit) was slated to depart Lathrop within a few minutes and head to Radum to pick up 100+ wellcars in storage. At the time, I was walking out of Bed, Bath, and Beyond and had to race home to grab my camera gear before hopping back on the freeway and flooring it to Livermore, where I planned to intercept the train. Despite traffic being a nightmare on the Sunol Grade and into Livermore proper, I made it to the location in which I planned to shoot with time to spare. The spot I chose was Greenville Trestle, which has been on my list a while, and I was excited to finally have a chance to shoot it in nice light. Despite my frantic rush to the site, the train took its sweet time and got held up by ACE commuter trains. In fact, it got so backlogged that I was afraid the shadows were soon going to consumer my shot, as one can see them inching ever so closely to my subject in the photo. Alas, the train showed its nose around the bend after quite the wait and I was able to capture it crossing the bridge with one of the famous Altamont Pass windmills in action, framed between the supports. One shot down and the chase is on... or so I thought. Upon waiting to get out of the dirt lot and back on the road, my car's engine began overheating resulting in any more photos down the line being a no-go. My car was not too happy with me, but after a long drive, I made it back to San Jose and my car was off to Hyundai for service the next day. Stressful in the moment, but nothing like walking away from a shoot with an eventful story to tell!