Tracking West
Blue Hour Reflections
The sun is far below the horizon, the light is fading fast, and the blanket of darkness has almost covered the land. However, the railroad never stops, and a flanger makes its rounds under the cover of dark. Even though no storms have been through in the last week, the snow crews have to be kept busy somehow.
Only about an hour before, my friend and I had finished following an SP leader from Auburn to Reno. By the time we left Reno, the sun was already behind the mountains. Trying to make it back home in good time, we raced over the mountain. Approaching the summit, I was driving when out of the corner of my eye I saw a small splash of bright orange near Shed 47. I looked over to see what I thought was possibly a westbound stack train, but since I was driving I did not want to take my eyes off the road for more than a few seconds. My friend looked over, and that's when he said it was a flanger. Seeing it come into a small opening, it was indeed a flanger. We decided that despite it being almost dark we would attempt some shots.
I got off the highway and raced over the summit on the old highway alignment. My goal was to get it coming out of Big Hole, but after driving for a minute I realized we probably would not make it. Due to this, I went right by the turn to get there and went straight to Norden. Getting for the road, we went to set up for a shot. Almost as soon as we got out of the car we heard the train blowing for the crossing at Big Hole. Half a minute later, the train would come around the corner. My shot unfortunately was not that great, but my friend had gotten a very good shot. I noticed it was slowing down, almost to a stop, and quickly realized that they were crossing over. Racing down the road to Soda Springs, we waited for only a couple minutes before the train came flying out from behind the trees. Setting up for a reflection shot, I managed to pull off a decent photo. With many surprises all day, this was a great way to close the day.
Blue Hour Reflections
The sun is far below the horizon, the light is fading fast, and the blanket of darkness has almost covered the land. However, the railroad never stops, and a flanger makes its rounds under the cover of dark. Even though no storms have been through in the last week, the snow crews have to be kept busy somehow.
Only about an hour before, my friend and I had finished following an SP leader from Auburn to Reno. By the time we left Reno, the sun was already behind the mountains. Trying to make it back home in good time, we raced over the mountain. Approaching the summit, I was driving when out of the corner of my eye I saw a small splash of bright orange near Shed 47. I looked over to see what I thought was possibly a westbound stack train, but since I was driving I did not want to take my eyes off the road for more than a few seconds. My friend looked over, and that's when he said it was a flanger. Seeing it come into a small opening, it was indeed a flanger. We decided that despite it being almost dark we would attempt some shots.
I got off the highway and raced over the summit on the old highway alignment. My goal was to get it coming out of Big Hole, but after driving for a minute I realized we probably would not make it. Due to this, I went right by the turn to get there and went straight to Norden. Getting for the road, we went to set up for a shot. Almost as soon as we got out of the car we heard the train blowing for the crossing at Big Hole. Half a minute later, the train would come around the corner. My shot unfortunately was not that great, but my friend had gotten a very good shot. I noticed it was slowing down, almost to a stop, and quickly realized that they were crossing over. Racing down the road to Soda Springs, we waited for only a couple minutes before the train came flying out from behind the trees. Setting up for a reflection shot, I managed to pull off a decent photo. With many surprises all day, this was a great way to close the day.