Flashback at Beth
I thought it might be fun to look back on that earlier visit to the Dubuque Sub I mentioned before. So I dug out the slides, 30 years old now.
I had spent the day with Brian Solomon along the upper Mississippi River shooting under dense dark overcast. Late in the day we got wind of a westbound on the Chicago Central & Pacific. It was my first encounter with the CC&P and I remember how eye opening it was. I was guilty of judging a book by its cover. I had seen photos of the motley collection of second and thirdhand Geeps and made some faulty assumptions. I put the CC&P in the basket of cast-offs, like the DM&E, that trundled along at 10 mph on poor track. Yes, the Geeps were in old, worn, mismatched paint but they *moved*. As we strained to get ahead of train 51 while it sped across eastern Iowa, it was instantly clear this was no neglected branch with a foot in the grave. The line was in solid condition and still packed with signals.
The benefit of a sporting chase was that we were soon closing in on the western edge of the clouds. The light was about to break under when 51 pulled into Beth Siding for a meet. Seen here at the west switch train 50 storms up the mainline with the Winthrop elevator seen on the horizon. October 21, 1995.
Flashback at Beth
I thought it might be fun to look back on that earlier visit to the Dubuque Sub I mentioned before. So I dug out the slides, 30 years old now.
I had spent the day with Brian Solomon along the upper Mississippi River shooting under dense dark overcast. Late in the day we got wind of a westbound on the Chicago Central & Pacific. It was my first encounter with the CC&P and I remember how eye opening it was. I was guilty of judging a book by its cover. I had seen photos of the motley collection of second and thirdhand Geeps and made some faulty assumptions. I put the CC&P in the basket of cast-offs, like the DM&E, that trundled along at 10 mph on poor track. Yes, the Geeps were in old, worn, mismatched paint but they *moved*. As we strained to get ahead of train 51 while it sped across eastern Iowa, it was instantly clear this was no neglected branch with a foot in the grave. The line was in solid condition and still packed with signals.
The benefit of a sporting chase was that we were soon closing in on the western edge of the clouds. The light was about to break under when 51 pulled into Beth Siding for a meet. Seen here at the west switch train 50 storms up the mainline with the Winthrop elevator seen on the horizon. October 21, 1995.