Geepers, eleven o'clock already and no sign of Tim! Maybe he hasn't even made it home yet? Tim, when you get to be our age, whiskey in the wee hours is not a good thing! So, I guess it's up to me to start off the new year photos. I have a few; hope I don't disappoint.
On Monday night I went out after the D&I train and caught up with it a couple of times. It was cold. I set up a bunch of flash around the old elevator at Westfield, IA and sat out in the snow. I knew the train would be by eventually. It's not like it could take a different way to Sioux City after all. Finally I could hear the train to my north sounding the crossings out in the dark. About then some yahoo in a beat up pickup truck drove in along the tracks, knocked over three of my lightstands, and hollers, "Hey, whatcha doin'?" Fortunately for him my rifle was unloaded an buried in the back of my RAV4 somewhere. 
I picked my flash up out of the snow as the train rolled by. I was more successful as the train rolled past the old Bekins warehouse in Sioux City, IA.
I had both New Year's and the day before off, so I decided to go look for a train or two. I emailed my buddy in the D&I RR office, and he said they had no night trains until next week. Oh well, plan B. I drove up into Minnesota and followed the DME line east. There's usually a train along in there somewhere. But, not on New Years' Eve as it turns out. I decided to photo the old 0-6-0 on display at Tracy, MN with my 4x5 and a pre-Civil War lens, and my Nikon D7100. I had plenty of time--the engine hasn't moved in decades. 
I then headed down to Currie, MN to photo their 2-8-0 on display at the old depot. It's actually a small state park and was closed for the winter, so I parked my car and walked in. The temp had dropped to -11 or so, just cold enough that I had to start carrying an extra battery for my camera. I took a few shots with my Nikon, and a few with my Chamonix 4x5 using a couple of 100 yr. old lenses. I don't normally photo "taxidermied" engines, but at that point I was desparate. 
My radio came alive and suddenly there were trains moving everywhere on the BNSF Marshall Sub. I decided that's where I needed to be, so I headed west and set up a few flash in a snow cut and waited for the s/b. The sky was crystal clear and the stars were shining brightly. The fluffy snow squeaked under my boots in the 12 below temperature. I sat on a snow bank and drank a root beer that had turned slushy in the cold. Ah, I love this! My phone lit up and announced, "Call from Amoo." "Amoo" is how it pronounces my wife's name. I answered. My wife asked, "Where are you?" I told her I was sitting on a snow bank near Ruthton, MN. She then said, "It's 10 o'clock, and I don't have anybody to sit by the fire with on New Year's Eve." I told her I could make it. There's few things I love more than sitting out on a fine winter's night waiting for a train, but a man has to have his priorities straight. I quickly packed up my stuff and headed south on the snow packed MN Hwy 23. There'll be a lot more trains in 2014, but I only have one wife. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc7YEiM0BdQ
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Kent in SD
