Midweek Photos 1/15/2014

Here is No. 17, the YORK, on the Northern Central Railway on December 7. The first photo was taken by Alyssa Schaefers; the second by Vicki Gemmill

Wow! Those photos of the York are dramatic. Thanks for sharing them.

I don't have any steam pictures yet.  So here's the link for the latest report on the Alaska 557 rebuild.  Maybe in a couple years I'll have some steam pics.  I'll also ride on one of the trains once it is out & about.  Supposedly they plan on Anchorage to Portage & back to Anchorage trips.  Portage has a big Wye.  Looks like the 557's home is in Wasilla though.

http://www.alaskarails.org/pix...014_01_15/index.html

Barge arriving in Whittier.  Several years ago.

Another week, another chapter of Diesels in the Dark.    It started out cold here on the Northern Plains, then the temperature shot up to around 35.  Warm temps like that actually cause me problems.  There's a shot I wanted of the Dakota & Iowa RR (DAIR) crossing a bridge on the Big Sioux River at night that I really wanted.  I've  been planning for some time now.  So, I went after it.  I parked my car, loaded my lighting gear on a plastic kid's sled, and began pulling it behind me with a 10 ft. rope.  It's been below zero much of the time for the past month, so I figured the ice on the river was pretty substantial.  The ice on the lakes further north is two & half feet thick; only need about four inches to walk on safely.  Out onto the ice and into the darkness I went, more or less confident.  I had a ~300 yard walk down the river to the bridge.  It was like walking on a concrete sidewalk, at least until I got to within 50 yards of where I was going to set my camera up.  Suddenly, there was a loud "B-O-O-O-M-M-M!"  sound under my boots and the ice gave way.  That sound always hits me in the pit of my stomach (yes, has happened before   .)  I was plunged into icy water--but only up to my knees.  The river is a pretty shallow Western one.  I think because the fast flowing water was shallow it didn't let the ice get very thick there.  While I wasn't in mortal danger, I was wet and getting cold pretty fast.  The wind was making my pants & long underwear freeze to my legs, pulling little hairs with every step.  Train wouldn't be along for a couple of hours, which put me in a bind.  That was too long to wait around with wet clothes, but not enough time to go home and get dry clothes and return.  Upshot is I got no shot that night.

First shot:  heading north along the BNSF Marshall Sub I spotted a s/b slug!  I went after it, and caught up with it about 70 miles down the line.  This isn't a very nice image photographically, but it brought out the foamer in me!  The slug is a GP60B, originally bought by ATSF.  Don't see these too often, and this just might be the only shot of one rolling at night.

Second shot:  It's been below zero, then got above freezing.  Frost formed on the ethanol tankers up to the fill line.  I thought this was kind of cool.

Third shot:  D&I train of empty rock hoppers heading back north.  Train is pulling through the elevator at Hudson, SD.  I got with the train crew and had them stop at my signal, exactly where I wanted it!     I used every flash I had to light all the bins up plus the four engines.  The distance and the physical size of the scene really soaked up the light!  

Kent in SD

Kent,

Someplace in you is a great book of night photography.  Keep it up.

ChipR 

Great photos...the barge is an amazing sight.