October and November are some great months to be trackside, anywhere in the United States - perhaps anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. While model railroading is a year-round hobby, there is something about being outdoors in the fall that really calls me - colors and light change and the images we can make are otherworldly.
Even out in my favorite desert, that is the case.
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| 550 automatics, west of Solitude, UT - 2022 |
Thanks to a generous invite from Mark Hemphill, noted photographer and author, I was again able to make plans to fly to Salt Lake City and spend time with him in the deserts where he made the images that first inspired me to learn more of western railroads in the early 1980's.
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| Woodside UT with Amtrak #6, November 2022 |
There's just no way to make images like this in most places of the world, and in nearly all cases you can't even make similar images anywhere else.
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| Sunset at Solitude, UT, November 2022 |
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| BNSF Provo-Denver manifest along Grassy Trail Creek, November 2022 |
Making time for travels like these is difficult, and travel is never inexpensive, but the results are singularly possible only because the trip gets made. Sometimes against considerable odds, too, but isn't that how we grow? Nothing gets better or is made stronger through convenience or lack of effort. Everything is possible if we take action, mindfully, methodically, steadily. Time for reflection is needed too but make no mistake: action speaks louder than words or thoughts.
What an amazing year 2022 is shaping up to be!
Fantastic shots!
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