Sometimes a grab shot image of the railroad jumps out at us. Here's one from a recent operation session with SEEL making his daily pickup at Onondaga Yard. With congestion this night, he ended up working on one of the few open tracks after dark.
Our train is working in a shadowy canyon of darkness, long after dark on an early autumn evening. The engineer is running the locomotives while the conductor, hanging on the rear of the cars to be coupled to the pick up, is using his radio to keep the engineer informed about what moves to make.
This is a lot like the real thing!
It's just a quick cell phone image, but it's amazing what we can do these days with digital photography. The color temperature is spot on. The reflections are perfectly captured. The details stand out and the whole aura of the image is just what we shoot for during operations on the OC.
It's just a quick image, of course, but it is hard not to have fun with this hobby!
Yes sir, it's a quick image, BUT, it captures the moment and feel of railroading after dark. As a multi year regular crew member on your OC, I've mentioned to you that in miniature, you have replicated the "scary factor" of nighttime railroading. I base this observation on my time as a Conrail Trainmaster on the New Jersey Division 1986-1988. Prior to my field assignment, I was part of a 4 & 1/2 month in-depth training program. My introduction to nighttime railroading was in December 1985 during the on the job training portion of the program. Working 7P-7A at the massive Elkhart, IN classification yard opened my eyes to the danger and how the railroad's complexion changes after dark! But, the scary factor shouldn't be paralyzing. It should be respected and foster heightened awareness!!! Thank you Dave...
ReplyDelete