A Frigid Night on the Valley Railroad - Tate's Cut. The Valley Railroad's venerable Consolidation #97 pauses in one of the line's most distinctive locations - a narrow and deep rock cut at the north end of the Deep River Yard. Named for the imposing Tate House that overlooks the site, this cut is the location of the switch that allows Valley Railroad locomotives to utilize the passing track in the Deep River Yard to run around their passenger consists. This cut has always interested me as a great location for photos, but the lighting during daylight hours is always difficult. This is a north-south cut and the locomotives always face north. Even on cloudy days, the surrounding tree canopy seriously attenuates the light. About a year ago I became convinced that the only way to shoot this spot was at night. It took several attempts using various techniques, and it almost cost me a case of frostbite, but on one of Old 97s's last runs in 2010, I finally managed a keeper from the cut.
