It's not always glamorous.... As I stand here in my full-body rainsuit and big rubber boots, I can't help but feel a little bit sorry for the poor fireman standing up on the tender tank, and his engineer down by the fire hydrant below as they water McCloud 25 in downtown Wheeler, Oregon. Some days, steam railroading is not glamorous. Both crewmembers are wearing cotton overalls and neither has a shred of rain protection. Both are probably wondering why they volunteered to run a photo charter on a day like this, and probably wondering even more why 30 nut-cases would be interested in taking pictures in conditions like this. Good thing the cab is pretty warm. These poor fellows would have both had a case of hypothermia within a couple of hours.
Actually, it wasn't raining when our train pulled into Wheeler, and when a bunch of us got off to watch the water stop, I was the only one with a rain sleeve on his camera. Just as I was starting to feel like an idiot walking around with all of my nylon and plastic, the sky decided to open up. As everyone else ran for cover, I found myself alone (and dry!) with this scene before me.
For the train and storm chaser. Trains with thunderstorms, dark clouds, rain, lightning, hurricanes - tropical storms, funnel clouds, storm light, rainbows, and snow storms.
