Exactly 20 years ago this morning, 10/4/1996, I had my first chance to shoot a train in the esteemed Lapwai Canyon of the Camas Prairie Railroad. The previous year my girlfriend and I drove through it "on the way to somewhere else" on US-95 and I was hooked. I had to go back! Here UP 2036 / BN 2901 / UP 2043 with train 63606 are hitting one of the first timber trestle structures in the lower reaches of the canyon, but they are certainly on the grade as the photo attests. The train is mostly UP and BN system (empty) grain hoppers to be positioned for loading on the Camas Prairie itself, while there are ballast loads up front behind the power to shore up some ROW on the line. While the rail is still in at this location, further up the line one of the trestles has burned to the ground leaving sagging rail in the air.
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.