After being closed to the public since March 14th due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has returned to running public excursions. To mark the occasion, Southern 4501 was earmarked for reopening weekend, June 5th through the 7th, on the Missionary Ridge Local that has been redesigned to meet CDC & state of Tennessee recommendations to maintain social distancing & public health while the virus is still an ongoing issue. Having not shot any steam since December, I decided to head north a day early of when I would be firing the 01 to photograph the engine for the day. Here, we see the deadhead trip from East Chattanooga for the first trip of the day about to enter the western portal of Missionary Ridge Tunnel.
I first noticed this angle a couple of weeks earlier while helping to clear a tree that fell on top the tunnel portal. While helping, I ended up in this spot to step out of the way, looked back & the photographer in me immediately started to go to work, thinking to myself "I outta try this out when we reopen." Needless to say, I think it turned out okay. It's good to start to get back to some sense of normal.
