There is a certain anticipation that comes when the pieces to a photo start coming together. The only part I could control was position and exposure, but as I watched an absolutely amazing sunset evolve I couldn’t help but wish that a certain other piece would come rolling my way. The westbound BNSF container and rack train had been sitting for hours waiting on a new crew, positioned conveniently under the new flyover at Truxton, AZ. It’s a remote location but very scenic and usually high levels of traffic to keep a photographer busy. In an unusual twist, nearly 4 hours had passed without a movement which was not what I expected. Come on, this is the TransCon where one could expect an average of 4 trains per hour, what gives? The clock advanced, the sun continued its journey towards the horizon when I realized a hole was forming in my lip and my fingernails were getting shorter. I was staring through binoculars praying to see light glowing from the distant approach-lit signal. I began to resign myself to the possibility that something occurred on the line to halt traffic as the absence of movement was concerning. Figures, that is just how my luck works. That was the moment that theory was blown out of the water. The dark signal sprang to life with a flashing yellow, indicating an eastbound was in the block, fighting its way up through the mouth of Crozier Canyon. The feelings of anticipation, turned to disappointment, now shifted to anxiety. Don’t blow out the sunset, expose for the highlights, don’t lose the shadows, keep the shutter speed fast enough to minimize blur, compose to maximize the elements of the scene, enjoy the moment but don’t screw this up, don’t screw this up, don’t screw this up…
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
