To a photographer, catching a train on a sweeping curve is fun. Catching a long train occupying an entire S-curve is more fun. Once in a great while it's possible to catch the same train running in three directions on a double S-curve -- a Ted Benson shot of sugar beets in three directions at San Luis Obispo in a WestRail calendar is indelible in my mind as perfect execution. For me, a trip to Colorado to see those sharp-looking blue-and-white Oakway SD60s on the Joint Line yielded a catch that startled this Jersey Boy visiting Denver for the first time. Among the steady parade of trains this day, a long BN coal train labored past our perch between Monument and Colorado Springs, a solid set of five Cascade green SD40s and U30-somethings pulling hard on a whole lotta coal gons. Then comes the helpers in the form of two sister SD40-2s shoving on a wide-vision caboose, flanges still whistling among the distinctive and penetrating rumble and drone of two 16-cylinder 645 prime movers hammering at about the same RPM and working equally as hard. Then I turn for the back-shot and looked in amazement at the shape the train was taking as it whistled and whined its way into the distance. Coal gons were moving in five different directions. In this era the Joint Line was jointly operated by the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe, separate companies then. This day, it was the BN that put on an unforgettable show for an Easterner. And I'm forever grateful to Chip Sherman for being a native guide.
