This morning's DREI 101 only made it to Tuscola and not beyond the diamond, as the UP had an issue with a train hung over the interlocking. This train had the diamond blocked for at least two hours. With that in question, the 101 crew tied down and went home for the day, unsure of what would happen.
At 6 PM, the 201 went on duty to get the train at Tuscola. Once aboard and ready to go around 6:30, they weren't able to get a signal across the diamond because the train had been sitting on the approach for so long and was showing a track light on the dispatcher side. They had to shove back to the approach signal and try again, costing another 30 minutes or so of time. Once arriving at the signal, the CN had the diamond, which was typical as they controlled it. Some time passed and the 201 got the light to proceed east through Tuscola.
On my side of things, we've gotten a few inches of rain in the area the past few days. This has allowed for big "lakes" in the fields. With it being windy the past couple of days, it's been almost impossible to get a nice reflection (due to all the ripples). Yet this evening, the "lake" east of Tuscola was very still. With the train on the approach and the sun quickly setting, I had my fingers crossed for this shot to work out. A last minute thought had me ask the conductor to radio his engineer for some smoke at the crossing. My wish was granted and the shutter was clicked. This was totally worth the wet and muddy shoes!
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!)
