A Game of Inches

A game of inches – that’s what they say about football. Railroad photography could be characterized the same way.

As to this image, you could also say it’s a game of seconds.

UP train QWCEW at Missouri City, TX on May 10, 2007

Running at track speed of 50 mph, UP SD70ACe 8338 is within a second or two of entering the pronounced cloud shadow visible in the foreground.

It was more cloudy than not this day, but with just enough openings to entice me to try my luck at catching a shot in full sun. As the train approached, I just knew that I’d get hosed because the cloud was moving slowly, but the train was moving quickly.

The only thing that saved me was the 200mm lens that allowed me to reach out just enough to get the job done.

Being partial to SD70ACe’s, I headed east to West Junction to see if I could get lucky twice.

UP train QWCEW at West Junction on May 10, 2007

The clouds had opened up enough here to where there was no suspense for this shot. Which is just how I like it…