Good video and good advice, including the tips on safety. When I find a safe spot, I always have an "exit strategy" so that after the shutter is tripped, I can quickly move much further away from the tracks. I've given up on a number of good compositions when my safe spot is hemmed in.
Very interesting video, DJ, and a great way to start out as a member here. Welcome aboard, I look forward to more railfan photos and videos.
I used to drive a yellow 1950 Ford pickup years ago (it was my dad's). The one in the video could be a '48, '49, or '50 as they were virtually the same. Ours was more of a mustard yellow which was brush-painted on and polished smooth by hand. Flat-head V8, 6 volt positive ground, and always started in the winter. Doug
When I was young, I wish I'd have known half as much about rail photography as those skilled young people in the video. Lighting? Composition? What's that?
In 1957 I crossed over the N&W tracks in Roanoke, VA and saw smoke to my left. I quickly swung around into station parking and ran to the tracks. In less than a minute a double-headed coal drag came through at about 10 mph. The lead blew two short and opened the throttle. A couple of minutes later the trailing pusher came through running at least 25 mph. I was so excited because these were the first articulateds I had ever seen. OK, you ask, what does this have to with this thread...my camera was sitting on the front seat of my car, with film, primed and waiting....AARGH (to quote Charlie Brown)
That's about what I felt when I saw a leased GP40FH-2 up here and didn't have a camera along (I was taking the commuter train, to boot...). It's also a great opportunity to show how rich in swear words the French language is in Quebec (the ability to swear in both official languages is an asset).
After stopping to check out the signals, I saw double flashing yellows at Soo Tower westbound, so I knew we had 2 westbounds coming. Back to the point of railfan safety, I watched this young knucklehead (we'll call him Joe) walk thru all the snow, walk between the north rails, and not leave the tracks. I saw the train on the north track approaching, but Joe either had headphones on and couldn't hear a thing going on around him, or was wearing blinders--or both. The engineer whistled almost frantically and Joe got off the north track in the nick of time. Then he walked between the south rails--and another train is still coming. Eventually, Joe moseyed off the ROW and out of sight. This was after about 12 inches of snow that hit the Minot, ND area in the last 36 hours. I almost witnessed Joe getting hit by a train. You know what they say about a train wreck, you can't look away? Yeah, that was me. I was on the city library lawn watching this all go down. The engineer prolly needs a change of underwear now... Moral of the story: Joe isn't very smart by walking down the tracks. Joe almost got killed by a train. Don't be like Joe.
