Trip Report – Snow Fighting on the Cumbres & Toltec

Hwy17 Crossing

The last time the rotary was used to remove snow on the Cumbres & Toltec was May of 1997, so when I saw the announcement over Easter weekend of 2019 that the railroad was planning to run the rotary again in 2020, I instantly emailed to get on the ticket waiting list. This was going to be the charter to attend in 2020!

For those not familiar with snow fighting operations on a railroad, small to medium amounts of snow are typically removed with pilot mounted snow plows or larger plows pushed by locomotives. Often spreaders are used to widen the clearances between the rolling stock and the walls of snow on either side of the tracks. Flangers are used to clear the snow from between the rails. When the snow is too deep for plows, flangers and spreaders, you call the rotary; a snow blower on rails.

During the common carrier days of the D&RGW, rotary plows were strategically stationed four rotary snow plows, OO, ON, OM & OY where heavy snow frequently occurred. Today only OM & OY survive. Rotary OY was typically based out of Alamosa and cleared snow east of Cumbers Pass. For this trip, it was running out of Chama, traditionally Rotary OM’s territory.

Less than a week after this event occurred, the world shut down due to the COVID 19 pandemic. How lucky we were to get to see the greatest show on rails!

The rotary exits the narrows on the way to Lobato Trestle:

The Narrows

Stopped momentarily at Hwy 17 Crossing:

Hwy 17 Crossing

The photoline observes the rotary in action:

The Photoline

Rounding Orgasm Curve:

Orgasm Curve

Cresting the top of Cumbres Pass:

Cumbres Pass

Trip Report – Steam Railroading Institute Part 2

Continuing where we left off in Part One, one of the hallmarks of a railroad photo shoot is the night photo session. In the case of my trip to the Steam Railroading Institute, there were two, one out on the line at Carland Elevator and a second, smaller Rosie the Riveter themed shoot back at the yard in Owosso. Both were bitter cold nights, but the cold makes for better images of a steam train. A few favorites in no particular order:

Pere Marquette 1225 Crew Portrait

Crew Portrait

3rd Shift Lunch Break

Lunch on the third shift

Greasing the Rods

Cleaning the headlight

The Engineer

The Engineer

Carland Elevator

Carland

It was a great two days on the railroad and I look forward to visiting Steam Railroading Institute again.

Trip Report – Steam Railroading Institute Part 1

West Riley Road

With all of my photo plans cancelled by the restrictions on gatherings and closure of state and national parks, I’ve been working on my backlog of images that need to be edited. First up in that group were images from a Lerro Photography charter at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan in January 2019. This was a two day charter featuring Pere Marquette 1225. For those who have seen the Polar Express, this is the locomotive that they used as inspiration for the animated locomotive in the movie. They even went so far as to have Skywalker Sound record Pere Marquette 1225 for use as sound effects for the movie.

Over the course of two days, we covered a number of locations over the 15 miles between Owosso and Elsie. The following are a few of my favorites in no particular order:

West Wilkinson Road Sunrise

West Wilkinson Road Sunrise

North Smith Road Farm

North Smith Road Farm

King Road Crossing

King Road Crossing

Carland Elevator

Carland Elevator

South Woodbridge Road Crossing

South Woodbridge Road Crossing

West Wilkinson Road Sunset

West Wilkinson Road Sunset

Check back next Tuesday for Part 2, including images from the night sessions.

Trip Report – WWII Weekend 2018

This past June I had the privilege of attending the Mid Atlantic Air Museum’s WWII Weekend with a couple of friends who always inspire me to be a better photographer. To Pete, Matthew, and Mark, thank you for allowing me to shoot with you for the weekend. Also thanks to John for saving me a seat on the flight line for the airshow. Last but not least, Thank you to Dave for inviting me to hang out in the Cafe.

Photographing people is not something that comes naturally to me. But I learned a couple of things from following Pete, Matthew and Mark around for the weekend. First, for the candid shots, it’s all about being in the right spot at the right time. Anticipating the moment is going to take some practice. Second, reenactors are incredibly kind people. When it comes to posed shots they’ll usually say yes when asked.

Trip Report – Klotz Throwing Company June 2018

In June I had the opportunity to photograph Klotz Throwing Company for the third time. With the roof rapidly deteriorating, I made sure not to miss this opportunity. On this trip, I focused on the details.

Trip Report – Photographing Doc

As I mentioned Friday, I had the incredible opportunity to attend a photo shoot with Doc, one of the two flying B-29 Superfortress’ this past June.  The original plan was to shoot one of the B-24’s out on the hot ramp, but an afternoon thunderstorm resulted in the protective covers being installed on the B-24’s which nearly derailed the shoot.  Thankfully, Doc’s Friends were willing to allow us to photograph Doc on short notice.

We started with crew and civilian shots on the ground:

And then we moved inside for some cockpit shots:

It was a great shoot, and I hope to have the opportunity to do it again some day.  Thanks again to Doc’s Friends and Brett for being awesome hosts and to Pete and all the reenactors who made the shoot possible!

Oregon Trip Report 2018 – Part 3

Hug Point Falls

Continuing on from Part 1 and Part 2, Day Three started with a trip up the coast to see Haystack Rock:

Haystack Rock

Terrible Tilly (Tillamook Rock Lighthouse):

Terrible Tilly

Hug Point Falls:

Hug Point Falls

The original plan was to continue up the coast, but due to the cloud cover, we decided that it was perfect waterfall weather, so we headed to Portland to the Columbia River Gorge. Upon arriving we found clear skies and sun. Go figure. Stops included Lower Latourell Falls:

Lower Latourell Falls

Upper Latourell Falls:

Upper Latourel Falls

Multnomah Falls:

Multnomah Falls

And because the weather had cleared, the last stop of the trip was Mt. Hood for sunset:

Mt. Hood Sunset

Watching the alpenglow fade on Mt. Hood was a great way to end the trip.  Thanks for following along.

Oregon Trip Report 2018 – Part 2

Smith Lake Reflections

Continuing from last week’s Oregon Trip Report Part 1, The second morning of the trip starts in the small fishing village of Garabaldi, which is home to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, for a Martin Hansen photo charter with the Polson Logging #2 pulling a log train and the McCloud #25 on a mixed freight. We covered a good portion of the line, stopping in several scenic locations including Garabaldi Pier:

Garabaldi Pier

Second Nehalem River Bridge:

Second Nehalem River Bridge

Hathaway Slough Trestle:

Hathaway Slough Trestle

Stasek Slough Trestle:

Stasek Slough Trestle

Three Graces:

Three Graces

and back to Smith Lake for the night session:

Smith Lake Blue Hour

Thanks again to Martin for putting on an excellent charter and also to Pete Lerro for leading the night session!

Look for Part 3, next Tuesday.

Oregon Trip Report 2018 – Part 1

Wreck of the Peter Iredale

While the main purpose of my trip to Oregon in May was to photograph the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, flying into and out of Portland provided some additional photography opportunities.  First up was a stop at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center on Friday afternoon.  We arrived to find Southern Pacific 4449 parked outside in preparation for an open house the next day.

SP 4449

Inside the facility were Oregon Railroad & Navigation 197 and Spokane Portland & Seattle 700:

OR&N 197

From there we headed to Astoria where we caught the Riverfront Trolley running with several container ships waiting their turn to run up river:

Astoria Riverfront Trolley along the Columbia River

Flavel House gardens in full bloom:

Flavel House Rear Gardens in Spring

Next, we headed down the coast and found the wreck of the Peter Iredale:

Wreck of the Peter Iredale

After spending some time on the beach capturing the wreck under menacing skies, we make the final leg of the trip into Garabaldi for the photo charter the next day.

Look for Part 2 next Tuesday.

Trip Report – Railfest 2017

Last fall, I attended Steamtown National Historic Site’s annual Railfest. The highlight of the event was a night photo session that included scenes at the Sand Tower, Mattes Street Tower and the Roundhouse. I arrived in time for the night session Saturday night and then stayed over to see the event Sunday. Special events included demonstrations in the machine shop, tours of the Office and Stores Building, and of course train rides pulled by Baldwin Locomotive Works #26.

Sand Tower:

Mattes Street Tower:

Roundhouse:

Machine Shop Demonstration:

Ring of Fire:

Singing the Theme Song: