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And then it was on to the
Montana Rail Link and their soon to be replaced semaphore signals. Here is
an eastbound near Spring Gulch on July 13, 2004. |
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Soon afterwards a westbound
MRL train passes the same set of semaphores shown above. |
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Later that afternoon we got a
westbound BNSF train at the semaphore near the freeway near Spring Gulch. |
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That evening we did a
flashbulb shoot at Paradise of the local's power. With the inevitable end
coming soon of Kodachrome film, I am starting to experiment with other
films. This photo is on Kodachrome 64, with 6 #5B bulbs. Flash lighting by
John Sharp. |
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And here is the same engine
as above, taken on Etkachrome E100G film. It is more sensitive to yellows,
which shows up here in reflected yellow light on the long hood from a pole
light near by. Lens set at f 6.7 (next time I will try f 8.0). Flash
lighting by John Sharp. |
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Once again, I used 2 films
... and this shot is Kodachrome 64. Same lighting as before....6 #5B bulbs.
Flash lighting by John Sharp. |
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Note again how much more
yellow light is shown by the E100G Etkachrome film. Flash lighting by John
Sharp. |
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The next morning was again
nice and sunny (not all that common on a railfan trip!) and here is a
westbound MRL train just west of Toole. July 14, 2004. |
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Right behind the above train
was this BNSF run through freight. July 14, 2004. |
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Later on we got this
westbound at a set of semaphores near Spring Gulch. |
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The Paradise Local is headed
westbound at St. Regis past the "shorty" signals. |
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After meeting the Paradise
Local at Toole, this eastbound BNSF train is headed through St. Regis. |
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The next day we were chasing
the Gas Train east of Paradise when we saw this helicopter lifting water out
of the river for a small forest fire to the left of the photo. You can see
the water coming out of the bucket as the chopper pulls up just behind the
units. July 15, 2004. |
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And here is the shot I wanted
of the Gas Train. July 15, 2004. |
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July 16 was a travel day to
Mullen Pass, and here is an eastbound at the Nimrod Tunnel. One could smell
the leaking oil coming from the leading unit...... |
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At Austin we got the
westbound passenger train with both units in Run 8 and just barely making
the hill. |
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Here is that eastbound we saw
earlier at Nimrod leaking oil...note all of the fresh oil on the long hood.
This engine died on the climb up the west side of Mullen Pass, and had to
get help from a following BNSF train (below). July 16, 2004. |
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And this is the following
BNSF train referred to above helping the MRL train down the hill now. |
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And this was a whopper of a
train! At Austin we got this westbound train with the F45's on the point,
and 2 sets of helpers.... |
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The first set of helpers.... |
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And the second....this was a
really long and slow moving train. |
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Back at Skyline the head end
of the train is crossing the trestle. |
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Note how fast the sun was
setting...the shadows are creeping up rather quickly. |
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And the sun is behind some
trees as the second helper set crosses the bridge. |
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Then is was drive home here
to Phoenix, and an unexpected bonus was this Black Mesa & Lake Powell train
at the coal loadout in Black Mesa, AZ. This is one of the ex NdeM units that
they bought a couple of years ago, and the first one I've seen repainted. It
is still using its NdeM number, EA036. July 18, 2004. |
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And the last photo of the
trip was this one of the coal train just before it turns north towards Page
at Cow Springs. July 18, 2004. |