Unexpected nighttime trainspotting.
When the best was out trying to mail off a bunch of care packages to the troops in Iraq, she spotted a plume of smoke rising from the tracks behind Union Station, and upon investigation discovered that the smoke was coming from SP&S #700, which was just sitting there on one of the tracks waiting for something to happen. One thing lead to another, and she didn't get back home until around 5pm, so we didn't get out of the house and into the Prius headed towards Union Station until close to 5:30, when it was no longer getting dark. As we drove over the 99e viaduct of doom, I spotted a train heading south and said "ooops, that probably means that the 700 will be on its way momentarily", but was proven wrong when we pulled up at the south end of Union Station to see #700 sitting there steaming quietly to itself.
Russell didn't want to get out of the car, so the best let me out so she could loop around and meet me after I took a few pictures. I took a couple of pictures from the ground, then headed up to the little footbridge so I could take another couple of pictures from above, then turned and started heading back to the car so we could continue on with our errands. At least that was the plan; the 700 rudely interrupted it by blasting its whistle and starting to move south out of the station.
I *bolted* down the bridge stairs and sprinted south to the old tower that sits next to where the Red Electric line split off from the mainline to go down 4th Ave, turned around, and started taking pictures. Did I have my tripod? No. So I cranked the aperture as wide open as I could and hoped the Pentax could get anything resembling pictures as the 700 moved noisily towards me.
As the 700 went by, I turned to walk back to the car, only to discover that I wasn't the only person to hear the 700's whistle -- the Prius was right there, so I hopped in and we scooted off towards the Steel Bridge to see if we could get another picture. When we reached the other side, I leapt out of the car and ran down to the footbridge that leads to the eastbank esplanade, plunked the camera down on a post, and started taking pictures again as the #700 came across the bridge.
The 700 swept by (you don't have very many chances to sit on an bridge while a steam engine goes underneath these days, so I take advantage of the opportunity every chance I get,) and I scampered back to the car so we could drive south and try yet another place to take pictures. The 700 wasn't moving that quickly, so even with having to deal with every stoplight along Grand Ave, we managed to make it to the Division St. underpass before the 700 appeared.
The first two locations had handy fenceposts that I could rest the camera on, but there wasn't anything like that at Division St, so this picture comes with extra added middle-aged shakiness. It was still a pretty impressive show, even though it was pitch black and we had complaining children in the car.
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Great photos! Mind if I use them on my site, The Red Electric (theredelectric.blogspot.com)?
Rick