This Space for Rent

YAFYE picture of the day

The roadswitcher hustle

A pair of SW1500s fly past Portland Traction’s East Portland yard at about 8:30am.

I’d heard these switchers blowing for the 11th/12th/Division crossing as I went under the 99e viaduct, and they sounded urgent enough so I didn’t think there was a chance I could make it down to the crossings by the Hawthorne bridge before the train went by. So I pulled off the road at the south end of the East Portland yard, and pulled out the mighty Pentax just as the lead engine popped out from under the viaduct.

The only adjustment I had time to do was to close the aperture to f5.6 (the lens was already focused at 20 meters … ∞, which was lucky because I’m as bad as the *istDS autofocus when I’ve not had my morning tea) before clicking away.