Railroad picture of the day
I didn't really expect to see anything today. I had a picnic to go to right after work, and was supposed to get from work down to Sellwood Park by 5:30, and even with that I didn't think I'd see train #14 because it had started out 2hr late and had worked its way back to 2 and a half hours late when I last checked before leaving work. But I wanted to ride the #70 bus so I could get a few blocks closer to Sellwood Park than the #19 could get me, so when I left work I hopped on the first bus to come by (at, um, 5:09. Not good for a planned 5:30 arrival) and rode it to 21st and Powell, because it was about as fast as a connection as Milwaukie and Powell, and it did put me alongside the railroad for about two blocks, so if something interesting came by (perhaps a Yellow Menace freight, or a P&W transfer, or even a very late BN/SF transfer freight) I'd have a chance to see it.
And because I was hoping for something interesting, I had my Pentax in hand and I wasn't walking quite a fast as I otherwise would have. So after I came out from the underpass, had crossed over to the west side of 17th, and started to hear the rumble of a fast approaching train (from the south; if it had been approaching from the north I would have heard a chorus of toots as it went over the 75,000 grade crossings in East Portland,) I had enough time to fire up the camera and take a picture when the not-so-late-as-I-thought Coast Starlight blew past on the final leg of the trip to Union Station.
The combination of the bright afternoon sun and the threatening clouds covering the sky? Oh, that's just typical Portland weather when it's trying to decide whether it's the rainy season or not.