Saturday, August 31, 2013

Two Trains

This is just a short post recounting the two trains I saw on Friday morning.

I saw train CN 111 rolling west along the CN Rivers subdivision just after 9 AM. It had CN 2274 in the lead.
CN 2274 in Winnipeg

One challenge with shooting into the sun like this is to avoid blowing the sky out with the high contrast between the dark train and the bright sky. Typically I would focus on the side of the train, which is much darker than the sky. I used the exposure compensation on the camera to step it down 2/3 of a stop.

CN 2529 was the second unit and has something odd on the side of the engine over the "5". Is it a rear-view mirror?
CN 2529 outside Winnipeg

After the head end passed, I drove west to catch it again. I was surprised to see a train coming the other way. It turned out to be CN 102 and I had just a few seconds to pull over and shoot it.
CN 5611 outside Winnipeg
Note the lack of any class lettering under the "5611" on the side of the SD70I.

I did get ahead of train 111 and shot it approaching Diamond.
CN train 111 outside Winnipeg

I decided to do a pan shot of 2274 this time. I set the shutter speed to 1/80s.
CN 2274 outside Winnipeg

After I watched the train pass for a bit, I saw the mid-train engine, CN 8938.
CN 8938 mid-train

While I was in the panning mood, I shot this CN container. "We Deliver!"
CN container

The train rolled off into the distance, and so did I.
CN container


3 comments:

One Man Committee said...

Very impressive!

Karl A. said...

I like the shot of the SD70ACe mid-train, very cool! What was the big sticker on the side of its nose?

That was just the mirror swung low on the 2529. Good eye.

Steve Boyko said...

Thank you "1-Man"!

Thanks Karl, good eye for you too! The sticker is for EcoConnexions, a program by CN to fund local community improvement projects. I wrote about it here.

Large version on CN 2555