Thursday, February 24, 2011

Dang It

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Seneca, Roman philosopher

I went out early this afternoon to my local Sobeys to buy a Coke Zero or two to sustain me through the afternoon. I brought my camera bag along, figuring I would take a glance up and down the CP La Riviere subdivision on McGillivray Boulevard here in Winnipeg and see if there were any trains about. I did that, and lo, there was a northbound train approaching.

Congratulating myself for thinking to bring the camera, I parked, grabbed the camera, and got into position to video them crossing the road. As they started to blow their horn for the crossing, I turned my T1i on and... something was wrong. Lens cap? Check. Camera ON? Check. What was this door doing open on the camera body?

My memory card was at home, stuck in my computer.

I had opportunity, but obviously not enough preparation. Oh sure, I had a spare card in my camera bag (don't you?) but there was no time to go and get it.

I let the camera hang around my neck and watched the train roll on by. CP 3028 and 1128 led 26 grain and tank cars.

Ah well. Next time. For now, imagine the train was like this one... shot a year and a day ago and a mile or so north of where I was today, with the same engines.

3 comments:

Blair Ivey said...

Like the four-truck depressed-center flat in the train. Don't get to see that too often.

Unknown said...

I was lucky to see the CP 1128/3028 duo recently, at Sterling Lyon Pkwy, still working hard, although they had to wait a little over an hour, just short of the crossing, because of CN.

Sometimes, (although not often) I'll forget to bring the SD card, or charge the battery. I hate when I do that, but I didn't do that in this case. One time, I even ran out of SD card space, because I kept forgetting to move the files of the card.

Canadian Train Geek said...

Hi Taylor, I always carry a spare battery and a spare SD card in my camera bag, but of course you need your bag close by!

I have a honkin' big SD card so space is usually not an issue. I always format it in the camera after transferring it to my computer.