A Training Day

 It was 5 o'clock Tuesday morning and I didn’t think that I’d be going back to sleep soon. I got dressed and went out to see if I could find a picture or two worth taking. There was no specific plan, I was just going to take a ride and see if anything popped up.

  While driving along I am always watching the scenery, looking at the shadows, the people I pass, the buildings. I’m never sure what “it” might be but I’m always looking. It is amazing how many times I see something whenever I don’t have my camera with me! The chances of seeing something worth taking a picture of increases whenever I leave the camera behind! When I see something, I stop and take a picture. Sometimes they are good, other times, worthy only of deletion.

    I drove towards Pittsburgh going through Lawrenceville. Passing the “Doughboy Statue” and heading towards the railroad bridge, I saw my subject. I saw a line of hoppers slowly crossing the bridge. I turned the car around and started searching for the front of the train.

    It turned into a slow chase. We were both going in the same direction; the train was four or five blocks closer to the river than I was. I could see it as I passed side streets. While I had to deal with traffic and streetlights, the train just kept on going… As I gained on it I started to hear the whistle as it came to road crossings. I finally got ahead of it as we neared the 62^nd Street Bridge.

    While driving, I was mentally going over the various spots I could go to get a picture of it. I decided to go under the Highland Park Bridge for my attempt. Luckily, the train was moving slowly, and I had plenty of time to set up my tripod, frame my picture and take a couple test shots before the train came into sight.

    The headlights were what I saw first. I could feel the anticipation. The Carload Express engines passed followed by a long line of bouncing and rocking cars. Perhaps this was why the train was moving so slowly, the cars were swaying back and forth, the rails weren’t very straight or flat.

    After the train was gone, I returned home. I had gotten some pictures and I was happy. It was now time to get back to the regular day, time to tackle my chores.

    Later in the day after eating dinner, I was sitting at my desk when I heard it, another train whistle! It was still light outside, so I grabbed my camera and ran (?) out to the car.

    The train had just passed the crossing in Lower Glenshaw. Leaving the neighborhood, I heard the whistle as it came to the next crossing, just past the tunnel. As I drove, I started considering the places I could go, along with their advantages and their disadvantages. Some were far enough away that I could easily reach them long before the train did, but I wasn’t sure what the lighting would be like. Another spot was much closer, but the background would be a hillside of trees, in the shadows. The train might fade into the background there.

    I ended up going to my favorite spot, Bryant Road in Hampton Township. There weren’t many cars on the road and so I arrived rather quickly. I went down a dirt road towards the tracks where I could catch the train crossing the bridge over Pine Creek. I set up the tripod and framed my shot, took a couple test shots and then waited.

    A car pulled up and two guys got out. I was wondering if they were railfans or fishermen. They turned out to be the latter. We BS’d for a minute before they continued on to the stream, stopping briefly to touch the tracks to see if they could feel the coming train. The noise of the engines was getting louder.

    Just as they reached the bridge, the locomotive came around the bend. The lights of the engine came first, illuminating the curving rails. As the first engine passed, the engineer gave a couple short toots on the whistle to me as he went by. Of course, I waved back… it is what you do when a train goes by!

    The sounds of a train are always exciting to me; the noise of the engines, the squeals of the wheels on the rails, the knocking and bumping of the cars and especially the piercing blasts of the whistles. I have taken pictures of trains from above as they near a crossing, those whistles are LOUD!!! WOW, what a rush!

    I returned home happy and content. A train started my morning and then one ended my day. I've said it before; it doesn't take a lot to make my day! Some days you just get lucky and this was one of them!