Western Railroad Discussion > Toto Tuesday: Special night in Dodge

Back in February I chased a BNSF passenger special from south central Kansas clear out to western range country otherwise known as Dodge City. I had some difficulty keeping up with this train west of Hutchinson ( http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,4224453 ). It seemed the aptly nicknamed Western Kansas Racetrack had regained some of its luster from the glory days of super fast Santa Fe streamliners. I last shot the train a ways west of Hutchinson at Partridge, KS and didn’t catch it again until Dodge City. The train just kept outrunning me. I got to Dodge in time to watch as the inbound crew put their train to bed for the night. Then with a local friend who was in from La Junta, CO I was able to get a few night exposures before settling down in a motel room. Here are a couple of my results:

1. After a speedy trip west from Newton, KS BNSF 4017 is now at rest during a scheduled overnight stop. There was a mechanical crew servicing the power, with their truck providing some unwanted illumination. I had to stretch a few shooting angles to get around the headlight glare. Even so I couldn’t get a color image I could do anything with in Photoshop. So I converted this image to B/W, something I rarely do. The upside was getting the old Santa Fe waycar in the background. Exposure: 30mm, 6 seconds @ f8 @ 200 ISO.

2. Former AT&SF Track Inspection car #89, now BNSF car #32, the “William Barstow Strong” is at the rear of the train. In my Santa Fe days I once ride this car under passenger flagman pay. So even though the viewing glass at the back was covered my memory cells were clicking on all cylinders as I took a few exposures. 37½ years melted away and I was transported back to September of 1979 again! Exposure: 55mm, 4 seconds @ f8 @ 200 ISO.
(2 photos taken in Dodge City, KS on the frosty evening of February 8, 2017)

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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Great photos Lance.  By the way, we are coming on #4 next Sunday from LAX to KCY on our cars if you are in the neighborhood. Thanks,

Nice shots LG.