Western Railroad Discussion > Dark Faces for the railfan gods

Those railfan gods are sometimes friendly, sometimes goofy and sometimes downright ornery. You just never know which ones will show up when you’re out shooting. Case in point: I was out last Sunday following up on a ‘double’ heads-up. I was looking to bag a KCS unit on the point over the KP and then go find the Rio Grande Heritage unit up on the UP’s Marysville ~ Topeka main, in that order. I was successful, even though there wasn’t a whole lot of time in between the two events. So I figured the railfan gods were smiling on me.

But later in the afternoon as I was trying to make use of the perfect sunshine, those smiling railfan gods turned the tables and had some fun with me. Business concluded up north, I dropped down to the UP’s GSR to see what I could find. From westbound I-70 I spotted a long eastbound stacker. The head end was already out of sight, so all I could see was the mid-train DP power. I made a quick turnaround through the split rest area west of the Vera Rd exit. I knew I had would never catch this train unless it was meeting a westbound at Maple Hill. I gave it the “good ol’ college try”, but came up short. I got to Maple Hill just in time to see the rear end rapidly rolling away past the empty west end of Maple Hill siding (see image #1).

Thinking ahead, I thought this might be a great opportunity to catch a westbound train on the big sweeping curve at Willard Rd near the east end of Maple Hill siding. It’s a favorite go-to location for both TO pal ‘mg8711’ & me. The train in image #1 would have to make it to west Topeka -about 15 rail miles away- to let a westbound go. So I drove east, parked at the Willard Rd crossing and settled in for at least a 30” wait. I accessed TO on my cell phone and proceeded to bury my nose in a few of the forums. 27 minutes later the crossing gates activated right on cue. I ran my driver’s window down looking for a westbound train in that gorgeous sunlight. WRONG!!! It was another eastbound stacker, a semi-monster with a 2x1 power arrangement. I ended up shooting right into the sunshine just to record the engine #. And I got a decent away shot to record the DP unit (images #2 & #3). Ok now... let’s run this play again and get it right, as a football coach might tell his team. 26 minutes later the gates activated again. And once again it was a very long 2x1 stacker coming eastbound. I repeated the photo process (images #4 & #5) and came to the conclusion the railfan gods were now truckin’ with me. The low sunlight was getting close to the high treetops around the crossing so I gave up on Willard Rd.

I headed down the GSR toward a spot west of McFarland where the main line was more conducive to eastbound photography. But a quick check of the signal at the west end of the siding between Paxico & McFarland revealed that a westbound train was finally on the way. So I doubled back a ways and got images #6, #7 & #8 coming underneath I-70 at Paxico. It was now after 6 PM and I would soon lose the “golden hour” sunshine. Time to head for home...

1. Looking east from the S Main St crossing in Maple Hill, KS, an eastbound semi-monster stacker is out of reach, heading for Topeka.

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2. & 3. UP 5327 come outta the blu... I mean dark side of the sun angle. Not what I was expecting. But I got a half-decent record shot of DP unit 7208.

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4. & 5. Instant replay: Almost a half hour later here come UP 6695 out of the same dark angle, with UP 6355 as the DP. Images 2-5 taken at the Willard Rd crossing at Maple Hill, KS.

Added: Since those railfan gods sent me 2 trains right out of that golden sunlight I gave ‘em what they wanted I quadrupled the contrast in these images to give them “dark faces”.

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6. 7. & 8. I did finally get a westbound train! Here’s UP 5394 on yet another ultra-long stacker at Paxico, KS.
(All photos taken September 26, 2021)

Thanks for letting me vent!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

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First train just had no interest in being shot...I got caught on the dark side of it at Alma...those 3 mile long stacks aren't too fun when you have an upset stomach and just want to get home.
mg8711

mg8711 Wrote: > ... I got caught on the dark side ...

Yeah... I let myself get caught there for both of those friggin' EBs. I was set for a great 300mm teleboomer shot across the nose and into the interior of that sweeping curve. For a WESTBOUND! And I kept getting EBs. Sometimes you pick wrong so you just fire up the rig and drive away...

:^(

The third WB shot is the best.

RC Lundgren