Western Railroad Discussion > Is this whatcha call a Lunar signal?

Or... was it a sign of bad luck for everybody.

Friday the 13th... we should have known! My faithful partner, ‘mg8711’ texted me a heads-up about a BNSF unit pointing a westbound grain empty over our local KP (UP). At first I wasn’t going to go out. I was at work chipping away at my massive photo-file rebuilding project from a computer crash over a year ago. (I thank my lucky stars for the external back-up I employed a few years ago on aggressive advice) But then I let ‘8711’ coerce into coming out for the short chase after all.

Friday the 13th... When I arrived downtown I discovered my camera battery was dead. It’s a rare occurrence, but I had failed to turn my D7100 off after the latest image download. And since it was going to be a short local chase I left the main camera bag at home. Why-the-hello would I need my camera bag -containing the battery charger- for such a short chase???

Friday the 13th... The BNSF-led, UP train in question was already in town. But it was stopped for an indeterminate amount of time. There was some kind of M.O.W. activity (read: broken rail change-out) a few miles up the line, and it was not going anywhere for “a while”. So I made the 25 minute -give or take- trip home to get my bag. I have mobile charging ability, so I plugged the battery in while I was driving back into town. Lo & behold, once back to town I had enough charge to get a couple of grab shots of the BNSF unit hiding behind our brand-new Casey’s store on Ft Riley Blvd. I drove up to 15th St and chatted a bit with ‘8711’, while listening to his scanner for any clue as to when the train would be rolling. My poor battery was gaining new life, charging the whole time. That’s when he heard the DS talking to the train crew, informing them it would be at least an hour before they could roll. With over 2 of hours of shootable daylight left that gave us time to consider where we might set up for our first shots. I opted for the 5th Street crossing back downtown.

Friday the 13th... I should have known from my own years in train service that a M.O.W. time “estimate” is always less than half of the actual time eventually spent on a piece of work. Especially an emergency rail change-out. With the hapless train crew now on serious hours-of-service shortage, the train wound up getting tied down on the spot behind Casey’s. So while sitting at 5th Street for a train that would never show, I shot this dual signal. A closer look revealed “Mr Luna” lurking in the sky atop the signal heads. I swear he was snickering at the bad luck we were having...

1. UP scene at he 5th St crossing on Friday the 13th.

2. Up skyward the near full-moon, aka the devilish Mr Luna is enjoying our earth-bound spate of bad luck...

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One more:

3. BNSF 5423 hiding behind Casey’s, while pointing a UP non-moving grain empty heading for KYLE interchange at Solomon. Some time...
(3 photos taken in Manhattan, KS on May 13, 2022)

Thanks (sorta... ;^) for the heads-up!
Lance Garrels
santafe199 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/22 09:26 by santafe199.

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Excellent, good way to get "mooned"... :^)

JG

jgilmore Wrote: > ... good way to get "mooned"...

(chuckling) Yeah....... in 46 years behind the camera I have indeed been mooned a time or two (hundred)

;^)

Now I know what a lunar indication is.

Neat shot.

RC Lundgren

Any plans for the eclipse on Sunday night?  They tell me the "lunar signal" will actually be a red board then, in spite of the obvious rules violation...

Evan_Werkema Wrote: > … Any plans for the eclipse on Sunday night? 

My ol’ KS Gang bro, monaddave told me about it earlier today. I’m sure my rusty tripod will be up for some action…

The current forecast calls for clear skies…

Posted from iPhone

Added 5-15: Yikes! I woke up this morning to the sound of thunder and rainfall on the roof. That means it was really coming down, at least for a short stretch. The forecast seems to have gone "to hen in a hell-basket"! As of this amendment Pott County is even under a severe thunder-storm watch. For the next few hours, anyhow. It looks like Mama Nature has until 8:32 PM to clear the skies of such nasty temperment...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/15/22 08:51 by santafe199.