Canadian Railroads > Wabamun Wednesday - Dodging Clouds and Getting Lucky

On the holiday Monday I got out with a buddy of mine and we went west to Carvel and beyond. It was a good day, shooting 21 train movements (19 trains, doubling two of them by relocating as they were held up), seeing the tail end of one go by as we got to the tracks to begin the day, and having one EB sift past us when we were driving from Wabamun to Magnolia. Three were stabbed by clouds, so not too bad. This post shows three trains, five shots, at Wabamun.
1. We'd been at Carvel and environs for the morning, and decided to move on to Wabamun and check out some possibilities. We crossed Range Road 43 toward the west end of town, just south of Lakeshore Road, and saw the headlights coming, no scanner chatter to warn us. So it was a scrambled grab shot of #416 at 1215, behind 5630 and 5437, trailing a mixed consist.
2. I'd never gone west of Range Road 44, and Google Maps plus satellite showed some curves, tight to the water, but perhaps some potential, so we drove west and found this location, with a nice curve in the shoreline and some clear space to take a shot. The signals are at MP 48.5, and the puffy clouds that built in were making us very nervous. After a bit of a wait, rumbling told us we had an EB coming, and as it popped around the point, it was in cloud, which was also moving EB. Luckily, the power outran the shadow's edge and made it to the signals just in time. This is stack train #192, with 416 axles, behind 2341 and 2151 at 1258. This more distant shot, lens set at 26 mm, catches the signals lit a bit better.
3. Lens set at 18 mm, this is really pushing the limits of distortion that I'm comfortable with, but it sure popped with the clouds. Next train to follow.

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4. Not long to wait, and horns plus rumbling announced the next train, stack train #112 at 1314. I set up a little bit differently, and grabbed the shot of the power before it hit the straightaway. Perhaps a longer lens was in order, this is out to its max at 55 mm. You can see we really are in a sucker hole; shadows bracketing the power. We got lucky, lucky, lucky.
5. As with the first train, it was possible to moan about the bay and rolling stock being clouded, but the power again outran a chasing cloud, and was lit up for us; in this case, 3081 and 3041 in charge of 348 axles at 33 mph and 23 degrees. Lens set at 24 mm. Some day I need to get back here when there are no clouds; also, early in the morning, an EB should be shootable from the road side of the tracks, with the bay stretched out behind.
Fred



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/23/18 10:31 by feclark.

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Great skies.

KG

kgmontreal Wrote:
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> Great skies.
>
> KG

When they were co-operative, indeed they were!
Fred

Northern Alberta in the summer is beautiful.

KG

kgmontreal Wrote:
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> "Central" Alberta in the summer is beautiful.

There; fixed it for ya...

Edmonton is about 140 miles closer to the US border than it is to the Northwest
Territories (310 miles vs. 450)...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC