Eastern Railroad Discussion > Fall Trip 2012: The Golden Hour + Fall Peak = Joy

Hello all, adventures in life and parenting have kept me way behind on editing photos...making a gray snowy November Saturday perfect for some catch up. As JAL posted yesterday, a group of us gathered for our annual fall trip again this year, which we dedicated to our mutual friend Peter McGilligan, who missed the trip after he fell ill earlier this year, and sadly passed away before the end of October. Despite the sad circumstances, we managed enjoy several days of camaraderie, trains, food, and photography at the Station Inn in Cresson PA.

On the last day of our trip, the constantly changing mountain weather we'd experienced finally cleared to brilliant sunshine. RG Dave and I managed to talk ourselves ourselves into skipping the Station Inn breakfast and instead take advantage of the convergence of that golden hour of early sunshine and peaking fall colors on the West Slope. Here are the results of that hour:

1. 8:21 AM: The late rising sun has yet to illuminate the classic signal bridge at Lilly PA, forcing a grab shot of a 534 Strawberry Ridge coal drag in "downtown" Lilly instead.
2. 8:40 AM: The fall sunrise allows a miniscule window for shooting eastbounds on 1 track at the Rt 53 cut between Cresson and Gallitzin, and the 534 drag managed to just make it, poking out of the shadows and into the sunlight with peak colors as a backdrop.
3. 8:41 AM: Autumn mist mixes with glinty sun and diesel exhasut as 534's 3 SD60Ms roar towards AR.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/12 13:24 by PittsburghMike.

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8:42 AM: A tighter view of 534's power ducking back out of the sunlight and into the misty shadows.
8:43 AM: 534 is still grinding towards AR as 11A rolls into view on track 3, led by 2 of Juniata's most recent rebuild projects.
9:01 AM: 2 SD40E's make a nice sight on the rear of a westbound rack train rolling towards MO.

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7. 9:18 AM...Pulling into the parking lot back at the Inn to pick up the rest of the gang, Amtrak calls the signal down at Lilly allowing one more "Golden Hour" shot from the front porch of the inn.

Thanks for looking!

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WOW! Nice work Mike. I REALLY liked # 3, 4 & 5!!

Old Bob out in Lost Wages

You are wetting my appetite since I am going up there end of February. Hoping for some snow for shots but no blizzard.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

Holy smokes, you destroyed it out there, great shots!

Ted S-P

RNinRVR Wrote:
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> You are wetting my appetite since I am going up
> there end of February. Hoping for some snow for
> shots but no blizzard.

Lol. No promises Sharon. Our group was on hand at Cresson for Snowmageddon in Feb 2010!

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I wouldn't want to go out in that weather with a wet appetite.

However, mine is dry, but whetted.

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL

Great shots!!! Awesome lighting.

NIIICE set of pics!!!! Thanks for sharing.

Mike, great photos. Good move on skipping breakfast. Those pictures you got were worth it. Anyway you can always eat a late breakfast : )
John

While I enjoyed staying back and eating, Mike did get some superb images!

Nice photos like the glinty sun shots and snow photos>
Yeah breakfast can wait.
alan

jalang Wrote:
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> While I enjoyed staying back and eating, Mike did
> get some superb images!

Alex knows how hard it is for me to pass on a good breakfast <grins>