I spent Monday like I spend most of my free, sunny days out here: tearing a$$ around Central PA in the STi, with my camera riding shotgun, seeing what interesting things I can find to shoot.
I had been told that NS modified sets of SD60 widecabs so they are now able to run through the dumper at PP&L's power plant at Brunner Island. And the best part is, these sets are ALL BLUE.
So when I heard an empty coal train coming north into Enola Yard with a 6724 on the point, I knew the remainder of my afternoon was going to be spent abusing my eardrums with the likes of UnEarth's "The Chosen", "Kickstart My Heart, and "Thunderstruck" while making a mockery of speed limits through several small towns...
I ventured down to the hole track at Enola and waited...soon enough, I heard the rumble of 710 prime movers and a blue nose poked into view...along with a blue trailer. IT'S $*%7@!# GO TIME! Click the thumbnails for big blue goodness:
Not the best start, but it will do...I know I'll be bagging him PLENTY of other places to make up for that one...the light will be great in Marysville, if he pulls out on G track, the shot will be great..."
Ah, dammit! He's on D track...that sucks...but what can ya do, plenty of time left...Harrisburg Terminal told him he was gonna be stopping at CP-Cannon to wait for a pair of eastbounds, and lucky for me, the 539 was just cruising along, making it possible for me to rain shots down upon him like an angry god would rain fire and brimstone upon a city of sinners. With any luck, I'll be able to get him twice at CP-Banks...
And I did. With some quick driving, I was able to beat him to the access road at Banks. Once again, not the best shots I've ever composed and walked away with, but they still count as +1s in the "Number of shots/locations" category...plus, in this photo, you can easily tell the leader is former CR 5587:
Ok, since he's taking his time, next stop is Firehouse Road in Perdix:
And then on to Burley road, just east of Cove...now things are finally turning in favor of the Gonzo...
Next up, the classic shot at Cove...first with the big glass:
And again, after a quick lens-swap:
And since he's moving so slow, I'll be able to beat him to the shot at Cove that nobody ever seems to do:
And I'll peel out and move farther west, to a location Google can best describe as Kinkora Heights:
Again, after slapping on the wide-angle lens:
Time to head to Duncannon...where my new 2x teleconverter and resulting 640mm of zoom should let me shoot him as he pulls to a stop at the signal for CP-Cannon:
His two eastbounds flew by and he took off, allowing the REAL fun to begin...after this shot, it was my 300 HP vs. his 7000 and 104 empty coalporters...and there was no way in hell I was gonna let myself lose:
No way I can beat him through Duncannon, so I'll have to blast up 11/15 and shoot him from the Juniata River bridge:
Ok, so my next best bet is probably Newport...I take off on 322 west. Nearing Newport, I can look across the river and see that even at 70, I am NOT gaining much ground on this guy...so I bump it up to around 80. I keep looking across the river to see if I'm getting ahead...I am, but Newport is out of the question, so I'll have to try for Thompsontown, which is uncharted territory for me, and hope I can find a shot. I glance in my rearview mirror, and the view looks something like this:
I start muttering obscenities and let the car slow down on its own, waiting for him to pop on his lights and pull me over, where he will proceed to bend me over for doing roughly 80 in a 65...he follows me for maybe a minute, then pulls around me and goes after the red Honda I had been following.
After he pulled the guy ahead of me over and I picked may jaw up off the floormat, I punched the gas and guessed my way to this shot in Thompsontown:
There is NOTHING like getting a free pass from a benevolent state trooper that allows you to venture into unknown lands and nailing the shot. Nothing at all. GREATEST freaking chase of my life, hands-down.
