Tag Archives: locomotive

Going Around in Circles Quite Quickly

B11I8814.jpgA recent work trip involved some testing of a locomotive.  The test track in use is just outside Pueblo Colorado.  The testing program involves a ton of different tests, many of which are pretty boring to watch if you are not involved.  We did get to do some high speed runs while I was there though.  The locomotive is designed for 125mph so it has to be tested to 130mph.  We got to blast around the track for a while. Wildlife would scatter as we approached – usually.  The loco is a modern design so at this speed, things were really quite uneventful.  The ride was smooth.  The noise was pretty quiet and would have been better if we didn’t have instrumentation cables out of the windows breaking the normal seal.  Soon you will be seeing these locos in service in a number of states across the US.

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Locos Trying to Block My View

AU0E0586.jpgThere have been a lot of plane shots recently and that shouldn’t be too surprising given that this is primarily an aviation photography blog. However, I do mix it up and you probably deserve something different. How about some trains. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is still related to a plane shoot though. Two locations on a day out were alongside rail lines and we got some traffic while we were there.

AU0E8652.jpgOne location was near a bridge over a small river. We got a loco running along the line so I got a few shots as it came by. That was the only thing we saw on that line. The tracks on the other side of the airport are a different story. They have a steady stream of traffic. We sometimes were frustrated by a train in line of sight while something cool was departing but other times the trains rumbled through while little was going on.

AU0E0368.jpgI figured I should grab some shots of the trains whatever the circumstances. While rail may be the day job for me, I am not much of a train photographer. Those that do this on a regular basis will, no doubt, identify the shortcomings of technique for capturing train images. If they want to let me know what I was doing wrong, feel free. I am always happy to learn. However, I won’t be taking a lot of train shots so the chances for practicing will be limited.

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