The Big Trip: Overview

Burned Out

Having worked on a major project at the office for nearly a year — and, to a lesser extent, needing to take a break from my studies in order to create my commercial for the Union Pacific’s “Great Big Rollin’ Railroad” video remake contest — Deb and I planned a rather ambitious two-week road trip across the Midwest. As planned, the trip contained several key elements that made this trip one of our most anticipated journeys and it did not disappoint.

The General Idea

The timing of the trip was dictated by the annular eclipse which occurred on May 20, 2012. After studying multiple possible locations, with the help of Google Maps, I picked a location on the Union Pacific’s Caliente Subdivision at Barclay, Nevada to view and photograph the eclipse from. I have never chased on the Caliente Subdivision before and this location offered a decent alignment between the center-line of the eclipse and the UP trackage. My hope was to get a photo of a train with the eclipse occurring in the background. Once the eclipse had subsided, we were clear to go anywhere and do anything.

In considering additional possible destinations for the remainder of our trip, and thus the route as well, I decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to go see several places we have always wanted to visit. For me that were the mainlines in Wyoming, including the famous Powder River Basin, and Nebraska. For Deb it was the historic overland trails in that part of the country and Yellowstone National Park. She is a big fan of wildlife and there are few better locations to see wildlife than Yellowstone.

Our Planned Route for the Trip.
The dashed line is our return leg. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.

For the uninitiated, the region we chose to visit is steeped with historical significance as the Nebraska/Wyoming area is where the main routes of the immigrant and homesteader trails pass through. Deb and I have always appreciated the struggles of the American pioneers and mountain men that led the way west. In fact, the American western history is one of our favorites periods. As such, our two desires dovetailed nicely together — we would chase trains on the heavily trafficked mainlines throughout Nebraska and Wyoming and visit key historical locations that we have always read about. Yellowstone National Park turned out to be the icing on the cake.

After much discussion and even bartering, we decided on a route that would afford us an opportunity to see the following locations and sites:

• Solar Eclipse Train Shot - Barclay, NV - UP’s Caliente Subdivision
• Golden Spike National Historic Site - Promontory, UT
• UP’s Evanston Subdivision from Ogden, UT to Granger, WY
• Jackson Hole, WY, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park
• Independence Rock State Historic Site
• Casper WY, and the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
• Powder River Basin - Bill, WY - BNSF’s and UP’s Orin Subdivision
• Bailey Yard - North Platt, NE (Golden Spike Visitor’s Center)
• Nebraska Mainlines - UP’s South Morrill, Kearney, and Columbus Subdivisions
• UP’s Harriman Dispatch Center - Omaha NE
• Cheyenne, WY - UP’s Sidney Subdivision
• UP’s Moffat Tunnel and UP’s Moffat Tunnel Subdivision
• UP’s Gila and Yuma Subdivisions
• …and all historic points in-between!

Due to the length of the trip and the distances involved, we had to forgo a few locations such as Devil’s Tower, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands of South Dakota. Also the return portion of the trip, in which we chose to return by a different route than taken during our outbound track, was expendable, should it be necessary.

Hurry Up and Wait

We had about five weeks to prepare our gear and make final preparations. We both looked forward to the trip immensely and the weeks before passed every so slowly it seemed.  We packed anything and everything that we thought we might need along the way and then I packed some more stuff — tow gear, emergency equipment, and personal protection devices — just in case.

It turned out to be a great trip, despite some things not going in our favor, to say the least. In the next post, we’ll begin our Big Trip!

Our Rig - Our home away from home. A Ford F-250 4x4 with a fully-equipped Lance 845 Camper.

Unique Track Side Photo and Viewing Opportunity

NASA’s Annular Solar Eclipse of 2012 MAY 20 Web Site

First Off, An Apology

I want to apologize for being rather remiss in my upkeep of this blog. Since my last post a lot of things have happened for me — all good — which left me over committed. I am working on a major project that required me to learn new computer graphic technologies that I have never done before. Also, I have received numerous requests to publish some of my work which required my attention as well. I will strive to keep current posts coming as I continue spread myself a tad bit too thin.

Coming in May 2012, A Rare Opportunity

Now I am not an astronomer, nor a scientist, at any level so keep that in mind as you read this post. I do, as does Deb, enjoy amateur astronomy though and we try to follow or view most astronomical events as time permits. As such, there is an upcoming event that we are excited about along with the photographic possibilities that come along with it.

The event is a solar eclipse — an annular solar eclipse to be exact. (From Wikipedia.org: “An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.”) It will happen on May 20, 2012.

Having never photographed during an eclipse event, I am curious about what opportunities might exist so we are committed to being in place to see the eclipse somewhere track side. As good as the map on the NASA web site is, it didn’t speak to traffic volumes on the various subdivisions that I am not versed with so I opted to make a map specifically for my research efforts.

I took the eclipse trajectory datum and overlaid it on a map of the railroads with line size denoting traffic levels, which I got from the FRA web site, and then placed that on top of a geographic representation of the western states. Click on the map below and you too can use the map for your planning efforts as well.

There are precautions and requisite equipment required to not only photograph the event but also to protect the health of your eyesight so use the NASA web site as a starting point to do your research and gain an appreciation of, not only the risks, but also the rewards of photographing the event. (You can click on the web graphic on the right to open the NASA web site in a new window.)

We are presently planning our adventure so I don’t know where exactly we will be but we will be somewhere shooting video and photos — of that you can be certain.

(If any of you have experience in photographing an eclipse or during an eclipse feel free to give me your story and/or recommendations. Thanks!)

The path of the centerline of the solar eclipse overlaid a rail map. Click the image to download a high-res version.
[3/24/2012] © Copyright 2012, ChasingSteel.com.

REMEMBER: Do not attempt to observe the partial or annular phases of any eclipse with the naked eye. Failure to use appropriate filtration may result in permanent eye damage or blindness!

UP 844, a Mountain, a Mob, and Me

As I described in in my previous post, ““UP” for a Chase? 844 Comes to California,” Union Pacific’s famous steam engine, the UP No. 844, is in California and garnering quite the attention in the process. On Saturday, November 19, 2011, the UP 844 lead the Centennial Tour train eastbound from West Colton, California to Yermo, California. The route the train was scheduled to take was over BNSF rails up and over the scenic and challenging Cajon Pass. It was the making of a perfect photo opportunity and I headed out early Saturday morning, almost dutifully, to get in position.

I had settled on a location just south, geographically, from Cajon proper, where the rails round a bend at the curved bridge over Zuni Creek. I found a safe spot to park my rig and made sure that my radios (data and voice) where in working order and then watched the traffic flow as I cranked the heater in the cab of my truck. It was 5:00AM and the outside temperature was 40 degrees. 

The weather was not ideal as there was a low moving into the area and this brought low clouds and fog into Cajon Pass. I actually welcomed the the fog because it would add “atomsphere” to the photos but the lack of direct sunlight would make for less than stellar shots—at least from me.

I took a few test shots of a some passing BNSF intermodals and the westbound Southwest Chief to test out all of the possible spots and settings. As I did this I began to meet other folks that had come to see the train. During my discussion with of them I realized that I did not know which of four possible rails the train would be on. Three of them were side-by-side and didn’t present an issue, but the fourth rail did because it was obscured by a cut at my present location.

In a frantic fit, I posted a question on the Trainorders board to ask if anyone knew the exact route the special would take. Minutes turn into an hour and I began to second guess my prime spot. Ultimately I got a few responses that lead me to decide to move further up the hill, and I am glad I did.

As I drove east along SR 138, towards Summit, I passed one grouping of motorists after another pulled off onto the shoulder at every conceivable wide-spot in the road that might afford a glimpse of the train. It was quite the turnout for sure.

After learning the 844 was delayed leaving West Colton, I took a little extra time to find that “just right” spot. I didn’t want to shoot from some of the more obvious locations, for example at Summit. I eventually settled on Martinez, where the tracks converge from three main tracks to two. I leveled my camper and took my gear up to roof. The additional height was necessary to get me near the height of the grade at this spot.

Eventually the 844 began her assault on the hill and would be passing me within the hour. 

While I waited, and waited, the radio traffic betrayed the fact that there was a need for the 844 to “hold the main” at Martinez while a responder performed some sort of servicing. This was a surprise to both, the BNSF dispatcher and me. It also laid my plans to somewhat waste because the train would not be traveling at track speed as she came by my location. Oh well, so it goes, sometimes, when you chase steel.

Little did I know that it would get worse. Since the train was now scheduled to stop at Martinez, just west of me and out of view around a curve, that gave time for all of the folks, that so desired, the time to catch up with the train and continue the chase. This led to more than usual traffic that came along with the train and soon the area around “my spot” was filled with cars and people all over the scene.

The 844 eventually came into view and it was cool to see, no doubt. I took my shots, best I could because I found myself pausing to take it all in a little too long.

When I looked at my shots later that day at home, I was disheartened to see that many of my shots contained people in them right along the rails and on the right-of-way. Bummer. I could “remove” them in post-processing but, fortunately, my best-friend CJ was also on the hill chasing steel.

CJ gave me copies of his photos and I thought they were spectacular so I asked his permission to use them in this post. Of course he agreed. So, it is with great pleasure, and relief that I present the photographic work of CJ Hokanson of the UP No. 844 pulling the Centennial Tour train over Cajon Pass:

A short movie to set the mood…

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Here are a few of my photos to round out the event: