Having spent several days with Aunt Marion and Uncle Karl at their house in Marquette watching Law and Order reruns on TNT and USA, I was itching to get out and railfan. Mom arrived from Hermansville midafternoon and we immeadiatly left for the LS&I ore dock.
The M V Saginaw was taking on taconite on the North side of the dock.
After shooting that, we drove up the road to the railyard that served the dock. A string of empty ore jennies was gaining speed, heading toward Eagle Mills. I smelled a chase. . .Mom probably smelled a nap.
Anyway, the desire to chase won out. The road to the railyards was a dead-ender, requiring us to drive all the way back through Marquette to give chase. Mom floored the car out on County Road 492 and we were soon in Eagle Mills. The signal for mainline trains entering the yard was red over red, either the train wasn't coming through here or it had already been past. The DeLorme showed a second line entering the Eagle Mills yards a mile further on 492, but investigation showed that no trains had moved on that line in quite some time. The rails were rusty and weed-bound and snowplows on the road had built up quite a berm of dirt and ice accross the tracks.
Wuth nothing happening at Eagle Mills, we followed Tom Carello's directions and drove over the river, through the woods, and past Nagaunee to the "Triangle," the junction of CN's Ore Subdivision and LS&I's Palmer to Eagle Mills line. No sooner did the Triangle come into sight that a fimilial set of three lights popped out from behind an ore pile. Railfan instinct took over as Mom floored the car and we fishtailed and slid our way up to the crossing. I instructed her to park parallel to the tracks as I fumbled with putting the 28-135mm on the camera. I managed to pop off four shots, all of which suffer from motion blur. Drat these grab shots!
Mom spun the car around and we scooted right back up Miller Road, flew out onto County Road 480, slid onto M-35, and were at the next railroad crossing well before the train arrived. While Mom was driving I reviewed the four shots just taken and switched the 300D into Tv mode, ensuring less motion blur. I can always fix darkness with Photoshop, but blur is another matter. I bagged my usual coming and going shots.
Looks like a short train, but that is part telephoto. Regardless of lenght, the train weighed a lot, as evidenced by the noises the U-Boats were making as they worked the train through the Triangle.
Back at Eagle Mills I set up a shot at the East End of the yard, something fancy with flash. I was expecting the train to be a run through. It wasn't. The locomotives eased their charge right up to the end of the yard, uncoupled, and retreated to parts unseen. Left annoyed and wondering what the deal was, I waited around for a few minutes, then got in the car, having decided to call it a night. Of course, as soon as we turned around, what should appear but a set of headlights. I turned the 300D and 550EX back on, hopped ourt of the car. fell on the ice, picked myself up, and ran accross the road. The camera and flash were fine, I had a bruise, but the train was coming.
It never ceases to amaze me what a lot of flas and a little Photoshop can accomplish. Most railfans I know usually don't bother using flash with trains, but with a little effort it can make a vast improvement at dusk. These photos were shot at full power flash and ISO 100. One of these days I'll try ISO 400 with the flash at night. The second picture was probably the best of the day.
We ended the day with a late night trip down to the docks. There were no ships loading ore and I, reluctant to waste a trip, set my sights on the trophy train. The first shot was lit conventionally with wireless E-TTL. I really needed two or three more flash units to make it work, but it looks good for a "grab shot." Drat that fence!
