OK its February now.
January passed by pretty unvenetfully from a trainspotting point of
view. It was just too darned cold to get out there and do anything when
I had the time. Witness a Saturday in mid January when I got out of the
car to get a picture of a train coming through Saint Cloud and the cold
drained the battery!
Hopefully February will produce a little more. Today saw me heading out
to St. Cloud to check out the closing down sale at the Circuit City
store there. I ended up getting a flash for my camera that retailed at
$220 for $89. Can't complain at that deal. So, feeling pretty good with
myself with that bargain I decided to stop in at the Amtrak Station to
see if my luck would hold there. As I got out of my truck I heard in
the distance the sound of a train up towards Sartell about 5 minutes
away and figured I'd stick around and wait for it. It wasn't hot today
about 34 degrees but there was a chill wind out of the North so I kept
the camera inside my jacket for warmth and in the distance the
headlights of the train rounded the curve. Great! At least I'll get a
picture today. I thought. It was, by now, misty day and I kew the
picture wouldn't be a prize winner. But after a drought of several
months I needed to release the shutter on a moving train. I waited.
This train was moving slower than usual. I've got to know that coal
trains can come through here at a good speed. This one wasn't.
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It slowly
hove into view. It seemed to be taking an age, like it was deliberately
teasing me because I hadn't photographed anything in a long time. It
wasn't even much to look at. A decidely tatty SD70MAC in some kind of
executive
livery, leading out a "swoosh"ACe.
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There you
have it. Not much too look at and with the slow speed of the train
there was a long time to look at it. It would have deen much better if
the "swoosh" ACe had been leading. Well you can't have everything and
there will be better days to come I'm sure.
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