My calendar for March 2019

“25V, west on One, 227; CLEAR!” (Photo by BobbaLew.)

—The March 2019 entry of MY calendar is a westbound Norfolk Southern stacker charging through tiny Fostoria PA.
It’s the photograph I’m happiest with. A lot of planning and forethought went into this picture.
What do I do with Fostoria? Mainly that cross-track signal-bridge.
-I decided I had to put that signal-bridge up against the sky. For that I hafta shoot wide-angle = trackside almost at the signal-bridge. That close with a normal lens cuts out part of the signal-bridge.
Stand back far enough to not cut out part of that signal-bridge, and it’s no longer up against the sky.
-Second is lighting. The sun is your light-source. The railroad is northeast to southwest. In morning the sun is east of the tracks. During the day it comes around in the southern sky, and eventually lights west of the tracks.
The front of a westbound is always lit, but which side of the train is lit depends on what time it was.
East of the tracks doesn’t work in the afternoon; the train is in shadow. But west of the tracks I’ve yet to find a location — I’m still lookin’.
So I hafta shoot morning.
-That gets into another problem. Westbounds are usually on Track Two, the farthest track. Westbounds on One look much better; that’s the middle track.
Disregard the track-signs on the signal-bridge. Two and Three per the signs are now One and Two. One per the sign is actually a signaled siding. It’s now Track Three. (Westbound on that siding is too close.)
The signs are old Pennsy; it used to be their four-track main.
In morning westbounds move over to Track One, which is normally eastbound. This is so Amtrak’s eastbound Pennsylvanian can be on Track Two, which unloads directly onto a station platform. (Many station platforms west of Harrisburg [including Altoona] are next to Track Two.) The eastbound Pennsylvanian on One means passengers would have to cross Two to get to the station platform, which would be unsafe.
Things were falling into place. In morning light, westbounds would be on One = most desirable. Wide-angle would get that signal-bridge up against the sky. The picture becomes what was in my head. Plus it would be lit right.
-The next problem was that a train through Fostoria would probably be doing 60 mph. How do I stop anything at that speed?
Multiple shots, what used to be called “motor-drive,” what are now called “bursts” on my iPhone. And I shoot at 1/1,000th of a second, more likely to stop a speeding train.
My D7000 is not as fast doing multiple shots as my iPhone, but fast enough.
Instead of driving directly home after Altoona, I drove to tiny Fostoria. I plopped under a crossing-guard stanchion. I had to sit to get that signal-bridge up into the sky.
Scanner on, wait for westbound. Finally I heard a far-away horn, then “25V, west on One, 225; CLEAR!” That’s McFarlands; he’s coming.
There he is, 60 mph. “25V, west on One, 227; CLEAR!” BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM! 10 or 12 multiple shots at the highest speed, and the sun was out.
Finally I got Fostoria to work; mainly that signal-bridge. I almost fell getting up.