A Train and Some Other Stuff

It all started out hopefully. The trip from Owatonna to Red Wing was carefully designed to parallel railroad tracks for much of the way. Around Utica, a train showed up, lumbering slowly through the cornfields and woods. The ensuing chase yielded this shot, among others:


Surely the River Sub would offer up something to shoot on this lovely evening. And it did, although not what I expected.

A stop at Lock and Dam #5 was slotted in to allow any nearby westbounds to catch up with me, and permit shots at a number of locations as he made his way to Red Wing. While no trains showed up, a catfisherman did, and he was more successful at his pastime than I was at mine. I offered to take a photo and email it to him, and he graciously accepted. He confessed that he had never been cat-fishing on a Gold Wing before and wasn't exactly sure how he would get the bountiful harvest home.


Next stop was the north curve at Maple Springs, one of the many lovely photo locations along the Minnesota side of Lake Pepin. The BNSF ran a train during my 45 minute wait, but no such luck on my side of the river. The time wasn't a total loss in the transportation photography department, though, as a long raft of barges passed by.


And finally, another fisherman, this time of the winged variety. As I watched, an eagle swooped down to the surface of the lake and grabbed a fish. No decent picture was had, but here is my best effort, with no editing software to improve it.


With that I gave up on the vigil and headed off to Red Wing. After a few emails I decided to post these photos and put together a story of why something other than trains made my day.