Technology Update at L4T.com

Recently, I've had a growing dissatisfaction with the quality of some of my photos. While I think the Canon S2IS is a tremendous camera, and it has served very well through some 7000 clicks of the shutter, within me has been germinating the seed of a hankering for a DSLR. You just need to accept that tech upgrades are a part of life when you are frolicking in this digital playground known as the internet.

After negotiations with Mrs. L4T, it came to pass that I had the green light to acquire such a device (within reason, of course). The parameters were that it had to be something I would be happy with and not want to replace in a few months, and the cost had to be "reasonable". I had done some prior research, and all the DSLR's seemed to promise a great increase in image quality. There were a couple of features I was interested in. First, image stabilization of some type would be nice to have, and second, the last three cameras I owned had all used AA batteries and I was sold on the cost effectiveness, convenience, and most of all, ability to refuel on the fly at almost any C-store that this power source offered. I wouldn't have to worry about a dead battery spoiling an afternoon of shooting.

While all the manufacturers offer image stabilization in one form or another, the only DSLR's that I found that used AA cells were some of the Pentax line. I had nothing against the other brands (I was very happy with the Canon camera I have been using for the last 2 1/2 years) but was willing to look at all brands when purchasing a DSLR. It was relatively easy to handle various offerings from Canon, Nikon, and Sony, given that Best Buy carries all of these brands, but the Pentax and Olympus offerings were impossible to find in my area. I relied heavily on internet reviews of these cameras when making a decision.

After much reading and turning things over in my head, during which I learned that forums for the various camera models pretty much say only good things about the cameras that the people posting own, I settled on Pentax, due to the AA battery issue, the fact that the camera had in-body image stabilization (Pentax calls this Shake Reduction), and the ability to use pretty much any lens Pentax had ever made. I thought this would give me the opportunity to buy some used lenses down the road and expand my abilities. I know that it's a "no-no" to buy a camera without handling it first, but I was willing to take the risk. I bought my S2 sight unseen and it was a great experience. And, there was just a certain attraction to the Pentax that sold me. I can't explain it.

I started looking for prices on the net and found that an ebay seller going by "prodigital2000" out of Canada was offering various Pentax models for auction, with prices settling around $400 for some K20D, K200D, and K-2000 models. The K200D and K-2000 included a kit lens in most auctions. I initially intended to go after the newly released K-2000 but after some more research I found the K200D was a more robust body, with weather sealing and more AF options, so I decided this was a better fit for me.


Was I ever excited when I won the third or fourth auction I bid on with an offer of $367 plus $45 shipping and insurance. Of course this is the time when you always start to doubt what you have done, and wonder if the product can really be that great.

The wait was on, with me picking through the Pentax message boards and reading all the horror stories of people who had bad experiences with this dealer (which were a small fraction of the total stories), talk about how Pentax was a dead-end decision and the world was about to be taken over by the "Canikon" hordes, and discussions of general DSLR challenges such as sensor cleaning and lens shortcomings. By the time I was done reading this stuff I was regretting my decision.

Well, soon my camera arrived, new in the box, in perfect shape. In no time I had it up and running, taking pictures around the house that failed to impress me. Finally, I decided that a few minutes invested in reading the manual might be a good idea, and sure enough it was.

A couple of days later a Pentax DA 50-200 mm f4-5.6 showed up from Amazon, and I was ready to go. However, a combination of work and clouds conspired to prevent me from giving the camera a good workout right away. The story of the first "real" train photo will have to wait for the next post.

All in all, at this time I am very happy with the camera. I got into a DSLR at 10.2 mp, with pretty good image quality to ASA 800, and focal lengths from about 30 mm to 300 mm (35 mm SLR equivalent), all with image stabilization, for under $600. The photos look very good to me, and I am learning to use the camera controls. It is different enough from the S2 that learning the camera will take some time. But it's time that will be well spent, and I look forward to it. I'm shooting in RAW+high quality JPEG and right now am processing the JPEG's until I get a handle of the RAW software. I have noticed you can crop the 10.2 mp images a lot more aggresively than my old S2 photos, and still have a much better image when you are done.

I've got a couple of outings under my belt so far, and a handful of photos I will be sharing over the next couple of posts, but here is a sneak preview.

Until next time,

Jim, out.

Early '08 Shots

Look4trains came to life in April of 2008, springtime, when thoughts turn again to railfanning and photography. Yet we never totally escape the attraction of the railroads, even when daylight is short and the wind is cold as you stand trackside.

The thought of "Best of 2008" lists led me back into the recesses of my hard drive, with the intention that perhaps L4T needed a recap. But I decided that instead of a recap of the entire year, I would share a couple of photos from early 2008, before this site was created.

Both of these photos remind me of what I was doing when I shot them: travelling to or from one of the towns I work with. In the first case, I had been on my new job only a month, when a westbound BNSF train revealed itself on an overcast January afternoon approaching the Hwy 10 overpass between Perham and New York Mills. I set up at the county road that crosses just east of the overpass and got this:


I really like the way the hoarfrost is clinging to everything, and the way the train recedes into fog. The color shot didn't work at all, but black and white really helps convey the mood at the time this train passed.

The second shot I found from early 2008 was shot in the Staples yard one day when I passed through and decided to swing down to the south side just to see what was parked there. Turns out there was a Grinstien MAC that had been "swooshed" resting alongside an SD75M. The MAC was front coupled to another unit which usually kills the chance to take a decent photo but in this case it seems to work. These cream and green AC units are my favorite on the BNSF, although they have suffered from patching over the years.


So that's my contribution to the end of year celebration. I'm looking forward to 2009with the hope that I will again get to see some new country, as I did this year. Thanks to all of you who read this blog, wherever you are, and good luck with you railfanning adventures over the coming year.

Fanning Montana Part 3

Greetings and Happy Holidays to all train fans out there. It seems that I dropped the ball, so to speak, on documenting the culmination of the big Montana trip Mrs. L4T and I made in September by failing to post the results of the last day of shooting. In an attempt to rectify this ommission, I now present episode 3 of the "Fanning Montana" series.

The morning of our final full day in Montana dawned bright and clear, as had the previous days. With no set goals for this last day, we were free to do whatever we desired and thus set out without a definite plan. We headed for West Glacier, and ended up on a little road trip up the west side of Lake MacDonald and back down through the National Forest to the Columbia Falls area. Surprisingly, while not able to approach the scale and drama of the scenery inside Glacier, the National Forest had its own charm and beauty with the North Fork of the Flathead River cutting a deep canyon along the road. There was also abundant wildlife in evidence.

Back in Columbia Falls, the Flathead River funnels between two mountains spaced close together. The railroad, river, and highway share this narrow pass and there are some neat views of the BNSF across the river. I was lucky enough to catch a westbound train as it traversed this narrow mountain pass and grabbed a shot from across the river.


Pay attention to the consist-you haven't seen the last of it.

Following the passage of this train we ran back to Whitefish to watch it pass the depot, then I was inspired to chase it west. We traveled through a beautiful mountain valley and ended up in the tiny village of Olney, where the tracks go through a cut in the foothills. The sun was wrong for a head on shot, but a stack train passing through town offered the chance at a going away shot and I grabbed this one of the same train I had shot earlier across the river:


The line is single track in Olney, and the likelihood of an eastbound was nil, so back to Whitefish it was. I decided to stop at the depot, and worked Rocky the goat into a shot of local power.


At this point, I was feeling kind of melancholy about the trip, as we had had a great time and the thought of it ending was getting me down. At the same time, while I was very happy with the shots I had got on the Pass, I still had the nagging feeling that "something was missing". I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was there.

Knowing that the odds of making it back to this area with this kind of weather in the forseeable future were not high, I decided (after consultation with Mrs. L4T) to run back towards Belton and try for that one missing shot. And so we were back on the road again, making the now familiar trip between Whitefish and West Glacier. This time I was lucky enough to locate a great vantage point over Tunnel 4.0, a classic photo location. With Mrs. L4T and her busy bag of magazines settled in the Rav4, I decided to stake out this location until a train showed up or the sun disappeared. I hoped as hard as I could for a westbound, and was rewarded with three in quick succession, the only problem being that they were of the inflatable variety, on the river. But as the final raft loitered in the tailwaters of the rapids while two fly fisherman tempted the trout, I heard the unmistakeable screech of flanges complaining about being forced around tight curves as they descended the west side of the pass. Eureka! I cried. I unlimbered my trusty Canon and started shooting. The most appealing image, to my eye, was this one:


I knew I had caught the train I had been waiting for, the one "missing shot" that had been nagging me. Now, I could return home in peace, knowing that this moment had been recorded for posterity for me to look back on and remember. If you click on the image and look closely, you can see the trout fishermen continuing their efforts while the train rolls by.

The next morning we boarded an on-time #8 at the Whitefish depot for the 20+ hour trip back to Staples. Montana is a broad state, and after a few hours we arrived at Havre for a short stop where passengers are allowed to detrain. I took the opportunity to make a photo of the statue of the original "Empire Builder", James J. Hill, in front of the Havre depot. After having viewed some of his handiwork, I could honestly say that "he done good".


A few stops and hours later, we de-trained for about 15 minutes in Minot. I took the opportunity to try a couple of night shots of the Amtrak train as we waited. I was actually pretty happy with the way they turned out.




We arrived in Staples about an hour late. All in all, it was a GREAT trip. I would do it again in a second. Mrs. L4T was not as enthused about Amtrak as I was, but I can understand that given that 20 hours in coach is fairly tough duty, especially during the night hours when there is nothing to see. She was a great partner for the trip and never uttered one word of complaint about the long hours in coach.

In case you decide to visit the Marias Pass and Glacier Park area, a couple of invaluable resources for new fans to the area are here and here. Feel free to contact me if you have questions-I would love to discuss the area with any interested railfans.

We had so much fun on the trip that we were buying maps of the southwest within two week of arriving home, and starting to plan another trip that would bring us to the Grand Canyon and the Santa Fe trans-con line. Hmmm...careful planning might allow one to get there via the Powder River basin....who knows what next fall holds?

Jim, out.

Snowy Saturday

First, no, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I have been fairly busy with work related tasks over the past couple of months, as well as challenged by some of the most miserable photography weather I have encountered in a long time. Thus, the lack of posting in October and November.

The recent snow has rekindled my railfanning bug, though. Some of the photos I have seen have inspired me to go out and try my hand in the snow, and this Saturday morning dawned with a couple of inches already on the ground and more coming steadily. With no other pressing demands, I thought, why not? And off I went.

My first location was the reliable old curve just west of Wadena. I set up in a heavy snow shower and waited. I expected to be surprised as I didn't trust my scanner to pick up the detector to the west, and had no hope of any radio heads-up from the east. Sure enough, I spied a headlight approaching from the west and jumped out to shoot him.


I didn't have to wait too long for another intermodal train to pass by. This one I had notice on as I had plugged in my external antenna and heard the 174 detector go off. I was on the other side of the tracks as this old warbonnet Dash 9 blew by.


As the snow seemed to be getting stronger and there had been some trains tied up in Staples the previous afternoon, I decided to run over there and see what I could see. As I came into town the same two DPU motors as the day before were still resting on coal loads.


Next, here came a short merchandise train accelerating past the Dower Lake station sign. I decided to grab a shot.


A trip to the east end of the yard revealed that one of the loaded coal trains was preparing to leave for Superior. I walked down the north side of the yard to attempt a shot with a railroader out cleaning switches and throwing the derail.


Back in my truck, I heard the coal train ask the Staples dispatcher for permission to head for the Brainerd. The dispatcher told him he would have to wait for Amtrak. That perked me up some, and I called Mrs. L4T and told her I would be a little late getting home.

I parked at the 6th St crossing and walked back toward the depot. I could see the headlights of #8 as he drifted through the heavy snow. A couple of shots as he passed the depot:



I shot one more of the passengers loading, then set off at as close to a dead sprint as I could manage in the deep snow and my poor physical condition. My hundred yard time is probably longer than Ian's 800 meter time. I still made it just in time for:


You can see the coal loads waiting on the yard lead to head for Superior. The strange 3rd unit on the Builder is also evident. I shot him again as he passed by. This is the first time I have seen one of these units in a Builder consist, and I don't think it was on line, but I'm not sure.


That was all for the day as I needed to get back to Wadena. All in all a great morning, with a fair amount of traffic and something unexpected. I don't expect to have frequent chances to fan in the winter, given the short days and frequent clouds (not to mention the cold) but I have a few shots from the autumn that I may share, and still have the shots from our last day in Glacier I haven't posted. Hope you enjoyed this little sojurn.

Jim, out.

Fanning Montana Part 2

Day 2 (Thursday) dawned clear and bright, with just a hint of autumn in the air. I intended to spend some time dedicated to railfanning today, instead of grabbing what I saw as we travelled along the tracks. I had grabbed a ride to the depot the previous morning to pick up our rental car, and the eastbound Builder was waiting when I got there. With no camera, I made a mental note to try and get some shots the following morning. I had intended to run to the depot for the shots while Mrs. L4T prepared for the day but she surprised me by being up and at 'em by the time I was ready to leave. So we decided to head east right off the bat.

We first encountered #8 at Belton after a wait of only a few minutes. Photos were uninteresting as there were no good angles to be had at the West Glacier platform. I decided to proceed east on a chase and off we went. Even the 70 mph speed limit in Montana was not sufficient to prevent the Builder from passing us on the straight stretch around Nyack. I hoped that the curves and grades to come would slow him up, and I knew he would probably be stopping at Essex as well. I flew by at road speed, and found a likely location well up a hill. Or at least it looked like a hill from the bottom. By the time I reached track level I was sucking for air, and could barely hold still. My shoes were soaked, and my heart felt like it would pop right out of my chest. The Builder rounded the curve as I was tying my shoe, and I grabbed this shot with one shoe untied.


I raced back down the mountain to the vehicle, and off to the races we went. My next target was Goat Lick, where the mountain goats come to lick salt off the exposed rock. I made it with a couple of minutes to spare, as the road is much straighter than the tracks. I was thankful that the sun rose a few degrees so the train would be lit in this shot.


A note about Goat Lick, in case anyone else ever visits-there is a highway bridge just west of this overlook site that appeared to me would have a much better viewing angle of the trestle. If you intend to photograph an eastbound at this spot I would investigate the shot from the highway bridge. I know I will if and when I go back.

I intended to leave the Amtrak at this point, and wait to see what other trains we would catch. However, after a short wait I decided to head east to see what was out and about. To my surprise #8 was still at the East Glacier depot, so I scooted out of town to shoot him crossing the Two Medicine River trestle.


That is really a great spot to shoot. The next move was back west, to see if we could catch some freight coming down the hill and shoot the more arid eastern side of the pass. This seems to me to be the more photogenic side of Marias Pass.

We were waiting at a chain up area when another vehicle pulled up. I walked over to talk to the driver and it turned out to be an English couple who were touring some of the National Parks in the western US. He told me that they had just passed a couple of eastbound trains and they should be appearing soon. I was excited and ready when the first train came down the hill behind an ES44DC.



Since another train was due shortly, I cut off the chase for the 7562 to wait for the next one. Shortly, a vehicle train showed up, again drifting down the grade at a relatively slow speed. I followed him all the way to the Two Medicine River, shooting him in a number of locations. I like these the best.




After lunch at the Two Medicine Grill in East Glacier, I was in the market for a westbound to take me back over the pass. I didn't have to wait too long as a Z train behind a quartet of Dash 9's soon showed up.


I expected a fairly quick trip, but was surprised when he came to a stop at Bison West. A little investigation revealed that he was waiting for an eastbound stacker. Here is the meet at Bison West.


The Z was back on the road in less than 5 minutes, including a display of smoke as he started his train on the upgrade. From here on out it was jump in, drive, jump out, shoot, repeat. I snapped him in a number of locations.




And finally, as he left one of the tunnels on the west side of the pass:


That was all the trains for day 2, and I was glad that I had captured the tunnel and Goat Lick shots, but still had a vague sense that something was missing. But not to worry, we still had a day left.

Jim, out.

My Big Sky Adventure

I want to share the first part of our trip to Western Montana. Mrs. L4T and myself, having not taken a serious vacation for going on 20 years, decided late last summer that such a trip was in order. At the time I was lobbying for an Amtrak trip from Staples to Chicago, with one of the projected highlights being a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry's "Great Train Story" exhibit. As it turned out, a job change led to a fair amount of upheaval in the L4T household about that time, effectively putting the trip on hold. We decided to reschedule for this year.

After extensive discussions, we settled on an Amtrak trip to the Glacier National Park area as our vacation. It offered easy Amtrak access, a manageable length train ride (as far as we knew, not being veteran Amtrak riders), great scenery potential, and for me, a chance to spend some time railfanning Marias Pass.

With the location decided, we settled on a date and made reservations with Amtrak, the Whitefish Holiday Inn Express, and Hertz. Time seemed to pass quickly until departure day. We were scheduled to leave Staples at 0142 Tuesday morning and arrive in Whitefish at 0856 Tuesday evening. We didn't go to bed Monday night, choosing instead to sit up anticipating the trip with the hope we would be able to sleep in the train. This proved to be a questionable decision as sleeping in coach is a challenge, especially for the light sleeping Mrs. L4T. The nightime riding is...boring is probably the best word for it. I did manage to sneak in a few catnaps between stops, and acutally slept through Fargo and Grand Forks. However, as the sun rises, so do one's spirits. After spending an hour or so sightseeing we headed for the diner to have breakfast. We were seated with a couple of older ladies from Wisconsin who were headed to Williston with 4 of their friends for an outing. We had a pleasant conversation and after eating headed back to our seats to settle in for the ride.

I tried taking pictures through the windows as we passed some of the more scenic areas in western North Dakota but the scratches on the windows combined with the speed make photography from the moving train a lesson in frustration. We stopped long enough to get out and walk around in Minot, of course, and Williston as well. The train was on or ahead of schedule at almost every stop on the westbound journey. Here is a shot from the platform in Williston:


A stop in Havre gave me the chance to get a less than great shot of the power on our train.


We also made a stop in Shelby where we were allowed to detrain as the Builder was ahead of schedule. I clocked mileposts in a few locations along the route and came up with speeds of 74 to 76 mph on a consistent basis. The mileage of the trip on the timetable showed as about 1070 miles and we made it in around 20 hours, for an average speed of nearly 55 mph including stops-not too bad!

Wednesday was our first day in the area and we intended to travel the Going to the Sun Highway from East to West. Upon arrival in East Glacier we learned the highway was closed part way through and we wouldn't be able to make the entire trip. While disappointing, this did provide the opportunity to parallel the tracks back to Whitefish after a trip into the park, so it wasn't all bad.

I caought my first train on the drive east through the pass. Contrary to what I wrote in my last post (last night) the eastbound grain train shown there was taken that afternoon. This eastbound vehicle train led by a cascade green SD40-2 (yay!), drifting down the eastern slope of the pass past a waiting westbound stacker was my actual first train. That's what posting with no sleep for 36 hours will do.


Knowing that the Two Medicine Trestle was just east of East Glacier, I decided to set up there and take a traditional Montana shot-this has been referred to as "the most photographed barn in Montana" on a couple of websites I have found.


I know I've lived a sheltered life, but this was just awesome scenery to me. We proceeded to head into the park, but before we even got to the park entrance I shot this mountain.


I've aleady posted one shot of the westbound grain load I got later that day, but here is another one as he approached East Glacier.


One more train made it into my lens as we made the drive back to Whitefish for the evening. This one was waiting at Summit, as the grain train I just photographed had stalled on the grade and was waiting for a train behind him to give a push. We didn't have time to wait for things to work themselves out, as the light goes away quickly in the mountains. So this shot turned out to be the last of the day.


Trains aren't quite as numerous as on the Staples Sub but you sure can chase them as speeds are much slower than I was used to. Next post will include some Amtrak shots including one at the traditional Goat Lick overlook of the Sheep Creek trestle.

Jim, out.

Westward Ho!

I know it's been a long time since I have posted, but forgive me, I've been busy. I do have a backlog of shots, but the last few days I have been tied up with vacation. And not just any vacation, this one took Mrs. L4T and myself out west to the mountains with a visit to Glacier National Park and Marias Pass via Amtrak. Since neither of us had been there before, we were excited to see what it was like.

The mountains were more spectacular than I can describe with words. Rail photography and fanning was equally impressive.

Having arrived at Staples on the Empire Builder about 5 AM today, I am tired and not in any shape for a lengthy post, but I wanted to share a couple of shots from our trip just as a taste of things to come. The first one is a night shot of our coach as it waited in Minot last night on the trip home.


I also got a shot of the power on this train while we were out stretching our legs at the last extended stop of the trip. 20 hours in coach is a long time!


Here's a taste of Montana railfanning-my first train shot after we arrived. A loaded grain train approaches East Glacier, working hard upgrade with two Dash 9's up front and two more in DPU mode.


Much more to come later, including the actual mountain shots. I look forward to sharing with you over the next few days. I will probably have enough photos for at least a couple of posts.

Jim, out.