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The Tortures And Rewards Of The Oregon Trunk, Pt.5
The Tortures And Rewards Of The Oregon Trunk, Pt.5

This is part 5 of a 9 part photo essay.

I awoke the next day after a good nights sleep. Aside from the northbound manifest, no trains had passed. It was about 45 minutes before sunrise, but since I would be shooting in the canyons, I was going to relax and enjoy my warm sleeping bag, and plan where I wanted to setup. And then I heard it. Over the splashing waters of the Deschutes River, a distant rumble. No. Not now. Surely I'm imagining this. The sound crescendo'd and the squeal of flanges could be heard. It was train time.

The train was a southbound manifest, and I tore down camp as it passed, jumped in the Jeep, and raced after it. Photographic opportunities were limited, but with the sun rising soon, and running some calculations in my head, it appeared that my absolute favorite shot on the Oregon Trunk was in play. While I was disappointed to not bag a new location, my RAW files from this spot had been lost in the great hard drive crash of 2017, so I was happy to get new versions.

My favorite spot on the entire Oregon Trunk is the SE quadrant of the Trout Creek Bridge near Gateway. It gets fairly early sunlight, and is a great view. I made good time there, scooted up the hill, and waited for the train. The sun had just reached the railheads when I pulled up, but slowly and steadily illuminated the scene.

A faint, distant rumble. Were my ears playing tricks on me? There's a horn, so no! Just 5 minutes later, the lead unit appeared, train snaking through the curves of Trout Creek Canyon, ascending to Madras. The train crossed Trout Creek on a medium steel trestle, emerging from the darkened canyon into glorious morning light. The BNSF had certainly rewarded me with a timely train, and while I was slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to bag a new location, seeing trains slug their way up Trout Creek Canyon never gets old. Returning to the Jeep I caught the train again at Madras and Crooked River. They had met the Bend local at Round Butte, so after Crooked River, I returned to Madras to find them.

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Taken on: August 21, 2024
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with BNSF BNSF Everybody's photos tagged with Oregon Oregon Everybody's photos tagged with Trunk Trunk
Sets appears in:   • BNSF Northwest   
Groups appears in:   • Burlington Northern & BNSF Photography   
Camera: Canon EOS R6m2, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, 55mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS R6m2
Lens: EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO: 100
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Manual
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop 25.11 (Windows)
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