There’s no need to shoot the usual photograph all the time.  Watching this train roll by me I was motivated by all the motion and speed to slow the shutter down and catch the DP exiting the tunnel differently.  Makes a brute of a coal train look like a streamliner doesn’t it?

Distributed Power Units on the rear of C SXMRBE0 76B blow out of tunnel 5 between Bingen and Cooks, Wa.  Despite their size and weight coal trains don’t loaf through the gorge.

Not all the weather over the GorgeRail weekend was dark and rainy.  Friday was sunny most of the day though the sun suffered from an overcast which started to roll in late in the afternoon.  The early part of the day was beautiful though.  In fact it was warmer than I’ve felt all year with the 81.7 detector reporting over 80 degrees once!  After a cool wet winter and spring that felt wonderful.

Sunday was sunny as long as you were far enough east but it wasn’t very warm.  With a jacket on it was comfortable out of the wind.  In the wind or shade it was kind a cool.  Hopefully more summer like weather will be here soon!

In this photo the lead unit on the M PASTAC is about to dive into the first of 4 tunnels west of Lyle, Wa.  These tunnels are carved out of the basalt rock that forms much of the hills lining the Columbia River Gorge.

On the final day of GorgeRail railfanning the M-SEAPAS rolls east under the competent control of engineer Michael “Mad Dog” Sawyer.  The M-SEAPAS shown above is passing the east end of what is known as the Collins Slide.   This slide consists of soft material sloughing off the mountains which line the gorge.  This slide moves between 5 and 10 feet annually near Collins Point where the slide intersects the river.  SR-14 in this area is very rough and requires frequent patches.  In some places the road lanes jog towards the river just a bit.  The SP&S, BN, and BNSF have all had to spend extra time keeping the surface smooth in this area.  Sunday though everything was in perfect alignment and the M-SEAPAS rolled through just like usual.

May 21st was GorgeRail 2011.  That translated into a whole weekend of Gorge railfanning activities for me!  On Friday I headed out to enjoy fabulous sunny skies and lots of trains.   Saturday I had plans for an early sunrise photo before the show and afterwards I expected to spend time with friends so I didn’t have plans then.  Sunday I set aside as a make up day for the early sunrise photo followed by some time to get together and railfan with friends.

As you might expect with great plans something would go wrong.  Unfortunately the trains and light didn’t cooperate perfectly for the planned sunrise photo.  That’s life as a railfan I guess.

At this time of year the light should be rising over the ridge behind my right shoulder (in the image above) about 5:45am.  I arrived around 6am on Saturday but the sun never did shine thanks to an incoming rain storm.  To top it off I had to leave long before an eastbound train ever arrived.  Sunday on several occasions the sun did break through just perfectly but wouldn’t you know it the train wasn’t there.  I ended up with the image above which I like very much but would have been better with one of the sun breaks shining on the point where the train was.

I have something to work on for next time I guess.

Next Saturday is GorgeRail!  Here’s a little sample of what the railfanning would look like if it was this weekend:

Not impressed by rain?  Wait a few days, it will change.  Last week for example we had several nice days here with temperatures reaching the mid-70s.  Sunday it was a not so nice, rainy and 52.  The past few days east of the mountains have included not only rain but thunderstorms.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see exactly what we get Friday and Sunday but it could be anything.  Plan to bring shorts and a rain coat because you may need both!

Worried about train traffic?  Don’t be.  There should be plenty of trains to see if you are headed out for some railfanning.  Expect the usual things in the gorge with Friday and Saturday being busiest with a mid-day Sunday lull.

I’ll be out railfanning on Friday, Saturday before and after the show, and Sunday.  Follow me on Twitter for updates. See you on Saturday!