WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS Zoom in on the open window over the number “3” in the first photo and you will see the hand of a friendly person, likely the engineer, waving at me. Then zoom in over the second “A” and “S” in the word, “ALASKA” and you will see two hands belonging to two different passengers on this mornings northbound Aurora Winter Train waving at me. A short time earlier, I had been at home in my office working at my computer to put together a post from the images I had taken the evening before of the southbound Aurora Winter Train. According to the Wasilla Airport Automated Weather Observation Station, the wind had been 22 knots gusting to 36 knots, so I had left Sancho in the car and had shot with my Canons. While it is not quite as fun to shoot the train with my Canons as with Sancho the Drone, it is easier to get shots of the train in one location and then zip off to another ahead of it and take some more. I had, in fact, shot the southbound Aurora in three different locations spread over about four miles. I had ten photos I wanted to use but this seemed excessive. As I struggled to narrow it down to three, I received a text from Mike Gerenday telling me the volunteers at the Engine 557 Restoration Company were working to install the boiler tubes. I wanted to get a post up before I drove to to 557. I quickly cut the 10 down to three and started on the text. It took longer than I expected, so I dropped it, rushed over to 557 and arrived barely in time to catch the wavers on the northbound Aurora Winter Train. I then went inside. I wasn’t able to stay long enough to really figure out what was going on and to photograph it the way it deserved to be photographed, but I did peek inside the body of Engine 557 where preparations were being made. Just as I was about to leave, five-year old Rowan “Rowi” Koertz walked in with her father and a few others. “Do you like trains?” I asked. “Yes. I love trains!” she answered. I took her photo and departed. Engine 557 Restoration Company, Wasilla, Alaska |
