During the day, the Mojave Desert is a harsh, unforgiving landscape. But, in the minutes after sunset, the Mojave takes on a completely different look; different hues and shades of colors appear and rapidly fade into the twilight. Sounds carry for quite a ways out there too. Especially the sound of thousands of horsepower lifting a couple thousand tons of commerce out of the Colorado River valley, in the shadow of the Dead Mountains. Read the rest of this entry »
Hugging Chicago’s lakefront, the original Illinois Central Railroad mainline was built in 1856 and electrified in 1926. Today, it is one of Metra’s busiest stretches of commuter railroad, with hundreds of daily trains carrying thousands of commuters into the Loop at Millennium Station. South of Roosevelt Road, there are also a few freight trains along the line, six tracks wide at this point. Sunday night, we were lucky enough to find one of those freight trains approaching the 35th St. overpass, under the ever-present Willis Tower, its headlight illuminating the wide right of way of the Mainline of Mid-America. Read the rest of this entry »
Slowly creeping out of a cloud of swirling snow, an oncoming train rolls down the BNSF’s triple track mainline in Riverside, IL with freight from the west coast. Read the rest of this entry »
With a winter storm warning out for tonight and tomorrow here in Chicagoland, I’m bracing for the worst and looking forward to some snow photography shortly. With this in mind, I figured I’d break out an image from last winters never-ending snow. Read the rest of this entry »
The Mississippi River valley is very quiet early in the morning, with only the occasional boat motor from passing early morning fishermen disturbing the silence. This is especially true when you’re high up on the bluffs over the east bank of the river, in the Mississippi Palisades State Park near Savanna, IL, waiting for the sun to finally get high enough in the sky to eliminate the shadows down below. Then suddenly, the occasional passing boat motor is drowned out by a sound approaching from the north, a steady rumble growing louder. And then, a BNSF freight train pops out from around the curve to the north, and into the first hint of morning sunshine making its way through the green forests. Read the rest of this entry »
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