As my mind wandered Thursday afternoon I decided to check the status of the westbound Amtrak Empire Builder, just for grins and giggles, and found that it was already more than 40 minutes down at its suburban Chicago stop in Glenview. Seeing this as an opportunity to photograph Amtrak without cutting out of work a little early, I finished up my projects and headed off to Pewaukee, a few miles west of the office and the west end of Canadian Pacific's double track territory. I parked in the municipal lot by the tracks and plotted my shot.
What I saw first wasn't Amtrak, but rather a westbound CP intermodal train, likely No. 199. I photographed it passing the lakefront park from a fishing pier. It had the usual single GE leading, but the DPU was mid-train, not at the rear. Maybe that's a change I missed with my abbreviated summer train watching.
Up next was the westbound Empire Builder, which I changed my vantage point for. In the summer months, this pier is often too full with boaters to use for photography, so I was quite pleased to make use of it now. The building, that looks surprisingly like a station, houses the park's restrooms and concession stand.
Hot on Amtrak's tail was another CP freight, sporting two Norfolk Southern units up front. So I kept the same location, but turned around for a different view of the action.
The last train for me was another CP westbound, this time with home road power. I framed up a vertical photo on the curve by the parking lot; maybe someday it will be a cover shot!
In total, I photographed four trains – running with the light – in less than an hour. All it took was the notion to be out trackside on a nice evening, and reap whatever rewards came my way.
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