The lunch break

Let’s talk willpower. You know, it’s that thing inside you that allows you to deny yourself even when you really want something badly. How good is your willpower? Mine, it turns out, is pretty lousy when presented with the following situation: A new bucket list camera lens, two mainline trains executing a meet, and a gorgeous, sunny winter day. I mean, who could resist all of those temptations lined up perfectly? That is why, even through it’s deadline week for the March issue and even though Wisconsin is in the grips of a serious cold spell with negative wind chill factors that would cause most southern Californians to deny climate change, I set out on my lunch hour yesterday to take train pictures.

I had just finished proofing Chris Guss’ locomotive column about Class I railroad shops when I made the fatal error of checking the ATCS monitor and saw the Canadian National dispatcher lining up a meet at nearby Duplainville, that famous crossing of the CN and Canadian Pacific on the western fringe of the Milwaukee area. That alone was enough to push me over the edge. I rushed home, fed and watered our dog, and grabbed the Nikon D700 attached to Santa’s gift to my wife and me: A Sigma 150-600mm zoom lens. We’d only used the lens once – last Saturday -- for bird and train photos on a less than ideal day with a high overcast, missed trains, and scarce feathered wildlife. So I was eager to give it a test on a sunny day with good action. Wednesday was the opportunity.

As I reached Duplainville, a northbound stack train was in the siding, and the southbound was imminent. I popped out of the car, nailed the southbound, jumped back in the warm car, moved the vehicle so I could get the distributed power unit passing the northbound’s power, and then set up to get the northbound leaving. With all of that in the bag, I returned to work, and checked the images. I was pretty happy with what I got -- especially the southbound with that frosty, snow-covered pilot looking like a man who'd just dipped his mustache into a frothy latte.

So if the clock is ticking down to noon, you’ve got gear that needs testing, and the sun is shining, and even if it is cold enough to freeze any liquid or any living thing in seconds, tell your willpower to take an extended hike. It’s time to go. Like the Nike commercial of old, it’s time to “Just do it.” You can eat your lunch at your desk later.