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Three stories - all about photography, one just a few weeks ago and the other two, 15 or so years ago. Related to 'macguy's story about these new digital cameras a few weeks ago I was in Missasagua, Ontario Canada (about 15 miles west of Toronto), freezing my butt off and waiting to take some pictures of Canadian Pacific, when I hear a train approaching. Being not familiar with the area I really wan't paying attention to the scanner and I had no signal to help me out, only a grade crossing a littl ways away. I jumped out of my car, turned the camera on, ran out to the tracks and saw in the distance a 3 engine train just about to hit the curve (would have a been a great picture) with a StL&H on the lead, a white SOO in the middle, and a CP on the back. Usually, after I have taken the last picture, I always review it via the LCD viewer to see if it is a 'keeper' or not, but I usually like to shoot via the view finder. Putting the camera to my eye, showed nothing (the LCD was on). I switched to non-LCD mode and put the camera to my eye - I saw the last picture I took - UGH!! Ofcouse, by the time I got it together, the train had flatened out on the curve and my picture of CP mixed consist was 'NOT' a keeper. I learned my lesson to always leave the camera 'ready-for-action'. The second story was one day during the beginning of Desert Storm and I was taking pictures in Altamont Pass (close to Livermore, CA or about 60 miles from San Francisco). I had a Nikon FM camera with a 70mm-210mm zoom on it when I heard a UP coming. I was positioned on the top of this small rise where a siding begins. Around the corner comes a 4 engine consist (rare for UP) - click goes the camera, or really a half-click (that feeling that you are out of film). I thought I had a 36 shot roll in when I really had a 24. All the engines had flags flyings on them as behind the consist was flatcar, after flatcar of tanks and other military equipment. Great memories, but no pictures. Last story was shooting a picture of SP4449 during the California Rail-Fair of 1991 (90 or 91 - I can't remember). The engine was traveling between Oakland and San Jose and I was standing close to a flower field, on the edge of the Railroad bed, along with a few other railfans, around the border of Hayward and Union City. I had an Old English Sheepdog that had been born deaf and had been trained by hand signals. He was very good and obediant and he had been 'commanded' to lay-and-stay and he was a constant companion with me when I went train watching. Along comes 4449 about a mile away and my camera is clicking and clicking and I am getting great pictures but as the engines gets closer the ground starts to shake. I had never been the close to the rails when a steam engine went by under steam. I didn't want to, but I had to look down to make sure my sheepdog was still laying down as the ground was really shaking now, and since I looked down - I blew the last shot. I wiggled the camera, and had moved the camera a little off-center, and it was ugly. The dog never moved - great train dog, but have never had a chance to be that close to thundering live steam again.
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