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The eagles in 119 with the train way off is nice. Must be pretty far to Picnic point. My son and I have had good times following trains. Now he is an engineer and takes me to work with him when I’m near.
I can hear the waves lapping at the shore or maybe it’s my gutters overflowing from another storm.
Some shots from Sunset Ave. last Saturday (6-30-18). Taken with my 7DII + 16-35L wide angle zoom, a combination I really like for wide angle train shots. Photography is much easier now that the city trimmed back the grass and shrubs.
Canada bound coal train.
Three forms of transportation are visible in this shot.
Coal trains usually have four units in 2+2 or 3+1 configuration. This one was 3+1 with three units up front and a single rear DPU.
Sounder Sounders Special
Five cars of soccer fans head to Seattle for a Seattle Sounders FC match at Century Link Field ("the Clink"), a short walk from King Street Station.
Some Tuesday (7-3-18) noon time shots from Sunset Ave. of MP 18 for Zoohogger. Taken with my 5DIII + 24-105L wide angle zoom, another good lens for train photography.
The Vancouver, BC-Seattle Cascades. Someone in Canada forgot to turn off the red "tailights" of the unpowered "cabbage" unit. It was the rear car on yesterday's northbound trip and is now the lead car on today's southbound trip.
The Cascades articulated trainsets are transitioning to the new Siemans Chargers as the regular power. It will take a while for me to get used to these new units as I think they look more European than North American.
You can see inside the engine compartments. I wonder if these rather large side screens will present a problem during dusty conditions or inclement weather.
A northbound (tt/east) freight was powered by the same "back to the 90's" consist as the one I photographed on a southbound (tt/west) on 6-21-18.
My super telephoto setup for photographing birds can be seen on the left side of the first photo.
The consist must be wyed somewhere as 1664 was leading both trains. The crew will make use of those new RV type air conditioning units if the train is going to Wenatchee, as suggested by the two ore cars behind the power.
These photos are a good example of why I never take a summer vacation. Temps were in the low 70's F with low humidity and a pleasant breeze blowing off the Sound. Why spend time and $$$ to travel to a place where it is hot and humid?
I hope our members in the US had a happy Independence Day. I skipped our town's parade and fireworks show, but my son and I did get out for some photo sessions. It was overcast, but not cold. A standing joke up here in the Puget Sound Region is that summer begins July 5th.
There has been an explosion in the growth of foliage at the marsh this year, to the extent that it has eliminated some of my windows for photographing wildlife and trains. No one really knows what has caused this, other than speculation it is some combination of rain and sunshine.
Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8) from the #2 (main) viewing platform.
A southbound (tt/west) freight with Boeing 737 fuselages on the head from the #3 viewing platform.
Thursday afternoon (7-5-18) I set up at Brackett's Landing North to photograph birds and trains. Rather than post the usual photos of the usual trains from the usual angles, I'll do something different and post photos of our local raptors against a background of trains.
Osprey and Trains (Part 1)
There are several osprey nests a few miles inland from Puget Sound. The birds were out in force diving for fish and carrying their catch back to their nests. At one time I counted four osprey overhead. See if you can find the osprey in these photos.
It caught a fish.
I like these photos with the NFL Seattle Seahawks flag in the foreground. The Seahawk is taken from the carvings of osprey that appear at the top of totem poles of Native American tribes in the Puget Sound region.
I spotted an eagle (probably one of the Hutt Park pair) at the Shell Creek spit, where Shell Creek flows into Puget Sound. The spit is exposed during low tide and birds use the creek as a source of fresh water for drinking and bathing.
To give my telephoto shots some perspective, here is a shot taken @50mm with my 5DIII + 24-105L wide angle zoom looking north. You can see the spit past where the tracks disappear around the bend below the houses. A southbound (tt/west) freight is passing Picnic Pt. in the far distance.
These shot were taken from a tripod with my 1Dx + 500L telephoto + 1.4x teleconverter for an effective 700mm. The eagle is spreading its wings as the diesels of the southbound freight approach the old boathouse.
The eagle is on the far left, the 6:00pm Sounder on the right, and the freight in the background.
The eagle is still by the creek as the Sounder approaches Picnic Pt. while the freight has disappeared.
The eagle took off as the freight reappeared around the bend just north of MP 18.
My son is getting to be a pretty good train photographer. Friday afternoon (7-6-18) he took these photos of the 4:30pm Seattle-Everett Sounder passing Ocean Ave. while some friends and I were watching a brown pelican floating out in Puget Sound.
In the background is one of the large cruise ships which depart Seattle Friday afternoons in the summer.
Ocean Ave. is north of Sunset Ave. but south of MP 19.
Monday (7-9-18) was a very good day for trains, starting with a northbound (tt/east) light power hop of Geeps passing the marsh. Although many will miss the old BN units, the BNSF merger was over 20 years ago. Those Cascade green paint jobs were even older and getting very faded. Sets of Geeps in matching bright, shiny, H3 "swoops" are very photogenic, especially on an overcast day.
I always look for private varnish when the Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8) has an extra unit, but no such luck Monday.
I hit the jackpot at Sunset Ave. where a southbound (tt/west) with three 1400 series SD60/60M's was waiting for the rest of the afternoon passenger parade to pass.
It gave me the opportunity for some good shots of 1419, the triclops unit.
I waited for a late 5:30 Sounder and set my shutter to 1/125 for a "high speed" runby effect. The Sounder didn't look blurred, just out of focus. Next time I'll use a tripod and experiment with even slower shutter speeds.
My son and I went back to Brackett's Landing North Tuesday afternoon (7-10-18) to photograph birds and trains. He took the beach shots with the 5DIII + 24-105L wide angle zoom while I took the far shots with the 7DII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x teleconverter. The 7DII has a crop frame sensor that gives me longer reach than the 1x or 5DIII on sunny days when high ISO settings are not a factor.
The 5:00pm Seattle-Everett Sounder passed on time.
I heard a whistle in the time slot for the Chicago bound Empire Builder (Amtrak #8). It was not the Builder, but a Canada bound coal train.
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