On Tuesday, August 16th, Troy’s and my early start in Hearne was rewarded with an attractive sunrise as we fueled up for the day.
When 4014 departed Hearne towards the Brazos River Valley and Mumford there would be several opportunities for well lit photo angles. However, once again in the interest of quality over quantity we opted for a UP requested scene of the Big Boy passing Texas A&M Kyle Field in College Station. Photographs in the Brazos River Valley were sacrificed in the interest of guaranteeing our being in the right place at the right time. We drove past the crowd waiting to watch the 4014’s departure and headed straight to College Station where we looped up to the roof of the parking garage across from the stadium.
I was able to lean my step ladder against the parapet to gain a bit of altitude over the top of the wall at the most desirable location to achieve my goal. This was a challenging setup as it was a clear day and the sun was rising in the southeast from behind that part of the stadium. I framed up my shot so as to not include the sun on the right while still including the important parts of the stadium and underexposed by one stop to help the sky from blowing out. I was glad we did not try for shots in the Brazos Valley and arrive here at the last moment as there was not an empty spot at the wall when the 4014 passed the A&M Hotel and Conferenced Center at 9:41 am.
I swiveled to the right and composed the following shot. Pre-planning and post work in Adobe Lightroom worked out as planned and a large print of this photo now hangs in the College Station City Hall.
A few seconds later the rear end rolled by the home of the 12th man.
Troy and I packed up, then by using Highway 6 we easily beat the train to Navasota. I decided to deploy the drone here at 10:39 am so as to give a better representation of the crowd and carefully flew outside the perimeter and over buildings.
There was no lack of spirit in the crowd here!
Having no firsthand experience with good photo locations between Hearne and the next stop at Hempstead, Troy and I left Navasota well ahead of the 4014 and decided there was time to check out the FM 1227 grade crossing a few miles south down Highway 6. Upon arrival the crossing scene looked good, and since there were already a few vehicles there on the shoulders, we parked facing east back towards the main highway for a quick escape. The crowd here grew as time passed and visited over the fence on the east side of the track with the farm owner and his family who had come to see the train. I complimented them on their good hay yield as a thunderstorm rose in the background.
At 11:53 am we were all ready when the 4014 rolled by. I took the first view with a long telephoto as the train rolled out of a tree tunnel.
I quickly switched to the body with the short telephoto and composed my photo to include this interesting cloud formation just before 4014 passed milepost 59 on the ex-SP Eureka Subdivision.
We blasted off right away to beat the rest of the crowd trying to leave and decided to roll on down to the next stop in Hempstead. There was already a huge gathering waiting for the train and trying to drive anywhere near the stopping point was now impossible. Instead we drove a half mile on south to the sharp curve where the line turns from the north to the east towards Houston. From there I launched the drone and flew it back north for another “not over people” crowd shot at 12:33 pm. These crowd photos at the stops where I flew the drone were requested by UP and ultimately sent to CEO Lance Fritz to illustrate the public popularity of the trip.
I brought the drone back for a battery change and launched it again when the train started to pull at 1:15 pm. Here is the sequence of the 4014 traversing the 90 degree curve towards Houston.
We easily got ahead of the train and checked out a few locations, but with the 4014 now coming out of the sun we did not find anything worth stopping for and arrived at the Houston Amtrak depot a little after 3:00 pm. Our UP credentials allowed us prime parking and we passed through the crowd gathered at the gate just to see the Big Boy arrive.
At 3:35 pm the 4014 arrived at the west switch into the depot tracks. The train was uncoupled behind the last of the head end service cars and the Big Boy started ahead into the siding with just those cars in tow.
The articulation of the Big Boy’s boiler over the frame can be seen here as it rounded the sharp curve.
I made a sequence of photos as the train crept up to the depot.
Once the rear most service car was in the clear, a clean GE unit was used to couple up to the rest of the train left beyond the switch and then shove it into the other end of the siding to just in front of the 4014. This would leave the main line open for freight ands Amtrak movements.
It had already rained here earlier, and as is typical in Houston an afternoon thunderstorm now hit in full force. Troy and I took cover under the platform canopy, but this dedicated mother and son apparently did not mind getting soaked.
As the heavy rain and lightning came down around us, I used the cover of the canopy to compose these moody views.
Later in the afternoon Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and family paid us a visit.
Not long after I took this steam crew group photo.
As requested I made arrangements with UP for well known Houston rail photographer Robert Pierce to bring his radio controlled flashes in to capture after dark portraits of the 4014 in the station. In the meantime Troy and I went to our hotel to check in and eat dinner before heading back to the depot. Robert’s work is consistently excellent, and after he had captured his views with a two flash setup I borrowed his radio trigger and took two of my own including the obligatory puddle reflection.
The day ended with Robert taking this photo of Troy and myself.
Now it was time to process photos and get some sleep before covering the public display here at the depot on Wednesday.