On Friday October 13, 2023, a westbound UP intermodal came west early in the morning over the Baird Sub near the house, and I decided to get out and chase it. Early morning westbound on the Baird Sub means extreme backlight until mid-morning at the earliest except for a few places. I first tried to catch the train at Judd siding a little after 8:00 am but the sun was not up enough and was too head on, so I just ended up with a poor glint shot.
I continued on west to Ranger where west of the depot I found a spot where the tracks were angled just right for this first catch.
West of Cisco there is an overpass on FM 2945 where the track runs almost north-south for about a mile and I stopped there next for these two telephotos.
I had come this far, so I decided to try one more location at the FM 2228 crossing at the west end of Putnam Siding. I made two exposures here, but the sun was still not far enough around to the west for my liking.
Not all that great but not totally bad either. If I had been willing to devote the entire day and chase this train west of Sweetwater the lighting would have been perfect by then.