The morning of April 09, 2026 was partly cloudy when I pulled up to the Wabtec test track north of the locomotive assembly plant. A friend had tipped me off that CPKC 250, one of the five units especially painted for the United States 250th Anniversary was out going through its paces prior to delivery. CPKC 250 was facing north with a refurbished UP unit facing south as the technician in each cab as a team were making quick runs back and forth.
I found a spot on the east side and was fortunate as the sun came out at the right moment for this view of the engineer’s side.
With that side view in the bag I moved over to the west side. Down towards the south end of the test track I grabbed this rear end view while they were reversing direction.
Next I moved found an open spot further north and captured this view of the conductor’s side on the next northbound run. If the sun had been out this would be the shadow side, so I was glad it was now overcast.
Now I had all the photos I came for in less than 30 minutes. Hence the apt title “Fish In A Barrel”.
