This picture was taken around three in the morning with a full moon behind the subject. I had to rush the shot because there were too many skunks in the area.
I have been starting early to work since it has been so hot and got this picture before sunrise. It is a southbound "autorack". That is shoptalk for Auto Carrier.
I got to borrow a bucket truck today. I used it to paint the backgrounds on our signals. After the backgrounds start to fade they need to be painted black again. It is more cosmetic than a necessity but, it looks good when you are done.
Sometimes when I am Hi Railing (that is railroad lingo for riding the track) I encounter trains on the adjacent track. Does this look scary? Believe me it can be. For those of you who might be wondering why the crossing gates are not down, this train was stopped.
Sometimes this is all the clearance I have next to a fast moving train. This one was traveling 50 miles per hour! This is quite disturbing considering all that can happen. Trains can have banding dragging,they lose brake shoes off cars, shifted loads, and hopefully, no derailments!