{"id":2494,"date":"2013-05-15T09:50:30","date_gmt":"2013-05-15T13:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=2494"},"modified":"2013-05-15T09:50:31","modified_gmt":"2013-05-15T13:50:31","slug":"union-pacific-stack-train-near-oroville-california-august-15-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/union-pacific-stack-train-near-oroville-california-august-15-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Pacific Stack Train near Oroville, California, August 15, 2009."},"content":{"rendered":"

Golden Grass in Smoky Light.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

On the evening of August 15, 2009, I was photographing along the former Western Pacific<\/a> near Oroville, California<\/a>. At that time, Union Pacific was doing heavy work on its parallel former Southern Pacific line over Donner Pass<\/a>, and it was understood that double-stack container traffic would soon be shifted off the old WP route in favor of Donner Pass. Time was running out to regularly catch double stack trains on the WP route and I focused my efforts on making the most of this while I could.<\/p>\n

\"Union<\/a>
Smoke tinted sun makes for a painterly image of this Union Pacific double stack near Oroville, California on Aug 15, 2009. Canon EOS 3<\/a> with Fujichrome slide film.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the end of the day, I made this image of a westward double stack train stopped at a signal east of Oroville. Wildfires had filled the atmosphere with smoke, which lend to a surreal painterly light. Low sun accentuated the effect and the combination of California golden grass with smoke tinted glint light offered wonderful photographic opportunity.<\/p>\n

I exposed these images on Fujichrome slide film with my Canon EOS 3 using several different focal lengths. It was a spectacular finish to a productive day of photography. I\u2019d made my first visit to the Western Pacific in October 1989, nearly 20 years earlier. Hard to believe so much time had passed between these trips. In 1966, my father, Richard Jay Solomon, rode west over this line in a dome car on Western Pacific\u2019s famed California Zephyr<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Union<\/a>
Union Pacific container train near Oroville, California.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Significantly, this portion of the Western Pacific route (between Oroville and the lower reaches of the Feather River Canyon<\/a>) was built new in the early 1960s as part of a line relocation forced by construction of the Oroville Dam.<\/p>\n

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