Catching Up

I sometimes wonder where all the time goes. I was doing some asset cleanup and adding the latest batch of photos to the photo gallery when I realized I haven't posted a single thing in over a year. I've started posts, nearly finished one, but just never finalized them and hit post. Funny how that works out.

In the past year, a lot has happened. Some things to do with photos and trips and the like, others quite the rollercoaster of personal life events and such. It's hard to really know where to begin with it all.

I guess a train photo is a good way to start, or something like that.

"This Time Of Night" - Sax, Minnesota

It doesn't take a long look through the photo gallery to show that 2023 was a slow year for photos for me. I carried my camera with me to work every day with the intent to use it whenever I found something worth shooting, but more times than I care to remember, it lay in the bag, switched off. In actual fact, based on Flickr, I only exported just under half as many images throughout 2023 compared to 2022 & 2021. (90 vs 207 and 187 respectively) - and I never post all my photos to Flickr anyways!

So, why is that? Probably safe to say there was some burnout. The previous two years I had spent taking as many trips as possible, going out on many weekends or after work - I mean you do something enough and you're bound to get tired of it. Even if it's something you love, constant enthusiasm is hard to keep up forever. Frustrations with the hobby came up more than ever as some shots I took just plain did not turn out, or I'd take a day trip somewhere and come home with hardly anything to show for it. There were a pair of those last year that really made me contemplate why I even bother shooting this stuff at all.

Not to mention, working full time and also trying to maintain a proper relationship tend to both do a lot to cut down on hobby time. Striking a balance is tough to say the very least.

Still, I did go out and I did get photos. Many of which I think have been some of my best - I won't say I'm "perfecting my craft" or anything like that, but I think I'm finding continuous and slow improvements generally speaking. My knowledge and skill in the editing booth and taking the raw photos and doing those little touchups was one of the biggest areas I found myself improving in.

"Thoroughbred Meetup" - Osman, IL

With dedicating more time off to my relationship (and having to travel extensively for it), there was little time available to see trains. Every so often though, I made the conscious choice to go out and take some photos. Keeping up with local things like the Illinois Central SD70s or the Bloomington District searchlights was always quite welcome.

Throughout 2023, I only went on two major photo trips. One was my first ever trip to the Missabe, the ex-DM&IR and now CN Iron Range in Minnesota. The Range is an impressive place, boasting short but heavy iron trains full of freshly steaming taconite, rugged second generation EMDs of many types and origins, and the last stand for the Dash 8 standard cab GEs. After a surprise winter storm forced a postponement, I ventured up there with a friend and together we had an incredibly bountiful trip.

Former Illinois Central and Bessemer SD40-3s screamed up hills and through the north woods, while rumbling GE C40-8s lugged raw and processed taconite alike between mine and plant and plant to harbor. The operation was nothing short of fascinating, and the scenery was wonderful as well. The highlights of the trip included pacing loaded ore trains south towards Duluth and catching the incredible steaming taconite in the old Missabe ore jennies.

"Starting With The Basics" - Proctor, MN

"Farewell Fairlane" - Fairlane, MN

It was an incredible long weekend, and we were able to get many shots we wanted. Now we just want to return in less wintry conditions, as the snow wasn't the most fun to deal with. I learned that if I ever went there in winter again I needed snow boots, as twice I sank down to my thighs in the stuff in the blink of an eye. That's the kind of thing you don't forget.

The other major trip I took was a return to Virginia to make a last run at the N&W CPL signals. I met up with the friends from the 2022 trip there and we hit up as many shots as we could. We all knew a lot more about what we were doing this time around, and so we saw much greater success than the previous year. We snapped the handful of daylight trains at as many signals as we could, then late at night return for breathtakingly clear skies over the nearly century old signal emplacements. It was an utterly exhausting but so rewarding trip.

"Better This Way" - Arcadia, VA

"Coming Back For More" - Ellis Run, VA

We got two star trails, one at Lewis Run and the other at Ellis Run. The former I edited and posted already, the latter has been one I've been sitting on for a very long time now. Some camera strangeness that night caused some issues with some of the frames so that I can't just plug-n-play like I did for Osman and Lewis Run, it'll have to be a manual job for the most part. I just haven't had the willpower to start that 400 image processing project yet - but I will in due time!

"Dream On" - Lewis Run, VA

A single, unedited, still from the Ellis Run star trail batch.

Outside of those two trips, 2023 was mostly characterized by shooting more local stuff. Another visit to the DREI, more Bloomington District, A408/7, and a few other odds and ends here and there.

"Smoking Up Signals" - Osman, IL

"Golden Opportunity" - Decatur, IL

Things got complicated three quarters into the year - both good and bad. The good:, my then-girlfriend and I decided to go ahead and get married. We scheduled that for late September. The bad: just about two weeks before then, the handful of us still remaining at my workplace were informed the doors were closing at the end of the year and we would be let go. September was, in short, a rollercoaster of emotions.

Thankfully, getting married took precedence, and the wedding was very short - all online thanks to Utah! - but trouble free, everything went well and it was wonderful. My wife, Tal, lives in the UK and we travel back and forth to see each other, and due to legalities, an online marriage was the easiest, cheapest, and overall just most realistic option for us. She would come visit in October where we could better celebrate. We have since started the journey towards immigration, for her to move to the US, which is still ongoing as the process is unfortunately rather slow. Still, as of writing this, it's been about 8 months or so, and things are going well for us - just except for the whole long distance part!

The rest of 2023, in terms of photos, basically fell off a cliff meanwhile. I did Monticello's railroad days event, shot a couple things when my wife was here in October, then basically didn't shoot a thing until about Christmas. The end of my employment was fast looming, our busy period came and went, and before I knew it, the year was over and I no longer had a job. That was that.

Between getting married, starting the immigration process, and closing out my job, I just didn't have the energy or drive to shoot anything. No way I was getting into the headspace of taking photos for sure. The last months of my job were full of uncertainty, as without going into ridiculous detail, the only thing we knew was that our jobs were done on December 31st, but they could end earlier. Nobody knew, though. We'd have busy days followed by days and even whole weeks where there was hardly any work to be done. It was a weird time. It being dark out whenever I left the house didn't make going out and getting photos particularly, you know, doable, either.

Once I was out the door for the last time, it was kind of freeing. Although a new uncertainty was there (where the hell am I getting my next job?), there was certainly some relief at being just plain done there.
Having a little break from working sounded pretty good, too. Of course, just a "little break" has turned into a much longer period, but, still. It didn't take much more than a week until I got back into the thick of things.

2024 has been a most productive year for photos for me. This year, I've been able to take the time and capture some things I've missed out on in the last few years and shoot more local things than before. Particularly, I've managed to put in lots of time into shooting the infamous Roadrailers. I've nailed a bunch of heritage units I've been wanting to get for a while, I finally shot the shortline railroad KBS, some fun late night shots, and a myriad of other special catches - the new re-whitened IC1000, an SP AC44 patch, the Alton & Southern SD60 duo, Amtrak being led by an IC SD70 and later a GTW SD40-2, a UP OCS train, and of course, the CP2816 steam engine across northern Illinois - and more. It's been a fairly busy few months!

"Light Power & Lighter Clouds" - Swanington, IN

"The Boy Who Cried Roadrailer" - Ivesdale, IL

"Take What You Can" - Dawson, IL

"Back At It Again" - Sidney, IL

"Soaked at Sabula" - Sabula, IA

This year has been good for photo opportunities. I've had more time to go get them, after all. It's given me more motivation and inspiration to get more, and getting back into the rhythm of doing it again. I certainly feel better - both in terms of photography and in general - than I did just six or seven months ago. 

If you browse through the gallery on the site, the 2023 section is pretty small. 2024s section is already way, way bigger and far more varied. The photo side of things has been going pretty well. I've been able to get a lot of stuff I've wanted to for a while now. This year I also took another trip to the UK to see my wife, meet some friends, and see Pendulum live twice over. Naturally, I made my way down south to see the solar eclipse - even chased a CN local on my way there. That was fun. Cornfield Free-mo this year was also super fun, made for a great weekend out with friends and plenty of model trains.

My motive power at Cornfield Free-mo McLean Spring 2024. You can see what I like running!

Pendulum Live @ The O2 London 2024

Pendulum Live @ Manchester 2024

Eclipse from the phone...

...and eclipse from the DSLR!

Halfway through 2024, I'm still looking for a job. I live at home and have saved well so I can afford to take time and be picky - though, with a not-so-broad job market, there's not much to pick between... but still. My wife is coming here for a trip in July and again in October, which I greatly look forward to. I've slowed down with my shooting recently, but that's mostly because of gas isn't free - I didn't save money by spending it willy nilly, after all. Still waiting to hear from the USCIS about my wife's immigration paperwork. I don't have big trip plans for this year (because of money, not time... the opposite way things were just a year ago, hah), though a little Ohio jaunt is looking very likely. I'd like to visit Appalachia - particularly West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky - but we'll see how time and money stack up.

For the time being though, hey, I'm alive, I'm still taking photos, and things are quiet but good for now. I'll post more this year, I promise! I've got two more posts in the pipeline right now even. I'll give you one hint on one of those next posts:

NS 256 @ Philo, IL

Anyway, that's about it. Just wanted to chat briefly about the last year and a half or so, as it has been rather quiet since I last posted anything here save for current photos in the gallery. Lots more to do and say, but all for later. 'Till next time.

Cheers,
​SM