A Sunset Trio

This post has been in “draft” state for more than three years. It’s maybe a stretch to call it a “draft”, as it was just a title and the words “August 18”. I had to do some detective work!

First, I determined that I meant August 18, 2019. Next, I went to Lightroom and saw that I photographed a trio of CN trains just west of Winnipeg in an hour.

A CN train under cloudy skies
CN 8837 and 2622 westbound under cloudy skies

From the videos I took that evening, I see I was also testing a makeshift landing pad for my drone. I took a shoe tray and spray-painted a red “D” (for Drone) on it. It works OK and I still bring it with me now and then.

Aerial view of long train on the prairie
CN 2880 and 5727 heading east toward Winnipeg

It appears that I didn’t take any ground photos of the second train. I may have been concentrating on flying the drone, since I pivoted the drone to follow the locomotives.

Two train locomotives
Aerial view of CN 2880 and 5727

Looking at the timestamps of the photos, there was a lull of about 15 minutes before the third train came along. This was another westbound, led by its own trio of locomotives. My YouTube video notes say it was train B787, an empty potash train.

Long CN train under blue sky
CN 2916, 3170 and 3151 heading west

The sky had cleared up and turned blue, although the sun’s light was failing.

CN train rolling through a crossing
CN 2916 at mile 15

I guess I had a good outing! It clearly was interesting enough to me that I intended to write a post about it… someday.

If you’re interested in seeing the videos I took, here they are:

Just One More Thing

I just finished reading The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. What a great story!

The premise is that a giant meteor smacked into the US eastern seaboard in 1952, leading to a climate disaster. The world mobilizes to try to get into space before the Earth becomes uninhabitable.

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We follow Elma York, pilot, mathematician. She works at what becomes the International Aerospace Coalition with her engineer husband and has ambitions to become the first Lady Astronaut. She was a human computer. If you ever read Hidden Figures or saw the movie, Elma is in the same job.

It’s a rip-roaring good story featuring the personal journey of Dr. York, together with the story of how the USA and other countries could have managed to get people into space sooner than they actually did.

I found the story very realistic for the most part and the science is bang on. She consulted with actual astronauts, engineers and many others to get the science right and it shows.

I look forward to reading the sequels, The Fated Sky and The Relentless Moon.

2 thoughts on “A Sunset Trio”

  1. Great photos as usual. The shots reminded me that you photographed a, for lack of a better term, sensing shed on the main line just outside of Winnipeg. Do you have any idea how that is working for CN?

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