Re: Moon scheduling is tough.....

John West Wrote:
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> It would by easy to conclude it was willful
> misrepresentation on the part of the
> Curmudgeon-in-training Russo. But the reality is
> the moon is tough to track, as is sunset. I mean,
> from what I read at Da Gote, the C&TS has its own
> problems with scheduling the moon. But is was a
> good crowd, so we improvised and managed to have a
> good time despite the severe deprivations and
> disappointments. Heck, I spent the whole trip back
> to Antonito trying to figure out where Russo had
> hidden his secret supply of Old Bastard Ale or
> whatever that stuff is he drinks.
>
> JBWX

I had not been thinking about the moon shot he was trying to do en route to Osier. I was thinking about the lights they were trying to get organized, etc, etc. I never gave it a thought that there would not be DARKNESS.

What some folks don't take into consideration is the crew call times for this place. If they are allowed 12 hours of time ON THE JOB, that includes call time, and clean up time, so basically it means 10 hours of train operation, or at least thats about what it always was when I ran any sort of trip. So if your crew was on at 11 am for a 12 noon departure, then they had to be back around 10 pm to allow time for preparing the engine for bed time, etc to be done by 11 pm. Sometimes the railroad is just too long for photo specials since the running time, and mileage all has to be factored in.

When Russ does his recreation of this trip in 5 years, maybe he should plan on overnighting in Osier, to get the night shots, then get sunrise shots in the morning with a new crew!!

Suggestion....if one were to do that. Leave the train in Osier, you could make a roundtrip to Antontio the second day, get another half day crew for the night trip back to Antonito. That way you would get morning sun eastbound through the gorge, then the good afternoon light again to Osier. Or instead of the second day back to Antontio, run through from Osier to Chama, reaching there after dark, and do a second night of night photos when you get back if anyone still has any ambition left at that point!!!

Hey, as long as Russ does the work, I can come up with endless scenarios!!!

Congrats on getting your green engine train over the road and with some wonderful lighting conditions. Someday I would like to shoot a WB at Phantom Curve or Rock Tunnel, which I have never done, except from the tourist train.
Greg Scholl