To get to Juke Tree (Jr.) Just outside of the Chama yard one could walk north on the edge of the grade out of the yards to bridge I've done this many of times for the evening trains return from Osier the lighting is mucho bueno on a sunny day, even on a partly cloudy day it's not too bad, I have found that if you position yourself on the east side of the tracks you can get a great framed image of the locomotive passing through the Rio Chama bridge with Jukes tree in the background, there is only one sweet spot where you can see it all so make sure you are there before the floods of persons try to get into your field of vision. Also the Rio Chama bridge is a beautiful example of intricate 19th century workmanship, from the sweet spot mentioned before if you stay on the east side of the tracks, along the river there is a small path that leads along the rivers edge and sometimes when the water is low in the river you can walk in the semi-dry bed to get a broad veiw of the bridge itself with the locomotive passing through it, this image is better done in morning sunlight and if you set your camera properly even on overcast lighting.
The image that most people like of Jukes Tree is on the north side of the bridge I have shot this many times and have found that there are a series of sweet spots here, it all depends on what you want, i have found that the best images i have taken are on a knob just east of the grade, there are a bunch of scrub oaks in the perfect spot, and if you push yourself into them your field of veiw is about the best you can get for framing the tall raggedy tree with the bridge in the background. A series of photo could be taken here, in the years of film and hand winding two photos was about all you could get here, but now in the digital era, I have done as many as five frames that I like to get with a good zoom and wide angle combo, of course a true 20th century photographer would wait for the most perfect image, and that is true in some places that I photograph at, but this spot the train is still try to gain speed, and usually has a great mushroom cloud following it, that a person could get plenty of interesting images. This is also one of my favorite locations for motion photography, just south and a little more east one could a great pan of the whole action scene, much green growth in this area has cut down on the best field of vision since my first chase in 1992. It is always better for you to scout out a location beforehand, so you know what you are up against. And during this season in August it will be horrendous, so you may want to find an obscure location and not tell anyone about it.

Still a Student,

Dave