Last week I had the opportunity to capture what most likely will be a once in a life time event. This event was to photograph the Union Pacific’s 4014 Big Boy steam engine passing through Wisconsin. On Thursday the 25th Big Boy traveled from Adams Wi to Butler Wi with making a stop in Friesland for public viewing. The Big Boy is traveling though the Midwest to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the joining of the Transcontinental Railroad.
4014 crossing over Lakeview Drive in Packwaukee WI.
As a child I loved to watch trains pass though my home town (GB&W, CNW, Wisconsin Central, Canadian National). Many of mornings while eating at a The Little Pink Restaurant I could watch to my hearts before heading off the school. Also having gone to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay and seeing the 4017 Big Boy made the child hood me love them even more. So, having the ability see one riding down the rails was something I could not pass up.
There is a lot that goes into getting a shots like these, because in a way it’s like wedding photography, you only have a moment to get that one perfect shot. For a shoot like this it starts out with looking at maps (google earth) and figuring out where along the line is a good place to set up. Second, is to actually scout the location (ahead of time if possible) to see if what you see on the map is actionable in real life. Then third put your plan into action on the day of and hope it all works out. But always have a back up plan in play.
4014 crossing over Lakeview Drive, Packwaukee WI.
I chose the bridge crossing at Buffalo Lake in Packwaukee Wisconsin. The for this location is there trestle bridge there along with a big enough body of water that it would keep crowds away and it would easier to edit out the possible one or two boats. I originally wanted to be able to photograph from the waters edge with my camera while flying above with my drone so I could have two view point. Unfortunately, the owner of the property wasn’t willing at the time(day before) to let people be on her property because she didn’t want to be held liable if they were to get hurt (side note: day of she was letting people on her property, but there were too many that I stayed in the second area). So, I was left with the option of flying my drone from the road and forgoing the ground shot from where I had intended to shoot from. For the ground shot I was left with a small 30 ft opening where it was going to be passing on the small bridge going over the road I had parked on. This place turned out to have a cool photo in the end.
With events like this there is always the unexpected or multiple unexpected things. First unexpected event was there was another professional drone pilot there and one amateur. After talking with Tom(professional pilot) who runs Dairyland Drone Solutions we were both able to formulate out a plan so we could both fly and get the shots we were looking for. Both of us never did find the amateur pilot connected with the drone flying when we first got there but he/she was far enough away from us not to cause a problem. The second unexpected thing to happened to us was a circling T6 Texan manned plane most likely in route to EAA Airventure. FAA says we have to make way for manned aircraft, problem is when you and your new drone pilot friend are nestled between some pine trees it is almost impossible to land or move to a safe distance away from a circling plane. Thankfully the T6 vacated the area right before the train arrived and we were able to get out shots.
It was a great time getting to see an old girl ride the rails in an area that was not its normal stomping grounds back in her time and being able to work with another operator to both come away with stellar photographs is something I’ll remember for a long time.
Big Boy 4014 crossing over Buffalo Lake Bridge in Packwaukee Wi. July 25th 2019
