Get the shot — even when you miss it

How to get the shot

It has happened to all of us sooner or later. We plan a train day and head out, camera in hand, to enjoy our hobby … and get skunked. Here’s how to get the shot — even when you missed it.

Maybe there was a maintenance window somewhere on the line, or the one cloud in the sky decides that is the time to get in the way. Worse yet, after staking out a good spot waiting for the one train of the day, you take a quick break to get refreshments and somewhere in the distance is the unmistakable bleat of an air horn.

Trying to compose yourself, and remembering those around you do not understand because it is ‘just a train,’ you have to make some quick decisions. Get out of line and run back to your spot, mutter to yourself, or just pack it in. To quote U.S. Army General Anthony McAuliffe, “Aw nuts!”

One of my “Aw nuts!” moments was while waiting for the one freight train of the day on Union Pacific’s Coast Line at Gaviota Trestle just north of Santa Barbara.

Ever been there? It is gorgeous. But to get a freight train on or near this photogenic trestle takes perseverance and luck.

What happened to me

Motoring up to Gaviota from my Los Angeles home checked off a number of boxes. First, it got me out of the city and heading towards the rural coastline I like so much, and second, it was someplace nice I could take my wife, Diane. Oh, she would put up with a smelly train yard but if push came to shove, a good ocean sea breeze was far more palatable.

I knew if I could get to Gaviota around noon there was a good chance I might catch the Guadalupe Local, the closest thing to a regularly scheduled freight train from Guadalupe, near Santa Maria, to Los Angeles. Miss it and you are usually done for the day.

There are many angles to shoot a train on the trestle, some of which depended on where the sun was in the sky. My plan was to photograph from the east looking west. The sun would be on the train and the Pacific Ocean would be in the background. Not bad. Now if the Hauler were on time, how could I go wrong?

Where have you heard that before?

I arrived on scene, the sun was where it was supposed to be, and the train was nowhere to be found. I knew it had not slipped by before I got there (at least I hoped it had not) and yet the rails were cold. I smiled at Diane, who looked up from her book and smiled back. I was concerned I would not get my shot. She could not have cared less.

I make a bad decision

Finally convincing myself I missed the train, I put my best foot out and said to Diane, “Well, why don’t we go for a walk on the pier!” She was delighted.

The manmade wooden intrusion into the water was perfect. The temperature was mild, it was not crowded, and the delightful smell of the Pacific was intoxicating. As I leaned on the railing watching a couple of fisherman there for comradeship as well as perhaps dinner, somewhere to the north was a sound I should have appreciated if I was at my photo spot, a diesel horn! It was the Guadalupe Local. Argh!

There was no way I could get off the pier and into my car and drive back to my spot in time. Frustration was my middle name.

I looked around and zeroed in on the two fishermen. I quickly introduced myself as a photographer and would they mind being in my photo? No problem, they said, and I asked them to lean against the rail and look at the trestle.

The train gingerly crossed over Gaviota Beach, I snapped my photo and the two gentlemen missed nary a beat in getting back to fishing.

Was it the photo I envisioned? Nope. But it was much better than nothing, and as the years have gone by, I have grown to like it, sun in the wrong position or not, more and more.

I also make sure I bring adequate snacks on my field trips these days, too.