Saturday 7/2/2016 - Arrive, Scout Locations & Night Shoot
This was probably the pinnacle or close to the pinnacle of our efforts on the Texas State Railroad. In the mid-2010s, a group of us were trying to start a railfan support / volunteer group on the Texas State. We had assisted in the painting of a few line side signs and has been assisting with photography events on the railroad for the last few years. This year, our normal spring photo event was moved to July 4th weekend due to a new management team on the railroad and to coincide with the railroad's 40th anniversary. IT WAS HOT! That was the main lesson learned over the weekend; never do a mid summer event again. The AC in the caboose couldn't keep up… This year, the event was pretty much completely organized by Jason Rose with my assistance. There would be a night shoot that coincided with the Rusk, Tx city fireworks and a photo mix train the next day. During the photo trip, participants could sign up to ride the cab between different photo stops as well. On Monday, the railroad was running a double header from Rusk to Maydelle for the 40th anniversary.
As always, Jason has his own trip report than can be found here.
Saturday started with a noon meet up with Jason at his house in north Houston. I road with him up to Rusk were we went straight to the Gibson Rd crossing. Cody, Casey and their friend Mark met us there. The 5 of us hiked down to an "Ess" curve near Crystal Lake to scout out a possible photo location for the next day. The location looked great but was not big enough to hold the entire group so it was a no-go.
We checked into the hotel (I think we stayed in Palestine), grabbed dinner and then headed over to the station in Rusk to setup the night shoot. Blake made it into town and joined us for dinner and the events of the weekend. Jason and I gathered a few halogen shop lights on various stands to use as flood lighting for the locomotives. The railroad brought both SPLCo 2-8-0 #28 and Magma & Arizona 2-8-2 #7 for the night shoot at the Rusk Depot. The setup worked great and the fireworks ended up being well placed. Some of the crew even posed for us and we were able to get some nice timeless shots.
As always, Jason has his own trip report than can be found here.
Saturday started with a noon meet up with Jason at his house in north Houston. I road with him up to Rusk were we went straight to the Gibson Rd crossing. Cody, Casey and their friend Mark met us there. The 5 of us hiked down to an "Ess" curve near Crystal Lake to scout out a possible photo location for the next day. The location looked great but was not big enough to hold the entire group so it was a no-go.
We checked into the hotel (I think we stayed in Palestine), grabbed dinner and then headed over to the station in Rusk to setup the night shoot. Blake made it into town and joined us for dinner and the events of the weekend. Jason and I gathered a few halogen shop lights on various stands to use as flood lighting for the locomotives. The railroad brought both SPLCo 2-8-0 #28 and Magma & Arizona 2-8-2 #7 for the night shoot at the Rusk Depot. The setup worked great and the fireworks ended up being well placed. Some of the crew even posed for us and we were able to get some nice timeless shots.
Sunday 7/3/2016 - Mix Train Photographers Special
The day started early but everyone was loaded up and we left on time. Magma #7 was on the train of a few freight cars, a caboose and a coach. We ended up with a high number of photo runbys! The railroad allowed the one rider to join them in the cab for the ride between photo runbys for a fee of $20 (which I think just when into the engine crew's pocket as it should). I took up running a sign up list for it and it quickly filled up, so much so I didn't get to ride… The only downside of the day was it was hot, real hot. Water was readily available and the caboose had air condition, but the AC couldn't keep up at times. Especially when 15+ hot adults kept getting on and off for the photo runbys.
At Maydelle, a special treat was arranged. Mark, Casey and Cody's friend, sport 'Texas work ware' of boots, jeans, flannel and a cowboy hot and manned a 'hoop' to hand station agent orders up to the locomotive. He did a great job and it came out as some amazing photos that captured the flavor of railroad in East Texas. Many thanks Mark!
I don't remember much of the evening but we were both pretty tried from the length and heat of the day. We slept good that night!
At Maydelle, a special treat was arranged. Mark, Casey and Cody's friend, sport 'Texas work ware' of boots, jeans, flannel and a cowboy hot and manned a 'hoop' to hand station agent orders up to the locomotive. He did a great job and it came out as some amazing photos that captured the flavor of railroad in East Texas. Many thanks Mark!
I don't remember much of the evening but we were both pretty tried from the length and heat of the day. We slept good that night!
Monday 7/4/2016 - Doubleheader Special
On an overcast and slightly wet July 4th, the Texas State ran a few double headers from Rusk to Maydelle and back. These runs were for the locals and were in honor of the railroad's 40th anniversary. At Maydelle, both of the engines are turned for a the run back to Rusk. Casey, Cody and Mark also chose to chase the first run of the day with us.
After chasing the run, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. The new management, while friendly to us for this weekend, decided to stop doing photographer specials.
After chasing the run, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. The new management, while friendly to us for this weekend, decided to stop doing photographer specials.
Jason has a few videos of this weekend posted on his YouTube channel and are also linked below.