One of the most popular places to photograph trains in North Dakota is from this hill in the Bad Lands. The story behind this photo is a little more involved than I walked up the hill and waited for a train. The sun has just cracked the surface of the earth and the fog is beginning to lift quickly. I heard the train loudly approaching from the west as I pulled up. I quickly but cautiously ran to the base of the hill. Being from Wisconsin, rattlesnakes were on my mind and this particular area seems like a prime habitat. I could feel the train as it was about to emerge into view. I started up the steep side as quickly as possible before I realized the rain from the night before had turned the sides into a clay like slick mud. I almost landed face first but was able to catch myself. I still tried to quickly get up the hill as the train came into view. I thought about stopping and shooting the train from the lower plateau but the view wasnt what I wanted as I needed to get higher above the fog layer. Finding just a few rocky areas for footing I was able to reach the top as I carefully crossed the muddy areas making sure I didnt fall down either side as I scurred along the thin flat stretch near the top. I made it with impeccable timing to capture the frames I wanted. As the train continued past, the fog lifted quickly with a majority of it gone before the last coal cars went by. As I went to work my way back down, over an inch of mud was stuck to the bottom of my shoes. I was pretty sure the walk back down that mud slide wasnt going to go in my favor but I made it with no broken bones. Photo by Travis Dewitz. 8/31/14
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:30:00 +0000
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