(My Version of) the Pacific Extension: 15 Years Ago Today

During the early 1970s, many railfan photographers made pilgrimages to the Milwaukee Road's Pacific extension.  Armed with "new" 35mm SLRs and shades of Kodachrome or Ektachrome or Agfachrome, the goal for most was to shoot the last days of the Milwaukee electrics before they were shut down for good.  For guys like me, I never had a chance to see these awesome operations in person, but fortunately several unbelievable books and magazines - and now online sources - have been published with fabulous photos of these intriguing operations, as well as other diverse and modelable operations as has been noted at this site.

For "younger" guys like me - and Matt Sugerman - our similar pilgrimages in the 1990s were made to other places.  One favorite of Matt's quickly became a favorite of mine.  The Camas Prairie - specifically the Grangeville Line - became my favorite place to flock to when the leaves turned, the weather cooled, and my limited budget allowed a trip out west.  Luckily, with Matt in school in Missoula at the time, I could work a day in Chicago, fly to Spokane on the last flight of the day, and after packing and stocking up on provisions in Missoula, Matt and I could easily be headed across Lolo Pass on Route 12 at 3 in the morning, running on adrenaline, soda and snacks, and talk of layout building (no further comment there..).  We did that at least 3 years in a row, and I still have never driven across Lolo Pass in daylight!

Anyway, this post is celebrating MY version of the MILW Pacific Extension...

15 years ago today I shot my last Camas Prairie train while under combined UP/BNSF ownership.  It was day 3 of 3 days in a row of Grangeville operations, before I (unfortunately, in retrospect) blasted off to shoot some MRL and Great Falls area action.  Friends Matt Sugerman and Garry and Roz Miller were there as well... we setup across Lapwai canyon at roughly 1/4 mile increments to shoot a Craigmont turn with an unusual pair of units (usually BN/UP ops had at least 3 to the prairie) descending toward Lewiston.  I recall waiting after setting up for a long time - and this was the only train we shot that entire day - Lewiston is far from active mainlines especially on days with shorter light windows compared to summer months.  We all spread out on the rim of Lapwai Canyon, and I started with shots of HalfMoon from across the canyon with the tripod mounted tele, and then ran with a second handheld body to shoot a side-on view of the entire train on 4 bridges.

This is one of my strongest memories of a Lapwai Canyon shoot, probably because the light was about as low as it could be before shadowing the canyon.  And the morning was miserably cloudy and the shots of the light power ascending the canyon are equally miserable.  Even so, wish we could do it all over again.

Hope you enjoy.  And I sure wish there was a good Camas Prairie book available...

After a run through brush and trees (and luckily with a high shutter speed):