29th May 2009
Well, what can I say about this photo? We'll start with the facts.
This is the Caledonian Sleeper, 1Y11 21.15 London Euston to Fort William, hauled by EWS Class 67 no. 67011. It is crossing Rannoch Viaduct at 08.45.
The story as to how we ended up here begins with my wish to take a shot of this train at this location, one that I had seen in many photographs before and one that I quite fancied doing myself. Having suggested this to Arran, my fellow companion and driver, it was agreed that we would set out from Aviemore that morning to catch the train. However, I don't think either of us anticipated just ho long the drive would take from the A9 junction to the dead end at Rannoch, and it seemed the nearer we got the faster we had to drive, resulting in the most terrifying car journey I have ever experienced!
The scenery literally flashed by and all my concentration was transfixed on the road ahead, not necessarily in order to ensure that we stayed on the road, but to help me focus on something to prevent nausea taking over. Having got to the station at Rannoch there was no time to pause as the train was approaching the station and we were nowhere near the small hillock that we had to reach to get into position, so without a moment’s hesitation we sprinted across the boggy ground, over which the viaduct spanned, hopping from tussock to tussock and desperately trying to maintain balance as we went. I was gasping for every breath as we hauled ourselves uphill onto the hill, at the same time as 67011 was slowly leaving the station after its brief booked stop. Once I got to the top I grabbed the camera, quickly checking the settings, and without any further thought took a few shots as the train passed before me and the shot was mine!
I can honestly say that never before, or since has so much energy been expended in getting a photograph of a train in my life, and I cannot imagine it would ever happen again. Once the train had passed by I just collapsed in shear exhaustion onto the heather and spent the next 15 minutes or so trying to regain some kind of normality after the previous mad couple of hours, listening to the train as the sound of it faded away and the clouds scudded across the sky, and calm eventually returned!
This is the Caledonian Sleeper, 1Y11 21.15 London Euston to Fort William, hauled by EWS Class 67 no. 67011. It is crossing Rannoch Viaduct at 08.45.
The story as to how we ended up here begins with my wish to take a shot of this train at this location, one that I had seen in many photographs before and one that I quite fancied doing myself. Having suggested this to Arran, my fellow companion and driver, it was agreed that we would set out from Aviemore that morning to catch the train. However, I don't think either of us anticipated just ho long the drive would take from the A9 junction to the dead end at Rannoch, and it seemed the nearer we got the faster we had to drive, resulting in the most terrifying car journey I have ever experienced!
The scenery literally flashed by and all my concentration was transfixed on the road ahead, not necessarily in order to ensure that we stayed on the road, but to help me focus on something to prevent nausea taking over. Having got to the station at Rannoch there was no time to pause as the train was approaching the station and we were nowhere near the small hillock that we had to reach to get into position, so without a moment’s hesitation we sprinted across the boggy ground, over which the viaduct spanned, hopping from tussock to tussock and desperately trying to maintain balance as we went. I was gasping for every breath as we hauled ourselves uphill onto the hill, at the same time as 67011 was slowly leaving the station after its brief booked stop. Once I got to the top I grabbed the camera, quickly checking the settings, and without any further thought took a few shots as the train passed before me and the shot was mine!
I can honestly say that never before, or since has so much energy been expended in getting a photograph of a train in my life, and I cannot imagine it would ever happen again. Once the train had passed by I just collapsed in shear exhaustion onto the heather and spent the next 15 minutes or so trying to regain some kind of normality after the previous mad couple of hours, listening to the train as the sound of it faded away and the clouds scudded across the sky, and calm eventually returned!
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Also in: West Highland Line & Mallaig Extension
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