Donna Didn't Like this Shot

In October 2002 I captured the McCloud River Railroad pulling an excursion train near Bartle Tank, California. We had gone with friends Dan and Michelle to ride the Mt Shasta Dinner Train, and stay in the caboose motel at Dunsmuir. We drove the Cruiser, which we had only owned for a few weeks.

After a delicious dinner on the train Saturday night, and the adventure of overnighting in a caboose, on Sunday morning we split up for awhile. Donna and Michelle went shopping, while Dan and I headed back to McCloud to get some shots of the steam train. Before the train departed we got some great shots in the McCloud yard, with the steamer underneath Mt. Shasta. Dan and I decided to head out down the line, and get some action shots. The line east of McCloud runs through mostly forested country, with few openings where we could see the train. Those openings were where intersecting roads crossed the tracks, and offered little of photographic interest. We ultimately picked one such crossing to "make our stand" and get our pictures. Seeing that a dirt road  was immediately adjacent to the tracks at this spot, it occurred to me that I could add interest by putting the Cruiser in the shot. A retro looking car with a steam locomotive sounded like a winning combo to me. Of course driving on the dirt road got the car dirty, and probably picked up a few rocks, too. Donna wasn't too happy with me for that.

She really does like the shot though.