Grand Canyon

A February trip to the Grand Canyon produced the following images.

Nevada

On February 6th I set off for Virginia City, Nevada for a Lerro Productions photo charter on the Virginia & Truckee. Delorme on my iMac said 18 hours for the journey, so I set off a day early, not wanting to drive for 18 hours. When the car was fully loaded at 5:45 am, I turned on my satnav, which said 13 hours, which is quite manageable. Not wanting to unload and go back to bed, I set off anyway. My route took me over Cajon, not a train to be seen. California 393 runs up the Owens Valley, once the route of SP's narrow gauge, and quite a lot of the right of way is still visible. I spent the night in Bishop, having stopped at 3:30, probably the earliest ever! Tuesday morning I meandered up to Virginia City, stopping on the way to do some photography, and even having a look at Mono Lake. After checking in to the hotel, I had a look at the V&T's engine house with Russ, another charter participant. The V&T were friendly, and were quite happy for us to look around the engine house, and get up in to the cab of #29. 

Wednesday morning was the day of the charter, and it was a 5 am start. We took a few quick night shots, then off we went. We couldn't have asked for a better day, sunny and lots of run-by's. That night most of the group met in a local restaurant, putting tables together and enjoying a good dinner. Since it's the off season, 18 people put quite a strain on the waitress and cook staff, but they all coped, and a good time was had by all.

The battery light had come on in my Trailblazer after it had spent the day in the V&T's parking lot, but went out after I'd driven a couple of hundred yards, so I didn't think anything of it. However, next morning when I was ready to set off for Ely, it was on again. Since Route 50 to Ely is called "the loneliest road in the US" I figured I should get it checked. The local mechanic checked it out, got me an alternator and got it installed and me on my way by 12:15, which impressed me. 50 proved to be as lonely as advertised, I stopped a few times and did some photography, arriving in Ely about 6:30.

Next morning I checked in with the Nevada Northern, and wandered around the engine house, took some photographs and shot some video. The weather was supposed to be dismal over the weekend, so since Friday was nice and sunny, NN sent a train out with 93. Saturday turned out to be fine, and Sunday was either sunny or snowing, so it all turned out well. Monday, since I forgot to set the alarm, I set off for home about 7:00 am, and had snow for the first 100 miles. After that it was dry, and I got home via Las Vegas, Kingman and Phoenix about 7:30 pm.