OK, so most people will look at this photo and think that it's just your typical train shot. Maybe it's composed a little differently than your typical "wedge" shot, and the lighting is great, but it's just a train, right? To someone that's not a train geek, yes. To a train geek like myself, it's not just any ol' train.
The locomotive at the head of this westbound train headed to Elgin, IL is none other that Metra #611, one of two remaining EMD F40C locomotives left in existence. Originally built for service only in Chicago on the Milwaukee Road lines, the EMD F40C is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in 1974. There were only 15 of these units ever built. They are unique to other types of Metra locomotives because of 2 main reasons: they are 6-axle vs. 4-axle, and they have these very shiny stainless steel panels on the sides. From 1974 until about 2005 these F40Cs chugged along the Milwaukee Road Lines which originate at Chicago's Union Station and terminate in Elgin and Fox Lake. In 2005 all but 2 units were scrapped and replacement locomotives were brought in. Metra decided to replace all 15 F40Cs (numbered 600-614) but kept #611 and #614 as back-up units.
In 2009, some of the other Metra locomotives were also starting to show their age, so they were sent off to be rebuilt. Metra then made the decision to bring the two remaining F40Cs, the oldest locomotives in the fleet, back into service.
OK - history lesson over now. So knowing that there are only two of these type of locomotives left in existence, I have to get my shots when I can. Nobody is really sure how long these units will stick around. So today, I set out for Bensenville. I decided to try and get a shot of one of these F40Cs from the Route 83 bridge. I got to Bensenville around 430pm, right at the beginning of rush hour. I parked my car, and started walking towards the bridge. There was only a sidewalk on the east side of the bridge, which was great for catching west bound trains. There's only one problem - there's an 8' chain-link fence. And the traffic noise was awful. 6 lanes of cars, trucks, semis blowing by me at 55 MPH, not to mention the planes roaring overhead taking off from O'Hare.
The weather was partly sunny at best. The skies were pretty much clear to the east, but to the west there were giant clouds that kept blocking my sunlight. After about 40 minutes, 4 trains had gone underneath me, and each time it was cloudy. And there were no signs of an F40C anywhere. After almost an hour, I was getting ready to call it a day, when I saw the headlight of a west bound train rounding the curve about 2 miles down the tracks. I looked behind me at the sun, and it was behind a cloud, but the cloud was moving pretty quick. I didn't think I was lucky enough to have the sun come out at exactly the same time as the train was approaching the bridge, so I really thought nothing of it. I waited, and I waited, and I waited. 5 minutes later, the train was about 3/4 mile away from the bridge. I had my camera ready, but I knew that the lighting would be horrible. Then, without warning, the sun came bursting out from behind the cloud at just the right time, and at that moment, I saw the numbers on the front of the locomotive - 611. It was an F40C!!! My waiting paid off big time!!!
The shot turned out exactly how I wanted it to. Sometimes you get lucky. I guess today was my day.
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