Can anyone guess what time I took this picture of the morning freight as it bypassed Wasilla McDonald’s and continued straight on to Anchorage?

It wasn’t the usual time, I’ll tell you that. Usually, the morning freight from Fairbanks to Anchorage reaches Wasilla between 5:30 and 6:30 AM. Just before 8:00 AM, I got a tip that the freight had just left Talkeetna. It had earlier stopped at Hurricane to pick up another train. I figured this gave me about an hour and half to get positioned, but I did not want to take a chance and left at 8:40. I figured I’d pick up breakfast at McDonald’s and then take Sancho the drone to a certain place not far away and, if weather allowed, send Sancho up to scout out a scene I thought ought to be pretty good.

When I got to McDonald’s the line of cars was shockingly long. I did not want take a chance the train might come earlier than I anticipated and I find myself still waiting line when it passed by. I drove a short distance down the street and bought breakfast at Burger King, right by the tracks, There was no line at all. I ordered a breakfast burrito.

The weather was right on the edge, barely legal. I could see the sides of the mountains, so I had my three miles of visibility. I sent Sancho up on a quick scouting flight and brought him right back. The mountains disappeared, the ceiling lowered and it started to snow again. I put Sancho on standby and readied my Canon EOS R 5 with a 100-400 zoom, waited another hour and got this picture. I then drove down the road about 15 miles to shoot a few more. There will be no more trains today. I will save those pictures for tomorrow.

Thank you, Engineer Gordon Larson. Without your tip, I would have missed this pic.