Glendale, Oregon

Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad tracks and cars in Glendale, Oregon, on January 2, 2011.

In 2011, I hope to make at least one rail-related photo everyday and share it on this blog. Not likely, right? Actually, impossible, given that I made zero photos on New Year's Day. (A shame, too, since I actually spotted a decent rail subject that went un-photographed for want of a camera during my walk.) Already relieved of any notions of a perfect record for the year, I'll do my best and see how long this lasts. The travel days will be easy. The real challenge will be how much I can mine from Oregon City on the many days when I stay home.

Undeterred, I press onward to January 2, where I paused to ponder the quiet tracks in Glendale, Oregon, while driving back to Oregon City after a holiday visit with family friends in Ashland. I visited Glendale five times in February and April 2010, each while photographing the pair of Central Oregon & Pacific (CORP) trains that met there on most weekdays to swap cars before returning to their respective terminals of Dillard and Medford. 

There would be no trains on this sleepy Sunday afternoon. In fact, there may never be afternoon trains in Glendale again. For years, the CORP trains have ran at night in the dry summer and fall months to minimize fire dangers, but they always reverted to daytime schedules during the wet winters and springs. This year, daytime trackwork in Glendale has kept the trains on a nocturnal schedule (evidence is visible in the recently-turned foreground ballast), and rumors circulate that night operations might remain permanent. I hope not. Despite a great love for night photography, lately I've been finding more satisfaction in a well-composed daytime view than in the most evocative night scene. Continuing north from Glendale through Cow Creek Canyon, I counted myself lucky to have seen and photographed daytime trains there in the previous year, and can only hope to have that chance again. In the meantime, though, I wouldn't completely rule out a camping trip later this year....