Nocturnal Coast Starlight

Amtrak train no. 14, the northbound Coast Starlight passing Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Oregon.

During a temporary schedule change due to track work between Albany and Eugene, Amtrak's northbound Coast Starlight is frequently passing through Oregon City after dark right now, allowing the opportunity for night photographs of this train that normally runs in the mid-afternoon. When it comes to rendering moving trains as streaks of light, I have a particular fondness for the visuals of the twin red rear marker lights on Amtrak trains, in addition to the green lights next to the doors of the Superliner cars.

Those lights are seen here on a reverse curve along the Willamette River just south of downtown, next to the horseshoe-shaped Willamette Falls. The 40 foot high natural falls were instrumental in the development of the area, providing an early source of power for flour mills and later hydroelectricity and paper mills. The two paper mills still operate, one on either side of the river, casting their glow on the scene and their exhaust plumes into the chilled night sky.