The summer of 2005 was magical for me: I had recently graduated college, I was making my own way in the world, I had just begun shooting digital, and a power-short Indiana Southern Railroad had found a local solution to its horsepower woes: With Kindill 2 Mine idled by new ownership, the three operating Algers, Winslow & Western SD9s were parked at Oakland City with nothing to do. The ISRR rented old Cadillacs 203, 205 and 206 that idyllic summer and ran them together on coal trains in southern Indiana (the 205 later went down with mechanical issues). // While roaming about one Saturday with Randy Allard and Steve Smedley, we came upon the end of a southbound near Maysville, but it wasn't until we raced down to the next crossing that we discovered our serendipitously-located train had AW&W 203 and 206 as the sole power. The train, with 75 coal loads destined for PSI's Gibson Generating Station, is captured here rounding a curve near the hamlet of Sandy Hook as the first hints of autumn color start to tint the trees.
