*No Drone Required*
The wide breadth of the adjacent Mississippi River makes BNSF's H NTWGAL9 06A look rather small as the 82-car train of mixed freight from Minneapolis-Northtown coasts downgrade along the calm morning waters past the neatly tucked away community of Genoa, WI. Trailing close behind a St. Paul to Chicago intermodal Z, this train is working railroad east out of La Crosse and will continue to follow the Aurora Subdivision before swinging south onto the Barstow Sub at Plum River near Savanna, IL for the remainder of its trip to the classification terminal at Galesburg. The recent introduction of amateur drone technology has made overhead views like this easily obtainable for anybody. However, there is a certain satisfaction one feels when shots like these are captured as a result of doing things the "old fashioned way" using commitment, sheer will and the sweat of your brow, such as the nearly 20 minutes spent hiking straight uphill to this obscure rocky outcropping overlook. Like this one, the many high bluffs in this region that skirt both the BNSF and Canadian Pacific across the river offer a variety of really spectacular views for photographers.
