A top the highest active railroad in the United States is the Cumbres Depot, nee Section House, straddling the divide at Cumbres Pass, elevation 10,015 feet. On a late spring night darkness falls over the Rockies and smoke has cleared from nearby forest fires to reveal the galactic core of the Milky Way rising from the southeastern horizon. From the inception of the railroad in the 1880's here scenes would have played out like this for years with trains steaming day and night through here, but today, the depot stands silent every nights as most every train movement here is now a daylight operation. The station sits alone, with only myself in the vicinity, signaling for the next trains to highball the station, there's no orders available.
And now for the technical details! Shot with a Nikon D750 using a Nikor 20mm f/1.8. Sky was shot at 3200 ISO for 20 seconds at f/1.8. Meanwhile, the foreground was shot using the same set up at 400 ISO for 5 min at f1.8. Blended in Photoshop.
