Heading out into the Owens Valley. A Southern Pacific Conductor watches from the back platform of Combine/Caboose 401 as his short mixed train leaves the south yard in Laws, California, headed down the Owens River Valley toward Keeler.
This scene was staged during a March, 2023 photo shoot at the Laws Museum, outside Bishop, CA. My first impression of the place upon arrival was that it looked like a movie lot, minus the cast and crew. It's an ideal place for a photo shoot. It is just amazing how many possible scenes one can arrange with a steam locomotive, a few pieces of abandoned railroad infrastructure and a few hundred yards of track. Ever since the Southern Pacific #18's last visit to Laws in 2017, it has been one of my greatest regrets that I did not attend that event. The photos that resulted were excellent. So, when this latest event was announced earlier this year, it did not take me long to sign up for both days. The trip was well worth the time and expense and at least in my opinion, ranks right up there among the best railroad photo shoots I've ever done.
Images from the March, 2023 Lerro Photography photo shoots at the Laws Museum, near Bishop, California, featuring the Southern Pacific's Baldwin 10-wheeler #18 on her second visit since her 2017 restoration.
