An old restored steam train runs from Livingstone in Zambia. It has no apparent purpose or final destination to unload its passengers - it rolls along its tracks through the country side and Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and offers its passengers a dinner during the journey. The motto is "Der Weg ist das Ziel" - the journey is the reward. It leaves Livingstone before sundown.
in the kitchen
Old steam trains are a photographer's delight, so I jumped at that opportunity of riding into the sunset, on an old train, imagining pictures of dark steam clouds rising into a darkening blue sky with the orange full sun setting, reflecting in the sides of the railway cars and windows... well...
I positioned myself on the last car which had an open platform where I could stand outside watching the sun go down and whatever else would happen alongside. I love riding on trains because you can see the countries' and cities' honest backsides where I can delve into my strange preference of the odd and true and life without facades.
The train went on for quite a while, children were running along the tracks waving or people going about their business or using the track as walk paths.
everybody loves a game of soccer
Impala by the side of the tracks in the National Park
After a while when the sun was about to set, I asked the steward where we were going and whether the tracks would take a turn, make a bend, or anything that would make me see the locomotive. He probably did not quite understand what I meant and what I wanted. He said the train would going straight to some point where we would stop, change the engine and be pulled back to where we came from. Hmph. Nevertheless I continued patiently with my head over the sides until the tracks did make a tiny bend - unfortunately to the wrong (right) side with the sun on the other, left side of the train, keeping the waggons in darkness, in shade.
People came out and talked to me, about photography, what lenses to use, how much weight to carry and so on and we chatted and talked shop a bit and I gave up waiting for the train to make a turn to the left.
Just before sundown, a pretty young Indian lady came out, leaned over the side with her iphone, took some images, then came over to me and showed me her result to ask for an appraisal - Wow! Damn! In that short moment, when the sun was just above the trees, the train had just made the long awaited tiny bend to the left, just a slight one, gone in a few seconds, but that was enough: My imagined picture was on her iphone! With the setting sun! And I had missed it! .. I had to be content with second best, but I had made some new friends which is never bad either.
too late - the sun has set already
When the locomotive was switched I got up into the operator's cabin.
the heart of the engine
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