Sounder #1505 approaching Tacoma - March 2008 Photo Assignment

On Tuesday, March 4th, my employer sent me down to the Tacoma, Washington area to take photos for marketing purposes, which provided me with my first opportunity to photograph typical Sounder commuter rail operations. As sunset neared, the clouds which had been lingering around the area all afternoon suddenly turned tail and raced eastward -- I suppose it was some sort of apology from the weather gods for having unexpectedly rained on me at Palmer Junction earlier in the day.

Down in the Puyallup River floodplain, with the sun just dropping behind the trees and Mount Rainier towering above the receeding clouds, Sounder train #1505 zipped through the last remaining miles before terminating at Tacoma Dome Station, where its weary riders would disembark and head for home. Just another day of weird western Washington weather and of "riding the wave" for the train's crew and passengers.