I find the best photo days those that I can freely spend from sunrise until sunset and just follow the flow. The flow of trains, the light, particular sights I have in mind. And so it happened on April 5th. Around sunrise I was driving east when I decided that a first picture would be welcome. A few were coming my way, and I managed to get a shot in a region I don’t really know that well. I had the time to set up gear, chat with an early bird walking his dog, and eat something before shooting the train and driving on.

Up to Argenteau for the next westbounds. The sun had not risen above the hills yet, so the break was very short.

With a few eastbound trains coming up, I ended up in Schoppem. Seems to be tradition when coming to the Voeren region.

And then back to Argenteau! The sun had risen above the hills and I had time to try out the viewpoint from a bit higher.

There was an eastbound military train announced. During the wait at Remersdaal I saw Railtraxx’ Linz shuttle and a Germersheim shuttle from Medway, that was hauled by 186 212 that was delivered to the operator only a few days before. The military train was loaded with Iveco Lynx vehicles. I found it a frightening view, with the war in Ukraine in mind.

With Germany – Antwerp/Zeebrugge trains being diverted via Kinkempois and Leuven, I wanted to shoot some trains on the viaduct of Renory on line 36A. There is a viewpoint overlooking the valley, where it’s a quiet wait for the trains to come.

There was a dip in train traffic, allowing me to move a bit more east for a DB train, hauled by 186 225 that brought the military train from earlier to Aachen-West.

For the next set of eastbound trains, I moved back to the viaduct of Renory. It was getting towards the end of the day by now. I particularly like how the light bathed the viaduct and the valley in a warm soft light.

At the end of the day, I find it hard to stop. There were still some trains coming and I decided to give it a chance near Gingelom. I was really happy to see the moon slowly rise above the tracks. If now there would be some trains that would be just perfect. And I got lucky. These 2 shots marked the end of a very relaxing day, that I can relive today by finally getting the time to process the photos.