Rails and skies

As a locomotive engineer for more than a quarter-century, Alan Nash has spent innumerable hours traveling the vast landscapes of Wyoming, rail and firmament unfurling before him. 

Nash is also a photographer, a hobby that dovetails well with his employment. A huge perk of the job, he says, is the front-row seat it offers to the region’s vast country and unpredictable skies.  

“It’s the biggest joy my job with the railroad brings me,” he wrote in an email, “would I rather be in bed? Not really!”

Nash snaps striking images of life in coal country, capturing conveyors and railcars silhouetted against blazing clouds and trains rounding bends.

But he also makes images not related to coal, capturing arresting scenes of lonesome structures and skies strewn with sorbet clouds or golden ribbons. 

“The draw to the sky is that it is NEVER the same,” Nash wrote. “The anticipation of what is to come every morning and every evening is exciting to me.”

The only thing these scenes have in common, he said, “is that they are always breathtaking … even when there’s not a cloud in the sky … breathtaking.”

​​Do you have a striking photo of summer in Wyoming? Submit high-resolution entries to WyoFile’s Summer Snap Challenge by emailing them to editor@wyofile.com under the subject line “Summer photos.” Be sure to tell us when and where the images were taken. We’ll gather the images and publish our favorites through the summer.