August 2013
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RJ Corman on the old Beech Creek, September 1997
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Coal Train in Central Pennsylvania. On my external hard drive I have a file of photos called ‘Miscellaneous US Railroads’. I picked this photo at random. I thought it’s a neat image. Only after, I selected it, did I…
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Genesee & Wyoming at P&L Junction, November 4, 1987
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The Original G&W. On the morning of November 4, 1987, I made a speculative foray to P&L (Pittsburgh & Lehigh) Junction near Caledonia, New York. At the time I was living in nearby Scottsville, and I’d occasionally check P&L to…
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Belfast & Moosehead Lake, Unity, Maine, August 29, 1986
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27 Years Ago Today. I spent a pleasant and memorable week photographing in Maine in August 1986.This was shortly before I began my studies at the Rochester Institute of Photography, and represented a moment of visual freedom, unburdened…
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Trams of Gent Part 2
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One Europe’s Best Settings For Tram Photos. It just seemed there was a photo opportunity everywhere I turned.In addition to these digital photos, I exposed a fair few color slides as well. What’s that? Yes, film. But those images…
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Trams of Gent—Part 1
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Narrow Gauge Railway Among Stunning Architecture. Gent (sometimes spelled on maps as ‘Ghent’) is a moderately sized Belgian city with remarkable beautiful architecture. You’ve probably heard lots about nearby Brugge. I visited that city in 1999. Last week, on…
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Brian’s Belgian Rail Marathon, Liege and Beyond
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Getting the most from My SNCB ‘Railpass’. At Leige (Liège-Guillemins) I boarded an InterCity train for Brussels and glided along in comfort along perfectly maintained track. At Bruxelles-Nord/Brussel-Noord (French and Flemish names appear randomly applied to Brussels stations—so far as…
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Magnificent Modern Railway Station at Liege, Belgium.
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Calatrava’s Railway Masterpiece. To my total surprise and delight, Liege (Liège-Guillemins) has been completely transformed since my last visit in August of 1998— when I paused to change trains from Bonn, Germany to Charleroi. I remember a dreary, tired and uninspired…
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Brian’s Belgian Rail Marathon—August 2013.
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Making Use of an SNCB ‘Railpass’ Ticket. Does Belgium offer one western Europe’s best-kept secret railway experiences? In 1835, Belgium was first on the Continent to adopt the steam railway. It subsequently developed one of the densest railway networks…
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SNCB at Ottignies, Belgium, August 16, 2013
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Compare Two Views of a Northward Express Train. On the morning of August 16, 2013, I was changing trains at Ottignies, a suburban station south of Brussels on the line toward Luxembourg. I had just under an hour to explore…
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Irish Rail at Stucumny Bridge, November 2009
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Trains Pass At Sunset on the Quad Track. In November 2009, I was at Stucumny Bridge near Hazelhatch (west of Dublin on the Cork line) to take a look at the recently opened quad track. It was a clear evening…
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Southern Pacific on Donner Pass, June 1990.
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Working with Harsh Light in the California Sierra. On the advice of J.D. Schmid, in June 1990, I’d bought my first single lens reflex; a Nikon F3T (which I still use, occasionally). Initially, I owned just two lenses: a 35mm…
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South Shore Sunset, October 1994
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Interurban Electric Near South Bend, Indiana. I was driving from Erie, Pennsylvania back to Waukesha, Wisconsin after a week of photography on the former Baltimore & Ohio in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. West of South Bend, the Chicago, South Shore…
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Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, October 21, 2001
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Erie Railroad’s Starrucca Viaduct. In October 2001, I was working on my book Railroad Masterpieces (Published by Krause Publications in 2002). Among the featured ‘masterpieces’ was Erie Railroad’s magnificent Starrucca Viaduct at Lanesboro, Pennsylvania. A classic Jim Shaughnessy under and…
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Bord na Mona, Lanesborough, August 10, 2013
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A Pleasant Summer’s Day Exploring an Irish Narrow Gauge Railway. Last winter, I made several visits with my friends to Bord na Mona’s network focused on the Lough Ree Power Station at Lanesborough, County Longford. (See: Irish Bog Railways—Part 2…
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Freight Train at Rijeka, Croatia on August 17, 2005.
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On This Day Eight Years Ago. Eight years ago today I was traveling in Croatia by train. I made this image from the platform of the Rijeka station. It shows one of Croatian Railways (Hrvatske Zeljeznice and known by…
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Maine Eastern Cement Train, August 2004
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Rockland, Maine. As a kid, I’d travel with my family to coastal Maine for visits with grandparents who owned a summer home south of Newcastle. At that time, Maine Central operated freights on the Rockland Branch on a weekday…
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Bord na Mona’s Ash Train
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An Elusive Catch. For me anyway! On Saturday, August 3, 2013, I scored a few photographs of Bord na Mona’s ash train on the move near Shannonbridge, County Offaly. (Yes, and by the way, that’s ash train, and not ASH…
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Irish Bog Railways—Part 5, August, 2013
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Photographing Irish Bog Railways. In a follow up to yesterday’s post, here’s a few more images from my early August adventure with Ireland’s Bord na Mona narrow gauge. I was working with three cameras: my Lumix LX3, my Canon EOS…
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Irish Bog Railways—Part 4, August, 2013
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Bord na Mona’s Blackwater Network Revisited. It was fifteen years ago that I made my first acquaintance with Ireland’s bog railway, a narrow gauge network operated by Bord na Mona (peat board). At that time, a tourist train run…
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Railroad Station Building, Steward, Illinois, June 15, 2004
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A Vestige of Earlier Times. At one time, just about every town in North America had at least one railway station. Tens of thousands of station buildings dotted the continent. Most were small. Often railroads would have their bridge and…
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Orlando Station, November 1999.
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Letting Classic Railway Architecture Tell a Story. On a visit to Florida in mid-November 1999, I made this detailed view of Amtrak’s Orlando passenger station. Built by CSX predecessor Atlantic Coast Line in a Spanish revival style, this busy station…
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West Warren, Massachusetts, October 2000.
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Another Exercise with 120 Size Transparency Film. In yesterday’s post, I told about working with a Hasselblad and 120 Kodachrome. Although, 35mm slide film was my stable format for more than 25 years, I’ve periodically dabbled in larger formats. I…
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Susquehanna’s General Electric DASH8-40B 4002 at West Middlebury, New York, March 1989
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Experiment with Medium Format Kodachrome. In March 1989, I was halfway through my final term at the Rochester Institute of Technology. My course load was light enough to allow me several days off a week to pursue my own work….
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Irish Rail Gray 077 Leads Ballast Train
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A Rare Move to Catch in Full Sun. As a follow-up to my post Irish Rail Ballast Train at Islandbridge, Dublin, April 16, 2013 , I offer these views of a ballast train at the same location on August…
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Bluebell Railway Revisited, July 2013-Part 2
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Kingscote Station. For many years Kingscote was effectively Bluebell’s northern terminus. That changed this year when the extension to East Grinstead was finally opened along with the direct connection to Network Rail. Now, as a quiet mid-point on the Bluebell…
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Bluebell Railway Revisited, July 2013-Part 1
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A Pleasant Saturday Time Travel Experience. At the end of July, my friends and I made a pilgrimage to the Bluebell Railway, traveling by Southern Railway electric muliple unit from London to East Grinstead and transferring to the Bluebell’s…
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East Midland Trains
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Trip on the old Midland Railway from St. Pancras to Market Harborough. I’d pre-booked tickets to ride from St. Pancras north on the old Midland Railway. The last time I made this journey I traveled on Midland Mainline trains, but…
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London Transport Museum
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Historic Vehicles on Display at Covent Garden, London. I’ve visited the London Transport Museum on several occasions, owing to its convenient location at Covent Garden in central London, and my general interest in transport. Central to the public displays are…
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London Tramlink
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Greater London’s Modern Streetcar. In my last post I covered the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). Today, I’m focused on the London Tramlink (an network centered on Croydon and previously known as the Croydon Tramlink). Here the terminology can get…
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London Docklands Light Railway July 2013
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Visions of Ultra Modern Rail Transport. Last week (July 2013), I made a visit to the Dockland Light Railway (DLR) on my urban exploration of London. DLR appears as the manifestation of a future vision. What I mean is that,…
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London Underground July 2013—Part 2
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More Views of the Underground. As a follow up to yesterday’s post London Underground July 2013—Part 1, I’ve assembled some of my favorite images from last week’s exploration in London. The Underground cleverly blends transport and style. In my experience…