Tracking the Light EXTRA: New Irish Railway Record Society Display at Heuston Station

 

This morning (31 March 2016), Irish Railway Record Society’s Peter Rigney in cooperation with Irish Rail launched an historical display focused on the role of the railway in the 1916 Easter Rising.

The display is located on platform 1.

Irish Railway Record Society's Peter Rigney at 11:30am on Thursday, 31 March 2016. Platform 1, Heuston Station, Dublin.
Irish Railway Record Society’s Peter Rigney at 11:30am on Thursday, 31 March 2016. Platform 1, Heuston Station, Dublin.
Irish Rail's Barry Kenny and Irish Railway Record Society's Peter Rigney pose with the historical display on Platform 1 at Heuston Station. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.
Irish Rail’s Barry Kenny and Irish Railway Record Society’s Peter Rigney pose with the historical display on Platform 1 at Heuston Station. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.
Irish Rail ICR viewed from platform 1 at Heuston Station on 31 March 2016.
Irish Rail ICR viewed from platform 1 at Heuston Station on 31 March 2016.

Tracking the Light posts Every Day.

Dusk on Dublin’s Dart—March 2016.

The other evening some friends and I traveled from the Dublin city centre to Blackrock on the DART-Dublin’s electrified suburban rail-transit service.

The DART branding mimic’s the Bay Area’s third-rail rapid transit brand ‘BART’ (Bay Area Rapid Transit).

While sometimes my rail travel is focused on the making of photos, this trip had another primary purpose; yet with my Lumix LX7 at the ready, I used every opportunity to make photos.

Pearse Station, Dublin (formerly Westland Row).
Pearse Station, Dublin (formerly Westland Row).
Under the shed at Pearse Station, Dublin.
Under the shed at Pearse Station, Dublin.
Dusk at Blackrock.
Dusk at Blackrock.
DART at Blackrock station.
DART at Blackrock station.
Panned DART electric cars at Blackrock.
Panned DART electric cars at Blackrock.
Somehow I think Victorian aesthetic sensibilities would have found this modern footbridge at Blackrock hideous beyond reason.
I think Victorian aesthetic sensibilities would have found this modern footbridge at Blackrock unnecessarily hideous.
DART at Blackrock.
DART at Blackrock.

Significantly, Dublin’s Pearse Station, formerly-known as Westland Row, is credited as the world’s oldest city terminus in continuous use. It was opened in 1834 with the Dublin & Kingstown Railway. Of course, the D&K has the distinction as the world’s earliest operating suburban railway.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily.

 

 

An Irish Story: Sun and Clouds, Anticipating the Up-liner and the Light.

Lately the sun has been an elusive orb in Irish skies. Too often, I awake to find a slate gray dome above me.

Good Friday (25 March 2016) was different. It was bright sunny morning.

Having the sun and making use of it are two different things.

In the early afternoon, Colm O’Callaghan, Ciarán Cooney and I waited at Lucan South, just east of the Adamstown Station on the quad-track in suburban Dublin.

Our quarry was the up-IWT Liner from Ballina, which was operating with Irish Rail 233, the last 201 class diesel in the old Enterprise-livery. We caught this engine before, but it’s unlikely to survive for long in this old paint.

While the day remained bright, puffy clouds were rapidly blowing across the sky, changing and dampening the light when they blocked the sun

Looking south at Lucan South. Puffy white clouds dot the sky. Nice to have for texture, they can make getting a clean photograph difficult when they block the sun.
Looking south at Lucan South. Puffy white clouds dot the sky. Nice to have for texture, they can make getting a clean photograph difficult when they block the sun.
An Irish Rail ICR races along on the down fast; this is a trailing view. You can see how a bit of cloud shadow darkened the mid-portion of the train.
An Irish Rail ICR races along on the down fast; this is a trailing view. You can see how a bit of cloud shadow darkened the mid-portion of the train.
Hmm, will that cloud get out of the way in time? If it doesn't who can we blame for it? I'll be naming names.
Hmm, will that cloud get out of the way in time? If it doesn’t who can we blame for it? I’ll be naming names.

Anxiously, we watched the signals, and the passing InterCity Railcars. The tapestry above was becoming a maddening mixture of fluff and blue.

The IWT Liner approaches. You can see Adamstown Station in the distance in full sun. A muddy black shadow mucks up the foreground.
The IWT Liner approaches. You can see Adamstown Station in the distance in full sun. A muddy black shadow mucks up the foreground.

Would we get the liner in full sun? After all, that’s what we were out for.

With two cameras around my neck, I was prepared for either eventuality; if it was cloudy, I work with the digital camera; but if the sun came out bright, I’d make a slide. To this aim, I’d set my Canon EOS-3 at f4.5 1/1000th of a second—my full-sun setting for Provia 100F.

It was a photo finish. As the liner approached the light changed from dark to light.

I made some telephoto views with the FujiFilm X-T1; but as the IWT liner reached us the clouds began to part and I exposed a single frame of Fujichrome with my Canon. That photo remains latent in the camera. Did I get it right? It will be some weeks before I know the answer; I wont have the film processed until May.

As the freight rolled into view the clouds receded. I made this dappled-light photograph digitally. To retain a bit of detail in the sky, I have a graduated neutral density filter in front of my lens. The winning view will be my colour slide exposed using a 40mm lens. I hope I got the exposure right.
As the freight rolled into view the clouds receded. I made this dappled-light photograph digitally. To retain a bit of detail in the sky, I have a graduated neutral density filter in front of my lens. The winning view will be my colour slide exposed using a 40mm lens. I hope I got the exposure right.

Tracking the Light is Daily.

 

 

Dublin’s Liberty Hall Decorated for Easter Rising Centenary.

Ireland has been celebrating the Easter Rising Centenary.

Liberty Hall is an iconic Dublin skyscraper that  makes for a interesting prop when juxtaposed with Irish Rail trains on the Loop Line Bridge over the River Liffey.

I explored this scene on 26 March 2016, when a swollen overcast sky made for typical Dublin lighting.

 Exposed on Saturday 26 March 2016 using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.
Exposed on Saturday 26 March 2016 using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.
 Exposed on Saturday 26 March 2016 using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.
Exposed on Saturday 26 March 2016 using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.
 Exposed on Saturday 26 March 2016 using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.
Exposed on Saturday 26 March 2016 using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.

On Easter Sunday, I revisited my locations of the previous day. The sun was out, which changed the look of the setting. Perhaps, I’ll try again with film.

Liberty Hall as viewed on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016.
Liberty Hall as viewed on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016.
Irish Rail's DART passing Liberty Hall on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016.
Irish Rail’s DART passing Liberty Hall on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016.
Liberty Hall as viewed on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016. Lumix LX7 photo.
Liberty Hall as viewed on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016. Lumix LX7 photo.
Liberty Hall as viewed on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016.
Liberty Hall as viewed on Easter Sunday, 27 March 2016.

Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light Posts Daily.

2016 Easter Special: LUAS and the Postbox.

As part of the Easter Rising Centenary several Dublin post boxes have been temporarily painted red to mark significant locations of this historic Irish event.

Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens; contrast adjusted on site with a Lee graduated neutral density filter.
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens; contrast adjusted on site with a Lee graduated neutral density filter.

Mark Healy suggested this location to me as a place to photograph one of the specially painted post boxes with the LUAS. It  is located near the Royal College of Surgeons across from St. Stephens Green.

Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens; contrast adjusted on site with a Lee graduated neutral density filter.
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens; contrast adjusted on site with a Lee graduated neutral density filter.
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens.
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens.

Tracking the Light is Daily.

Upper Quadrant Semaphore on the old Erie Railroad.

Not on ‘Tracking the Light’? Click on Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light for the full image and story.

In the 1980s, I made hundreds of images of upper quadrant three-position semaphores along the old Erie Railroad in New York State, a line then part of the Conrail system.

A Union Switch & Signal upper quadrant semaphore blade, exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Leica M2 with 200mm Telyt lens.
A Union Switch & Signal upper quadrant semaphore blade, exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Leica M2 with 200mm Telyt lens.

I focused on this semaphore near Tioga Center, New York in August 1988. This is part of a sequence that portrayed the signal in its three position and this image is of the ‘approach aspect’.

Learn more about American semaphore practice in my book, Classic Railroad Signals published by Voyageur Press.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily.

Monon Semaphores on Fujichrome.

As a follow up to yesterday’s Extra Post, I thought I’d display this image of a similar signal in the USA.

I made this photograph of three-position upper quadrant semaphores on the old Monon on a warm 2004 summer morning near Romney, Indiana.

General Railway Signal upper quadrant semaphores with Model 2A top of mast mechanisms on CSX's former Monon near Romney, Indiana on June 23, 2004. Exposed on Fujicrome with a Nikon F3 and 180mm lens.
General Railway Signal upper quadrant semaphores with Model 2A top of mast mechanisms on CSX’s former Monon near Romney, Indiana on June 23, 2004. Exposed on Fujicrome with a Nikon F3 and 180mm lens.

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Tracking the Light Extra: Unusual Semaphore in an Unexpected Place

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Every so often, I stumble upon something that flummoxes me.

On St. Patrick’s Day, I was enjoying the evening’s celebrations with some friends at The Full Shilling in Finglas (in north suburban Dublin).

This is a large shop (drinking establishment) with lots of décor characteristic of a Dublin Pub.

On the way to the loo, I looked up and was startled to find a three-position upper quadrant semaphore blade.

Three_postion_upper_quadrant_blade_at_Full_Shilling_in_Finglas_P1410933

‘What’s this? And, what’s it doing here?’

As the author of two books on American signaling, I’m reasonably well versed in semaphore practice. (see: Classic Railroad Signaling; Railroad Signaling. Also see: Barnes & Noble.)

On the surface, it looks a like a standard pattern three-position upper-quadrant semaphore blade, commonly used by many American railways beginning about 1908.

The flat-end red blade with white stripe would have been typically used for an absolute signal that display a full stop in its most restrictive position.

There’s one critical difference with this semaphore blade; it’s a mirror of the signals typically used in the USA.

On most American railways, semaphore blades were oriented to the right, while in British practice (which includes Ireland) they are oriented to the left. (New Haven railroad was an exception).

I would guess that this signal is an adaptation of the American pattern for service in Britain or Ireland. But where did come from? And how did this anomalous signal blade find its way to Finglas, which is not even on a railway line.

At the moment, this stands as one of signaling’s great unsolved mysteries.

Do you know the story behind it?

 

Take the Trees Away and Wow!

 

The deep cutting on the north-side of Dublin’s Phoenix Park Tunnel used to be a difficult place to get a good angle on a train. Previously I’d worked it, but it wasn’t easy. There was only a narrow view and the light was almost always problematic.

Some weeks back, Irish Rail cleared brush and trees from the cutting opening up the view as it hasn’t been for in decades.

Saturday, 19 March 2016, Colm O’Callaghan collected me and we met some friends at a high over bridge to make the most of this new opportunity.

Two trains were expected after Irish Rail lifted a permanent way possession (in North America this would be called ‘maintenance window’, which basically means the line was closed for work).

When we arrived maintenance equipment was still on the line.
When we arrived maintenance equipment was still on the line.
The very last locomotive in the old Enterprise livery, class 201 number 233, works the IWT liner. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
The very last locomotive in the old Enterprise livery, class 201 number 233, works the IWT liner. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
The roar of engine 072 is accentuated by the cutting. The new wide open view allows for a great panorama with the Wicklow Mountains in the distance.
The roar of engine 072 is accentuated by the cutting. The new wide open view allows for a great panorama with the Wicklow Mountains in the distance.
Poor old 072 has seen better days. It leads a track panel train toward the North Wall.
Poor old 072 has seen better days. It leads a track panel train toward the North Wall.

Take away the trees! Hurrah!

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

More on the New Tracks: Dublin’s Cross City LUAS Progress; South Side.

This is a cursory survey of new trackage now being installed for Dublin’s Cross City extension of the LUAS Green Line tram route. (The first portion of the Green Line had opened in 2004.)

A couple of weeks ago, Mark Healy and I inspected progress on Dublin’s North Side.

We made a follow up trip last week and these photos were made walking the route along Hawkins Street, College Green, Nassau and Dawson Streets to St. Stephen’s Green (present southern terminus).

I made these photos with my Lumix LX7.

Hawkins Street, Dublin. March 2016.
Hawkins Street, Dublin. March 2016.
Looking toward College Green.
Looking toward College Green.
From the foot of Grafton Street looking toward College Green.
From the foot of Grafton Street looking toward College Green. (Trinity College at right).
Dawson Street looking south.
Dawson Street looking south.

LUAS_Works_Dawson_St_P1410560

Map of the new line.
Map of the new line.
Dawson Street looking north.
Dawson Street looking north.

 

Dawson Street looking north.
Dawson Street looking north.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.
St. Stephens Green.

One downside to the completion of the line will be the necessity to string catenary through the Dublin city centre. This will complicate photography of historic architecture.

Of course this same architecture will make for some nice backdrops.

Tracking the Light is Daily!

 

 

 

 

Irish Rail: An Early March 2016 View From Stucumny Bridge in Eight Photos!

This quiet overhead crossing of the quad-track is just past the 8 ¾ milepost from Dublin’s Heuston Station.

It offers an open view of the line with a favorable angle for down (traveling away from Dublin) trains mid-morning.

Milepost 8 3/4 as measured from Heuston Station, Dublin. Here an ICR passes en route to Portlaoise. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Milepost 8 3/4 as measured from Heuston Station, Dublin. Here an ICR passes en route to Portlaoise. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
An up ICR is only minutes away from Heuston Station. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
An up ICR is only minutes away from Heuston Station. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Cross lit view of another up ICR. The wire across the line south of bridge can be problematic.
Cross lit view of another up ICR. The wire across the line south of bridge can be problematic.
Always nice to catch an old 071 working the IWT liner. Here 088 does the honors. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Always nice to catch an old 071 working the IWT liner. Here 088 does the honors. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
These days you can often IWT boxes on the liner of the same name.
These days you can often IWT boxes on the liner of the same name.

It takes a tuned interest in Irish Rail’s operations and a bit of luck. to time a visit to coincide with passage of the weekday IWT Liner (International Warehousing & Transport container train between Dublin and Ballina) and the more elusive HOBS (high output ballast system).

Getting the clouds to cooperate is trickier yet again.

Clear blue sky for the down Mark4 to Cork. But in Ireland the clouds cross the sky at an alarming rate. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Clear blue sky for the down Mark4 to Cork. But in Ireland the clouds cross the sky at an alarming rate. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
A mix of sun and cloud greeted the up HOBS. It can drive you batty. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
A mix of sun and cloud greeted the up HOBS. It can drive you batty. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
And there it goes! Soon the HOBS will be stabled in the old Guinness sidings at Heuston. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
And there it goes! Soon the HOBS will be stabled in the old Guinness sidings at Heuston. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.

A couple of weeks ago Colm O’Callaghan and I spent a strategic 45 minutes at Stucumny Bridge.

Even if you fail at catching the freight on the move, there’s always a steady parade of passenger trains.

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Stack train with Caboose at Buffalo—January 1989.

This Kodachrome slide has always resonated with me.

In North American practice, cabooses and stack trains were equipment from different eras that just barely overlapped.

During the mid-1980s, most class 1 freight carriers banished cabooses to operational backwaters. True, cabooses held out in rare instances (some can still be found), but they had been made redundant by technological changes and their once-standard operation finally came to an end as a side-effect of deregulation.

Another effect of deregulation was a more progressive environment that favored double-stacked container trains.

So, as cabooses were rapidly sidetracked, stack trains were becoming common on principal trunk lines. Since intermodal operations tended to run from terminal to terminal, these trains were among the first to lose cabooses.

I can count the number of caboose-ended double-stack trains I photographed on one hand.

 Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Leica M2 with 90mm Elmarit.

Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Leica M2 with 90mm Elmarit.

I especially like this view in a snow squall of a Norfolk Southern train carrying an Norfolk & Western caboose on the back of a Maersk stack train that had just come east over the old Nickel Plate route.

The background is the colossal and completely abandoned Buffalo Central Terminal, designed by Fellheimer & Wagner, and constructed by the New York Central during the false optimism of the roaring 1920s, only to open on the eve of the Great Depression.

Buy my book Railway Depots, Stations & terminals published by Voyageur Press to learn more about Fellheimer & Wagner’s stations

Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!

Heuston Station with Tri-Colour Lighting: North Side View.

(Hint: if you aren’t on Brian’s site, click on Tracking the Light to get the full view!).

The other day I offered a view of Dublin’s Heuston Station lit for St. Patrick’s Day.

A day or so later, I rode by on the top of a double decker bus, and it occurred to me that I’d missed the image.

By showing the station face-on, I inadvertently minimized the effect of the lit Irish Tricolour.

Heuston_Station_at_Night_mod1_P1410635Here, I show the station at a more oblique angle the I feel does a better job of capturing the effect. I’ve included the LUAS but in a marginal role.

What do you think?

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

 

Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival 17 March 2016—Dozens of New Photos!

It was a virtual sea of humanity; and largely decked out in green naff.

I exposed several hundred photos with my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm X-T1 digital cameras. Below is just a small selection.

Also check out my Dublin Page for more St. Patrick’s Day photos.

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410830

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410822

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410825Paddys_Day_2016_P1410828

You mean there's a greener Golf? Who knew?
You mean there’s a greener Golf? Who knew?

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410817

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410806

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410804
Staring contest.

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410797Paddys_Day_2016_P1410798Paddys_Day_2016_P1410781Paddys_Day_2016_P1410782Paddys_Day_2016_P1410785

Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2290Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2299Irish_Rail_Loop_line_Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2276Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2265Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2296Paddys_Day_2016_P1410887Paddys_Day_2016_P1410856Paddys_Day_2016_P1410875Paddys_Day_2016_P1410880

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410859Paddys_Day_2016_P1410848Paddys_Day_2016_P1410846Paddys_Day_2016_P1410835

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410840Paddys_Day_2016_P1410914Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2320Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2314Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2315Paddys_Day_2016_P1410900Paddys_Day_2016_P1410910Paddys_Day_2016_P1410918Paddys_Day_2016_P1410919Paddys_Day_2016_P1410863Paddys_Day_2016_P1410833Paddys_Day_2016_P1410790Paddys_Day_2016_P1410784

Paddys_Day_2016_P1410774Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2321Paddys_Day_2016_DSCF2258

Tracking the Light is Daily!

Happy St Patrick’s Day from Dublin!

My Lumix, always handy, makes a near-perfect tool for capturing the spirit and colour St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin.

Shelbourne Hotel at St. Stephens Green lit for St. Patrick's Day.
Shelbourne Hotel at St. Stephens Green lit for St. Patrick’s Day.
Green light on a Georgian dream. Time exposure with Lumix LX7 mounted on mini Gitzo tripod.
Green light on a Georgian dream. Time exposure with Lumix LX7 mounted on mini Gitzo tripod.
Ample quantities of stout at the ready.
Ample quantities of stout at the ready.
College Green.
College Green.

Click on my Dublin Page for more photos!

College Green.
College Green.
National Library on Kildare Street.
National Library on Kildare Street.
The DART crosses the Loop Line Bridge over the Liffey.
The DART crosses the Loop Line Bridge over the Liffey.
Custom House.
Custom House.
Easons on O'Connell Street where I sometimes find my books on sale.
Easons on O’Connell Street where I sometimes find my books on sale.
New LUAS track on O'Connell Street will soon host French-built trams.
New LUAS track on O’Connell Street will soon host French-built trams.
Irish Tri-Colour superimposed on the Bank of Ireland.
Irish Tri-Colour superimposed on the Bank of Ireland.
Dublin Bus carries fares on O'Connell Street. Check the website for detours on St. Patrick' Day, since this thoroughfare will be closed as part of the parade route.
Dublin Bus carries fares on O’Connell Street. Check the website for detours on St. Patrick’ Day, since this thoroughfare will be closed as part of the parade route.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Check out my Dublin Page for more photos!

Irish Rail’s IWT at Islandbridge Junction; Lee Graduated ND Filter Experiment.

Last Friday, 11 March 2016, I went up to my favored Irish local location; Islandbridge Junction. This is a handy place for me.

This is great place to catch a freight train exiting Dublin’s Phoenix Park Tunnel on a bright clear day, yet can be visually problematic on a dull day.

On this day, I thought it would be a good place to experiment with a Lee graduated neutral density filter as a means of controlling contrast and allowing for a more effective overall exposure.

The filter I use offers subtle 2/3s of a stop gradation. This is adjustable both up/down and rotationally left/right.

I made a few test photos with and without the filter to gauge my exposure before the IWT arrived with Irish Rail 088 in the lead.

A similar effect can be accomplished digitally, yet the digital effect doesn’t add information to the RAW file, but only makes a visual adjustment in the final image.

In other words to apply the filter digital may be viewed as a ‘correction’ rather than an in-camera technique. Yet, it is often easier to apply a filter in post-processing than in the field.

I’ve used both methods depending on the circumstance.

Below are some results.

Test photo to gauge comparative exposure. This was made without the filter. My concern is getting adequate exposure in both the sky and foreground.
Test photo to gauge comparative exposure. This was made without the filter. My concern is getting adequate exposure in both the sky and foreground.
Test exposure with the graduated filter. Here I've been able to lighten the foreground slightly while holding detail in the sky.
Test exposure with the graduated filter. Here I’ve been able to lighten the foreground slightly while holding detail in the sky.
Here's a test view using the filter. I've achieved a good overall balance. (Sorry, the filter won't make the sun come out.)
Here’s a test view using the filter. I’ve achieved a good overall balance. (Sorry, the filter won’t make the sun come out.)
Here we have the ultimate objective. To make a balance image of Irish Rail's IWT Liner. It really about making the most of a gray engine on a gray day.
Here we have the ultimate objective. To make a balance image of Irish Rail’s IWT Liner. It really about making the most of a gray engine on a gray day.

This gives a nice overall of my experiment, but in the middle of all this I got a little greedy. Using my zoom lens on the FujiFilm X-T1, I made a tight view of the IWT (with the filter).

As is often the case with last second changes, I didn’t get my exposure quite right. My feeling was that the RAW file was about 1/3 of a stop too dark.

Nice try, but my exposure was a bit dark.
Nice try, but my exposure was a bit dark.
I imported my RAW file into Lightroom and made a variety of small corrections. First I altered the level. I also lightened up the entire image slightly and warmed up the color temperature. Is this an improvement?
I imported my RAW file into Lightroom and made a variety of small corrections. First I altered the level. I also lightened up the entire image slightly and warmed up the color temperature. Is this an improvement?

As with most of my photography, I consider this a work in progress. In all likelihood, before long I’ll be back at Islandbridge Junction to further refine my experiment.

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Amtrak Montrealer Detours! 30 Years Ago Today—March 15, 1986.

It was a day of big excitement. Up north, Guilford was in a knot as result of a strike action. Bob Buck phoned me early in the morning to say that ‘The Boot’ (the colloquial name for Amtrak’s Montrealer) was detouring to Palmer on the Central Vermont, then west on the Boston & Albany (Conrail).

Using my dad’s Rollei model T loaded with Kodak Tri-X, I made the most of the unusual move.

This was nearly a decade before Amtrak’s Vermonter began to regularly make the jog in Palmer from the CV/New England Central route to the B&A mainline.

And, it was only four months before Conrail ended traditional directional double-track operations between Palmer and Springfield.

Amtrak 61 followed CV’s southward road freight to Palmer arriving at 11 am. Here I pictured it near the old Boston & Albany freight house in Palmer, Massachusetts. Note the all heritage consist (except of course for the F40).
Amtrak 61 followed CV’s southward road freight to Palmer arriving at 11 am with  Canadian National M-420 2557 in the lead.. Here I pictured it near the old Boston & Albany freight house in Palmer, Massachusetts. Note the all heritage consist (except of course for the F40).
An Amtrak CF7 had come out from Springfield to assist with the reverse move necessary to bring the Montrealer westward over the B&A.
An Amtrak CF7 had come out from Springfield to assist with the reverse move necessary to bring the Montrealer westward over the B&A.

I’d met some photographers at the Palmer diamond and encouraged them to take advantage of my favorite vantage point at the rock cutting at milepost 84, just over the Quaboag River from the Palmer Station.

As detouring Amtrak number 61 approached with a former Santa Fe CF7 leading the train to Springfield, we could hear an eastward Conrail freight chugging along with new GE C30-7As.

Moments after I exposed the classic view of this Montrealer working the old number 1 track, TV6 blasted east with intermodal piggybacks for Worcester and Springfield. I was using the Rollei with a 645 'Superslide' insert that allowed me 16 frames per roll.
Moments after I exposed the classic view of this Montrealer working the old number 1 track, TV6 blasted east with intermodal piggybacks for Worcester and Boston. I was using the Rollei with a 645 ‘Superslide’ insert that allowed me 16 frames per roll.
Conrail TV6 passes Amtrak's Montrealer on the double track west of the Palmer diamond. In July 1986, Conrail cut-in CP83 which ended double track operations between Palmer and the new CP92 in Springfield.
Conrail TV6 passes Amtrak’s Montrealer on the double track west of the Palmer diamond. Four months later, in July 1986, Conrail cut-in CP83 which ended double track operations between Palmer and the new CP92 in Springfield.
Sometimes when the action is unfolding its best to just keep exposing pictures. Here I was cranking the Rollie as quickly as I could.
Sometimes when the action is unfolding its best to just keep exposing pictures. Here I was cranking the Rollie as quickly as I could.

This is among my favorite sequences that show the old double track in action.

Some of these photos later appeared in Passenger Train Journal. Long before I was the Associate Editor of that magazine.

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Railway Preservation Society Ireland Number 4 at Claude Road in Dublin, 13 March 2016.

Sunday morning was warm but dull.

Railway Preservation Society Ireland had scheduled a trip to depart Connolly Station Dublin for a run out the Sligo Road to Carrick-on-Shannon and Boyle.

Where to catch it?

There’s a bit of a pull up toward Glasnevin Junction with the stiffest climb as the line passes Croke Park.

At Claude Road a pedestrian bridge over the line offers an excellent view to the east.

On a clear day this isn’t a preferred mid-morning view, because you’d be fighting the sun (to no advantage).

No chance of the sun presenting a problem yesterday morning.

I could hear number 4’s shrill whistle as the engine departed Connolly, followed by more than five minutes of stack talk as the engine worked its consist of Cravens upgrade.

Using my FujiFilm X-T1, I exposed this sequence of digital images as the train worked by me.

The Croke Park stadium looms in the distance as RSPI number 4 barks up grade.
The Croke Park stadium looms in the distance as RSPI number 4 barks up grade.
Using my 18-135mm zoom lens, I pulled back as the locomotive approached.
Using my 18-135mm zoom lens, I pulled back as the locomotive approached.
Old number 4 is working 'bunker first', and that's cool, after all its a tank engine!
Old number 4 is working ‘bunker first’, and that’s cool, after all its a tank engine!
I had my camera in 'turbo flutter' and was exposing pixels at light speed. (Metaphorically speaking).
I had my camera in ‘turbo flutter’ and was exposing pixels at light speed.
Looking toward Phibsborough.
Looking toward Phibsborough.