The trains arrive and depart in waves.
Despite an aggressive schedule of passenger trains, SBB still has capacity to roll freights through.
I made these photos digitally using my FujiFilm X-T1.
The station consists of a classic stone faced building, arched through shed over the platforms, and all the expected amenities.
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There’s something inherently attractive about a railway along water, be it a river, pond, lake or the sea.
SBB’s line along Lake Geneva is a fine example of waterside running. Not only does the lake exhibit wonderful aqua hues, but is surrounded by vineyards, snow capped Alpine peaks and other beautiful scenery.
The trick is finding locations where you can place a train with the water in a pleasing composition.
Easier said than done.
I’d found this location at St. Saphorin by searching the internet and studying Google maps. Last week, Denis McCabe and I arrived by train and made the short walk from St. Saphorin station to a foot bridge designed to grant access to the lakefront for bathers.
Not only did SBB provide transport, but fielded a nice variety of trains. About every five to ten minutes something came rolling along. Below is a sample.
Geneva, Switzerland has a remarkable tram network that has melded traditional routes with modern construction.
I made this selection of photographs on my recent visit using both my FujiFilm X-T1 and Panasonic Lumix LX-7 digital cameras.
When making tram photographs I often aim to place the cars in their urban environment.
Geneva’s trams feature a variety of special liveries making for a colourful fleet.
Last week I visited Geneva, Switzerland where I made these photographs.
For the station building, I worked with my Lumix LX7. While the SNCF train was photographed using my FujiFilm X-T1.
Well sort of.
Rome is one of the world’s most pictured cities, yet rarely does its tram network feature in photos.
So, on my brief visit to Rome I made many photos of its colourful urban rail-transit system.
Where else can you see multiple tram lines pass through a 3rd century city gate? Thanks to Stephen Hirsch for suggesting this photo location at Porta Maggiore.
Probably the best thing about the smart phone that I was coerced into acquiring is the interactive map.
When in Italy, I found this map useful in finding locations.
With a touch of the screen, my position was immediately located. Railway stations are highlighted in blue, and I found it easy enough to calculate both distance and estimated walking time.
Using this technique, I navigated my way through the touristy bits of Firenze (Florence) and found the station at Firenze-Statuto, which was a busy place to watch and photograph trains. I’ll call that a successful use of the new technology.
An FS (Italian State Railway) articulated electric locomotive leads a northward freight at Framura on Italy’s Mediterranean coast.
Using my Lumix LX7, I made this photo in the minutes before sunset in early April 2017. To make the most of the camera’s RAW file, I adjusted contrast and exposure in post processing using Lightroom and outputted this as a JPG sized for internet presentation.
Tracking the Light is posting automatically while Brian is traveling.
A few weeks back I posted some views from the Old Cabra Road bridge where an Irish Rail ICR arrived on scene and partially blocked my view of the ever elusive spoil train. (See: Are Two Trains Better than One?)
Just to clarify the significance of that event: Irish Rail ICRs (Intercity railcars) are the standard passenger train on most routes in Ireland.
Furthermore, a public App for your smart phone will alert you where these trains are running most of the time. Finding an ICR on the move is easily accomplished.
By contrast, the spoil train is difficult to find, even for veteran observers. It doesn’t run often, rarely has a rigid path, and tends run off path even when given one. It doesn’t appear on an App, which makes it even harder to find.
It’s like a ghost train and I’ve missed it more times than I’ve managed to picture it.
Colm O’Callaghan and I scored views of the spoil train from Old Cabra road a few days ago. This was one of my favorite from the sequence.
Persistence and patience are the lessons for the day.
Genova (Genoa, Italy) is an old Mediterranean port city, famous as the home of Christopher Columbus .
(Facebook viewers will need to click on this post to see the full photo as FB has tends to crop vertical images to the horizontal with little consideration for content).
The old city is a maze of dark narrow alleys where the sun rarely shines.
It was a bright April 2017 morning when I arrived at Genova Piazza Principe. The station is scenically situated in an open area between two tunnels.
The challenge of making visually impressive photos of Italian railways lies in finding ways to handle the infrastructure effectively.
Italian Railways are very heavily built and largely electrified. The result is a plethora of columns, poles, masts, wires and other necessary, yet visually distracting elements that can make finding a clean composition a difficult task.
Throw in some graffiti, litter, and a few dodgy shadows, and a photo can appear overly busy and cluttered, so careful attention to detail is a must.
I made my first visit to Milano Centrale (Milan Central Station) in February 2000.
Earlier this month (April 2017), I revisited this amazing example of railway architecture and made these photos using my Lumix LX7.
Recently, I featured Milano Centrale in my book Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals published by Voyageur Press.
Here’s an excerpt of my text:
Milano Stazione Centrale (Milan Central Station) is a monumental railway terminal that faces the Piazza Anrea Doria. . . [the station’s] design was the result of an architectural competition held in Milan in 1913 . . . Although the plan dated from before World War I, its blocky style and super human scale seems to typify the public architecture of the interwar Fascist period. [Milano Stazione Centrale] was one of the last great railway stations built in Europe before World War II.
The Peter Witt streetcar is an example of an American design adopted by European cities.
I featured the Peter Witt in my book Field Guide to Trains and Locomotives and Rolling Stock published by Voyageur Press in 2016. This is also available from Amazon.
Here’s an excerpt of my text:
The Peter Witt was a widely built steel-body center-door streetcar noted for its early use of the ‘pay as you enter’ system, where passengers paid fair to the motorman and eliminated need for a conductor. Exiting passengers used the center door to minimize delays during stops. The car-type was named for its designer, the Cleveland Street Railway commissioner, who originated the car arrangement about 1915 . . . The Peter Witt was adopted in Italy in the late 1920s.
I exposed these images of a venerable Peter Witt working the streets of Milan earlier this month (April 2017) using my Lumix LX7.
See yesterday’s post Milan Peter Witt at Dusk for a view of the Peter Witt’s distinctive door arrangement.
It was a drizzly dusk two weeks ago (April 2017) when I used my Lumix LX7 to expose this image of a Peter Witt streetcar in Milan, Italy.
With the Lumix set at ISO 200; my exposure was f1.8 at ¼ (using ‘A’ mode that allows me to select the aperture, while the camera automatically selects the shutter speed).
I’m fond of making night shots where there’s still a hint of colour in the sky.
For my money Paris Gare de Lyon is the coolest station in France.
Here’s just a few views from my brief visit earlier this month.
All were exposed using my Lumix LX7. Film enthusiasts fear not! I also made some colour slides of this iconic railway terminal.
Read more about railway stations, buy my book Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals published by Voyageur Press.
A couple of weeks ago, I found good deal on-line for a 1st Class SNCF ticket from Brussels Midi to Milan via Paris.
It was an early start from Brussels. I enjoyed some fast running, a quick change at Lille Europe, and an hour and half to navigate my way across Paris.
I made these photos of the train journey with my Lumix LX7.
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland is naturally historically minded, obviously. But in this situation I’ve used a vintage 1930s Leica IIIa with period Nikkor 35mm lens to expose traditional black & white film.
All of these photos were made on RPSI’s diesel tour to Galway and Kilkenny on 8 April 2017.
For some images I used Kodak Tri-X processed in Iford ID11 and toned with selenium, for others I worked with Ilford FP4 (ISO 125) which I processed in Agfa Rodinal Special.
You’ll spot subtle differences in tonality.
Brussels Central Station features six tracks below ground, with an art deco styled station building above ground.
It lies between Brussels two main termini; Nord/Noord (North) and Midi/Zuid (South).
The incongruity in names and spellings is a function of Belgium’s two primary languages (French and Flemish) combined with the tendency of the English language to rename places without consideration for local spelling or pronunciation.
During my most recent visit to Belgium I made a couple of visits to Belgium’s main stations. While not strictly photographic ventures, I always plan to make photographs during the course of my travels.
Opportunity taken on site can save a lot of running around later on.
If you are interested in railway stations consider my book: Railway Depots, Stations and Terminals published by Voyageur Press.
Photos exposed using my Panasonic Lumix LX7.
Just a few views from the lens of my Lumix LX7: trams on the roll in Köln during my recent visit.
Köln’s extensive light rail network has endless opportunities for photographs. Over the years I made a few images, but I’ve long felt a more extensive exploration is in the cards.
Someday . . .
At the end of March 2017, I revisited the Köln Hauptbahnhof (main railway station).
It was almost 21 years since I made my first visit here with my dad back in 1996.
I was delighted to see that a few of the old East Germany class 143 electrics were still on the move. Once very common, these old electrics have become relatively scarce.
This image was exposed digitally using my Lumix LX7.
Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s Trip to Galway and Kilkenny—Part 2.
More photos from my Lumix exposed Saturday 8 April 2017, on the RPSI’s The Marble Tribesman Diesel Tour that ran from Dublin Connolly Station to Galway via Portarlington and Athlone then to Kilkenny via Kildare.
On Saturday 8 April 2017, I traveled on the RPSI’s The Marble Tribesman Diesel Tour that ran from Dublin Connolly Station to Galway via Portarlington and Athlone then to Kilkenny via Kildare.
Irish Rail locomotive 081 in fresh gray and yellow paint led the train to Galway and Kilkenny, while 088 brought the return leg to Connolly.
It was a fine day with blue skies from dawn to dusk. The trip largely held to time and a grand time was had by all involved.
I exposed photos with three cameras. These images were exposed with my Lumix LX7. More images to follow over the next few days.
Tracking the Light Posts almost everyday!
Located adjacent to the SNCB lines at Schaarbeek (on the north side of Brussels), Train World is Belgium’s premier railway museum.
I visited last week, having arrived by train from the Brussels suburbs. I’d bought my museum ticket in conjunction with my SNCB fare.
City trams also serve the museum.
You enter Train World from the old railway station building, which has been beautifully restored. Beyond are a series of train halls, that display the history of Belgian railways using real equipment: locomotives, railway rolling stock, signals, literature, signage, etc.
It’s well worth a visit.
Photos exposed using my Lumix LX7
Tracking the Light aims to post new material Daily.
No foolin’.
I photographed this Bombardier Flexity tram painted for the 25th anniversary of Euro Disney on the first of April.
It was posed (actually just waiting to begin its run) at Brussels’s Schaarbeek terminus adjacent to Belgium’s Train World museum.
STIB/MIVB are the initials for the Brussels transit agency.
Tomorrow, I’ll post views of Train World. (It’s well worth a peak inside.)
All three photos were exposed using my Lumix LX7.
Tracking the Light normally posts new material Daily.
On the morning of 27 March 2017, freshly painted Irish Rail class 071 locomotive number 081 worked the down IWT liner.
I made the time to catch this from my often photographed location at Islandbridge Junction near Dublin’s Heuston Station.
Among the advantages of this spot is good morning lighting on westward trains (where most other places face difficult backlighting), ample elevation and the iconic Wellington Testimonial, which is located in the Phoenix Park on the north side of the River Liffey.
A couple of weeks ago I made these Irish Rail silhouettes on Stores Street near Bus Aras.
The black & white photo was exposed on Ilford HP5 with my Nikon F3T fitted with a f1.4 50mm lens, processed in ID11, and scanned with an Epson V500.
By contrast, the colour image was exposed digitally using my Lumix LX-7 with Leica Vario-Summilux lens.
Do you have a preference?
Here’s a few more views exposed on Rollei 35mm Infrared film. These portray Irish Rail’s Loop Line Bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin.
Tracking the Light is on Auto Pilot while Brian is traveling.
Irish Rail crosses the Barrow at Monasterevin, again near Bagenalstown, and finally with a large bridge between Waterford and Campile near Great Island.
Largely forgotten is the long closed bridge northeast of New Ross on the line that once went to the Junction at Macmine via Palace East in County Wexford. More than half a century has passed since the last scheduled train over this bridge.
I made these pastoral views from a road high above the Barrow looking in a westerly direction.
This old railway right of way once carried the line that connected New Ross and Palace East, County Wexford (Ireland), a section closed in 1963.
Tracking the Light is on auto pilot while Brian is traveling. See http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight
Do you remember when Worcester Union Station was a decaying ruin?
I do.
Thankfully the old station was restored in the late-1990s.
I made this view on January 31, 2017 using my Lumix LX7.
Tracking the Light is on autopilot while Brian is traveling.Too often railway images lack depth owning to a tendency to place all the elements of the scene near or at infinity (from the perspective of camera focus).
Consider including closer elements to add a bit depth.
Here the fences, which would often be viewed as obstructions, have been used to make for a more interesting image, which, by the way, tells a story about the location.
Tracking the Light is on autopilot while Brian is traveling by train.
