This is my final Irish 201-class diesel posting in my 2018/20-year retrospective series.
I have to admit, old 234 isn’t my favorite, and there’s a bit of, ‘ah not that one, again.’ But so be it! If we ever need photos of 234 on the move, I have many to chose from.
Here I present two: one in the classic orange livery from 2005, and a recent view in green and silver.
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On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, I revisited the scene at Stafford Springs, having made photos there two days earlier.
In fact, I’ve been photographing trains passing this Connecticut village since the early 1980s, but I find it always helps to try to look at an old place with fresh eyes.
I like the arrangement of old brick buildings, the tracks along the creek/old mill race, and other elements characteristic of southern New England.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens, I exposed these views of New England Central 608 on its return journey from Palmer to Willimantic.
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We rode south on the Houston Metro Red line and made photos at Hermann Park—a relative patch of greenery in an otherwise heavily urbanized environment.
I exposed these views using my FujiFilm XT1 with f2.0 90mm lens.
To make the most of the scene, I used shallow depth of field (by working a wide aperture set manually) and panned the passing light rail cars to convey a sense of motion and depth.
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Traveling on a city’s light rail system is one of my favorite means of urban exploration.
Last week, my father and I spend several hours traveling on the Houston, Texas Metro Rail. Here’s a few photos I made near the city’s Custom House.
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My penultimate post for 2018 that features Ireland’s 201-class diesels focuses on locomotive number 233—second to last in the series (201-234).
In recent times this has worn the minimalist ‘raccoon’ livery, while for a number of years it wore the older Enterprise scheme.
I exposed these views of 233 in the Dublin area over the last three years.
I’ve been featuring the Irish Rail 201 diesels as part of my 20 years in Ireland photography retrospective. I started with the class leader number 201, and have progressed sequentially. Take a wild guess as to which locomotive I’ll conclude the series! (This is not a trick question. You don’t need to consult a crystal ball or take a class in advanced mathematics.).
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I walked from the Sam Houston Hotel two blocks to Fannin Street, where I exposed a few photos of the city’s Metro light rail using my old Lumix LX7.
This was my first taste of this modern Texas rail transit system. The following day, my father and I explored the Metro Rail in daylight.
Stay tuned for more photos!
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The sun had set on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited before we arrived at Houston, Texas last week.
This was the end of my most recent Amtrak journey.
I made these photos with my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit set at ISO 3200.
Shutter speed was about 1/13thof a second.
I made some minor adjustments to shadow and highlight detail in post processing.
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In recent months, New England Central’s Willimantic-Palmer freight, job 608, has been largely nocturnal while the railroad undertook a major rehabilitation program.
New rail, ties and crossing protection have been installed. The switches at State Line are improved. And the railroad is in the best shape it’s been in decades.
Monday morning, December 10, 2018, I heard 608 working north through Monson.
That afternoon, I heard the train on its return run. So Pop (Richard J. Solomon) and I headed out to intercept it.
We caught it at both ends of the siding at State Line, then proceeded to Stafford Springs, where I made these views using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens.
High contrast low December sun proved challenging. To make the most of the light, I applied an external graduated neutral density filter tapered and positioned to hold the sky exposure.
Compare the camera produced JPG file with adjusted RAW images. (There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. The JPG reflects a ‘pre-profiled’ camera setting based on Fuji’s Velvia color setting. The RAW’s were adjusted by me to reflect conditions at Stafford Springs.)
In post processing, I worked with camera RAW files by lightened shadows, darkened highlights, and reduced overall contrast while warming color temperature and slightly boosting saturation.
As we departed Stafford, I noticed a better angle to catch the train. Stay tuned!
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Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light publishes every day, even Christmas!
Pages 18 and 19 feature my column, in which I discuss future freight railroads and their opportunities.
My Podcasts are advertised on page 5. To listen in click this link:
http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/2018/09/conversations-with-brian-solomon
This the second issue that features the new redesigned image.
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Sunset Sunsets Part 3.
This was a long stop with a crew change; the New Orleans crew exchanged for a crew to take the train to San Antonio.
I had about ten minutes to wander around and make photos before we were westward bound again.
These views were exposed digitally using my FujiFilm XT1 with Zeiss Touit lens.
What amazed me was how quickly the sun sets in Texas in December. Not long after the train was underway again, I noticed the sky was completely dark.
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It was a bright morning. I had a comparatively late start.
Since the new CT Rail suburban service began operations on the ‘Hartford Line’ (New Haven-Hartford-Springfield former New Haven Railroad line), I’d been meaning to photograph one of the trains on the big bridge over the Connecticut River at Warehouse Point/East Windsor-Windsor Locks.
Last summer the sun angles didn’t suit the timetable, but now with a revised schedule and low winter sun, there are a variety of angles to be had.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 and 18-135mm zoom, I made these views of CT Rail 4405 just before 11am on December 12, 2018.
It helps to have a nice clear morning!
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Gazing out of windows on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited in east Texas, I contemplated the past, anticipated the future while exposing timeless silhouettes.
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Silhouettes from the Sunset Limited.
These scenes were part of the passing panorama as photographed from Amtrak’s Sunset Limited on December 17, 2018.
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Traveling on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited on our way from New Orleans to Houston, the train made a long station stop at Lafayette, Louisiana.
Well it was long enough for me to get out for a few minutes and expose a few photos.
It was 22 years and 11 months ago that I gave a lecture in Lafayette. That was my last visit here, and it seems like a lifetime ago.
Photos were exposed with my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens, adjusted in Lightroom for contrast and saturation.
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Departing New Orleans, I settled in Amtrak’s glass-lined observation lounge.
Here I made photos as we navigated the maze of trackage on both sides of the massive Huey P. Long bridge over the Mississippi River.
More Sunset (Limited) views to follow on Tracking the Light.
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As 2018 draws to a close, I still have three more Irish Class 201 diesel-electrics to feature as part of my on-going 20 year Irish Railways Retrospective!
Next up in the queue is Irish Rail 232.
In Spring 2017, this was the latest locomotive running around in fresh paint, and I’d made a point of catching on the IWT Liner (Dublin to Ballina, Co. Mayo).
Here’s two views from March 2017.
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NOUPT serves Amtrak’s City of New Orleans, Crescent, and tri-weekly Sunset Limitedplus the seasonal train ride styled as the Polar Express.It’s also the city’s bus terminal.
This station was among the very last city terminals constructed during the era when the private railroads ran their own passenger trains.
Only ticketed Amtrak passengers were permitted onto the railroad platforms.
Here are few views exposed the other day.
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The other evening, I made these panned views of a streetcar in New Orleans at night.
I set my FujiFilm XT1 at ISO 3200, the shutter speed dial to ‘A’ and the exposure compensation dial to +1/3 (to compensate for the dark sky). The camera auto-selected my shutter speed based on available light, which was about 1/12thof a second.
To keep the trolley sharp, I panned car as it passed me. I was careful to maintain my pan for the full duration of each exposure and avoid speeding up or stopping as I released the shutter.
I had the shutter release set for ‘CH’ (Continuous High) so the camera continued to expose images as I panned.
I’ve selected the most effective of my burst of images.
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On its final lap to New Orleans, Amtrak’s Crescentpauses at several smaller stations.
I made photos during these brief stops to capture the mood of these line-side communities in the evening glow.
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Exploring the train, gazing out at the rolling panorama and nipping off for moments during station stops allows for snapshots of our journey.
Below are just a few of many views exposed on the way to New Orleans on Amtrak’s Crescent.
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Well I can tick off this state. December 16, 2018, I made my first ever photo on the ground in Alabama, when I got off the Crescent during its station stop.
Using the rear display extended, I held my FujiFilm XT1 low to the platform for this dynamic angle of Amtrak P42 126 that was leading train 19 southward toward New Orleans.
Ten minutes later I was in the diner and on the roll southward again.
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As we drove north on Route 5, I said to Mike Gardner, “It’s 2:30, EDRJ should be getting organized to head west.” At that very moment, the scanner squawked:
“EDRJ, proceed west on signal indication.”
That was timely!
So we went to my old standby location in Greenfield. We had enough time to set up, when the chug of vintage General Electric diesels announced the approach of EDRJ.
I made these views with my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.
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A misty morning greeted Amtrak number 19, the Crescent, Sunday December 16, 2018.
I walked to the front of the train during our extended stop and exposed this 220 degree panoramic composite view using my Lumix LX7.
Using a preset in the ‘SCN’ mode, the camera automatically stitches together a series of photos exposed in rapid succession to make for a broad panoramic image.
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On Saturday evening, December 15, 2018 we had almost 45 minutes to wander around the platform at Washington Union Station as Amtrak changed engines on train 19, the Crescent bound for New Orleans.
Rain, mist and artificial light made for some atmosphere.
I exposed these views hand-held using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.
I’m uploading the photos live from the train at Charlottesville, Virginia for a scheduled posting on Tracking the Light on Sunday morning December 16, 2018.
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Live from Amtrak’s Crescent.
This evening we boarded Amtrak’s Crescent, train 19,at Wilmington, Delaware.
Although, dull and about to drizzle, I made this late afternoon photos at the former Pennsylvania Railroad station using my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm XT1.’
I’ve adjusted the camera RAW files in Lightroom to boost color saturation and contrast in an effort to improve the overall appearance of the photos.
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It hasn’t been a bright day, but I don’t visit northern Delaware very often, and in my short visit I made the most of my time investigating some railway vestiges.
Eric Rosenthal brought my dad and I to inspect sights on the Wilmington & Western on our way to catch Amtrak’s Crescent at Wilmington’s Amtrak Station.
I made these views using my Lumix LX7 and then processed the RAW files on my MacBook. To upload the images I set up a personal ‘hot spot’ on my iPhone and linked the MacBook via WiFi.
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Last night a damp inky gloom greeted us as we alighted from Amtrak’s Vermonter at the former Pennsylvania Railroad station at Wilmington, Delaware.
A SEPTA Silverliner V electric multiple unit set sat on the opposite platforms waiting to depart for Philadelphia.
I made several exposures with my Lumix LX7. Working with the RAW files in Lightroom, I maximize the amount of visual information in the photos by lightening shadows and darkening highlights while adjusting contrast and color saturation.
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It’s the ‘blue hour’ at New Haven, Connecticut.
Amtrak’s Vermonter is one of a few trains that still changes engines at New Haven, as result of it running through from non-electrified territory to the north.
In the case of Amtrak 55, the common GE-built P42 diesel (number 192) was exchanged for a Siemens-built ACS-64 high-voltage electric.
Amtrak added a coach to the front of the train too. A wise move considering how crowded this train is.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1, I set the camera to ISO 1600 and the white balance to ‘auto’, and made some photos from the platform during our 24-minute pause at New Haven Union Station.
Many years ago, my late friend Bob Buck recalled to me a story of a child gazing out the window at the steam, smoke and wires, “Pa, is this hell?” “No son, this is New Haven!”
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I’m traveling toward Wilmington, Delaware aboard Amtrak Train 55, the southward Vermonter.
The train is now approaching its station stop at Meriden, Connecticut.
It was announced that from Hartford the train was completely sold out. Thus demonstrating that old adage no one rides trains anymore because they’re too crowded!
I exposed these photos with my FujFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.
As we roll along, the files were downloaded to my MacBook using Image Capture software, scaled for internet using Lightroom, and uploaded via Amtrak’s WiFi to WordPress for presentation on Tracking the Light.
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The old McClelland Farm Road bridge over the Boston & Maine tracks at the west end of East Deerfield Yard (near Greenfield, Massachusetts) had been a popular place to photograph trains.
Known colloquially as the ‘Railfan’s Bridge,’ this vantage point had been featured in articles in TRAINS Magazine, Railpace and other popular literature for decades.
For more than a year a new bridge, parallel to the old bridge, has been under construction.
Last week, December 6, 2018, photographer Mike Gardner and I made a brief visit to East Deerfield to inspect progress.
The old bridge was still in place, while the new bridge was open and mostly complete.
Inevitably, fences will be installed, and how these may affect photography has yet to been seen. However, looking to the east, the view has been complicated by the erection of new electrical lines.
Below are a few views of the new and old McClelland Farm Road bridges.
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It was on a damp evening 15 years ago (13 December 2003), that I exposed this 35mm Fujichrome Sensia II slide using my Contax G2 rangefinder with 45mm Zeiss lens at Irish Rail’s station in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny.
At the time, Irish Rail was operating its sugarbeet trains via Thomastown and Cherryville Junction owing to bridge collapse at Cahir, County Tipperary.
I’ve always liked the rich atmosphere of this slide which conveys an era now gone. Irish Rail closed the cabin at Thomastown a few months later and removed the Thomastown loop when it commissioned the Waterford Mini CTC.
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Why make one photo and when you can get two?
I like to work with more than one form of media.
In this instance, New England Central’s southward 611 (Brattleboro to Palmer turn) was crawling across the antique Millers Falls Highbridge in its namesake Massachusetts town.
My vantage point was the 2007-built Route 63 highway bridge.
This is more than a century newer than the parallel railway span.
First I exposed a burst of digital photos using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with 90mm lens. Then I made a single black & white photo on HP5 using a Nikon F3 with 50mm lens.
By design the black & white view is textured. I realize that black & white doesn’t appeal to everyone, yet I’ve worked in black & white for my entire life, and I often find my traditional film photos more interesting to look at than the digital images.
And that is why I do both.
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On the evening of December 4, 2018, I panned CTrail train 4461 led by engine 6695 at the new Berlin, Connecticut station.
Berlin is brightly lit and makes for a good vantage point to watch and photograph passenger trains on the Hartford Line.
To make this pan photo, I set the shutter speed at 1/30thof second, fixed a point in my view finder and moved my camera and body in parallel with the train in a smooth unbroken motion as it arrived at the station.
Panning is a great means to show a train in motion.
Last week on a trip along the Connecticut River Valley with fellow photographer Mike Gardner, I exposed this view of New England Central job 611 at Northfield, Massachusetts.
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View from Amtrak 48 at Rochester’s new station.
Heading east on the back of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited, I exposed these views from the dutch doors of Silver Splendorat Rochester, New York on its cross country journey.
Photographer, Otto Vondrak caught us at the Rochester station, a place much changed from my visits here in the 1980s.
Seeing the ‘new’ Rochester from the windows of the train was a bit surreal.
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