In modern British railway practice positioned a locomotive at either end of a consist is described as ‘topped and tailed.’
Wednesday evening, Amtrak’s Keystone 649 was running slightly behind the adverstised and featured Siemen ACS-64 electrics at both ends. On the front of the train locomotive 640 led a venerable former Metroliner cab-car.
I’d been tracking 649’s westward progress. It was dusk when we opted to park off Hoover Road near Gap, Pa., to roll by the train. I made these panned photos of the passing train using my Nikon Z7-II with f2.8 70-200mm lens.
Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set at 200mm, f2.8 1/50th sec, ISO 1600.Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set at 200mm, f2.8 1/40th sec, ISO 1600.
The General Motors EMD model SD45 remains among my favorite diesels.
During my years in California, I exposed countless color slides of SD45s in action on both Southern Pacific and Santa Fe.
This Kodachrome is a memorable image that shows an SP SD45E in near silhouette as it leads a light helper set downgrade in the Tehachapis near Marcel, Calif. This view emphasizes the locomotive’s characteristic flared radiator intakes, which are among the SD45’s noteworthy external features.
I like the geometric play of the signal code lines and the soft background of tapered hills fading into the morning mist.
Nikon F3T with f4.0 200mm Nikkor telephoto. Exposed on March 29, 1992.
On February 26, 2022, It had snowed heavily overnight in the Mount Washington Valley, but the morning was clear and snow clung to the trees and bridges.
I was aiming to capture Conway Scenic’s Snow Train in these picture-perfect conditions to use in the railroad’s future advertising.
So, I set up on a snow bank in Glen, New Hampshire immediately west of the Ellis River bridge and waited. I had the railroad’s Sony video camera on a tripod. As the train approached, I recorded video, while making a sequence of still photos with my Nikon Z6.
Below is one of the original photos scaled from the NEF RAW file without adjustment or cropping. This photograph has appeared in various forms in my 2024-2025 Winter advertising campaign for Conway Scenic Railroad, while the video that I recorded has been used for television commercials and social media posts.
Now, Conway Scenic Roadroad has just one weekend left of the Winter season, with Snow Train operating to Conway on March 1 and 2.
Unadjusted NEF file; exposed using a Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens, set at ISO 200, f7.1 at 1/800 second, zoom set to 200mm. February 26, 2022.Conway Scenic Railroad’s two-page advertisment that appeared in Portland Monthly Magazine. Graphic design by Silverline Graphics of Maine.
Today, I’m giving my first Railroad Photography 101 class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
Among the topics I’ll touch on is ‘technique’.
To illustrate ‘technique’, I made this sequence of four similar images of former Pennsylvania Railroad E7A 5901 displayed at the museum, which demonstrate that subtle choices regarding angle, light, exposure and focal length affect foreground and background that alter the end result.
On our Saturday drive, Kris and I paused at Reading & Northern’s station at Minersville, Pa. This is home to the preserved Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 number 113.
On several occasions in year’s gone by, I’ve photographed 113 under steam at Minersville. On those occasions the station has been alive with visitors, who had flocked to the railroad for annual Santa Train excursions.
Saturday’s visit was a complete contrast to my earlier visits. Old 113 was cold, and the rails were rusted. The station was locked up tight and not a wheel was turning. Elsewhere trains were on the move, but not here.
For me Minersville is like Brigadoon, and someday, it will come to life again.
CNJ 113. Photo exposed in NEF RAW and converted to PNG format using DxO Pure Raw software, then adjusted with Lightroom for presentation here.
These photos were exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.
Yesterday, I was among observers as Pennsylvania’s Strasburg Rail Road switched with 2-6-0 89. This included a move to position EMD-built SW8 8618 in the engine shop nearest the station.
This is a lesson in back lighting and the lightening of shadows in post processing.
I worked with my FujiFilm XT1 with 16-55mm Fujinon zoom, exposing my photos in RAF raw format. Later I converted the RAW files to DNG format using Iridient X-Transformer. Finally, I made post processing corrections in Adobe Lightroom. This involved lightening the shadow areas and adjusting sky density.
Yesterday evening, after Kris and I finished our workdays, we drove trackside to Bird-in-Hand, Pa., where I caught Amtrak Keystone 649 running a little behind the advertised on its way to Lancaster and Harrisburg.
It was nice to again be able to get sun-on-the-tracks photos in the evenings after work.
I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series Zoom.
Friend and regular Tracking the Light reader Wayne Duffett challenged me yesterday to locate (and post) this photo of Southern Pacific’s BIG Jordan Spreaders plowing snow on Donner Pass.
I made the photo at Yuba Pass, California on the west slope of SP’s Donner crossing in March 1991. I was using my Nikon F3T with a 35mm PC (perspective control) lens fitted with a polarizing filter. My film of choice was Kodachrome 25.
Like many of my premium classic chromes, this one has appeared in print several times over the years.
At 10:53 am on February 19, 1988, I photographed this Conrail intermodal hotshot passing the 413 automatic signals near Corfu, New York on the former New York Central Water Level Route.
It was on this tangent section of track, that on May 10, 1893, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad staged its famous speed run with the specially proportioned 4-4-0 999.
Kodachrome 25 color slide exposue using a Leica M2 rangefinder with 50mm f2.0 Summicron lens.
In my illustrated book, North American Locomotives, published by Voyageur Press in 2012 (dedicated to the Memory of Robert A. Buck), I covered 999’s famous run with this description:
In 1893, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad staged a speed run under the direction of George H. Daniels, Central’s General Passenger Agent (and unofficial chief publicity stunt coordinator) with a specially designed 4-4-0 with exceptionally tall drivers, number 999. On May 10th, this engine with engineer Charles Hogan at the throttle sprinted west toward Buffalo with a special section of the Empire State Express. On a downgrade tangent near Corfu, New York, he opened the throttle wide; to passengers on board telegraph polls along the line blurred by ‘like a picket fence’, and those timing the train claimed to have hit 112.5 mph!
In 1988, while I was attending the Rochester Institute of Technology, I shared a rented apartment in Scottsville, New York.
Among the benefits of the apartment was that it was in earshot of the former Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh line to Rochester, operated by Genesee & Wyoming start-up Rochester & Southern.
On the afternoon of February 18, 1988, the horn of the southward RS-1 (mixed through freight from Brooks Avenue Yard in Rochester to East Salamanca, New York) was sounding for a crossing. Track speed wasn’t very fast, so I had time to catch the train and follow it in the afternoon light.
Between Garbutt and P&L Junction, I made this view on Kodachrome 25 slide film of the leading locomotive, a former New York Central GP40.
A Kodachrome in Kodachrome light of a southward Rochester & Southern freight from Rochester, New York, the home of Kodak. A few days after exposure I sent the film to Kodak’s Rochester processing plant, which was returned to me later in the day.
This was among a group of slides that I rejected and sorted into a box labled ‘seconds and thirds’. I scanned it last week for presentation here.
Full frame Kodachrome slide, exposed using a Leica M2 with 50mm Summicron lens-February 18, 1988.
The other night wind was fierce, but I braved the conditions to make a photo at dusk of Amtrak’s westward 649-Keystone—passing Christiana, Pa., on the former Pennsylvania Railroad main line.
To capture the action, I’d set the ISO setting on my Nikon Z7-II to 4000, which allowed me 1/1000th of a seond at f2.8. I’d set the focal length of my 70-200 zoom to 150mm, which gave me a good view of the old PRR station to the right of the train.
This view was processed using Lightroom to boost color saturation, correct color balance, and improve both contrast and exposure. I may later import this Nikon RAW file into DxO Pure Raw to see how that software improves the image.
Amtrak ACS-64 652 leads westward Keystone train number 649 at Christiana, Pa., 150mm.
In early September 1991, I was documenting Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449 with fellow photographer, and noted Southern Pacific author Brian L. Jennison. In between sets of the steam locomotive, we took the time to photograph SP’s freights.
Summer midday sun in the canyons of northern California presented difficult lighting conditions to make photographs using Kodachrome.
Here we were in the Sacramento River Canyon near Conant, California to catch SP’s westward EUWC-M (Eugene to West Colton manifest). I’d set up my Nikon F3T on a Bogen 3021 tripod in vertical (portrait) format in order to capture the train with the famed Castle Crags rock formation in the distance.
My lens of choice was an old Nikkor f4.0 200mm telephoto lens that I’d purchased secondhand a year earlier. This lens was tricky to focus, but offered a wonderful soft color palette that helped compensate for the summer ‘high sun’.
As SP’s EUWC-M came into view I exposed a series of slides. I’d edited some of the other views and filed them away more than 30 years ago, but this one had remained in the yellow Kodak box until a few days ago.
I’ve been gradually sorting, scanning, labeling and filing thousands of my older slides. Although this is a very tight view, it makes me nostalgic for the days when Southern Pacific’s EMD diesels populated the rails of the West. I was especially fond of SP’s classic headlight arrangement that included both fixed and oscillating headlights and a red oscillating warning light, such as featured on SP SD45T-2 9260.
Kodachrome 25 slide exposed using a Nikon F3T with 200mm telephoto.
This was before the use of ditch lights predominated on American locomotives.
On a visit to Stockholm in May 2010, I made this color slide of a Coradia Duplex X40 long-distance electric multiple unit.
My framing inadvertently visually aligned the curves on the front of the train with a steeple in the background. This created an illusion of the train carrying a tall pompous crown.
Exposed on Fujichrome with a Canon EOS-3 with 100mm lens.
Kris called this a ‘bonus train’. We weren’t anticipating this move. But, it was neat to catch this eastward Norfolk Southern unit train (consisting of covered hoppers) as it crossed the Susquehanna River via the former Pennsylvania Railroad Rockville Bridge.
The repetative patterns offered by the arches and off-white hoppers against the backdrop of distant hills makes for a visually compelling scene.
I made these views using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
On September 2, 1991, at Dunsmuir, California, I made a series of pan photos of the famous Southern Pacific streamlined ‘Daylight’ 4-8-4, engine 4449.
In this image, I was attempting to catch a broadside view of the engine in motion with the driving rods down. While, I captured the rods down, I managed to clip the front of the locomotive and was a bit over enthusiastic pressing the shutter release, so the whole photo suffers from motion blur.
My exposure was f13 (recorded as ‘11.5’) at 1/30th of second. Kodachrome 25 slide film.
Not ever photo wins the prize. This is a qualified ‘fail’. Live and learn.
Sun and clouds. I aimed my Leica M2 at MBTA 905, a former New Haven Railroad GP9 with a complicated lineage.
I like the contrast of the silver locomotive against an old factory shadowed by a cloud.
This is an image characteristic of Kodachrome. This film rendered excellent color in bright sunlight, but tended to result in dark images in cloudy conditions, which was function of its reduced sensativity to the blue spectrum.
Full frame photo. Note the curved corners which are a function of the cardboard slide mount.
In April 2007, standing on the road bridge east of Limerick Junction, I framed one of Irish Rail’s relatively new Mark4 trains with an antique rod-operated mechanical semaphore. The Mark4 driving trailer was leading the train with an Enterprise painted Class 201 diesel at the back of the set.
The Mark4 train set entered service in 2006, while the signal was retired in late 2010.
This was exposed on Fujichrome film using a Nikon F3.
I scanned the slide with a Nikon LS5000 slide scanner powered by VueScan 98.4.2 software. This enabled me to make a multiple pass scan to maximize data capture. I then conducted final processing of the TIF file using Adobe Lightroom to better balance color, exposure and contrast.
Not long after the eastward Norfolk Southern intermodal train came to a stop east of SIP 116 to change crews, the westward intermodal train that we’d been anticipating came into view.
This scene unfolded nicely, and I made a series of photos as the trains passed one another on the old Pennsylvania Railroad ‘Middle Division’ at Cove, Pa.
Bright sun and freight trains on the move brought me back to another time, when photographer Mike Gardner and I caught a series of Conrail freights at this same location.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
Back in January, Kris and I enjoyed lunch at the Fox Meadows Creamery in Leola before heading over to Greenfield in Lancaster, Pa.
When I saw the signal was lit green, I knew I was in luck.
I had just enough time to compose my photo before Amtrak’s inspection train raced by westbound. My goal was to catch cars 10002 and 10005 passing the classic signal.
Car 10002, the Corridor Clipper, is a track inspection car, while car 10005, is a former Pennsyvlania Railroad Metroliner multiple unit that has been equipped to perform catenary measurement.
Thanks Amtrak!
Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm telephoto zoom lens. File adjusted using Adobe Lightroom to lighten shadows, control contrast, and adjust saturation and color balance.
There’s a nice curve on the old Main Line near Cove, Pennsylvania, just east of Norfolk Southern’s timetable location SIP116 (near milepost 116).
We pulled in expecting to catch a westward freight, and saw that an eastward train was approaching slowly.
We had ample time to jump out of the car and get cameras ready. I didn’t want to over complicate things, so I restricted my photographic efforts to just four cameras: Two Nikon digital, plus my Fuji XT1, and a Nikon F3 loaded with Ektachrome. Kris thought this was excessive, but hey! the sun was out and the railroad was alive!
I made this view using my Nikon Z6 70-200mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm set at 200mm, f5.6 1/640 second, ISO 100.
Photographing streetcars (trams) with a long telephoto presents a visual quandary.
The compression effect offered by the lens can be used to help separate the car from other traffic, while presenting an interesting background. However, the same effect will also compress the streetcar, making an already short vehicle appear even shorter.
Working with my f2.8 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series telephoto zoom, I made these photos of a SEPTA light rail car working east on State Street in Media. This car was on its return run toward 69th Street in Upper Darby. Less than 20 minutes earlier, I’d photographed this car on its outward run, and that image was featured on Tracking the Light a few days ago.
By using a wide aperture, I was afforded shallow depth of field which helps the viewer separate the car from its environment.
200mm f2.8 1/5000th of a second.200mm f2.8 1/4000th of a second.
Last Saturday was clear and bright, so Kris and I headed over to the famed Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
When we arrived there was a set of Norfolk Southern locomotives sitting on the bridge and it appeared that scene was set for some action.
We made some photos of the bridge and a few pictures of each other with the iconic spans before heading up river to catch trains on the move. Nice sunlight was a good start, and on this day Norfolk Southern didn’t disappoint . . .
More photos coming soon!
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens. Nikon NEF RAW adjusted with Lightroom.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens. Nikon NEF RAW adjusted with Lightroom.
The mid-2000s saw a rapid transformation of Irish Rail.
Older equipment, some of which had served the railway for decades, was withdrawn as newer trains entered service. Stations were revamped, modified and improved with modern access and longer platforms. A series of new paint liveries were introduced and discontinued in rapid succession. In just a few years most of the trains were transformed from variations of Irish Rail’s orange liveries to schemes featuring two-tone greens and silver with dashes of safety yellow.
On 28 April 2007, I made this view of Irish Rail’s Class 201 diesel wearing the orange with safety yellow front scheme (introduced in 2005) leading Mark II carriages at Portarlington. A new handicapped access foot bridge has supplanted the traditional lattice bridge that connected the up and down platforms, while some work around the station and platforms had already begun. More changes to the station were soon to follow, which included easing the track curvature through the station-area to allow for higher running speed.
This photo is not a work of art, but rather a straight narrative image aimed at documenting the scene as it appeared on 28April2007.
There was a comparatively short window in time where it was possible to make transitory photos like this one. Soon all changed.
My first visit to Media, Pa., was more than 45 years ago. On that trip, my family rode from the 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby on a December evening in a vintage Brilliner trolley car. At the time the car was more than 40 years old. I’d made an underexposed Kodachrome slide of the car in the inky darkness
Kris and I made a Media visit in January. On this adventure I caught one of SEPTA’s early 1980s-vintage Kawasaki Cars working the single track line on State Street in midday sun.
SEPTA has plans to retire these relics in another few years, and I was happy to make a few digital photo of this car.
More Media photos will follow over the coming days.
The HSP-46 is a diesel-electric unique to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
Last November, we paused briefly on the former New Haven Railroad Shoreline Route at Mansfield, Massachusetts, where I made this photograph of an outbound commuter train led by HSP-46 2008.
The railroad was built in the early 1830s as the Boston & Providence, which was among the first lines in North America to employ locomotives in main line service. This was several years before the development of practical commercial photography.
I wonder what it would have been like to watch one of the B&P’s early steam locomotives working the line and if I had a camera, what sort of photograph I might have made of that locomotive.
Exposed with a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom.
The morning of 15 September 2006 was clear and bright. It was the third attempt we made to catch Irish Rail’s Ballina-Dublin Norfolk liner from a vantage point in this field near Ballyvary, Co. Mayo.
On this day, many of the containers carried by the train were actually Norfolk Line boxes. While this may seem unremarkable, in practice it was relatively unusual, and on many days the train carried an assortment of 20 and 40 foot containers.
Norfolk Line was a component of the Maersk Group. Years later, this train became the IWT Liner, which years ago was a regular feature on Tracking the Light, as I often photograph it on my extended visits to Ireland.
I have a variety of connections with name Norfolk. My wife Kris grew up in the town of Norfolk, Massachusetts, and in recent years we have paid several visits to Norfolk, thus the photographs of MBTA near the Norfolk Station.
These days, American Class I carrier Norfolk Southern is among my regular subjects, including its local freights on the New Holland and Lititz Secondaries and on former Pennsylvania Railroad main lines.
A decade before I was born, my father paid visits to the Norfolk & Western to photograph their magnificent steam locomotives at work. I have often featured these images in my books, as well as N&W photos from other photographers, including the late John E. Pickett and Jim Shaughnessy.
Ten years ago, fellow photographer Pat Yough and I traveled to Norfolk, Virginia where we visited the Norfolk Southern Museum (that displayed one of my photos on the wall) and traveled on Norfolk’s The Tide lightrail system.
Exposed on Fujichrome using a Contax G2 rangefinder with 45mm Zeiss lens.
