Over the last year, Kris and I have made a habit of stopping of at Tamaqua, Pa., on our drives to and from I-81.
There’s almost always something of interest parked at the north end of Reading & Northern’s yard.
On our most recent visit we found a nice selection of vintage EMDs. Although most have been modified in one way or another since leaving the factory at La Grange, Illinois, these largely retain their traditional appearances.
For me, the diesels of the 1960s and 1970s are like Classic Rock hits from the same period; they are old, yet familiar and always a a pleasure to catch up with again from time to time.
I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II.
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This is the third installment about our visit to Elkins Park, Pa.,
After the storm raged, I presented my 45 minute-long slide show on the railways of Philadelphia that featured a variety of photos by my father and myself along with some select images by photographer Andrew Ludasi.
When the show concluded, a vivid double rainbow hung in the eastern sky, so we went out to make photos.
SEPTA finally had its trains rolling so this was a grand opportunity to make railroad photos under the rainbow.
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Brian preparing to begin his presentation, photo by Kris Solomon.Brian and Kris, photo by Pat Yough.SEPTA Silverliner IV at Elkins Park, Pa.
All images were exposed with my Nikon Z7-II with the help of Kris, and our friend Pat Yough who attended the show.
After switching out the yard in Palmer, Massachusetts, New England Central’s crew brought their locomotives to Hospital Road in Monson (a mile south of the CSX diamond) to bring a northward freight into the yard.
It’s been a while since I’ve paid daily attention to New England Central’s train operations, however I’d assume this was 608 from Willimantic (or its equivalent).
Working with my Nikon Z7-II, I exposed these images. The first is a pan of the light engines approaching the Hospital Road crossing. The second was made while the engines pumped the air on the freight cars. The last is of the northward move on the grade crossing with the camera on a tripod. Exposure information for each is in the captions.
Hospital Road isn’t the most visually striking location, but it does lend to interesting photos.
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ISO 4000, 1/25th second, f4.0. NEF RAW file converted into DNG format with DxO Pure Raw, post processing using Adobe Lightroom.ISO 10000, 1/40th second, f4.0. NEF RAW file converted into DNG format with DxO Pure Raw, post processing using Adobe Lightroom.ISO 5000, 1/50th second, f4.0. Camera mounted on a #pod tripod. NEF RAW file converted into DNG format with DxO Pure Raw, post processing using Adobe Lightroom.
Kris and I walked back from Creekside Market & Tap just as the sky was turning an odd color. Big change from less than hour earlier when blue skies with puffy white clouds were the order of the afternoon.
As we approached the station an outward Silverliner V accelerated away from its Elkins Park station stop.
Upon arrival back on the platform the darkness set in. An inbound train glided to a stop as another outbound train pulled away. There was a line in the sky delineating blue from gray.
Then the street lights came on, the wind kicked up and it started to rain cats and dogs. We moved back from the row of benches beneath the station canopy to get more shelter. . .’Hey, was that a small tree that just blew across the tracks?’
The was some automated announcement about trains canceled, then suspended.
Wow, this was some storm! By the time my NRHS slide program was to begin, the weather had calmed down, but it was a while before trains were rolling in-bound again.
Since 2009, I paid more than a dozen visits to the former Pennsylvania Railroad trestles at Safe Harbor, Pa.
I’ve visited in the morning, midday, and evenings. I’ve gone on weekdays and weekends. I’ve climbed the steps to the rail trail at least ten times. I’ve walked the trail across the top of the bridge and scoped locations.
We’ve sat in the parking lot on the dam side of the trestles. Last summer we saw coal empties rolling through Port Deposit and raced ahead to Safe Harbor only to watch the sunset without a train pass.
The other morning I woke at 5:15am. I motivated, hoisted myself out of bed, dressed and drove to the Safe Harbor bridges arriving there at 5:45am. It was already 75 degrees and the humidity as thick as a rain forest.
I climbed the steps to the top of the bridge on the old Enola Low Grade, only to see that the signals were all red for a westward movement. Not a promising sign. Worse, the humidity immediately fogged the front elements of my Nikon.
Condensation on the front element made for a foggy photo.
I walked across the bridge; I gazed down at the Safe Harbor Dam, I read the signs at the west of the bridge that tell of its construction & etc. I walked back. I bird watched. I shared my thoughts in my notebook.
I read the rules of the rail trail, and at 6:30 am I gazed once again at the signals. Still red. So I read the rules again for amusement. Finally, I was about to give up and walk back to the car. The camera lens had finally un-fogged. And . . . wait . . . did the westward signal just clear to green?
It had.
I walked back out on to the bridge and waited. At 6:45, I heard the distant chug of a GE Evolution diesel. Wow!
I gazed down river toward Pequea. At 6:46, I spotted a northward train on the move. Gradually the sound grew louder. I framed up my photos. I made a test shot. At 6:54am the train came into view and I exposed these photos.
Finally! I’d scored a train on the move at Safe Harbor! This was probably Norfolk Southern’s 37A from Edgemoor, Delaware.
When I got back to the car just after 7am it was more than 80 degrees. I was home for tea 15 minutes later. It was all worth it!
Last week, Kris and I visited SEPTA’s Elkins Park station on the former Reading Company line, where I was scheduled to present my program on Philadelphia-area railways to the Philadelphia Chapter National Railway Historical Society later in the evening.
We considered taking the train, but ultimately opted to drive, which proved to be the right decision owing to extreme weather that occurred later in the day.
When we arrived at Elkins Park it was bright and sunny! I made several photos at the station before proceeding to the nearby Creekside Market & Tap to meet our hosts.
While having a beer and roast beef sandwich, Wayne Duffet sent a screen shot from Strasburg Rail Road’s Leaman Place webcam: the weather was closing in on us from the west.
It was amazing how quickly the weather turned. We got back to the station just before the sudden deluge . . . stay tuned!
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After dinner on Friday the 13th, Kris and I stopped down to Palmer, Mass., to see if anything was moving.
In time-honored practice we parked near the signals at CP83. I got out of the car and gave a listen. It was hard to hear over the cacophony of music and voices emanating from the Steaming Tender. I gazed east on the old Boston & Albany and saw that the yard was mostly empty. Then, I walked to New England Central’s former Central Vermont yard on the opposite side of the parking lot. While there, I caught a hint of a long-familiar sound. Freight cars drifting downgrade . . .Eastbound!
Turning on the hoof, I ran back to the signals, and gave it a second listen. . . . . definitely an eastbound on the B&A! I stepped back to frame up the photograph and saw the switch was lined for the controlled siding.
As the CSX freight came into view and took the siding, I could hear another train. Eighty-five cars passed me, and when the last had cleared the signals, I saw New England Central’s freight waiting to cross the diamond southbound.
We had timed our arrival perfectly! Lucky for us, but it helps to be tuned to the sounds of railroading.
Although the paint on the engines was different and the trees had grown, it was for that few minutes like old times in my old haunt.
Photos exposed using a Nikon Z7-II, NEF Raw files converted to DNG format using DxO PureRaw and adjusted for exposure, contrast and color using Lightroom.
In June 1997, my father and I made photographs of Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 No. 614 leading an excursion across the former Erie Railroad Moodna Viaduct at Salisbury Mills, New York.
A few days ago, Kris and I revisited this famous bridge located on the old Erie Graham Line cutoff, now part of the route of NJ Transit/Metro North Port Jervis service commuter trains.
Parking is available at the Schunnemuck Mountain Trail Area off Otter Kill Road. (A nice trail, bummer about the otter).
We arrived just a few minutes before Train 76 from Port Jervis crossed the vast span.
In some instances, I’ve framed a photo poorly, thus resulting in my cropping from the image an element of interest .
In other situations, cropping in post processing can improve a photo by eliminating or minimizing distracting, or otherwise uninteresting elements from the image area.
Consider the two photos below. Both are very similar. These were exposed seconds apart at Palmer, Mass. I’m looking toward the New England Central yard office from the parking lot of the Steaming Tender restaurant.
In the top photo, I inadvertently center the image and cropped the front of the hyrail truck parked near the yard office. In my view this is a ‘bad crop’.
In the bottom photo (below), I’ve made a conscious effort to include the hyrail truck in its entirety, but cropped bland portions of the sky and foreground to help emphasize elements of railroad interest. In my opinion, this crop improved the photo.
On a warm Spring evening, a New England Central job worked the former Central Vermont Railway yard at Palmer, Mass. Facing northward was Buffalo & Pittsburgh 3511—an early example of a GP38-2, now 53 years old.
This classic diesel made for some nice images as it worked the north end of the yard near Palmer’s popular Steaming Tender restaurant.
I recall a day back in the summer of 1981, when I photographed Central Vermont GP9s doing this job. At the time I considered those engines remarkable for their age, having replaced steam nearly a quarter century earlier.
I wonder what this scene may bring in another 44 years?
During my class last week at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Museum Director Patrick Morrison offered to open up some of the locomotives. I asked if we could visit former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric 4935.
I made these fireman’s side views with my Lumix LX7.
It was pretty neat to explore the steam-era streamlined electric locomotive. While at the museum I bought my dad a GG1 4935 T-shirt which I delivered to him in Massachusetts a couple of days later.
On January 1, 1980, Pop, my brother Sean and I photographed this classic machine together at New Haven, Connecticut.
Kris and I arrived at the famous East Deerfield Yard just as Norfolk Southern/Pan Am Southern’s Chicago-Ayer, Mass., intermodal train was rolling though.
We drove east to Farley, location of some Boston & Maine era General Railway Signal searchlight style signals. Once common on many railroads , the searchlight has been out of favor for more than 30 years and today relatively few remain. These are note worthy because they feature ‘G’ plates (for grade), which changes how the most restictive aspect should be interpreted.
When we arrived, the roar of the eastward train filled the valley.
I quickly set up my 3Pod tripod with Nikon Z7-II and made a series of time exposures as the train passed the signals and road crossing.
Soon the NS intermodal train will be routed over CSX’s former Boston & Albany line via Palmer and Worcester. I wonder how much longer the old signals will last?
On an evening drive through the Quaboag Valley, Kris and I paused in Warren, Massachusetts.
I thought of my first visit here back about 1975, when my dad drove my brother and me to Tucker’s Hardware, then located on Main Street. I pointed out the gap in the building to Kris, indicating where the store had once stood on the main street.
The hardware store also sold model railroad supplies. About 1982, Bob Buck, proprietor, relocated the railroad hobby portion of the business to his boyhood home on Bacon Street (around the corner from the hardware location).
The old Boston & Albany station is located off Main Street, roughly opposite from the foot of Bacon Street.
A blue glow remained in the sky as I exposed photos of the station building, which has been restored. It looks much better now than it had for many years. As I made this 20 second exposure, I thought of all the Conrail trains I’d seen passing this relic of the B&A.
Shortly, I was joined by a member of the local police department, who drove up and engaged me in conversation, primarily concerned about my well-being. I mentioned my long affiliation with Tucker’s Hobbies, but this was before his time, and finding that I wasn’t in distress, wished me goood evening and continued about on his rounds.
Time is weird; it passes by leaving only bits of what was once something else, and me seeing ghosts of the past.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens, mounted on 3Pod tripod. ISO 100, 20 seconds at f4.0. NEF converted to DNG using DxO Pure Raw.
Kris and I were sitting on the platform enjoying dinner at Palmer, Massachusetts’ Steaming Tender restaurant when the unmistakable sound of wheels clattering across the CSX-New England Central diamond grabbed our attention.
Amtrak’s 448 wasn’t running, so what was this?
Eastward Amtrak Light engines!
This included a Cabbage painted for Downeaster service and a P42 in the new ‘Phase 7’ scheme—the first that we’ve seen.
On that hazy evening in Palmer, Mass., last week, I made several classic nocturnal locomotive portraits of New England Central GP40-2L 3015 that has been painted to honor America’s veterans and service members.
During the course of switching, this sharp looking locomotive paused for a few minutes. Thick haze contributed to the laser-like beams of the locomotive headlights.
I made these images with my Nikon Z7-II firmly mounted on a 3Pod tripod.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens set to 40mm, ISO 80, f4 at 10 seconds. File converted to DNG using DxO Pure Raw, then edited in Lightroom.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens set to 31mm, ISO 80, f4 at 8 seconds. File converted to DNG using DxO Pure Raw, then edited in Lightroom.
My third Railroad Photography 101 Class was a success!
This was held at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania last week.
While the first part of this 3rd session was conducted outside, the last part of the class was held inside the Museum in the main hall.
Museum Director Patrick Morrison asked if we would like to explore some of the restored locomotives and cars on exhibit in the hall and offered to open up a few of the museum’s gems for photography.
This was a wonderful idea, and soon the students and I were climbing in and around the exhibits.
I had never before been on a Pennsylvania Railroad E44 electric, so it was a thrill for me to take a look inside and sit in the engineer’s seat. These boxy high-horsepower electrics were built by General Electric and share a resemblence with GE’s diesel-electrics built around the same time.
My photos for this exercise were exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with a 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom lens.
I have a long history of making night photos of trains in Palmer, Massachusetts.
The names have changed since my first attempts at exposing Tri-X in the early 1980s, but Palmer remains an interesting place to practice night rail-photo techniques.
The other night a full moon was rising through an ash-tinted sky, (presumably as the result of Canadian wildfires). Kris said, ‘Never mind the train! Look at the moon!!” It was a grand golden globe.
New England Central’s 608 was switching the former Central Vermont yard. So, I made several images attempts to make compositions with the train and the moon. The steam locomotive on display is a stock-industrial 0-6-0 built by Porter in the early 20th century.
Making the most of the moon proved challenging and I’m not completely pleased with this selection.
The other night, Kris and I paid a sponaneous visit to my old stomping grounds at Palmer, Mass.
While the New England Central was switching the former Central Vermont Railway yard, we could hear an approaching eastbound freight on CSX’s former Boston & Albany.
I set up my 3pod tripod on the platform of the old Union Station (now Palmer’s popular Steaming Tender restaurant), and exposed a sequence of photos of the passing train using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
These images were made at 1/15 second at ISO 1000. NEF Faw files were converted to DNG format pins DxO PureRaw software and then adjusted in Lightroom to alter color, contrast and exposure.
Wildfires in Canada contributed to haze that made for some interesting visual effects.
CSX M436 (Selkirk to Framingham) approaches Palmer, Massachusetts. Lights on the station helped illuminate the train.
Just one more week until my 7pm illustrated program featuring more than 6 decades of photography of Philadelphia’s Trains and Trolleys.
This will held by the Philadelphia Chapter NRHS at the Elkins Park SEPTA station on June 19th.
I will include a variety of photographs. Many of them are from mine and my father’s archives, including this December 31, 2016 view looking west on Girard Avenue.
Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens set to 99mm.
We paid a visit to Amos Herr Park in Landisville, Pa., which provides trails near Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line.
I made a few telephoto photographs on a sunny afternoon of Amtrak Keystone 665 as it rolled west under wire.
My favorite is the trailing view of ACS64 638 framed by trees (third photo).
The arrangement of catenary masts with single supports on the north side of the line aids photography by minimizing the number of vertical distractions.
At 7pm on June 19th, 2025, I am presenting a slide program to the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society at the Elkins Park, Pa., SEPTA Regional Rail Station.
This will feature more than 60 years of photography of railway operations in greater Philadelphia. I am melding together a special selection of mine and my father’s photographs that will touch on a variety of subjects including Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading Company, Red Arrow Lines, SEPTA, Amtrak and modern freight railroads.
Under and over at Norristown, Pa., January 3, 2013.No. 10 Trolleys on Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia on. June 29, 2012.
See the chapter notice below:
Appearing at the Philadelphia NRHS June 19thMeeting, at the Elkins Park SEPTA Regional Rail Station at 7pm is:
Brian Solomon Noted Photographer and author of over 70 books! And Marketing Director for the Conway Scenic Railroad!
Please join us at this specially created program by Brian on 60 years of Philadelphia railroad and Trolley photography, using his own and his dad’s pictures
Non-Members and guests welcome! Especially guests from nearby NRHS and PRRT&HS chapters!
We will have a raffle of donated items and baked treats at the meeting
In the summer of 1983, my family traveled to Vermont to photograph Steamtown operations on the Green Mountain Railroad.
I made this view on Kodachrome 64 of former Canadian Pacific Railway 4-6-2 1246 on its return run from Chester to Bellows Falls.
It was one of several Kodachrome slides that I made that day. In addition, I also exposed some black & white film.
I was soon to begin my Senior Year at Monson Jr. Sr. High School, in Monson, Massachusetts. In October 1983, I traveled with my friend Bob Buck on Steamtown’s final run over Green Mountain’s former Rutland Railroad line. In the years after that trip, Steamtown was gradually relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Near Bartonsville, Vermont, July 1983. Exposed with a Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar.
The speed restriction for the curves at Gap offers an opportunity to work with two cameras in tandem.
For this sequence, I made a few telephoto views using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens, followed by a near normal view with my Z7-II with 24-70mm lens set at 53mm.
The beauty of modern autofocus, auto-exposure digital cameras is the ability to switch rapidly between cameras for maximum versatility.
200mm f5.6 1/500th of a second.Photo cropped; 200mm f5.6 1/500th of a second.24-70mm set to 53mm; f4 1/2000th of a second.
At 9am on June 10, 2025, the third session for my Railroad Photography 101 class will convene at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.
Where the previous classes were held inside the museum’s main hall, this session is focused on the yard and the equipment displayed outside.
Recently the equipment in the yard was significantly re-arranged in preparation for work to build a roundhouse to display some of the gems in the museum’s collection.
Yesterday morning, I toured the yard with Museum Director Pat Morrison in preparation for Tuesday’s class. I made these images with my Nikon Z7-II as we made our inspection.
Kris had suggested seeking out Norfolk Southern’s night local, which we found working at Greenfield Road in Lancaster, Pa.
After exposing a few photos using my FujiFilm XT1 (as presented yesterday), I made this series of images with a Lumix LX7.
The first image is of the train at Greenfield Road, where it was working High Steel Structures. The others were along Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line along Jefferson Drive.
All the images were converted in DNG format from RAW files using DxO PureRaw.
At times of stress and when sadness threatens to obscure my focus, I’ve often turned to railroad photography as welcome distraction.
The other night on our way back from Fox Meadows Creamery in Leola, Kris suggested we detour via Greenfield Road: “Maybe we’ll see the local freight.”
On our way, we spotted the headlights of a GP38-2 illuminating the catenary masts of the former Pennsylvania Railroad, and sure enough, Norfolk Southern’s night local was making its drop to High Steel Structures.
Burning fusees warned motorists that the train was blocking the road. This job often has locomotives a both ends.
While some of the highway traffic was less than impressed by seeing the freight at work, we were delighted. I made a selection of photos using my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Touit. Although I had my tripod, I opted to make these photos handheld using high ISO. I converted the Fuji RAW RAW files in to DNG format using DxO PureRaw, then cropped and adjusted contrast, color and exposure in Adobe Lightroom.
Later, I exposed a few photos with my Lumix LX7, but I’ll save those for a later post.
ISO 3200, f2.8 1/15sec.ISO 1600, f2.8 1/15sec.ISO 3200, f2.8 1/15sec.
In the long days, early morning illumination at Norfolk Southern’s Lewis (Dillerville) Yard in Lancaster, Pa., made some opportunities for classic sunlit photos of antique EMD diesels.
Back in April, I posted a few photos here on a dull day. I knew I could improve upon them, so last Sunday I paid another visit, and this time I bought out the heavy equipment.
Images were exposed digitally using Nikon Z6 and Z7-II cameras.
Although, I’ve made countless photos at Esbenshade Road, on this occasion I was interigued by the crop patterns in the field on the northside of the Strasburg Rail Road tracks.
The combination of a richly textured sky and these foreground patterns made for an interesting setting.
I made a sequence of images using my Nikon Z7-II mirrorless. In post-processing I created two variations from the same cropped NEF RAW file.
I scoped out a different location to roll by Amtrak’s Keystone.
So Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I, paid a cloudy evening visit to catch Train 667 near the village of Witmer—about 4 minutes away from the train’s Lancaster, Pa., station stop
ACS-64 electrics were positioned at both ends of the consist.
Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens set at: 43mm, ISO 200, 1/2000th of a second at f4.0.
