Author of more than 50 books on railways, photography, and Ireland. Brian divides his time between the United States and Ireland, and frequently travels across Europe and North America.
Saturday was a beautiful clear October morning. I walked up to the station at Port Clinton, Pennsylvania to photograph the arrival of locomotive 2102 from North Reading on its journey to Jim Thorpe.
I felt like a wee plastic man on a really big HO-scale railroad.
Back lit lighting made for dramatic images, but then required a bit of contrast control and selective lightening for final presentation.
I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm zoom lens.
After the train arrived to pick up passengers, I walked back to the grade crossing near the village of Port Clinton to photograph the thundering departure of this magnificent machine. Stay tuned!
Yesterday (October 5, 2024), Kris, Seamus-the-Dog and I drove up to Port Clinton, Pennsylvania to spend a day photographing former Reading Company class T-1 4-8-4 2102 on the Reading Northern.
Waiting for the magnificent iron horse to make its appearance, I was delighted to catch a pair of Reading & Northern former Reading Company Budd RDCs (rail diesel cars) making a run from Pottsville to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
I’m a big fan of the class Budd RDC, so this was a nice bonus for me.
I exposed these digital images using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens. I help compensate for the rich polarize morning sunshine, I’ve made a variety of nominal adjustments to contrast and exposure using Adobe Lightroom.
I also exposed a few 35mm color slides with a Nikon F3. Those remain in the camera, and it might be a while before I have them processed.
(And yes, we achived our objective and spent most of the day making dynamic photos of the 4-8-4 at work).
Yesterday, I met up with Tracking the Light reader and photographer Andrew Ludasi at Strasburg. We drove to Carpenters to catch the 3pm returning with engine 89.
It was dull afternoon, but the sound of the locomotive in the pastoral setting was rewarding. After the train passed, we discussed cameras, film and photographic technique.
I mentioned that I always liked black & white, and in years past often used black & white film even when I’d had the opportunity to expose color. I suggested that occasionally, I’d convert digital color photos to black & white, and this might be a good idea for today’s photos.
Last night during the processing of my images, I desaturated one of the photos and cropped it to make for a more dramatic composition.
In this image, I didn’t make for a full black & white conversion as I left a hint of color and gave the image a sepia-tint for effect.
Is this better than the full color versions? Today, I can have the best of color and black & white. Take your pick as to which versions you prefer.
Full frame color version; Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
I have a few notes from December 16, 1984. Not as many as I wish I’d taken.
I’d started the morning in Springfield, Massachusetts where I met my friends and we continued north to Greenfield. It was pretty dark when we caught this eastward freight, passing the old Greenfield station site. The Connecticut River Main Line is in the foreground.
It was lightly snowing/sleeting. Pretty bleak conditions for photography.
This was early in the Guilford era, at a time when it was common to find Maine Central and Delaware & Hudson locomotives working Boston & Maine trains. In this instance, Maine Central GP38 262 was leading a former D&H General Electric U23B that had been transferred to Maine Central. At the back of the train was a Delaware & Hudson caboose.
Decades later, while working at Conway Scenic in North Conway, NH. I became familiar with Maine Central GP38s 252 and 255, so I find it fascinating to review these photos that I made 40 years ago of sister locomotive 262.
Greenfield MA Dec16 1984
These are thin negatives exposed on Kodak Tri-X using my Leica 3A with a Canon f1.8 50mm lens. Back then, my understanding of black & white processing was pretty basic, and I used a straight mix of Kodak D76 for the standard time. Live and learn.
I started in Palmer, Massachusetts and followed the old Boston & Albany west all the way to North Wilbraham.
Although, I remember the walk. Some of the details are lost to time.
Approaching the Hovey Hill Road overpass in Monson, Mass., I heard a wicked throbbing roar coming from the west.
Today, I know exactly what I was hearing. Back then I only knew a train was close. I scrambled from trackside up to the bridge. Just in time to make these photos.
An eastward Conrail freight passed by on Track 2 led by three former Erie Lackawanna SD45-2s and and an SD40-2 spliced between them. Wow. What I’d do to experience that again today!
So what was I hearing? EMD’s SD45-2, like its pre Dash-2 antecedant , the SD45, was powered by a 20-cylinder version of its 645 diesel. This engine produces a characteristic low-frequency sound; when two or more of the type work in tandem, the synchronizing effect of the exhaust from the valves creates a low throbbing sound that carries for many miles. This is especially noticeable when the engines are working in the middle throttle positions. Twenty years later I made a project of preserving that exact sound, but that’s a story for some other time.
Kodak 35mm Tri-X, exposed with a Leica 3A fitted with a Canon 1.8 50mm lens. Film processed in D-76.Kodak 35mm Tri-X, exposed with a Leica 3A fitted with a Canon 1.8 50mm lens. Film processed in D-76.
This Conrail freight was one of several I saw that bright day, 40 years ago. Interestingly, I never did anything with these images until now. Pity I didn’t have a good tape recorder.
June 1984, I had just graduated high-school, and was aiming to visit Tucker’s Hobbies in Warren, Massachusetts on a Friday evening.
I must have chased this eastward Conrail freight from Palmer, staying ahead of it on Route 67.
Standing immediately west of the old Boston & Albany station, I was poised with my Leica 3A fitted with a screw-mount Canon f1 .8 50mm. I arrived moments before the roar of the engines announced the approaching train.
Three new Conrail SD50s! That was a good catch. These locomotives, although common across the Conrail network, were not often seen in sets of three, and only occasionally operated on the B&A.
At least one of these units survives to the present day as a Norfolk Southern SD40E.
In the summer of 1984, I played with a variety of lenses. I’d dropped my stalwart 50mm Leitz Sumitar , and so tended to prefer either an f1.8 Canon 50mm or my dad’s prized 21mm Leitz Super Angulon.
In August of that year, I was poised at the Palmer Diamond (where Conrail’s Boston Line crossed the Central Vermont Railway in Palmer, Massachusetts) to photograph a westward set of light engines running ‘cab hop’ toward West Springfield Yard.
The sun was partially obscured by a cloud, but the air was crisp.
I made this photo with my Leica 3A rangefinder fitted with the Super Angulon. Among the advantages of this lens was the external viewfinder which allowed for a larger and more precise means of composing photos than the tiny in-camera viewfinder that was designed strictly for a 50mm.
Palmer has changed greatly since 1984. For point of comparison, I’ve included a view of the diamond that I exposed in September 2023.
Conrail single-tracked the Boston Line in July 1986, and the trees have come up obscuring the view that I was once afforded there.
Please activate the time machine and set it to August 1984!
Looking west at Palmer, Mass. New Conrail C30-7As roll west on the old Boston & Albany. August 1984.Looking west at Palmer, Mass., September 9, 2023.
This past Saturday, I gave a 45 minute talk on the Development and Application of the American Steam Locomotive to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
Among the attendees was SUNY-Buffalo Associate Professor David Alff, who presented later in the evening. His topic was on his most recent publication, the Northeast Corridor. He offered a fascinating social history, not just of the modern day railroad, but of more than two centuries of transportation.
Earlier in the day David and I shared a table signing our respective books and I was telling him of my days watching trains from my grandparents terrace in Co-op City overlooking the Northeast Corridor in The Bronx.(New York City).
Here I am signing a book on Saturday. Photo by Kris Solomon
Sitting out in front of the museum is Amtrak AEM-7 915, a locomotive that spent roughly 35 years hauling trains on the Northeast Corridor. I have more photos of this classic electric at Strasburg than I do of it under wire.
Over the last few months, I’ve scoured thousands of my own photos, looking for the most representative and evocative images of Amtrak locomotives and trains for my latest book ‘Amtrak Equipment’ (that I’m now in the final stages of completing). In this process, I was frustrated in locating decent images of old 915 at work. (Although, I found a few of its from years ago, and some of those have appeared on Tracking the Light.)
Last night, I was reviewing some black & white negatives from the 1980s that I’d scanned back in 2016, and I found a sequence of telephoto views that I made with my father’s Leica M3 from my grandparents’ terrace.
I had been making photos here since the mid-1970s, but many suffered from inexperience and ineffective technique. By the summer of 1985, I had perfected my black & white photo technique to the point where I finally able to make some satisfying images of trains from this family vantage point.
In the black & white view below of Amtrak 915 crossing the Pelham River, I was using a Leitz Wetzlar f4 135mm Elmar lens, which was a remarkable sharp piece of glass.
Finding this photo was a Eureka! moment.
915 now rests in front of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania at Strasburg.Amtrak 915 in August 1985 leading a train toward Penn Station, as viewed from apartment 19E, Co-op City, The Bronx, NY.
Among the remarkable qualities of the Nikon Z cameras is their exceptional exposure latitude.
I don’t set out to make bad photos, but every so often I simply have the camera set incorrectly.
The other day, on our Sunday drive, Kris and I spotted Norfolk Southern’s local freight on the New Holland Branch at Leola, Pa. I pulled over and made a photo using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens set to 175mm. The problem was that I had the ISO set at 1000 and the f-stop set to f2.8.
The camera gave me the fastest shutter speed, 1/8000th, which still left my photo more than a stop over-exposed. Working with Adobe Lightroom, I was able to recover most of the data from the NEF RAW file and present a decent representation of the image, including considerable sky detail.
I also made a series of properly exposed photos, but I’m aiming to demonstrate that even in situations of extreme overexposure, it is possible to adjust the file to present a decent image if your equipment has captured the data in RAW.
NEF RAW file, converted to JPG without adjustement. This is at least one full stop overexposed.This is the same file as above, but featured my first round of adjustments to correct for the over exposure. In my opinion, the photo still needed some work.NEF RAW file after my second round of corrections.This is my Lightroom work-window that shows the postion of the slider controls and the degree of adjustments necessary to correct for the overexposed photo.
I consider railway vehicles that were built when I was in high-school as ‘old’ and noteworthy for their longevity. (40 years in service).
Railway vehicles that match me in age are stalwart members of the railway fleet, honorable for their continued operation, and definitely worthy of photography.
Railway vehicles that older than me fall into various categories, but anything that was in motion 80 years ago, used to qualify as ‘ancient’.
I made this photo of an ATAC Series tram on my second visit to Rome in 2017. This was exposed at Portamaggiore. Beyond the tram is a vestige of a Roman wall from the 3rd century. By that measure, the tram, built in the mid-1940s, seems nearly new! Sort of puts everything in perspective.
Exposed using my Lumix LX7.
Portamaggiore, Rome on September 27, 2017. Lumix LX7 photo.
The old Reading & Columbia route of the Reading Company was fragmented during the Conrail-era and what remains is operated by several different railroads.
Historically, the line offered the Reading Company a through-route from greater Reading, Pa., via a junction at Sinking Spring, to Manheim, and Lancaster Junction to the once-important shipping center at Columbia, Pa., with branches to Mt Hope and Lancaster.
Today, the eastern end of this route is operated as part of the East Penn Railroad, with locomotives stored at the old Reading Company station in Reinholds. This continues via Denver and Stevens toward Ephrata.
I began exploring this route after we moved to Lancaster last year. Last week, I made another inspection of this route, making photos of the line using my Lumix LX7. I started at Reinholds and worked my way west.
One of these days, I hope to catch a train on the move over these rails.
Meandering roads southwest of the Susquehanna brought us to Stewartstown, Pa., home to the historic railroad of the same name.
I made these images of some of the antiques on display at the end of the line. For me, the Pennsylvania Railroad flat car was most interesting to look at, but a challenge to photograph.
Arriving in our new Honda CR-V Hybrid, we safely pulled off Route 741 at Gap, Pa., to roll by Amtrak Keystone 656 from Harrisburg. This was running just a few minutes after the advertised.
I set up with my Nikon Z6 and 70-200mm lens, aiming to catch the train against the sunset sky. (The sun was just an orange glob slowly melting into the western horizon.)
We received a friendly blast from the engineer in the old Metroliner control cab as the train glided through the curve at Gap.
I like the trailing view with our new car and Kris in the passenger seat. Amtrak 656 is fading into the distance, but we already know what that looks like.
On Friday evening, Strasburg Rail Road 4-8-0 475 made a stunning display of steam and smoke as it climbed the short grade at Carpenters on its return run from Leaman Place to Strasburg, Pa.
Filtered low sun made for romantic light as the engine emerged from a copse of trees near the Carpenters Cemetery off Blackhorse Road. I made this sequence of photos using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
Working with the NEF RAW files in Adobe Lightroom, I made a series of adjustments to improve the apparent dynamic range and color saturation of the photos.
One my tricks for making more effective digital photos with the Nikon Z cameras is to pay careful attention to the in-camera histogram to make sure I have captured sufficient hightlight and shadow detail. This often results in a slightly dark in-camera JPG, but by working with the NEF file, I have ample data to make for a much better full-range final image.
The best part of being there on Friday evening was listening to the locomotive exhaust as it slowly ascended the grade. This was the sound of a century-old technology rippling across a pastoral landscape. Something that was once common and unremarkable, and now only exists for our pleasure.
Friday evening, Kris and I went for our first proper drive in it with Seamus in the back: just a few miles over to Esbenshade Road in Strasburg, Pa., to roll by the 6pm train.
There were layers of dust and smoke in the western sky that made the sun appear fuzzy and reddish orange with sky a tangerine—mauve-like gray.
I made these photos as the train passed us with 4-8-0 475 working tender-first. I’ve included a few views of our midnight blue Honda CR-V Hybrid. In these photos it had less than 80 miles on it!
Photos exposed using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras. NEF RAW files adjusted in Lightroom.
I walked by this location almost everyday I was in Dublin, but I rarely ever saw this angle. My common spot was around the corner where I could get a clear view over the wall.
On September 20, 2016, I was working with my FujiFilm XT1, which had an extendable, adjustible rear panel display. I had had some help from fellow photographer Jay Monaghan who assisted me to get this angle.
The light was dull and this suited the angle, which would have been partially shadowed had the sun been out.
Belmond’s luxury Grand Hibernian tour train was departing Dublin and I made a sequence as the train passed.
Yesterday, working with Adobe Lightroom, I made a series of post-processing adjustments to the RAF RAW file, including some exposure and contrast adjustment to the AI-masked sky to bring in cloud detail.
I also lightened the shadow areas, while globally increasing contrast and saturation, and corrected the level.
The first photo is the scaled but unmodified image. The second shows the mask in the Adobe Lightroom work window. The last two are my final interpretations, the fourth features addition of a slight vignette.
On this day eleven years ago, I was with a gang of photographers poised at the beginning of Irish Rail’s quad track in west suburban Dublin at Cherry Orchard. We were aiming to catch the elusive empty long welded rail train on its run west toward Portlaoise.
This was led by locomotive 071, the class leader of Irish Rail’s 1970s-vintage 071 fleet.
Working with my Canon EOS-7D and 200mm Canon AF lens, I made these cross-lit photos from the pedestrian bridge over the line.
I’ve said this before, and its true, there’s neither cherries nor orchards at Cherry Orchard.
On 19 Sept 2013, Irish Rail 071 wearing the recently introduced battleship gray livery, leads the empty long welded rail (LWR) train west at Cherry Orchard.
In my book North American Railroad Bridges published by Voyageur Press in 2008, I described the double track former Pennsylvania Railroad bridge over the Susquehanna at Havre de Grace, Maryland;
“Between August 10, 1905, and May 22, 1906, PRR built 17 deck truss spans on the piers, ranging from 196 feet 6 inches to 260 feet long, with 24 feet 3 inch clearance above mean water level. To clear large ships, a central swing span was installed. “
Earlier this year, Amtrak broke ground for the replacement of this historic bridge. Last week, Kris, Seamus-the-Dog and I drove to Havre de Grace, where I made a few photos of trains gliding across the bridge. In the distance is construction equipment, which appear to be removing the piers of an earlier railroad bridge in preparation for the new spans.
These views show Amtrak 195 (Boston-Washington) led by ACS-64 634 with Amfleet in tow. Exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom.
On September 17, 2019, my old pal TSH and I were poised at the south portal of the Bett Tunnel near St. Goar, Germany.
When a southward DB InterCity train burst forth from the inky gloom, I exposed a burst of digital images using my FujiFilm XT1.
Unfortunately the front profile of the iconic DB Class 101 electric caught the glint of the midday sun that resulted in over-exposure.
Working with Adobe Lightroom, I was able to reduce and appropriately adjust the exposure on the front of the locomotive while retaining proper exposure for the rest of the scene. I also recropped the photo and corrected for a 1-degree error in level.
Although it was unintentional, as I made this image in the briefest moment, this offers a subtle near- example of a Fibonacci composition, which is represented in the relative separation of key vertical elements.
For this example, I refer to the simple Fibonacci sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 etc., whereby each succesive number is the sum of the two numbers that precede it. Ironically, it is the imperfect interpretation of the sequence that adds tension to the composition and makes it interesting to revisit.
Unmodified FujiFilm RAF RAW file (scaled for internet).Adjusted image.
Looking back on photos I made on the morning of September 16, 2019, I’ve selected this view exposed at a bend in the Rhein north of Boppard, Germany for today’s examination of my editing process.
Dramatic lighting and a dynamic scene showing a cruise ship and a southward intermodal freight provide the elements for an interesting photo, but without some creative editing the composition falls down.
What does that mean? While I captured the essence of rail and river transportation, without some adjustment the photo doesn’t work effectively. The train is too easily lost and the ship is swallowed in silhouette.
Using Adobe Lightroom, I made a whole series of adjustments to improve this image. By selectively adjusting exposure and contrast, I was able to make the prime elements of this image fit together better.
Although I cropped out some distracting parts of the photo in order to help direct the eye toward the distant train, and I adjusted exposure to make the sky seem more dramatic and to better separate the train from the background, I didn’t add anything to this photo that wasn’t captured at the time of exposure.
I’ve included the FujiFilm RAF RAW file (scaled without editing for presentation) and a few screenshots of the Lightroom work window to show positions of the slider controls and localize masks, and then my final interpretations.
RAF RAW file without cosmetic alteration.Adobe Lightroom work window showing the effect of the ‘select sky’ mask. This uses an artifical intelegence algorithim to more accurately select the sky. This saves a lot of painstaking effort trying to mask the sky by hand. Once selected I reduced the overall sky exposure and reduced the highlight areas of the sky to make the most of the dramatic detail captured by the camera.In this screenshot, I’ve created a radial gradient mask which feathers the extent of the effect around the subject (in this case the distant intermodal train). I then made several adjustments specific to this area. The most significant was lightening the brightest highlights (called ‘white’ in the work window control panel) which helps make the train more prominent in the composition.This is my final version.
We were driving along Rt 222 and started to overtake a stopped freight on Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch near Port Deposit, Maryland.
Upon arriving in the village, we turned into a local parking lot adjacent to where the head-end of the train had tied up. This was an opportunity.
In the lead was NS AC44C6M 4334.
Kris and I made a few photos of the train. I like the number of the locomotive, which is a palindrome—a number (or word) that reads the same backwards and forwards.
I made a series of photos with my Nikon Z mirrorless digital cameras. The shadows were a bit harsh, so working with Adobe Lightroom, I lightened them appropriately to make for better (or at least more pleasing) images.
I don’t remember the exact circumstances behind this photo.
In June 1984, I was at Spring Tower where Conrail’s Boston Line crossed the connecting track between the Boston & Maine Connecticut River Line and Amtrak’s former New Haven Railroad in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The tower was located below I-91, west of Springfield Union Station.
Connecticut DOT’s Budd-built SPV-2000 No.50 was turning on the wye at Springfield. While I don’t recall the reason, I suspect the car had something wrong with the cab at the northward end and needed to turn to make the return trip to New Haven.
CDOT had bought 13 of the SPV-2000s; cars 988-999 carried both Amtrak and CDOT logos and largely worked Springfield-New Haven shuttle services, while a lone car number 50 came with Amtrak stripes but was only lettered CDOT.
I made this photo on black & white film using my Leica IIIA fitted with a Canon screw-mount f1.8 50mm lens. If I made detailed notes on this day, I’ve misplaced them.
So, what makes this a rare photo? C-DOT No. 50 was the only car painted this way (without the Amtrak markings) ; the SPV’s self-propelled days were relatively short-lived; it was unusual to see a single car turning on the wye at Springfield. Have you ever seen another photo of this car crossing the old Boston & Albany at Spring Tower?
I exposed this black & white negative in March 1988. This was the trailing view of Amtrak’s Sunday Niagara Rainbow racing along the Waterlevel Route at Churchville, New York.
I’ve always like the ‘cotton candy sky’ effect and I intentionally underexposed the photo to better capture the clouds with the streamlined train in silhouette.
Unfortunately, I processed the 120-sized film using stainless tanks and reels, which were relatively cold which resulted in uneven processing, especially toward the sides of the image.
I scanned the photo many years ago, but last night spent about ten minutes in Lightroom making a series of digital masks to even out the exposure and contrast to largely correct of the processing error.
I’ve included the unaltered scan, several of the work windows showing the masks (in purple), and then my final images.
The old Amtrak Turboliners are all gone, but I have many photos of these unusual trains on the move.
This is the RAW unaltered scan. Notice that the sides are lighter (and more contrasty) than the center of the photo.Lightroom work window showing the first of five masks applied to improve the image. This is a linear gradation .This the fifth mask, a radial gradation aimed at lightening a portion of the sky.This isn’t perfect, but most of the processing defects have been addressed. Plus I improved contrast and lightened the shadows.This was my final edit; I added in a slight vignette which makes for a more natural looking image. The effect is subtle, but effective.
On this day in 2010 (September 11), I photographed a northward New England Central empty ethanol train cresting the grade at State Line viewed from Monson, Massachusetts.
In the first two photographs the train is south of the Massachusetts-Connecticut border.
To make this telephoto sequence, I was working with my old Canon EOS7D with 100-400mm Canon zoom
This was a familiar location. When I was a teenager, I’d ride my 10-speed bicycle here from our family home to photograph Central Vermont freights.
Nine years ago I made this view of a DB Class 101 electric leading a southward InterCity train along the westbank of the Rhein at Boppard Hertzenach, Germany.
It was a beautiful clear morning and there was a steady procession of trains on both sides of the Rhein.
Germany is among my favorite countries to photograph trains.
Exposed using my old FujiFilm XT1 with a Fujinon 18-135mm zoom set at 29mm; f6.4 1/000th sec ISO 400.
It was a bright day in suburban Dublin on this day ten years ago when I made this telephoto view of Irish Rail 215 in fresh paint leading the Up IWT Liner (Ballina to Dublin’s North Wall) on the quad track at Lucan South.
My camera of choice that day was a Canon EOS-7D with a prime 100mm lens.
I’ve included two versions of the photo; one is the in-camera color profile, the other is adjusted from the Canon RAW file using Adobe Lightroom to improve color balance, increase color saturation and lighten the shadows.
Special thanks to Colm O’Callaghan for his assistance with my photography on that day.
Scaled, but otherwise unmodified file.This version was a modified from the Canon RAW file using Lightroom to improve color and contrast for internet presentation.
Over the last few days, I had been experiencing some technical difficulties posting Tracking the Light. I received numerous alerts from readers, and wasn’t even able to view the site myself at one point. Thanks to readers who sent me suggestions on how to fix the problem and some nuts and bolts help from my father Richard J. Solomon, the site should be up an running again. Thanks to everyone who wrote to me! I consider this a test. Fingers crossed.
In the process of getting things moving, I’ve selected a new ‘Theme’. This alters the way Tracking the Light appears. This is by intent. Let’s see how it goes.
Since this is a Sunday, I thought I’d post a vintage Sunday photo.
On Sunday, December 29, 1985, I spent the day photographing trains on Conrail’s former Boston & Albany main line.
At West Brookfield, Massachusetts, I made this view of the Sunday-schedule Charter Oak rolling west behind Amtrak F40PH 216.
This train tended to have a longer consist on Sundays. This Sunday, I’m working hard to complete my latest book, which takes a look at Amtrak through its locomotives and rolling stock. It covers everything from GG1 electrics to the latest diesels from Siemens-Mobility.
Amtrak’s Charter Oak (Boston-Worcester-Springfield-Hartford-New York-Washington) at West Brookfield, Mass., Exposed using a Rollieflex Model T.
As a follow up to yesterday’s post, I am presenting a sequence of photos at the same location that I made in March of 1986.
Amtrak had detoured its Montrealer via Palmer as a knock-on effect of a strike on the Boston & Maine. This was a full decade before Amtrak’s Vermonter used a similar routing.
In these photos, Train 61 the southward Montrealer was being towed by a CF7 from Palmer to Springfield, Massachusetts, having arrived in Palmer on the Central Vermont. There was no direct curve from the CV route to Conrail’s Boston Line to allow for a direct north to west move.
I had been showing some visiting photographers around Palmer, and we had set up a the rock cut at milepost 84, a short distance west of the Palmer diamond.
As the Montrealer was heading west on Track one, we could hear the chugging of six-motor GE C30-7As leading the eastward TV6. As it happened the two trains passed in front of us.
In yesterday’s post, I’d mentioned that a few months later, Conrail removed the westward track (Track 1) as part of its single tracking of the Boston Line. And that’s what makes this sequence so special.
July 20, 1986 was the last full day of traditional directional double track operations (rule 251) on Conrail’s Boston Line between Palmer (future CP83) and Springfield (future CP92).
Using my father’s Rolleiflex Model T, I made this photo of Amtrak F40PH 201 leading an Inland Corridor train east at milepost 84 (in the town of Monson, Massachusetts). The next day, Conrail crews cut in the new crossovers which took the old westward track at this location out of service. It was ripped up some months later.
In 2011, I scanned this 645 size black & white negative. Unfortunately, I forgot to reverse the scan and so it remained as a negative image.
There is probably some ‘one-click’ means reversing the scan into a positive image using Lightroom. I had no luck finding that trick, so Kris and I ‘Googled’ how to accomplish this simple task.
Basically, you open the ‘three bars’ control at top left, expand the ‘light’ controls and scroll down to the ‘D log H’ curve (it’s the graph that plot the exposure curve), and reverse the orientation of the line graph so that it goes from bottom left to top right (rather than the other way around.)
This created a positive, from which I made my corrections, albeit in reverse.
During late summer and early autumn the evening light changes quickly.
Compare these views of Amtrak 651 at Christiana.
The first was exposed on August 14th, the second was yesterday evening (Sept 4).
There are other differences too. The top photo was made with my Nikon Z7-II, the bottom is a product of my Lumix LX7.
Having just composed a summary of the Metroliner for my Amtrak book, I’m feeling nostalgic about these old cars (one leads as a ‘cab car’ in the bottom photo) which are now some of the oldest in revenue service on Amtrak.
Amtrak Keystone 651 passes Christiana, PA on August 14, 2024-Nikon Z7-II.Same location on September 4, 2024; Amtrak Keystone 651 passes Christiana, PA. Panasonic Lumix LX7.
Nine years ago, my Irish friends and I were exploring railway operations in Germany’s scenic Mosel Valley.
I made this view from the wall in a vineyard of a DB freight heading northward (eastward) toward Koblenz.
While not as busy as the Rhein Valley, there are endless perspectives on the railway in the Mosel Valley and we were certainly entertained by a continuous parade of freight and passenger trains.
A DB intermodal train glides along under wire near Cochem, Germany in the Mosel Valley. September 4, 2015. Fuji XT1 with 18-135mm lens.
Nine years ago, my Irish friends and I were exploring railway operations in Germany’s scenic Mosel Valley.
I made this view from the wall in a vineyard of a DB freight heading northward (eastward) toward Koblenz.
While not as busy as the Rhein Valley, there are endless perspectives on the railway in the Mosel Valley and we were certainly entertained by a continuous parade of freight and passenger trains.
A DB intermodal train glides along under wire near Cochem, Germany in the Mosel Valley. September 4, 2015. Fuji XT1 with 18-135mm lens.
On the afternoon of September 3, 2013, I stood atop the castle wall in Oberwesel, Germany, gazing across the Rhein toward the railway line on the right bank (east bank). I made this photo of a northward SBB Cargo freight about to enter a tunnel using my old Canon EOS 7D with a 28-135mm zoom set at its maximum focal length.
Oberwesel offers stunning views of the electrified double track lines on both sides of the river, where a continous parade of trains makes for one of the greatest train watching locations in Europe.
Canon EOS 7D with a 28-135mm set to 135mm. Scaled photo from the in-camera JPG. No modifications to color, exposure or contrast.Enlargement of the locomotive using the crop tool in Lightroom.
