Author of more than 70 books on railways, photography, and Ireland, Brian lives with his wife, Kris, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Brian holds a BFA in Photographic Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2022, he was presented with the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society’s prestigious Fred A.& Jane R. Stindt Photography Award for his lifetime achievements in railroad photography.
Siemens-built ACS-64 640 zips along with Amtrak train number 160 at Milford, Connecticut on the former New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.
The other day, I made this image from the far end of the station platform. I set my shutter to 1/1000th of a second, pulled the zoom back to its widest position (18mm), and had the drive set to ‘CH’ (continuous high)—which allows for a rapid burst of images.
Amtrak train 160 at Milford, Connecticut.
This arrangement of settings allowed me to catch the locomotive very close and in sharp focus.
Here are two additional images from the burst:
This one is a bit more distant but features more of the background and right-of-way.Nice capture on the logo. However, if this had been my only view, I’d be disgusted with my effort.
I exposed this view of Amtrak 449, the Lake Shore Limited, from a favorite field off Route 67 near Palmer, Massachusetts.
Since 1980, I’ve made hundreds of views from this field. If I put up one new image every day, we’d still be looking at them come summer!
Yet, I still like to make photos from this field, and a few weeks ago it offered a classic vantage point to catch the Lake Shore Limited with autumn color. Sometimes its best to go with what you know!
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 mirrorless digital camera set for ‘Velvia’ color profile.
Tracking the Light posts something different everyday!
Early November is a great time to explore the Ware River Valley. The trees are largely bare, yet a few colored leaves still cling to higher branches.
Vestiges of old industries survive, as the old Boston & Albany branch meanders up the valley. This is a railroad that was left for dead nearly 40 years ago, and only survived through the dedication and hard work of a handful of local people.
At least once every autumn, I make a photographic study of the line.
The old B&A station at Gilbertville, Massachusetts.Northward Mass-Central local freight. The ghostly vestiges of an old mill loom silently beyond the trees.
Using my FujiFilm X-T1 I exposed these views at Gilbertville— a village in the town of Hardwick, where the old B&A station remains as a restaurant.
Most week days, Mass-Central’s local freight departs Palmer after 7 am and works its way up to South Barre and back serving its customers along the way. On this day I found the train working in Ware.
November light in New England; fleeting shafts of low sun, heavily textured skies; images with brown, burnt and amber hues mixed with shades of slate and blue.
It was always tough with film because of the subtlety of light, but how about using digital media?
The other morning I went out to some familiar locations and made some photos. I’ve imported these into Lightroom and made some minor adjustments to contrast, color temperature and saturation.
This is an exercise in lighting and texture. The photos are more about the places and the quality of light than about the specific railroad elements.
November sunrise looking east at Palmer. LX7 photo.West Warren, Massachusetts. LX7 photo.Sunrise at West Warren, Massachusetts. LX7 photo.Looking west at West Warren. Lumix LX7 photo.CSXT Q019 passes milepost 81 east of Palmer, Massachusetts. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.CSXT Q019 westbound. LX7 photo.
I can return tomorrow to these same places, but I’ll get different images because the quality of November light is so subtle and always changing, like drops of mud spilt into a pond.
Late Autumn in a familiar place: on October 31st, I met Rich Reed & company at Palmer for a visit at Palmer Hobbies and lunch at the Steaming Tender. Rich was dressed in costume as one of the Blue Brothers from the early ‘80s film.
Rich Reed as one of the Blues Brothers. Lumix LX7 Photo.
Afterwards we observed New England Central’s freight from Brattleboro, job 611, that arrived at the Palmer diamond led by tunnel motor (originally an EMD SD40T-2, now designated an SD40-2) number 3317 in Genesee & Wyoming corporate paint—colors that are remarkably well-suited for the day: orange, yellow and black.
New England Central 611 cross in CSXT’s former Boston & Albany at Palmer. Lumix LX7 Photo.Lumix LX7 Photo.
From Palmer we traveled up to West Warren to roll by Amtrak’s westward Lake Shore Limited against a backdrop of late-season foliage.
Amtrak 449 the westward Boston-section of the Lake Shore Limited passes the old mills at West Warren, Massachusetts on Halloween Day 2015. Lumix LX7 Photo.
On October 1st, 2015, I arrived at Mons, Belgium by SNCB Train from Brussels. It was my first time in this southwestern Belgian City, and my impressions were skewed by the fact that the entire railway station was a construction zone.
Mons was only a brief layover for me, as I was traveling to Valenciennes, France (just over the frontier) to give my talk on railway photography to the European Railway Agency.
My host Mauno Pajunen explained that the Mons station had been under construction for several years and that the classic old station building had been demolished to make way for a modern facility.
Since I had a few minutes, I made a few photos of the railway at Mons, but with very little context to guide me; it seemed to be just a jumble of catentary masts, wires, temporary platforms, cranes, cables, concrete and steel.
Looking west at Mons, Belgium. Construction everywhere! Nice bright day though. Lumix LX7 photo.A Seimens electric at Mons with an SNCB passenger train. Belgian railways provide an excellent service with trains operating every few minutes. Sadly, there’s no direct cross border service to France.An antique in modern dress!An SNCB 300 series EMU pauses at Mons. Lumix LX7 photo.All the brightness and construction somehow reminded me of California in the 1990s.
A week later I was back in Monson, Massachusetts, after some complex and intensive travel involving four countries, a half dozen trains, a fair few trams, two aeroplanes, several buses, and a bit of driving.
55 years earlier my father and Jack May had visited Mons on their wanders around Europe. On arrival back in Monson, I searched the slide collection for some context. Here is one of the slides my father exposed on Kodachrome.
My father, Richard Jay Solomon exposed this view at Mons of SNCV trams near the railway station using a Kodak Retina 3C and Kodachrome slide film. Mons doesn’t look like this any more. The trams are long gone, and place is a construction site. Back then you could also get a train across the border!
This is an old favorite location with a great name. How can you go wrong with a street called Wisdom Way? Much better than Losers Lane.
The other day, Norfolk Southern/Pan Am Southern symbol freight 14R was on its way east. I was struggling to find a suitable place to make a photograph, and the best I could come up with was old Wisdom Way.
The light was ‘wrong’ (is that possible?). So I opted for an unusual angle.
Notice that I’ve made the most of the vertical framing by allowing the length of the freight to run diagonally from the top right of the photo to the bottom of the image. This culminates with Norfolk Southern’s emblematic horse and ditch lights on the point of the common General Electric wide-nose cab diesel.
While the locomotive is dominant, my down-on angle emphasizes the machine’s angular shapes from a decidedly different perspective yet includes the freight behind it. Where does your eye fall first?
My aim is to show the power of the machine, the length of the train, and yet capture the atmosphere of the autumnal scene. Notice the dead track to the left, that’s the old eastward main, long out of service.
Would this have worked as well if I was at ground and level with the train using classic ‘over the shoulder’ three-quarter lighting and common centered composition?
Common on the Class 1 carriers, but still relatively rare on regional and short line roads; North American Safety Cab diesels.
On October 30, 2015, I exposed these images of Providence & Worcester’s symbol freight GRWO (Gardner to Worcester) working south at Union Street in Gardner on the old Boston, Barre & Gardner line.
P&W GRWO approaches Union Street in Gardner, Massachusetts.Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 mirrorless digital camera with 18-135mm Fujinon lens.
Cross lighting favored the ‘widenose’ cab, which is brightly lit against a backdrop of late season autumn color. The dark shadow of the train makes for stark contrast and helps draw attention to the main subject.
Since the train was moving relatively slowly, I had ample time to compose several views of it, working both in the horizontal and vertical formats.
Would views from this angle have the same impact with the older styles of locomotive cabs?
A nearly full moon and foliage with rusty yellow hues can accentuate railway night photography.
The moon will lend a bluish tint to the sky, while illuminating clouds that makes for a more dramatic scene than inky black.
Streetlights, passing automobiles, and locomotive headlights help to brighten the foliage.
Rain makes for puddles that can add atmosphere and interesting reflections. Get low to the ground and use puddles as mirrors.
New England Central switches at Palmer, Massachusetts as a nearly full moon illuminates the late Autumn sky. Exposed in October 2015 using a FujiFilm X-T1 mirrorless digital camera with a 27mm pancake lens. Contrast controlled in post processing using Lightroom.Making a puddle work: earlier in the day it rained, but by evening the sky had cleared. By keeping the camera low to the water, I was able to capture some interesting reflections. It is import to keep the camera dry, so don’t go overboard.
If a train pauses, use a tripod to make very long exposures. A common error with night photography is failing to leave the shutter open long enough to capture sky detail.
Use post processing software such as Lightroom or Photoshop to control contrast, and always expose RAW files to ensure sufficient data is captured.
If time allows, bracket and study exposures on site to see if you’ve caught what you were seeing. Or perhaps find something in the photograph that looks completely different than the scene itself.
Motion can improve or destroy a night photo. CSX Q012 blasts through CP83 at Palmer, Massachusetts as New England Central pauses below the South Main Street Bridge. The moon helps illuminate the night sky. Exposed with a Lumix LX7.A long pan with a steady hand. This was exposed for more than a second using a Lumix LX7.
Here’s two tips for making more brilliant autumn foliage photos:
Aim to catch late season foliage when there are more brown leaves than green.
Don’t use the auto white balance. Instead set your white balance manually, preferably to ‘cloudy’ or ‘shade.’ This will accentuate the red, yellow and orange hues of the leaves.
Late season foliage offers fewer green leaves and more red and brown. By contrast early season foliage may only feature a few brightly colored trees offset by a virtual sea of green. When you are outside the eye is drawn to the odd red tree, but in a photograph too often the lone red tree is lost in the otherwise green foliage.CSXT eastward autorack train symbol Q264 rolls through East Brookfield, Massachusetts in late October 2015.
Tracking the Light posts new material EVERY day, don’t miss out!
My recently published Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals highlights railway architecture around the world, including Helsinki, Tokyo, and London.
As an author, I always like to add a personal touch to my books, and when possible include items of local and special interest. If you scour my pages, you’ll often find photos made in Palmer, Massachusetts and Dublin, among other favorites.
Among the topics covered in the recent effort is a small section on the former Boston & Albany station at East Brookfield, Massachusetts. I’d photographed and researched this building over the years. Sadly, it was destroyed in an arsonist attack five years ago.
This photo of the East Brookfield station was one of the first images I made with my new Panasonic LX3 digital camera. I was testing the camera (which I’d bought to use as a light meter) on a bright October morning in 2009. There were two eastward CSXT freights coming and I was trying to gauge the light. CSXT had just recently put a new roof on the old building. Less than a year after I made this view it succumbed to fire. This photo is reproduced on page 83 of my book.
On Pages 82 and 83, I discuss East Brookfield and its demise as part of greater story on lost stations. In my text, I mention that a period photo of the old station still hangs in East Brookfield Pizza, a few blocks from CSXT’s former B&A mainline.
My friend Dennis LeBeau has helped preserve East Brookfield’s history, and has a collection of glass plate negatives exposed by William Bullard, a local photographer working from the 1890s through the World War I era. Several Bullard photos appear in the book.
The other day, I called into East Brookfield to give Dennis his contributor’s copy of Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals. We went down to East Brookfield Pizza to show the owners and staff the book, and I had Dennis and company pose with the Bullard photo of the station.
On October 30, 2015, Dennis LeBeau holds his signed copy of Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals at East Brookfield Pizza where the old William Bullard photo that he supplied to the restaurant hangs on the wall. The restaurant and the photo get a mention in my book.I exposed this view the other day. It shows the Keith Block and the site of the old station.
Pan Am Railways and Grave Yard, East Northfield, Massachusetts
November 1st is celebrated as The Day of the Dead in Mexico, and as All Souls Day in some European traditions. For the Celts it is Samhain.
In honor of these holidays, I present a pair of recent views of Pan Am Railways symbol freight EDBF (East Deerfield to Bellows Falls, Vermont) passing a grave yard near the Boston & Maine Connecticut River Line at East Northfield, Massachusetts.
Low sun accentuates autumn foliage and allows for a glint effect on the side of the locomotives while making for stark silhouettes of some of the grave markers.
I exposed these views with my FujiFilm X-T1. In post processing I adjusted the camera RAW files in Lightroom to balance the contrast and warm up the color temperature.
In addition to the digital photos, I exposed a few color slides using my Canon Eos 3 with a 20mm lens..
Photo processed digitally to lower contrast, increase saturation, and improve color balance. X-T1 photo Exposed on October 29, 2015 at East Northfield, Massachusetts.
It’s what they call a ‘Hail Mary shot.’ New England Central 611 rolls north at East Northfield, Massachusetts in a fleeting fading glimmer of October sun.
In staying with the spirit of the season, I offer these views exposed last week of a discharged ethanol train, Pan Am Railways/Norfolk Southern symbol 67N, passing a pumpkin field at Buckland, Massachusetts. (Plus an earlier image at East Deerfield, see below).
The movement of unit ethanol trains via the former Boston & Maine routing is a relatively recent change in New England railroading.
For several years unit ethanol trains to the Providence & Worcester have used routings via either CSXT or CP-Vermont Rail System-New England Central. The construction of improved connections between Pan Am Railways/Pan Am Southern and the Providence & Worcester at the Gardner, Massachusetts yard, have allowed Pan Am via NS to emerge as a preferred New England ethanol route.
I’ve known about this for a few months, yet I was taken by surprise when the westward empty ethanol train appeared at East Deerfield Yard, just a few minutes behind a POED (Portland to East Deerfield) carload freight that I’d been following.
Surprise! What’s this? How about 67N, the discharged unit ethanol train rolling west at East Deerfield.
So often, locations along the old B&M offer only a very limited view of the train.
This pumpkin field, near the old Buckland station, offered a good place to put the unit train in perspective. I wanted to show as much of the train as practicable and in a New England setting.
Buckland, Massachusetts. I adjusted the contrast, saturation and color temperature in Lightroom to more closely resemble the scene as I saw it.This view required a variety of subtle adjustments in post processing. In addition to warming the color temperature, I used a digitally applied gradated neutral density filter to retain sky detail and color while making over-all adjustments to saturation and contrast. I hope this makes for a better balanced scene, but every computer screen (and all sets of eyes) interpret images differently, so what looks balanced to me, might look odd to someone else. What do you think?
Photos exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 with 18-135mm lens.
The other day I had my first encounter with one of Norfolk Southern’s SD60E diesel-electrics, which features a modified cab.
Norfolk Southern SD60E leads an eastward auto rack train at Lake Pleasant, Massachusetts.
Since today’s North American freight railroading tends to be dominated by cookie cutter wide-nose safety cab six-motor diesels, I find any variation in cab style noteworthy.
The beetle-brow look on this engine certainly caught my attention. And since it was paused on an eastward freight near Lake Pleasant, east of East Deerfield, I took the opportunity to make a few detail photos that emphasize the unusual cab shape.
I wonder what the engine crews think of this innovation?
When in doubt, try again. Earlier in the week Mike Gardner and I had missed the New England Central at Millers Falls, Massachusetts. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but we’d misqued, got caught in traffic, and just not been at the right place at the right time. This happens.
It was a bright morning. From recent experience I knew that New England Central job 611 departs Brattleboro Yard for Palmer sometime after 8 am.
The former Central Vermont Railway Millers Falls high bridge—a pin-connected deck-style Pratt truss built in 1906.
I drove directly to Millers Falls, I did not pass Go, I did not collect $200. I parked and walked (I fought my way through thicket and briars) to a known good spot on a rock near the shore of the Millers River and there I waited.
This was my reward. And yes, I also exposed a color slide.
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera.
There’s an undeniable magic to the Hoosac Tunnel. It’s old, it’s long, and its portals are nestled deep in scenic valleys of western Massachusetts.
Hoosac East Portal is especially fascinating; the railroad approaches on a sweeping curve and crosses a bridge over the Deerfield. All around are vestiges of earlier times. Some of the old catenary supports survive from when the tunnel was electrified. The keen eye will located the false portal, where early builders initially bored but gave up.
A flume cascades down the mountain making an unending roar that sometimes sounds like a train.
East Portal in the rain.
On this cool evening, Mike Gardner and I arrived in time to photograph Pan Am’s EDRJ disappearing into the bowels of the mountain. We’d heard a hint of an eastward freight on the radio and decided to wait it out.
About an hour after EDRJ had passed, the tunnel began to breathe. It emitted an effluence that was part locomotive exhaust and part condensation caused by the air inside the tunnel meeting the cool air outside. After a while it began to fill the valley around East Portal with a fine bluish vapor, like the spirits of lost souls escaping the confines of the mountain.
“I think I hear a train,” Mike said. I assured him that was just the cascading water.
“No, I really hear a train.”
The tunnel began to breathe a weird mist.The mix of mist and exhaust started to fill the valley. It was like that scene toward the end of the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I guess I’m not evil 🙂
Despite this sense more than an hour and half had passed, and we were about to leave. Then suddenly, as with past visits, the signal across the bridge lit up—high green. “Yahoo!”
We resumed positions a safe distance from the east portal, and exposed photos of intermodal train 22K as it approached.
22K approaches the east portal of the tunnel.Norfolk Southern/Pan Am Southern intermodal train 22K clears the mist from the Hoosac tunnel.
It’s been more than 30 years since I first chased a train west toward the Hoosac Tunnel.
The railroad makes a steady uphill climb west from Greenfield to the famous bore in western Massachusetts. Relatively slow train speeds make it easy to catch a freight at various locations.
Symbol freight EDRJ (East Deerfield to Rotterdam Junction) had an interesting consist of older EMDs. In the lead was high-hood GP40 371. This made for some great sound and interesting photos.
Often as you leave the Connecticut River Valley the weather changes. On this October 2015 day, it was sunny at East Deerfield Yard, but raining by the time we reached the Hoosac Tunnel.
Sometimes rain offers an improvement. Not all great railway photos need bright sun. Mike Gardner and I were undaunted by the rain and made the most of this classic chase.
Roaring west at Greenfield.Pan Am’s EDRJ works upgrade near Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.Pan Am’s EDRJ works upgrade near Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.When used to visit Rices in the 1980s, it was the location of an interlocking. Today its straight rail. Even the old signals are gone. Rices is a few miles east of Charlemont, Massachusetts.The wide sweeping curve at Zoar has been favored by photographers for decades. The growth of foliage on both sides of the line limits the angles, but this view offers hints of the surrounding scenery.
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post; while waiting for Pan Am Southern 14R with Union Pacific SD70Ms, Mike Gardner and I photographed an empty ballast train with an old GP40 departing on the East Deerfield Loop, where it will travel a short distance to crusher for loading.
I thought it made an interesting juxtaposition to show the old EMD with its battered ballast hoppers departing the switches at the west-end with the Union Pacific locomotives waiting in the distance.
Pan Am’s empty ballast train departs East Deerfield on October 22, 2015.The empty ballast train takes the switch for the East Deerfield Loop track. It will be loaded just a short distance from the yard.Which is more interesting, the old ballast train or symbol freight 14?
Which train was the main event? In the future, which may be of greater interest? The lowly ballast train or the symbol through freight with ‘foreign power’? What do you think?
I exposed these photos using my FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera.
One of my favorite places to experience railroading and expose photos is on the old Boston & Albany ‘West End,’ Washington Hill grade.
On this legendary grade, one of the most interesting places is the 1912 line relocation between mileposts 129 and 130, west of Chester, Massachusetts. This includes a very deep cutting, while the right of way of the original 1839-built line is nearby and features three large stone arches dating from the time of construction.
Bob Buck first showed me this cosmic piece of railroad back in 1982.
I visited this hallowed ground last week and exposed these views with my FujiFilm X-T1. To accentuate the autumn foliage and make for more pleasing scenes, I set the white balance to ‘shade’ which warms up the scene.
New York Central abandoned about a mile of the original Western Rail Road grade when it completed its line relocation in 1912. This one of three extant stone arch bridge on the abandoned section.Like the ruins of an ancient empire, this historic stone arch looms above the West Branch Westfield River deep in the forest near Middlefield, Massachusetts.An eastward doublestack train, probably Q022, descends the 1912 line relocation near milepost 123.3. The stone arch bridge pictured above is just out of sight to the right.
CSXT was kind enough to send an eastward stack train down grade mid-morning.
I’ll feature this territory in my Boston & Albany book, which I hope to complete writing in the coming months.
Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to test a 32mm Zeiss Touit lens on my Fuji X-T1. This is a fast and sharp lens.
These images were made at dusk at the restored former Lackawanna Railroad station at Cresco, Pennsylvania on the climb to Pocono Summit.
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera fitted with a 32mm Zeiss Touit Lens.D-L PT97 works west at Cresco, PA. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera fitted with a 32mm Zeiss Touit Lens.Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera fitted with a 32mm Zeiss Touit Lens.
Sometimes finding the train is more than half the challenge. On Saturday October 17, 2015, Pat Yough and I had been following the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western mainline with an awareness that Genesee Valley Transportation’s Delaware-Lackawanna was operating its ‘Portland turn’ to interchange with Norfolk Southern.
Finally, we found the train as it was arriving at Slateford Junction.
The attraction of D-L’s freights is that they operate with antique Alco diesels. Alco exited the American locomotive business more than 46 years ago, so finding these old machines hard at work remains a real treat.
Delaware Lackawanna Railroad’s herald is patterned after the old Lehigh Valley logo.Alco’s Century-636 (C-636) was among the last models produced. This locomotive served Penn-Central and Conrail, and still works for D-L.DL-PT98 arrives at Slateford Junction. It is passing below the remnants of the old Lackawanna Cut-off bridge over the Delaware River.
While D-L’s portion of the freight movement tends to be well documented in recent years as a function of the Alcos, the Norfolk Southern connection is often ignored. As an historian this bothers me.
I have to admit that I too have been guilty of this photographic censorship. While I’ve photographed the Portland turn on several occasions, I haven’t made much of an effort to seek out the NS portion of this run. That is, until last Saturday.
Pat and I agreed, that if the D-L’s connection with NS were to be moved, photos of the NS at Portland would be a rare commodity indeed. So, while we made a point of catching the Alcos at work, we also went after NS H-76, which featured a nice collection of vintage EMD diesels.
Norfolk Southern local H76 delivers interchange to the D-L at Portland on October 17, 2015. Like the D-L this operates on former Lackawanna Railroad trackage.At Portland, the D-L and Norfolk Southern interchange freight.1970s EMD’s meet 1960s Alcos at Portland, PA.D-L’s Alco/MLW diesels represent a local attraction at Portland.Norfolk Southern SD40-2 3575 is framed by the old DL&W station at Portland.Working westward, D-L PT97 charges below a road bridge at East Shroudsburg, Pennsylvania. This is the only regular move on this section of the old Lackawanna mainline. It made an impressive show!
All around it was a successful afternoon. It was also the first time that I’ve photographed the D-L using digital cameras. A fair few years had passed since my last visit!
Sometimes after making all the wrong moves, luck falls on your lap.
It was Thursday, October 22, Mike Gardner and I had traveled to Brattleboro, Vermont to intercept the southward New England freight, job 611. Instead of my usual route via back roads, we opted for I-91, then got caught in terrible traffic in the town. By the time we reached the yard, 611 had departed.
To Millers Falls we went, only to learn we missed the train by moments. “Now what?” Mike asked.
So, we went over to Pan Am’s East Deerfield Yard, near Greenfield, Massachusetts. Where trains converged from all directions.
Eastward freight, symbol 14R, came into view led by Union Pacific SD70M 3947. “What is this, the Feather River Canyon?”
This was not hard to take; clean Union Pacific locomotives from the famous ‘Railfan’s Bridge’ at East Deerfield West.
I’ve made countless photos from this well established vantage point, but it’s always nice to get something unusual. The bridge itself is on borrowed time, so my philosophy is make use of it while I can.
Freight 14R with Union Pacific and NS EMDs works into East Deerfield Yard. Where’s the old SW1 that worked as the West End switcher?
In its heyday, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western was a super railroad. Visionary management rebuilt and modernized the line in the early years of the 20th century, spending vast amounts of private capital on massive line relocations characterized by massive concrete viaducts.
I can only imagine what the railroad would have been like with its multiple track mainline, numerous signal towers, and a steady flow of freight and passenger trains.
On the afternoon of October 17th, Pat Yough and I revisited the DL&W line over Pocono Summit, and explored the area around Slateford Junction and Portland, Pennsylvania.
Radiant foliage along the old DL&W mainline at Henryville, PA. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania looking west on the DL&W. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.Restored East Stroudsburg tower.Former DL&W open spandrel concrete Slateford Viaduct over the Delaware River at Slateford Junction. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.Former DL&W open spandrel concrete Slateford Viaduct over the Delaware River at Slateford Junction. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.Slateford Junction.DL&W relay box Portland, PA.Old DL&W station at Portland, PA.
I made these views of the old Lackawanna infrastructure. While the old ‘Lackawanna Cut-off’ built in 1908 was abandoned by Conrail in the 1980s, other portions of the DL&W in the area remain active, although it’s a shadow compared to the intensively traveled mainline of a century ago.
Yet, the decayed vestiges of this once super railroad remain a fascinating testimony to the earlier era. A time when coal was the railroad’s life blood, and the dull roar of interstate highways and jet aero planes was still far in the future.
Stay tuned tomorrow: the DL&W Lives on with Norfolk Southern and Delaware-Lackawanna freights.
SEPTA’s number 15 trolley is among the subjects I regularly revisit on Tracking the Light. My brother lives just a few blocks from the line, which runs along Girard Avenue in Philadelphia.
Like Dublin’s LUAS tram routes, SEPTA’s 15 is a railway line that I’ve routinely used to get around, and that makes it an ideal subject to photograph. The historic PCC cars are an added bonus.
I exposed these views with my Lumix LX7 last Friday evening to and from my way to Johnny Brenda’s Tavern for dinner.
October sun on Girard Avenue. I used Lightroom to adjust the contrast of this image in post processing.Looking east on Girard. Trolley service is about every 10 minutes, although cars tend to arrive in clusters.
A relatively recent addition to the 15 route is the extension to a casino, seen here passing Widley Street.The eastern section of the 15 trackage is presently being renovated, so all cars take the turn to and from the new extension. This car is making the turn onto Girard in the westward direction.SEPTA’s number 15 trolley as seen on Girard Avenue from the Market-Frankfort El stop. Time exposure made with a Lumix LX7.
In its heyday, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western was a super railroad. Visionary management rebuilt and modernized the line in the early years of the 20th century, spending vast amounts of private capital on massive line relocations characterized by massive concrete viaducts.
I can only imagine what the railroad would have been like with its multiple track mainline, numerous signal towers, and a steady flow of freight and passenger trains.
On the afternoon of October 17th, Pat Yough and I revisited the DL&W line over Pocono Summit, and explored the area around Slateford Junction and Portland, Pennsylvania.
Radiant foliage along the old DL&W mainline at Henryville, PA. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania looking west on the DL&W. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.Restored East Stroudsburg tower.Abandoned former DL&W open spandrel concrete Slateford Viaduct over the Delaware River at Slateford Junction. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.Former DL&W open spandrel concrete Slateford Viaduct over the Delaware River at Slateford Junction. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.Slateford Junction.Old DL&W station at Portland, PA.DL&W relay box Portland, PA.
I made these views of the old Lackawanna infrastructure. While the old ‘Lackawanna Cut-off’ built in 1908 was abandoned by Conrail in the 1980s, other portions of the DL&W in the area remain active, although it’s a shadow compared to the intensively traveled mainline of a century ago.
Yet, the decayed vestiges of this once super railroad remain a fascinating testimony to the earlier era. A time when coal was the railroad’s life blood, and the dull roar of interstate highways and jet aero planes was still far in the future.
Coming soon: the DL&W Lives on with Norfolk Southern and Delaware-Lackawanna freights.
Excursion trains are a perfect opportunity to test photographic equipment. I’m always looking for new glass. It’s not that cash is burning holes in my wallet, but every lens offers new ways of making photographs, and I’m curious to know what each is capable of.
Sunday, I had the loan of a Fujinon XF16-55mm f2.8 zoom. I already have a 18-135mm Fujinon zoom for my X-T1, so I wanted to know what could this lens offer me.
First of all it has a slightly wider field of view. More importantly, it’s faster (f2.8 across the range instead of f4-5.6) and the aperture control is with a conventional ring on the lens with traditional f stop markings.
I found the lens easy to use, quick to focus, and very sharp. On the downside, it is heavier and larger than my existing zoom. Also, from the moment I attached it to the camera I wanted it!
Here are two photos exposed hand-held with the zoom. I’d photographed the same train at this exact location on the previous day using my Canon EOS 3 and Provia slide film.
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF16-55mm f2.8 zoom set at ISO 200 f5.6 1/500 at 18.7mm. (In otherwords, I could have used my existing 18-135mm lens for this same view)Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 with Fujinon XF16-55mm f2.8 zoom set at ISO 200 f5.0 1/500 at 55mm.
Exposed with my Lumix LX7 this morning at Trenton, New Jersey.
Amtrak ACS64 number 632 leads a Keystone train destined for Harrisburg, PA.Amtrak ACS64 number 632 leads a Keystone train destined for Harrisburg, PA.Amtrak Keystone train destined for Harrisburg, PA, departs Trenton on October 19, 2015.Amtrak ACS64 number 648 leads the northward Vermonter (train 56) at Trenton. This post was transmitted from this train.
Every so often you get a day where everything seems to come together.
Saturday, October 17, 2015 was one of those days.
Thanks to the Reading & Northern and their crews for running an impressive train; thanks to Pat Yough for getting us where we all needed to be to photograph the action; thanks to FujiFilm for producing a great little camera; and thanks to Autumn 2015 for great weather and fine foliage.
All I did was release the shutter.
Hooray!
Rods down: Reading & Northern 4-6-2 425 makes an impressive scene near Haucks, Pennsylvania on October 17, 2015. This was part of the old Central Railroad of New Jersey route on the line toward Jim Thorpe, PA.
Historically, a key to successful steam locomotive photos was leaving ample space above the locomotive for the exhaust plume. Imagine this same composition with a diesel.
Saturday morning, Pat Yough and I photographed Reading & Northern’s handsome Pacific, number 425, on a fall foliage excursion from Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
The weather was perfect; clear and cool.
I exposed this image on the old Reading Company at Zehners, Pennsylvania on the line from Port Clinton to Tamaqua.
Reading & Northern 425 on October 17, 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
My intent was to show that the locomotive is a Pacific type (4-6-2). What better way to do this than with a nicely lit broad-side view?
All told, it was an excellent morning!
What I can’t convey in still images is the sound of the whistle echoing up the valleys, and the bark of the exhaust as the engine worked upgrade, complete with the occasional burst of beats that results from the drivers slipping on wet rail.
Kudos to the Reading & Northern’s operating department for a job well done.
Tracking the Light posts every day. Don’t miss out!
I arrived on Amtrak 173, which was actually ahead of schedule. By arrangement, I met Bruce and Steve Barry on the platform.
I was on my way to give a talk on British and Irish Railways to the Wilmington Chapter National Railway Historical Society, but Bruce advised me before arrival that we’d have time to photograph a few trains.
They’d selected an ideal spot at the north-end of platform C. The light was perfect and over the course of about 10 minutes we caught three southward trains.
A new Siemens ACS-64 leads Amtrak 97 Silver Meteor at Wilmington, Delaware on October 15, 2015. Exposed with my FujiFilm X-1.Viewliner sleepers on train 97.Heritage diner on Amtrak 97. Now, how cool is that?A SEPTA local rolls in from Philadelphia. This is one of the ROTEM built Silverliner Vs.I had my camera shutter set in ‘turbo flutter’ (‘CH’ continuous high), which allowed me to position the pantograph a top the Silverliner in just the right spot. The next frame in sequence cropped it in a unappealing way.
For me the highlight of this short but productive venture was the passage of Amtrak number 97, the Silver Meteor (New York Penn-Station to Florida) which carried Viewliner sleepers and one of the few remaining heritage diners.
I was experimenting with my FujiFilm X-T1, and used the silent digital shutter, instead of the mechanical shutter that I typically use to make railroad photos. I’ll elaborate on that in a future post.
Amtrak Acela Express train 2165 was on its way to Washington DC.
As a follow up to the black & white variations I posted the other day showing Central Vermont Railway RS-11s crossing the Palmer diamonds, I exposed this view made at precisely the same location.
In 1984, Conrail’s directional double track line crossed Central Vermont. Today, CSXT’s single track line crosses Genessee & Wyoming’s New England Central.
New England Central southward freight waits to cross CSXT’s former Boston & Albany at Palmer, Massachusetts on October 14, 2015.New England Central southward freight waits to cross CSXT’s former Boston & Albany at Palmer, Massachusetts on October 14, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Palmer April 13, 1984.
More than just the tracks, names and locomotives have changed.
I boarded at New Haven Union station and I’m on my way to Wilmington, Delaware. This is my first-ever Amtrak trip to Wilmington.
New Haven Union Station about 1:24 pm on Thursday October 15, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.
Tonight, Thursday, October 15, 2015, I’ll be presenting an illustrated talk on railways in Ireland and Britain to the Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
I’ll be showing original 35mm color slides that span 18 years worth of photographic adventures.
According to the Chapter’s website:
The Wilmington Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society meets at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month (except August and December) at the Claymont Community Center, on Green Street in Claymont, Delaware.
Amtrak prefers the archaic non-standard plural spelling for the common rubber-tired motor-vehicle. LX7 photo.Boston-bound Acela Express departs New Haven. LX7 photo.Amtrak train 173 arrives at New Haven about 7 minutes behind schedule. LX7 photo.CitiesSprinter 634 catchs the sun.
