The ‘Ides of March’ 1997; Sagers, Utah along Union Pacific’s old Denver & Rio Grande Western mainline.
Fellow photographer Mel Patrick and I were traveling back from WinteRail ’97 (held in Stockton, California) and made a project of photographing trains in the Utah and Nevada deserts.
It was at 6:38 AM that I exposed this trailing view of a short BNSF piggyback train heading eastward toward Denver.
Tracking the Light Looks Back.
Tomorrow Wednesday January 9, 2019, at 730pm, I’ll be presenting a slide show on Conrail to the Amherst Railway Society in Palmer, Massachusetts.
Amherst Railway Society meetings are open to the public.
The program will feature some of my finest vintage slides; Kodachrome and otherwise.
Amherst Railway Society’s Clubhouse is located in the old Palmer Grange building on South Main Street near the intersection with Route 32, a stone’s throw from the old Tennyville Bridge over CSX’s former Conrail—Boston & Albany—mainline.
See Amherst Railway Society’s page for details:
http://www.amherstrail.org/ARS/meeting-Jan2019.php
Tracking the Light posts Every Day!
New Years Day I exposed two rolls of Ilford HP5 (400 ISO) using a Nikon F3 with f1.8 105mm lens.
In my wanders in Philadelphia to capture the festive splendor of the annual Mummers parade, I also made images of the city’s architecture and neighborhoods.
Philadelphia is a city of contrasts, and my aim was to produce stark and revealing photographs. Urban textures are enhanced by the silvery selenium enhanced highlight, inky black shadows.
By intent there’s a foreboding darkness to these images.
Granularity and shallow depth of field are characteristics my choice of lens and film and make for distinctive photos. These are distinctly different than digital images I made during the same outing.
My chemical process is non-standard: in addition to split processing the film (using two stage development), I selenium-toned my finished negatives to alter contrast.
I scanned the negatives using an Epson V600 flatbed scanner, then made very slight adjustments in post processing.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
On our SEPTA exploration January 2, 2019, we visited the Norristown Transportation Center, where we changed from the former Reading Company heavy rail line to the old Philadelphia & Western ‘High Speed’ line.
The elevated station for the old P&W route offers a stunning view of the trestle over the Schuykill River.
A grand view, yes, but the light was about as uninspiring as it gets; I was faced with dull, colorless January gloom.
I made a few photos of a Norristown-bound car scuttling across the bridge.
As color photos these are pretty hopeless.
You might ask, ‘why didn’t I just make a B&W film photo?’
My answer is: ‘I was traveling light, and didn’t bring a film camera’
I think I’ll just need to return on a brighter day.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day. Even when its dull and colorless.
On Wednesday January 2, 2019, my brother and I made an adventure of exploring the SEPTA system.
We bought Independence Passes, which offer essentially unlimited travel on the SEPTA transportation system for a day, and we sampled a variety of modes and lines.
We began at Parkside Avenue by boarding the number 40 bus (GASP!), then to the Market-Frankford rapid transit. At Jefferson Station/Market East we picked up a heavy rail train to Norristown where we transferred to the old Philadelphia & Western high-speed line to 69thStreet.
From there the Media trolley to its namesake (yes, there’s a town called Media, Pennsylvania, and it’s one of the last with a single track trolley right up the main street.) Reaching the end of the trolley line at Orange Street, we walked to the old PRR station, and boarded a train that ran through to West Trenton, New Jersey, although we alighted at Woodbourne, PA to meet our friend Pat Yough, who took us by road to a nearby pub.
Our return trip retraced our steps to Philadelphia’s suburban station, where after some trials and missteps, eventually found the appropriate bus (GASP!) and this brought us back to where we began.
The light was dreary, but I made photos anyway using with both my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm digital cameras.
Tracking the Light Posts Everyday.
In our wanders around Philadelphia on New Year’s Day, I made dozens of digital image with my new Lumix LX7.
For these photos I was using the external viewfinder, an attachment that connects via the top of camera hot shoe. This makes it easier to compose in bright daylight.
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
At 730 pm this coming Wednesday, January 9, 2019, I’ll be presenting a slide show on Conrail to the Amherst Railway Society in Palmer, Massachusetts.
Amherst Railway Society meetings are open to the public.
The year 2019 marks the 20thanniversary of the divide of Conrail operations between CSX and Norfolk Southern so I thought this would be a good time to reflect on Conrail’s operations.
The program will feature some of my finest vintage slides; Kodachrome and otherwise.
Amherst Railway Society’s Clubhouse is located in the old Palmer Grange Hall on the south side of South Main Street near the intersection with Route 32, a stone’s throw from the old Tennyville Bridge over CSX’s former Conrail—Boston & Albany—mainline. Ample parking is available.
See Amherst Railway Society’s page for details:
http://www.amherstrail.org/ARS/meeting-Jan2019.php
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day.
Many years ago, my old pal T.S. Hoover and I would make a project of photographing the old New Haven Railroad during the holiday season.
This past New Years Eve (December 31 2018), I maintained this tradition, although that wasn’t my intent!
I was transferring from Amtrak 405 from Springfield to Amtrak 195 from Boston. Let’s just say the Boston train wasn’t holding to the advertised and I had ample time to wander around and make photographs of the passing action.
New Haven isn’t pretty, high level platforms combined with a plethora of poles, catenary masts, catenary, signs, garbage, stray wires and other visual clutter hasn’t improved this classic setting, but there’s a great variety of equipment on the move.
No GG1s, RDCs, FL9s, E8s or other relics that made this a fascinating place when I was a teenager. For that matter there weren’t any E60s, AEM-7s, F40s or SPV-2000s either.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Low clouds, bright city lights, and lots of freight on the move; that was my brief experience touring Houston’s railroad yards on the evening of December 18, 2018.
Tom Kline gave my father and me a whirlwind tour and I made atmospheric grab shots as we drove around.
The photos here were made using high-ISO on my FujiFilm XT1. These were made ‘on the fly’, handheld from Tom’s truck without benefit of a tripod or set up time.
I was delighted with my results and I’ve promised Tom that someday I’ll return for some daylight photography.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Here’s a few views of the annual Mummers Parade held on Philadelphia’s Broad Street.
My brother has attended the parade for 21 years. This was my third or forth Mummers.
I made these photos with my new Lumix LX7.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Back in October 2018, I reported how my old Lumix LX7 suffered a failure owning to being drowned two days in a row.
Later I reported how I resuscitated the camera by leaving it in a zip lock bag with rice for four days in an effort to dry it out.
For two months the camera struggled on.
In the mean time my old friend Ken Buck offered to sell me his rarely used LX7.
Last week I took him up on the offer, as my original LX7 had finally reached the end of its usefulness.
The other day, I put the ‘new’ Lumix LX7 to the test and made these photos of Amtrak 57, the Saturday southward Vermonter making its station stop at Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Low sun is a key to dramatic railway photos, and shortly before the train arrived, the clouds parted.
This is now my third Lumix LX-series camera. My first was a LX3, that I used from October 2009 to April 2014; my second was the ‘Zombie Lumix’ previously described. Long live my third Lumix!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Some weeks ago, I had a few minutes before running an errand. I stopped in at CP83 near the old Palmer Union Station.
My timing was nearly perfect. Not long after I arrived, I heard a familiar roar to the west.
The air was clear, and the sounds of EMD 645 diesels were resonating as they worked eastbound.
I thought, ‘must be the B740’ (the CSX local freight that typically arrives in Palmer about mid-morning to work the interchange.)
I walked up to the South Main Street bridge. As the train approached Palmer, it enters a short down grade, so the roar quieted. This change in pitch might confuse a novice visitor, who might become discouraged at the very moment a train is about to pass.
Sure enough, after a couple of minutes, CSX B740 rolled into view and took the switch at CP83 onto the controlled siding.
Perfect low and clear December sun over my left shoulder made for a calendar scene.
I exposed these views using my FujiFilm XT1.
Tracking the Light posts daily!
This is my final Irish 201-class diesel posting in my 2018/20-year retrospective series.
I have to admit, old 234 isn’t my favorite, and there’s a bit of, ‘ah not that one, again.’ But so be it! If we ever need photos of 234 on the move, I have many to chose from.
Here I present two: one in the classic orange livery from 2005, and a recent view in green and silver.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, I revisited the scene at Stafford Springs, having made photos there two days earlier.
In fact, I’ve been photographing trains passing this Connecticut village since the early 1980s, but I find it always helps to try to look at an old place with fresh eyes.
I like the arrangement of old brick buildings, the tracks along the creek/old mill race, and other elements characteristic of southern New England.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens, I exposed these views of New England Central 608 on its return journey from Palmer to Willimantic.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
We rode south on the Houston Metro Red line and made photos at Hermann Park—a relative patch of greenery in an otherwise heavily urbanized environment.
I exposed these views using my FujiFilm XT1 with f2.0 90mm lens.
To make the most of the scene, I used shallow depth of field (by working a wide aperture set manually) and panned the passing light rail cars to convey a sense of motion and depth.
Tracking the Light Post Daily.
Traveling on a city’s light rail system is one of my favorite means of urban exploration.
Last week, my father and I spend several hours traveling on the Houston, Texas Metro Rail. Here’s a few photos I made near the city’s Custom House.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
My penultimate post for 2018 that features Ireland’s 201-class diesels focuses on locomotive number 233—second to last in the series (201-234).
In recent times this has worn the minimalist ‘raccoon’ livery, while for a number of years it wore the older Enterprise scheme.
I exposed these views of 233 in the Dublin area over the last three years.
I’ve been featuring the Irish Rail 201 diesels as part of my 20 years in Ireland photography retrospective. I started with the class leader number 201, and have progressed sequentially. Take a wild guess as to which locomotive I’ll conclude the series! (This is not a trick question. You don’t need to consult a crystal ball or take a class in advanced mathematics.).
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
I walked from the Sam Houston Hotel two blocks to Fannin Street, where I exposed a few photos of the city’s Metro light rail using my old Lumix LX7.
This was my first taste of this modern Texas rail transit system. The following day, my father and I explored the Metro Rail in daylight.
Stay tuned for more photos!
Tracking the Light is Daily!
The sun had set on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited before we arrived at Houston, Texas last week.
This was the end of my most recent Amtrak journey.
I made these photos with my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit set at ISO 3200.
Shutter speed was about 1/13thof a second.
I made some minor adjustments to shadow and highlight detail in post processing.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In recent months, New England Central’s Willimantic-Palmer freight, job 608, has been largely nocturnal while the railroad undertook a major rehabilitation program.
New rail, ties and crossing protection have been installed. The switches at State Line are improved. And the railroad is in the best shape it’s been in decades.
Monday morning, December 10, 2018, I heard 608 working north through Monson.
That afternoon, I heard the train on its return run. So Pop (Richard J. Solomon) and I headed out to intercept it.
We caught it at both ends of the siding at State Line, then proceeded to Stafford Springs, where I made these views using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens.
High contrast low December sun proved challenging. To make the most of the light, I applied an external graduated neutral density filter tapered and positioned to hold the sky exposure.
Compare the camera produced JPG file with adjusted RAW images. (There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. The JPG reflects a ‘pre-profiled’ camera setting based on Fuji’s Velvia color setting. The RAW’s were adjusted by me to reflect conditions at Stafford Springs.)
In post processing, I worked with camera RAW files by lightened shadows, darkened highlights, and reduced overall contrast while warming color temperature and slightly boosting saturation.
As we departed Stafford, I noticed a better angle to catch the train. Stay tuned!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light publishes every day, even Christmas!
Pages 18 and 19 feature my column, in which I discuss future freight railroads and their opportunities.
My Podcasts are advertised on page 5. To listen in click this link:
http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/2018/09/conversations-with-brian-solomon
This the second issue that features the new redesigned image.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Sunset Sunsets Part 3.
This was a long stop with a crew change; the New Orleans crew exchanged for a crew to take the train to San Antonio.
I had about ten minutes to wander around and make photos before we were westward bound again.
These views were exposed digitally using my FujiFilm XT1 with Zeiss Touit lens.
What amazed me was how quickly the sun sets in Texas in December. Not long after the train was underway again, I noticed the sky was completely dark.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
It was a bright morning. I had a comparatively late start.
Since the new CT Rail suburban service began operations on the ‘Hartford Line’ (New Haven-Hartford-Springfield former New Haven Railroad line), I’d been meaning to photograph one of the trains on the big bridge over the Connecticut River at Warehouse Point/East Windsor-Windsor Locks.
Last summer the sun angles didn’t suit the timetable, but now with a revised schedule and low winter sun, there are a variety of angles to be had.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 and 18-135mm zoom, I made these views of CT Rail 4405 just before 11am on December 12, 2018.
It helps to have a nice clear morning!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Gazing out of windows on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited in east Texas, I contemplated the past, anticipated the future while exposing timeless silhouettes.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Silhouettes from the Sunset Limited.
These scenes were part of the passing panorama as photographed from Amtrak’s Sunset Limited on December 17, 2018.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
Traveling on Amtrak’s Sunset Limited on our way from New Orleans to Houston, the train made a long station stop at Lafayette, Louisiana.
Well it was long enough for me to get out for a few minutes and expose a few photos.
It was 22 years and 11 months ago that I gave a lecture in Lafayette. That was my last visit here, and it seems like a lifetime ago.
Photos were exposed with my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens, adjusted in Lightroom for contrast and saturation.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
Departing New Orleans, I settled in Amtrak’s glass-lined observation lounge.
Here I made photos as we navigated the maze of trackage on both sides of the massive Huey P. Long bridge over the Mississippi River.
More Sunset (Limited) views to follow on Tracking the Light.
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light posts daily.
As 2018 draws to a close, I still have three more Irish Class 201 diesel-electrics to feature as part of my on-going 20 year Irish Railways Retrospective!
Next up in the queue is Irish Rail 232.
In Spring 2017, this was the latest locomotive running around in fresh paint, and I’d made a point of catching on the IWT Liner (Dublin to Ballina, Co. Mayo).
Here’s two views from March 2017.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
NOUPT serves Amtrak’s City of New Orleans, Crescent, and tri-weekly Sunset Limitedplus the seasonal train ride styled as the Polar Express.It’s also the city’s bus terminal.
This station was among the very last city terminals constructed during the era when the private railroads ran their own passenger trains.
Only ticketed Amtrak passengers were permitted onto the railroad platforms.
Here are few views exposed the other day.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
The other evening, I made these panned views of a streetcar in New Orleans at night.
I set my FujiFilm XT1 at ISO 3200, the shutter speed dial to ‘A’ and the exposure compensation dial to +1/3 (to compensate for the dark sky). The camera auto-selected my shutter speed based on available light, which was about 1/12thof a second.
To keep the trolley sharp, I panned car as it passed me. I was careful to maintain my pan for the full duration of each exposure and avoid speeding up or stopping as I released the shutter.
I had the shutter release set for ‘CH’ (Continuous High) so the camera continued to expose images as I panned.
I’ve selected the most effective of my burst of images.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
On its final lap to New Orleans, Amtrak’s Crescentpauses at several smaller stations.
I made photos during these brief stops to capture the mood of these line-side communities in the evening glow.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Exploring the train, gazing out at the rolling panorama and nipping off for moments during station stops allows for snapshots of our journey.
Below are just a few of many views exposed on the way to New Orleans on Amtrak’s Crescent.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Well I can tick off this state. December 16, 2018, I made my first ever photo on the ground in Alabama, when I got off the Crescent during its station stop.
Using the rear display extended, I held my FujiFilm XT1 low to the platform for this dynamic angle of Amtrak P42 126 that was leading train 19 southward toward New Orleans.
Ten minutes later I was in the diner and on the roll southward again.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
As we drove north on Route 5, I said to Mike Gardner, “It’s 2:30, EDRJ should be getting organized to head west.” At that very moment, the scanner squawked:
“EDRJ, proceed west on signal indication.”
That was timely!
So we went to my old standby location in Greenfield. We had enough time to set up, when the chug of vintage General Electric diesels announced the approach of EDRJ.
I made these views with my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
If you are not viewing on Briansolomon.com, click the link to Tracking the Light for the FULL view!
A misty morning greeted Amtrak number 19, the Crescent, Sunday December 16, 2018.
I walked to the front of the train during our extended stop and exposed this 220 degree panoramic composite view using my Lumix LX7.
Using a preset in the ‘SCN’ mode, the camera automatically stitches together a series of photos exposed in rapid succession to make for a broad panoramic image.
Tracking the Light Posts Everyday, sometimes more than once.
