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Blue Ridge Flyer—Views from the Dome

Having enjoyed our journey aboard Virginia Scenic Railway’s Appalachian Special from Staunton to Goshen, we decided to book another adventure—this time traveling east over the Blue Ridge on the Blue Ridge Flyer. (Same train set, different run).

Under clear blue skies, we boarded the Budd Vista Dome Shenandoah, with our seats upstairs in the dome this time.

Before departing Staunton, Kris and I watched Amtrak No. 51, the westbound Cardinal, work up the old Chesapeake & Ohio grade. It had been nearly ten years since I last traveled on Amtrak’s train over the C&O route.

One of the great pleasures of riding in a Vista Dome is the expansive view both forward and aft—especially when meeting opposing traffic.

Approaching the siding at Afton, we got a “white eye”—a lunar white signal aspect. This is a restricting signal.

“We’re in luck! Our train is taking the siding. I’ll bet there’s an empty coming against us.”

Where else on a short line tourist excursion train do you get a signaled meet with a 197-car freight?

At Crozet—named for the 19th-century civil engineer who laid out the route—we paused for the runaround, where our locomotive changed ends. On the return leg, we watched a Blue Ridge sunset from one of Budd’s finest cars.

Joining the main at Staunton.
View of C&O’s Staunton station from the dome. It seems quite different than from street level.
Meeting coal empties near Afton, Virginia.
For me this was the highlight of the trip!
Run around at Crozet.
Returning to Staunton; the old C&O main climbing west on the right.

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Fresh Paint on a Classic EMD

The GP38 was introduced the same year as me, which gives me a certain fondness for this EMD classic diesel. Amtrak’s GP38-3s represent an upgrading of old GP38/GP38-2 models to more modern standards.

In March, I was visiting with my friend Doug Scott on the station platform at Newark, Delaware. We heard a distant whistle and after a while and unscheduled train approached Davis interlocking (east of the station) on a secondary track. This was an Amtrak maintenance-of-way move carrying a Loram ballast cleaning train and some freshly shopped Amfleet cars.

The train entered the mainline, pulled up to the station and stopped in front of us to change directions. This was a nice surprise. Leading was Amtrak GP38-3 744 wearing fresh Phase 7 paint. It was the first of this class of locomotives that I’de seen wearing Amtrak’s latest interpretation of its classic livery.

The locomotive, now 54 years old was built new for Penn Central as its 8032 in 1972. Gosh, it is an antique!

In addition to this selection of digital photos, I also exposed a few slides, and in fact finished off the roll of Ektachrome the I’d loaded into my dad’s old Leica M4.

A lot of Amtrak color in this photo; GP38-3 744 holds on the mainline as an eastward (northward) Regional train zips by with ACS-64 642 at the back. This was painted to support America’s Veterans.

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C&O Staunton Station

The former Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad station in Staunton, Virginia, is a classic structure set in a tight location.

The old C&O main line—now operated by short line Buckingham Branch, which hosts Amtrak, CSX, and the Virginia Scenic Railway—is situated on a sharp curve, pressed against the rocky base of a hill that rises south of town. The street side of the station is bordered by cobblestones and faces a collection of historic buildings characteristic of Staunton’s downtown.

The station was designed by T. J. Collins and built in 1902 to replace an earlier structure.

Using my Nikon Z6-III with a 24–70mm lens, I made this selection of photographs in the late afternoon during the first of several visits to the station in late March. The high-contrast, directional light emphasizes the textures of the brickwork and cobblestones.

I’ve arranged the images below in the order in which they were exposed.

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My Photo Class: From PRR to PC to Conrail

At 9am, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, my third railroad photography class of the Spring season convened at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pa.

I had enthusiastic participants. Following a brief introduction, by Museum Director Pat Morrison, I gave a concise 15 minute slide presentation, and we adjourned to the Museum to make photographs.

To make use of the fine Spring weather, initially we all went outside into the yard to photograph the locomotives and rolling stock on exhibit there, and to observe construction of the new roundhouse that is being built toward the west end of the Museum’s grounds.

Afterward, we returned inside, where Pat and I spoke with participants. I answered questions and made a variety of photos.

Among the benefits of the class is that we can take down some of the steel barriers to allow for unobstructed photography of key exhibits. In addition, Pat opened up several locomotives for exploration, photography and for use as viewing platforms.

I discussed photography, cameras and technique with many of the participants, while exposing dozens of photos using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras.

Among the lenses I worked with was my old Nikkor f2.0 135mm ‘defocus’ prime telephoto.

Although I’ve made dozens of visits to the Museum, everytime I go, I make different photos, and that is one of the points of the classes: ‘learning to see.’

Nikon Z6 with Nikkor f2.0 135mm prime telephoto-focused manually.
Roundhouse construction.
Nikon Z6 with Nikkor f2.0 135mm prime telephoto-focused manually.
Nikon Z6 with Nikkor f2.0 135mm prime telephoto-focused manually.
E44 detail.
Museum Director Pat Morrison with GG1 4935. Exposed with Nikon Z6-III with Nikkor Z-series 24-70mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with Nikkor f2.0 135mm prime telephoto-focused manually.
Nikon Z6 with Nikkor f2.0 135mm prime telephoto-focused manually.
Exposed with Nikon Z6-III with Nikkor Z-series 24-70mm lens.

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West to Goshen in Style!

We boarded Virginia Scenic Railway’s former Western Pacific California Zephyr Budd Vista-Dome at Staunton. Kris had booked us tickets for Adults-Only Dining, so we were seated at a table in the lower level of the art deco–style classic passenger car.

This trip was aboard VSRy’s “Alleghany Special,” which operates west over the former Chesapeake & Ohio. We departed as advertised and made a reverse move up to the C&O station before heading west.

Our car-hosts, Mike and Liz, took great care of us. I sampled some of the local craft beer, including The 6th Lord from Basic City Beer Company, as I made notes on lineside locations.

This journey was completed in just three hours.

I noted portions of the former right-of-way before the railroad was relocated in the 1950s to improve curvature and gradient.

Our meals were served on the westward leg of the trip.

At Goshen, Virginia the locomotive ran around the train, and we reversed direction on the main line.

Among the scenic highlights was an 1890-vintage truss bridge along a parallel road. A couple of days later, we returned by road to inspect the bridge.

Upon arrival back in Staunton, we spent a couple of hours wandering around town.

What a neat way to experience Virginia! We were so impressed that we booked tickets for another VSRy journey while still on the train. More on our second trip in an upcoming Tracking the Light post.

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Trail Van Pan on the Diamonds in Erie.

April 30th, 1988 was a good day on Conrail.

I spent the day working my way west from Rochester, New York following the former New York Central ‘Water Level Route’.

By early afternoon I’d made it all the way to Erie, Pa.

Among the photos I exposed in Erie was this panned view of a Conrail Trail Van trailer rolling across the diamond with the former Pennsylvania Railroad. If you look carefully, you can see in the distance Norfolk Southern’s former Nickle Plate Road bridge over the PRR line.

After exposing my photos, I drove all the way back to Rochester.

Leica M2 with 50mm f2.0 Summicron lens; Kodachrome 25 slide film.

Tracking the Light Explores Conrail on the 50th Anniversary of its commencement of operations!

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Cover of the April 2026 Milepost

My photo of former Conrail GP30 2233 appears on the cover of the April 2026 Friends of the Railroad Museum Milepost, a glossy publication published by and for the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

This image is timely, since April 1st marked the 50th anniversary of Conrail assuming operations of bankrupt Northeastern railroads (Penn Central, Erie Lackawanna, Reading, Lehigh Valley etc).

This also nicely coincides with the topic of my next Railroad Photography class at the Museum, which will focus on equipment displays relating to Conrail and its precursors.

The advertisement for the class reads:

“Railroad Photography: PRR to Penn Central to Conrail with Brian Solomon” will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, from 9 AM to 11 AM, at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The cost is only $25.00 per person. The class size is limited to 25 individuals and is designed for beginning photographers ages 18 and over.”

To register for the class see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-prr-to-penn-central-to-conrail-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1985578201852?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Conrail’s Dirt Devil

August 9, 1988: Boston Line milepost 81, east of Palmer, Massachusetts.

On this day, I spent the afternoon with a Conrail maintenance-of-way gang as they were undercutting the old Boston & Albany mainline where Route 20 crossed the line.

They were working with a large undercutting machine called the ‘Dirt Devil’ which used a chain-driven excavator to remove material from below the tracks. This was necessary to allow to improve vertical clearances for double-stacks and covered tri-level auto racks.

Exposed on Kodak Tri-X black & white film using my father’s Rolleiflex Model T.

Someone might ask, ‘why didn’t you make color photos?’

Who said I didn’t?

I made both Kodachrome and Tri-X photos of the Dirt Devil crew. All have withstood the test of time.

Tracking the Light Looks Back on Conrail on the railroad’s 50th Anniversary!

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Waiting to board the Virginia Scenic Railway

Kris booked our Virginia Scenic Railway tickets online days before we arrived in Staunton, Virginia.

As previously covered on Tracking the Light, we visited the Virginia Scenic Railway’s new Staunton station on the evening before our trip.

On the morning of our trip, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, giving me an opportunity to photograph both the equipment and the surroundings using my Nikon Z6 III and my father’s old Leica M4 (loaded with Ektachrome 100). We visited the gift shop, located in one of the restored 50ft boxcars and I bought a beer glass.

While we waited, a Buckingham Branch local freight worked up-grade on the former Chesapeake & Ohio main line. Before long, our train would reverse out of the station and follow the freight up-grade.

More on our train ride in the coming days!

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SD50 at Mineral Point

September 5, 1997, Mineral Point, Pennsylvania.

The day started out with a thick fog hugging the valley floor.

Fog not withstanding, Conrail operated a parade of trains over its former Pennsylvania Railroad main line.

Photographer Mike Gardner and I had driven down overnight from New England and were on-hand to capture the action.

Midday, thunder to the west signaled the approach of a unit coal train.

I made this trailing view of Conrail SD50 6711 wearing relatively new ‘Conrail Quality’ paint as the train crawled upgrade.

It was another great day on the late Conrail system!

Nikkor 80-200 AF Zoom.

Tracking the Light examines Conrail on the 50th anniversary of its creation!

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Buckingham Branch Display Train

We arrived in Staunton, Virginia, under sunny skies.

On our list of things to do was a trip on the Virginia Scenic Railway, the passenger excursion affiliate of the Buckingham Branch Railroad, which operates this portion of the former Chesapeake & Ohio main line.

Shortly after arriving, we visited the VSR’s new station facilities, located a short distance west of the old Chesapeake & Ohio station. Here, we found VSR’s “pocket streamliner,” as well as a freshly painted Buckingham Branch display train that serves as the gift shop and public restrooms for passengers.

I took the opportunity to make a variety of images of the Buckingham Branch GP16 diesel on display, along with photographs of the other equipment.

The next morning, we returned for our VSR excursion over the former C&O. We were not disappointed…stay tuned!

Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III.

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Killer Combo—Super Angulon and Pan-X

May 13, 1984: I was four weeks away from graduating high school. On that day I traveled with Bob Buck and met friends on the ‘B&A West End’ (Conrail’s former Boston & Albany climb over Washington Hill).

At Middlefield, Massachusetts the deep chug of big General Electric diesels alerted us to a westward freight.

Working with my Leica IIIA fitted with my dad’s 21mm Super Anglon, I exposed this series of black & white photos.

The Super Angulon was a favorite lens, but best used judiciously. Another key to the success of these photos was my film choice : Kodak’s Panatomic-X.

Rated at ISO 32, this super fine grain black & white emulsion offered super sharp images and wonderful tonality. The difficulty was its slow speed. It was really only practical on very bright days.

Looking back at my many photos made in the early 1980s, I wish I’d used Panatomic-X more often, rather than my preferred film of time: Kodak Tri-X (rated at ISO 400). If I’d had the resources, I sould have had multiple cameras with different types of film in each. Oh wait . . . I think I had another camera that day . . . and it was loaded with Kodak Ektachrome 200.

Those slides are for another post on another day.

Conrail had just ten GE C30-7s, locomotives 6600-6609, and in the the 1980s these were often assigned to the Boston Line. In mid-1984, the railroad began receiving its order for fifty C30-7As. Where the C30-7s had 16 cylinder engine that feature a louder heavier sound, the C30-7As, used a 12-cyldiner engine, and I believe were fitted with more effective sound emissions controls, which muted the sounds of their exhaust. The three C30-7s working this heavy westbound shook the earth at Middlefield that morning nearly 42 years ago!

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Ten Miles Per Hour on Track 2 . . .

In the 1980s, I’d often photograph Conrail on the former Erie Railroad west of Hornell, New York on the main line to Buffalo. This was a scenic line that retained its pre-Conrail character, where classic US&S upper quadrant semaphores still protected train movements and the old code lines remained in place.

At that time, Conrail retained the Erie’s directional double-track arrangement, normally operated in the current of traffic under rule 251. However, the traditional eastward track (No2) was only maintained to 10mph, while the westward track (No1) was maintained for significantly faster speeds.

If an eastward train wasn’t facing opposing traffic, the distpatcher in Hornell could issue orders (and in later years a Form-D) to allow the train to use the westward main in the eastward direction in order to speed its progress over the line.

As a young photographer, I much preferred finding a through freight plodding along at 10mph, since this would allow me to more easily follow it in my car and get just about all the angles I wanted without having to drive too fast. An eastbound train on track 2, also typically meant that there were westbound trains close by, which made for added interest.

On May 7, 1988, I was following Conrail’s BUOI led by SD50 6801. Clear skies and Professional Kodachrome 25 (PKM) loaded in my Leica M2 were a great recipe for making color photographs. 

At 8:30am, I made this photo of BUOI near Swain, New York. On this day, I stayed with the train for many miles. The Kodachromes from that adventure have been part of my collection ever since and this photo has been published in various places over the years.

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Conrail’s Final Days as a Class 1 Carrier

I remember the final days of March 1976, when, my father brought me— at age 9—trackside for a couple of days to witness northeastern railroading before Conrail absorbed operation of most of the large railroads in the region.

Twenty-three years later, he and I spent two days along Conrail’s former New York Central lines in eastern New York state , documenting the railroad’s final days.

Working with a Canon EOS borrowed from the manufacturer for review, I exposed this telephoto view of westward TrailVan train TV79 on the Water Level Route near Tribes Hill, New York.

Canon EOS with 100-400mm zoom, Fujichrome slide film. Exposed near Tribes Hill, New York on May 29, 1999.

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Conrail GP30—42 Years Ago!

In April 1984, on one of our countless rail-photo excursions together, my father and I paused to photograph this set of Conrail locomotives near the former Lehigh Valley Oak Island Yards in Newark, New Jersey.

GP30 2175 caught my attention, as I always admired the unusual semi-streamlined cab that characterised this EMD classic diesel.

Although I have a number of Conrail GP30 photos, this is one of the few images I have of a former Reading Company unit, which today makes it special, since I embarked on a project to re-imagine the Reading in HO-scale several years ago (presently in hiatus while I embark on more Reading research).

Conrail’s early years were an exciting time for me. I don’t think Pop was as impressed, but he brought me to many neat places across the east to watch and photograph Conrail, which was the greatest show around at the time.

Kodachrome 64 exposed with a Leica 3A fitted with 50mm Summitar lens.

Today, one of Conrail’s GP30s is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Old 2233 will be one of the topics of my next class on railroad photography at the museum, scheduled for April 14, 2026.

To register for the class see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-prr-to-penn-central-to-conrail-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1985578201852?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Misty Day on the Meadville Line

On November 12, 1987, I drove my 1973 Plymouth Scamp along the backroads from Scottsville to Salamanca, New York. Early that afternoon I caught Conrail’s OIEL east of town, making its way west on the Meadville Line—the former Erie Railroad main line running from Hornell, New York, to Meadville, Pennsylvania.

In its heyday, Salamanca had been an Erie division point, home to a large railroad station and a significant yard. By the time of my visit, however, the town was only a shadow of its former glory. Even so, simply seeing the place fascinated me. I wanted to see more of the old Erie Railroad to the west, so I followed OIEL.

SD50 6822 was in the lead. West of Salamanca, near Steamburg, I made this panned photograph from Route 17. My Leica M2 was loaded with Kodachrome—great for bright, sunny days but difficult to work with on a dull one. My exposure was f2.0 at 1/60 of a second. The wide aperture contributed to the corner vignetting in this image.

What sticks in my mind is that my car radio was playing “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You” by George Harrison, from his latest album, Cloud Nine, which had been released just a few days earlier.

Scan of Kodachrome 25 slide.
I made a variety of subtle changes using Adobe Lightroom to improve the appearance of the original photo. I wonder how these changes will translate after WordPress photo compression.

I made it as far west as Jamestown—that’s where my map ended. There was no GPS or Google Maps in those days. The Erie dipped down into Pennsylvania beyond that point. It would be another twenty years or so before I finally traced the line over its full distance between Jamestown and Meadville, but those are stories for another day.

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GP40s in the Lead!

July 30, 1987 was a good day.

I’ve previously posted to Tracking the Light some of my favorite photos exposed on this day on the former Pennsylvania Railroad at Bennington Curve.

In this view, exposed in the early morning light, a set of GP40s lead an uphill train. The roar of the 16-645E3 diesels was intense and it made for memorable drama.

Conrail was really busy railroad in those days. In addition to parades of eastbound and westbound freights, there were light helper moves and a few Amtrak trains.

In 1987 my choice film was Kodak T-Max 400, then a relative new emulsion. After more a year of work with T-max, I returned to using older emulsions such as Kodak Tri-X, which I felt produced better results. However, modern scanning techniques have allowed for pleasing interpretations of this almost 40 year-old negative.

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Plenty of Power at Twin Ledges

It is always nice to catch an extra.

My friends and I were set up at the rock cut that in part comprises the location known as ‘Twin Ledges’ situated on the east slope of Washington Hill. This was the former Boston & Albany main line, operated by Conrail as its Boston Line.

The trees had just a leafed out on May 24, 1987, when I made this image of a laden Conrail BAL (ballast) extra ascending the grade behind a consist of GE C30-7As.

Long after the train had squeeled through the reverse curves, we could hear its locomotives chugging west toward Washington Summit near Hinsdale, Massachusetts.

Conrail was a class act that made for countless photo opportunities.

Fifty Years after it commenced operations, Tracking the Light takes a fond look back on Conrail!

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Conrail Sunrise

On this day 50 years ago, Conrail commenced operations on the newly formed network of railroad lines largely created from the bankrupt ruins of traditional Northeastern railroads.

In August 1986, I made this sunrise view of a Conrail C30-7A at West Springfield, Massachusetts on Kodachrome 25 slide film.

Between 1976 and 1999, I made thousands of photographs of Conrail operations, machinery and people.

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Cardinal Contrasts—Modern Visions on the old C&O

Amtrak’s Cardinal (New York City–Chicago) is one of the most unusual trains on the network.

It is among the few trains that operate with a non-standard consist, typically including the relatively rare Viewliner dorm/baggage cars. Its route is also one of the few that operates over a shortline carrier, and it is one of only a handful of long-distance trains that runs just three days a week.

A few days ago, Kris and I timed a visit to Staunton, Virginia, to coincide with the arrival of Amtrak No. 51, the westbound Cardinal, at the former Chesapeake & Ohio station.

This historic station is situated on a narrow alignment along a sharp curve near the base of a steep grade, making it an especially unusual location to photograph a modern intercity passenger train. The line is operated and maintained by the Virginia based Buckingham Branch and hosts trains of several carriers including Amtrak.

Rain was cascading when the train approached the station. I thought the sleek, streamlined contours of the state-of-the-art Siemens Charger diesel made for a delightful contrast with the historic setting of the old C&O station.

Photos exposed using my Nikon Z6-III with 24-70mm lens.

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Is Cropping Cheating?

Looking west into the reverse curves at Christiana, Pa., I was limited by my 70–200mm lens. As I envisioned the scene, making the most of it would require a longer telephoto.

Lacking the appropriate focal length, I opted to frame the image with the intention of allowing for a very tight crop. As Amtrak Keystone 651 raced through the curves, I made this trailing view showing Siemens ACS-64 electrics at both ends of the consist.

My Nikon Z7 II’s high-resolution sensor (approximately 45 megapixels) allowed me to retain considerable detail and sharpness despite the tight cropping of the original image, which was exposed at a 200mm focal length.

So I ask: is this cheating?

Screen shot of the Adobe Lightroom work window that illustrates the degree of cropping of the original Nikon NEF Raw file.
Cropped version of the full frame image.

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Toronto Streetcars June 2010.

In June 2010, I purchased my first (and only) DSLR before embarking on an epic three-week trip that included a visit to Toronto, Ontario, with fellow photographer Pat Yough.

DSLR stands for digital single lens reflex. This type of camera provides an optical viewfinder using a system of mirrors to allow phographer to see through the lens as compated with a ‘Mirrorless’ camera that provides a hi-res digital display.

Using my new Canon EOS 7D fitted with a 200mm f/2.8 prime lens, I made this view of TTC CLRVs (Canadian Light Rail Vehicles) plying the city’s streets.

The bright red cars made for striking subjects on a dull June day marked by intermittent rain.

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Isle of Wight’s Island Line

In April 2009, I visited the UK’s Isle of Wight, arriving at Ryde Pier by ferry from Portsmouth.

I spent two days making photographs under sunny skies.

At St John’s Road in Ryde, I made this photograph of Island Line’s former London Underground cars passing a vintage signal box.

For me, these antique cars were the primary attraction. Built in 1938, they were among the oldest cars in regular revenue service in Europe—a throwback to another generation. They made their last scheduled runs more than five years ago and have since been retired.

I thought the small widow’s peak vent at the top center of the cars was a nice touch of Art Deco design on what was otherwise a utilitarian vehicle from an earlier era.

Island Line class 483 cars approach the platfrom at St. John’s Road in Ryde, Isle of Wight. Exposed on Fujichrome using a Canon EOS-3.

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I Love an ‘Extra’!

Back in the day, railroads used white flags to indicate an “extra.”

Today, even the term “extra” probably eludes many observers.

Under the old system of rules, an “extra” was a means of operating a train that wasn’t part of the schedule. In some cases, this was an extra section of a regular schedule, denoted by green flags. I never saw a proper second section.

A pure extra often represented something unusual.

I didn’t know what “887” signified, but it wasn’t part of the regular program.

A local enthusiast tipped me off that this was a test train with HHP-C cab cars.

I recall the old HHP-8 ‘Hippos’ from their days as high-horsepower passenger electrics. They were always a bit elusive, especially east of New York City. Some of the old HHP8 units have been transformed and are being trialed as replacements for the old Metroliner cab cars. (note the lack of pantographs).

When the headlight of 887 appeared on the horizon north of Newark, Delaware, I set my Nikon Z to capture the train as it passed the old PRR station.

An HHP-C cab car wearing the new “Phase VII” paint was at each end, with an Amfleet car on either side of the ACS-64 electric powering the short test train.

Pretty neat stuff—gotta love an “extra”!

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Railroad Photo Class April 14, 2026

My next railroad photography class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsyvania will focus on the equipment of the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors, Penn Central and Conrail.

This event is intended to roughly coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Conrail. I will provide seminars aiming to encourage students to make detailed visual studies of the museum key exhibits.

I’ve selected a few of my personal favorites, including E44 electric 4465.

The advertisement for this class reads:

“Railroad Photography: PRR to Penn Central to Conrail with Brian Solomon” will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, from 9 AM to 11 AM, at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The cost is only $25.00 per person. The class size is limited to 25 individuals and is designed for beginning photographers ages 18 and over.”

To register for the class see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-prr-to-penn-central-to-conrail-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1985578201852?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Bridges in the Lehigh Gorge-and Locating an old Slide.

A recent discussion with friends about bridges and tunnels in the Lehigh Gorge led me to mention some photos I made at Glen Onoko, near Jim Thorpe, Pa., in 2007.

On a humid August morning, I followed a trail and climbed a hill overlooking twin bridges over the Lehigh River. One bridge carried the former Lehigh Valley main line, now used by Norfolk Southern and Reading & Northern; the other was the parallel former Central Railroad of New Jersey route. This was part of a twentieth-century line relocation that replaced the CNJ’s earlier alignment, which passed through the “Turn Hole” Tunnel beneath the ridge on which I was standing. The CNJ’s modern route was consolidated with the Lehigh Valley’s, and the extant former CNJ bridge was later converted for use as a road/trail.

Our continuing discussion about these alignments led to the question, “So, where’s the picture?” To which I replied, “What? Now I need to scour my collection looking for a train photo? Arrgh!”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been labeling, organizing, and filing my slide collection—and this was a test of that effort. I went to the binder for “R” shortlines, flipped to the section on Reading & Northern, and located two of the photos from that August morning nearly 20 years ago. I scanned them using my Nikon LS-5000 scanner and scaled the images for internet presentation.

Why scale the scans? When I go through the effort of locating a slide and setting up the scanner, I always make the highest-resolution scan possible with my equipment—typically a TIFF file at 4,000 dpi. Since the resulting file is about 150 MB—far too large to send via email and too big for presentation here on Tracking the Light—I then import the TIFF into Lightroom and scale it to a more appropriate size.

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DART at Blackrock

It was a bright sunny afternoon in County Dublin’s Blackrock Park on 18 May 2004, when I photographed a Bray-bound Dublin Area Rapid Transit train gliding along on the 1834-built Dublin & Kingstown line—often described as the world’s first suburban railway.

Fuji Sensia in my old Contax G2 rangefinder was a classic camera/film combination that I employed to make countless successful photos in Ireland and across Europe.

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Metroliner Night Pan

A tip-in-hand made for an opportunity at Bird-in-Hand!

Our friend and fellow photographer, Pat Yough, tipped us off that Keystone 655 was heading our way and helped arrange for Cab Car 9635 to lead west of Philadelphia.

So what’s the big deal? This is one of at least two former Metroliner cab cars painted in Amtrak’s so-called Phase VII scheme, which—when applied to these vintage cars—closely resembles the look they wore in the mid-1970s. Pretty cool stuff. And while we’ve seen this on various occasions, it always pays to act on a tip!

Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I beelined for Bird-in-Hand to catch the train. A lineside billboard features a bright light, which helps provide illumination for nocturnal movements such as 655.

We didn’t wait long before the gleam of headlights shimmered on the rails, announcing the westward train’s approach.

To make dynamic images of the passing train, I set my Nikon Z6 III to f/1.4 at 1/60th of a second and panned with the movement.

Soon we’ll be heading into longer days, bringing fewer opportunities for night photography—but more chances to work in the evening dusk.

Nikon NEF RAW file process in DxO PureRaw 5 using the Deep Prime option. This corrects for lens defects, improves contrast, and minimizes the effects of pixelization stemming from a very high-ISO setting.

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NextGen Acela at 1/4000th of a Second

I realize I’m a bit late off the mark.

Last Friday, I finally captured my first action photos of Amtrak’s NextGen Acela on the move.

I wanted to photograph this high-speed train at full speed as it passed a landmark structure, so I set up an elevated vantage point across from the old Pennsylvania Railroad station in Newark, Delaware.

When the blue-white headlights of Acela service 2108 came into view, I was ready with my Z6. I set the motor drive to “H*” for a rapid sequence of images and dialed the shutter speed to 1/4000 of a second to freeze the action.

I fired off a burst as the sleek new high-speed train blitzed past.

Wow!

Check out the articulated passenger cars!

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Is there room for subtlety?

In a world of short attention spans, sensory overload, an expectation of hyper-saturation, the realities of unwanted image compression, is there any room for subtle images?

The other night I made this panned high-ISO image of Amtrak ACS-64 616 westbound at Gap, Pennsylvania.

Afterward, I experimented with various tools to make post-processed interpretations of my original NEF RAW file.

I used DxO PureRaw, and imported this file into DxO Photolab, and later into Adobe Lightroom.

There are three of my variations below.

I wonder if the variations will translate via WordPress, or if the subtleties will be lost in translation?

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Snaking Through the Canisteo

April 16, 1989, was a busy day on the former Erie Railroad.

It was another of my epic trips photographing the Erie that began before dawn.

Among the trains I photographed that day was an eastbound Delaware & Hudson PLMT (Pittsburgh & Lake Erie–Mount Tom, Massachusetts) unit coal train running via trackage rights on the line then owned by Conrail.

At the time, D&H was being operated by the New York, Susquehanna & Western and was short on motive power. This coal train was underpowered and moving at less than track speed. Leading the consist was former Reading Company GP39-2 No. 7410, still wearing Reading paint. Other locomotives in the consist had been borrowed from Bangor & Aroostook and leased GATX unit (in Chessie System paint). Fifth in line was a NYS&W SD45, still in the Cascade green and white of its former owner, Burlington Northern.

I had been following this train for miles through New York’s Canisteo Valley in my Toyota Corolla. Near West Cameron, I hastily parked and ran through a farmer’s field to capture a series of photos as the train passed from across the river.

On my way back to the car, the farmer stopped to chat. “I don’t mind you walking through my field, but I thought you ought to know that I killed six rattlesnakes there the other day.”

At the time, I wasn’t sure whether he was joking, trying to rattle me, or serious. A couple of weeks later, however, I was walking the line about a mile to the west when I spotted a rattlesnake lying near the rail. As I passed, the “snake” slithered off in three different directions—each with its own distinct rattle.

That’s the old Erie for you!

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Frame 1000

One of the neat things about modern digital cameras is that they automatically keep track of a variety of trivial things.

Some such as the date, time and exposure details of each photo are useful for captioning the images and better understanding the success and failures of photos when using various camera modes, lens settings etc.

Others are pointless, but nice to know.

Tuesday evening at 7:29pm, I exposed my 1000th frame with my ‘new’ Nikon Z6-III. This photo was part of a rapid-fire sequence of Amtrak ACS-64 644 leading eastward Keystone 658 at Christiana, Pa.

The photo was exposed at f1.4 with my ‘Fast Fifty’ (50mm lens), with a shutter speed of 1/640th of second and the ISO at 4,000. I was panning the front of the locomotive, which combined with shallow depth of field help sets the locomotive apart from the background.

I’m presenting two variations of the same file. These received nominally different post processing. I’m not sure which variation I like better.

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DxO PureRaw and PhotoLab

I’m still pushing the limits of my night action photography.

Working with existing artificial light—in other words, streetlights, locomotive headlights, and the ambient glow from surrounding buildings and signs—I set up near Leaman Place in Paradise to make images of Amtrak Keystone 655.

I set my Nikon Z6 III (fitted with an f/1.4 Nikkor 50mm) to ISO 40,000 and placed it on my 3Pod tripod.

A light fog prevailed, making focusing a challenge. The camera’s autofocus system had difficulty locking onto my chosen focus point, so I had to scroll through the menu options to select manual focus mode. I then enlarged the image in the viewfinder to help set focus on the railhead.

When the train came into view, I made a series of exposures.

For post-processing, I first converted the Nikon NEF RAW file to a DNG file using PureRAW 5 (corrects for lens imperfections and minimized pixelization stemming from the high ISO setting). This gave me the option to import the corrected file directly into DxO PhotoLab 9, a program similar to Adobe Lightroom for making cosmetic corrections.

The results of my post-processing are shown below.

In future posts, I will examine DxO PhotoLab 9 in greater detail.

DxO is offering a discount to Tracking the Light readers. If you are interested in buying DxO PureRaw, PhotoLab9 or other DxO programs, the discount code “TRACKINGTHELIGHT” will work for 15% off for any new customer at shop.dxo.com.

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Looking back on a New LUAS Tram at Red Cow.

In honor of the day, I thought I’d post this view of LUAS tram 3001 at the Red Cow depot. This was exposed in the Spring of 2002 shortly after the car arrived in Ireland and more than two years before it entered traffic on the Red Line.

Notice that the numbers and other markings have not yet been applied.

The iconic Alsthom Citadis trams have served Dublin daily since 2004.

Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) using my Contax G2 rangefinder with 28mm Zeiss Biogon lens.

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Pin-Connected Truss at Whitford

Among the surviving vestiges of the infrastructure-intensive Pennsylvania Railroad is the pin-connected truss over the Main Line at Whitford, Pa.

This was part of a grade-separated freight cut-off built when the railroad was America’s largest and the most intensive freight hauler in the United States. This arrangement underwent a transformation during the Conrail era. Today, the PRR’s main lines east of Harrisburg are largely passenger routes.

I made these photos with my Nikon Z6-III fitted with a 24–70mm Z-series zoom. Until recently, I’ve largely used my Z6-III for low-light photography; here I’m working with it in bright sunlight.

NEF RAW files were adjusted for color and contrast using Lightroom.

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Dusk at Reinholds Station

Driving south on PA 897 at dusk found us at the former Reading Company line Reinholds Station.

Here, I made this selection of digital images with my Nikon Z6 and 24-70mm lens. I also exposed a handful of Ektachrome 100 color slides with my father’s old Leica M4.

The film is still in the camera, and I’ll be curious to see how these turn out.

There’s something special about capturing the light when the sun is near the horizon, the shadows are deep, and clouds are tinged pink and orange.

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