A few nights ago, Kris and I were driving down Greenfield Road in Lancaster and a westward Keystone zipped by overhead with Amtrak ACS-64 642 working at the back of the consist. This is wears the stylish Veterans paint livery. Neat!
Yesterday afternoon it was clear and bright, so I went over to Christiana to catch Keystone trains on the move.
I didn’t wait long, when the rails started singing the approach of train 656 from Harrisburg.
This was led by the cherry red front unique to ACS-64 642.
Lucky break!
I exposed this burst of images using my Nikon mirrorless Z6-III with 24-70mm lens.
Twenty-seven years ago, my father and I drove to Amsterdam, New York, to begin our epic two-day final photo shoot of Conrail. Twenty-three years earlier, at the end of March 1976, Pop and I had spent two days photographing New York-area railroads on the eve of Conrail.
At Guy Park, west of Amsterdam on the old Water Level Route, we watched the evening parade. Working with a Canon EOS Elan fitted with a 75–300mm Canon zoom lens (lent to me by Canon), I framed this view of an eastward multilevel freight catching the setting sun’s glint below the 177 automatic signals.
Last night, I improved a scan of the original slide using Lightroom, darkening the shadow areas to accentuate the reflections, make the glint more pronounced, and increase the drama of the moment.
I’m impressed by the way the Canon lens and Fujichrome film successfully captured the clear signal’s green aspect on the signal bridge. In my film days, I often struggled to photograph clear signals, which tended to overexpose in low light.
Conrail on May 28, 1999. A version of this image appeared in Trains Magazine back in 1999.
50 years after its creation, Tracking the Light marks the passage of Conrail—long live Big Blue!
As regular TTL readers may recognize, I’ve been working on this location for a while now.
A few weeks back, we picked up a southward Norfolk Southern coal train rolling along the Port Road Branch and followed it to the bridges at Safe Harbor.
We arrived with a few minutes to spare, so in the darkness I aimed to improve my angle on the tracks. Previous nocturnal views had unfortunately featured a wire, and this annoyed me, so I located a tighter view without the wire.
The Safe Harbor Dam is out of sight on the far side of the bridges, but the dam’s lighting provides a halo that helps to illuminate the train on the bridge while enabling a silhouette, which I like. While the evening mist along the Susquehanna enables the ‘laser-beam’ headlight effect. Too much backlight and the laser effect would be lost.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III mirrorless digital camera with f1.8 50mm lens. Exposure f1.8 at 1/100th ISO 40,000, processed with DxO PureRaw5.
I was reviewing some of my early slide scans and found this intriguing but troublesome image.
On a July evening in 1994, I’d exposed this Kodachrome 25 slide of an eastward Burlington Northern freight east of Marias Pass at Grizzley, Montana.
I’m looking back toward Glacier National Park using my old Nikkor f4.0 200mm lens.
This image looks impressive on a slide screen in a darkened room, but requires attention with digital post processing.
Below is the original scan, made using my old Epson V500 Flatbed Scanner followed by the same scan with color, contrast and exposure adjustment using Adobe Lightroom.
I need to locate the original slide, one of thousands in my Burlington Northern file, and rescan it using my Nikon LS5000 with VueScan software. This may allow for an improved image that retains a greater amount of detail and improved sharpness.
Original scan without adjustment. I was trying to capture the shafts of light over Glacier National Park.Adjusted original scan.
In the heat of the day, I took a walk at Amos Herr Park in Landisville, Pa., aiming to catch Amtrak Keystone 652 on its eastward journey over the former Pennsylvania Railroad.
I exposed this pair of images as the headend zipped by.
The second one is a hair to close by my normal standard. The front of the engine is visually intersecting a tree in the park. Is this a problem? Will the image age well?
Fresh foliage and soft Spring sun in a pastoral setting made for idylic timeless images of No. 89 working Strasburg Rail Road’s midday excursion to Paradise and back.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve photographed steam locomotives along the Strasburg Rail Road from dozens of angles. Despite the familiarity of the subject, every visit yields different photographs and I never tire of listening to the locomotives at work.
The inside of the Tamaqua Station Restaurant is resplandant in the glory of its former function.
Over conversation of trains and travels, I heard a note.
“I hear a whistle.”
We paused.
“That was the music playing”
Again, the note. This time louder.
We jumped up, I reached for my camera bag and darted for the door.
We stepped onto the station platform as a pair of Reading & Northern six-motor EMDs approached. These came to a stop in front of the station giving us time to make a few photos.
After a couple of digital images with the Nikon Z6, I exposed a series of color slides using my father’s old Leica M4 loaded with Ektachrome. Then I made some more digital photos, aiming to capture the locomotives with the station as well as more detailed views.
Soon the engines were reversing back toward the Tamaqua yard, and we resumed conversation over lunch inside the restaurant. In our absence, the food had arrived.
Never mind taking a ride on the Reading — why not enjoy lunch at the former Reading Company station in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania?
I caught up with my old friend and fellow photographer Dan Howard for lunch at the Tamaqua Station Restaurant. I’ve always had good luck here. The food is excellent, and more often than not, the Reading & Northern runs a train.
I made these photos using my Nikon Z6.
Where’s the train? Patience, patience. We heard a horn and made a swift exit to the platform . . . (stay tuned).
I was hoping to again catch Amtrak trains passing at Christiana.
Instead, I caught trains 651 and 656 passing the old Pennsylvania Railroad station at Christiana a few minutes apart.
When I see these aged trains, I recall the old Metroliner, which I experienced in its early days as America’s super fast New York to Washington service.
In an era when American railroading seemed to be on the verge of extinction, the Metroliner offered another vision—one of speed and hope.
Soon these former Metroliner cab cars will join the old Metroliner as memories of another era.
On our way through New Ringgold, Pa., we spotted a classic station building along the Reading & Northern.
“Wait, what’s that? It wasn’t here the last time!”
We stopped to investigate the traditional halt, built in the style of many small station structures once common on the old Reading Company.
R&N was performing track work up the line, so there was little chance of catching a train on this visit. But, it would b a be cool place to make an action photograph in the future.
You just never know what you might find along the lines of the R&N!
I was working with two cameras; a Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital body with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom, and my father’s old Leica M4 with f1.4 35mm Summilux prime wide-angle loaded with Kodak Ektachrome 100.
Below are a pair of successive images; the first is a digital image exposed as an NEF RAW image using the Nikon, the second was on Ektachrome with the Leica. The slide was processed at AgX Imaging and scanned using a Nikon LS-5000 scanner. Both received very nominal post-processing in Lightroom to adjust contrast/gamma, and color bias to make the most of the data captured.
I like both images for different reasons.
Occasionally I’m asked why I continue to work with traditional color slides. That’s a long story. The simplest answers are: aesthetics, continuity and longevity. The latter seems to upset some photographers, so I’ll leave that for a later discussion.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm set at 70mm.Ektachrome with the Leica.
This is a follow up to my popular post ‘Trash’, from January, featuring Norfolk Southern on the New Holland Branch (New Holland Secondary) at Willow Road in Lanscaster, Pa., which generated near-record interest on TTL.
In that, I examine my composition of a pastoral setting:
“Beautiful over-the-shoulder morning winter sun made for excellent lighting conditions. I made a few digital images and exposed some color slides with the Leica M4.
When I downloaded the digital images, I discovered to my dismay that at the time of exposure I’d failed to notice the bit of red trash in the tree branches. Poor show!”
For comparison, the image displayed in this post is one of the 35mm Ektachrome color slides that I exposed on that day. In this view, I’d cropped the offending trash from the scene.
There’s something to be said for working with an old school rangefinder!
Film processed and mounted by AgX Imaging in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. Digitized using a Nikon LS-5000 slide scanner.
Tracking the Light works with film and digital images!
April and May were weedspraying season on Irish Rail. Back in the day I was pretty familiar with this program.
The Irish Rail weedspray train was something of a tradition and I made countless photos of it working around the network.
On 14 April, 2009, I exposed this telephoto view on Fujichrome of the weedspraying train working up-road at Cherryville Junction in the midst of a torrential deluge. It was well worth getting wet. It was one of the last times I saw a pair of Irish Rail Bo-Bos (small General Motors diesels, classes 141 and 181) working on the main line.
I made this scan of the slide on 30 April 2009 using my then-new Epson V500 scanner. This was my first scanner and it served me well for more than a decade. Approximately six months later I bought my first digital camera, a Lumix LX3—a model recommended to me by Eric Rosenthal. I made more than 65,000 exposures my original LX3, but that story was still in the future.
Just a little while earlier the sun had been out. While the rain made for a dramatic image, I wonder about the effectiveness of the weedspray in this weather.
Ample ambient streetlight makes the old Pennsylvania Railroad station in Columbia a suitable situation for nocturnal railroad imagery.
Even on the inkiest of evenings there’s just enough light to stop a train.
In this photo, Norfolk Southern freight H19 is westbound from Lancaster, Pa., on its return to Enola Yard led by three SD60Es with 78 cars in tow.
Exposed using a Nikon Z6-III with Nikkon 50mm f1.4 lens set to its widest aperture, 1/320 second at ISO 12800. Image processed with DxO PureRaw5 to minimize noise.
One month ago, Norfolk Southern H19 is seen passing the old Pennsylvania Railroad station at (left) in Columbia, Pa.
Tracking the Light examines railroad night photography.
It might be small, but my old Lumix LX7 is a pretty powerful camera.
As we pulled up to Paradise Lane in Strasburg, the Saturday evening train was just rolling across the crossing.
My Nikons were tucked away, but my trusty Lumix was close at hand.
I made this photo from the driver’s window of our car.
I have my Lumix camera set up to simultaneously expose in JPG and RAW formats. Here’s I’ve adjusted the RAW file for this image to make the most of the evening sky.
Lumix LX7 RAW file, ISO 100, f8, 1/1000th of a second.
Often in our drives around Strasburg, I’ve gazed across the field near the Esbenshade farm, as Strasburg Rail Road’s returning excursion was on its last leg to the East Strasburg station—its engine gliding along, firebox a-glow, and a wisp of condensation and smoke trailing from its stack.
A couple of weeks ago, I was 30 seconds ahead of the returning train, and noted there was no traffic behind me. I saw a clean place to pull over, and I thought, ‘now’s my chance!’
My Z7-II was fitted with the ‘big zoom’ (70-200mm), and I lined up my shots just as I’d seen them so my time from the car, carefully aiming to place the locomotive neatly against the background, while timing the turn of the drivers to catch them ‘rods down’.
Soft Spring sunshine helps.
Tracking the Light Explores the Details of Railroad Photography!
In May 1985, I was on the last leg of a two-week railroad trip.
I’d used up most of my film making photos of trains at a variety of destinations and stopovers from Atlanta, to Cumberland, Chicago and Toronto.
On this final bright morning, I rolled by the action at Dorval in suburban Montreal.
Although I still had a few frames of 120 black & white film left in my father’s Rolleiflex, along with some Kodachrome 64 loaded in my Leica 3A, I opted to make this image on 35mm black & white film using a spare Leica fitted with an old Elmar lens with antiquated coatings. While sharp, the lens was poorly suited to modern image-making. Complicating matters, I did a poor job processing the film.
My results were flat, grainy, and uninspired. I wish I’d used the tools at hand to make a better photograph of this VIA Rail LRC—an MLW-powered tilting train, the likes of which I’m unlikely ever to see again.
On this day 157 years ago, a ceremonial golden spike marked the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific at Promontory, Utah.
On this day 134 years ago, as a well crafted publicity stunt, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad No. 999 made its world-famous speed run leading the Empire State Express toward Buffalo. On the long tangent near Corfu, the engine was reported to have reached the preposterous speed of 112.5 mph.
On this day 19 years ago, I marked both events as part of my book, The Railroad Never Sleeps, which involved 37 photographers across North America documenting a single day in railroading. At dawn, I exposed this view of the Water Level Route at Corfu.
CSX’s former New York Central near Corfu, New York on May 10, 2007.
It seems like a world ago now.
Tracking the Light explores railroad photography !
It was late afternoon on a Sunday in May 1984. I’d spent the day with Bob Buck & co., photographing Conrail on the old Boston & Albany.
As the day progressed we worked our way west. Bright sun gave way to dull overcast light.
Conrail was a busy railroad in those days. At Stateline Tunnel near Canaan, N.Y., we caught TV9 (TrailVan 9, Boston-Chicago), which operated on a much later schedule on Sunday’s than on weekdays.
As the train roared by with a new B36-7 in the lead, I made these photos with my old Leica IIIA and f2.0 50mm Summitar Lens.
Owing to the history of the line, Conrail operated a divided alignment at this location. A little more than four years later, Conrail abandoned the old westward main track, leaving just the former eastward main for movements in both directions. The old tunnel portal survives as vestige of the old line.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily about Railroad Photography!
In the gloom of a cloudy night, we pulled into a riverside park along the Susquehanna to listen to the peeper frogs.
Beyond the high-pitched chirps, I could hear a dull roar.
“There’s a big train coming, but it’s still a ways off.”
Minutes ticked by. The chirping remained constant, while the roar gradually grew more pronounced. It was the sound of freight cars on the move—lots of them.
My scanner squawked: “622, clear Shocks . . .”
“Loaded coal train, and getting close.” I grabbed my tripod and N6-III fitted with a 50mm f1.4 lens and in near total darkness, I set up for a photograph. As I fumbled with the level, focus, and other niceties, the headlights illuminated the right-of-way. Before the train entered the scene, I opened the shutter.
I made two photographs to record the train’s passage. The first was exposed for 20 seconds at f2.8, ISO 500. The second was made without the benefit of headlights; this one was exposed for 10 seconds at f2.8 and ISO 6400. Both were processed with DxO PureRAW 5 using DeepPRIME 3 treatment, which minimized noise and lens aberrations.
These are conceptual train photos—ghosts passing over a bridge. I knew I could do better, and soon we were following the rolling roar downriver . . .
We arrived at Gap, Pa., just a few minutes before Amtrak’s Keystone 649 was due to pass westbound.
I’ve been aiming to make dramatic photos showing Amtrak trains ‘topped and tailed’ with ACS-64s on both ends. Although, I’ve achieved nominal success, as evident by the photos in several recent posts, to make the most of this style of operation, it helps to know when to expect engines at both ends.
My anticipation of ‘topped and tailed’ Keystone consists has largely been been ‘luck of the draw.’
At Gap, I drew the long straw.
In these views, I was working with my Nikon Z7-II with f2.8 70-200mm zoom set to its maximum focal length.
Tracking the Light Examines Railroad Photography Daily!
In September 2013, on a trip across southern Belgium, fellow photographer Denis McCabe and I spent an afternoon photographing the immense SNCB bridge that spans the Geul Valley at Moresnet.
I made this view from the village with my Canon EOS7D fitted with a Prime 200mm Canon telephoto.
The hazy overcast weather gave the vast structure an ethereal quality.
After the passage of Amtrak Keystones in both directions. A Norfolk Southern local freight pulled out onto the Harrisburg Main Line to reverse directions and return to Lewis Yard (Dillerville) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
To simplify switching and ease reverse moves such as this one, NS had locomotives at both ends of the short freight.
On the west end was a lovely antique.
When the local stopped to change directions at BP74-1 in Landisville, I made photos from the adjacent Amos Herr Park.
In addition to these digital images exposed with my Nikon Z cameras, I also used the opportunity to expose several 35mm Ektachrome slides using my father’s Leica M4. Evening sun made for nice light on the old locomotives.
Norfolk Southern GP38-3 5608 was built as a GP38AC for Norfolk & Western in 1971; it was rebuilt to its current configuration in 2005.Fifty-five years old and still working for a Class-I railroad. That’s pretty cool!
Tracking the Light Explores Railroad Photography Daily!
I love crisp clear evenings, with bright sun, low humidity and a deep blue sky.
On a whim, I drove to Amos Herr Park in Landisville, Pa., where a trail offers clean views of Amtrak’s electrified Harrisburg Line.
When I arrived, I notice that a Norfolk Southern local freight with engines at both ends, was in the clear of the mainline on an industrial park lead.
Amtrak’s westward Keystone 649 was due, so I set up a view featuring the NS frieght in the distance.
When Amtrak came into view, I made a series of photographs. This set featured ACS-64 electrics at both ends, which has become increasingly common on the Keystone service lately, likely to overcome technical problems with the aged Metroliner Cab Control cars.
This set me thinking pondering other locations to best catch such moves . . . while also wondering if the NS local might pull out on to the main line.
We were driving north on Highway 13 in Virginia when Kris said, “Let’s take a left here.”
“OK.”
So we did, and we drove into the village of Cape Charles, where we found an unlikely railroad museum.
Among other things, it featured a replica ball signal—illustrating the early use of such hardware on the Delmarva Peninsula—a Bay Coast GP10 (an ex–Illinois Central Gulf Paducah rebuild), plus a selection of railcars. All are static displays.
We also discovered the Cape Charles Brewing Company, a beach, and vestiges of the old Pennsylvania Railroad, which at one time operated Chesapeake Bay car floats from the local harbor.
On the downside, we found that, apart from the museum, there’s not much railroad remaining on the Delmarva Peninsula in Virginia.
I made a few slides with my dad’s Leica M4. These are my digital photos as the film is still in the camera.Site of the former Pennsyvlania Railroad yard at Cape Charles, Virginia.
Tracking the Light Posts About Railroads Almost Every Day!
In the early evening, Amtrak Keystone trains 651 and 656 are scheduled to stop at Parkesburg just a few minutes apart.
I’ve been aiming to catch a meet between these trains for more than two years. Often, however, one train runs a little behind schedule, and they pass at different times.
The other evening, the stars aligned. Both trains were delayed. I was in position at Christiana, Pa., and they passed right in front of me.
I made this rapid-fire image sequence using my Nikon Z7 II with a 70–200mm lens.
Catching both trains in the sunlight required strategic use of the camera’s ‘motor drive’.
In May 1990, I was following Southern Pacific Railroad’s MERV-M (Medford, Oregon–Roseville, California manifest) along its sinuous path over the Siskiyou Line.
I made this trailing view near Hilt, California featuring both the head end (right) and mid-train helpers (left) as they roared past in Run 8 on the ascent of Bailey Hill—one of several exceptionally steep grades on this rugged route.
This was one of several intensive trips I made to photograph SP’s Siskiyou Line in the early 1990s, before the route was sold to RailTex short line Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad.
Exposed on Kodachrome 25 slide film using a Nikon F3 SLR fitted with a Nikkor f1.8 105mm lens.
Times have changed since Norfolk & Western Train No. 4 The Pocahontas paused at Roanoke for passengers. My 1946 Norfolk and Western Railway timetable lists a 20-minute station stop, departing east for Norfolk at 10:55 a.m.
On our visit to Roanoke in March, we watched as an Amtrak Siemens Charger reversed its Amfleet consist into the comparatively new station platform. While a far cry from a streamliner hauled by an Norfolk and Western Railway J Class 4-8-4, at least Amtrak now serves Roanoke, following decades without a scheduled passenger train.
This consist departed as Train 66 bound for Washington D.C. and running overnight to Boston.
I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with a 24–70mm lens.
In early April, I had about 30 minutes to wait trackside along the Port Road Branch near the old Cola Tower in Columbia, Pa.
As the clock ticked down, my scanner had crackled a few times, which was probably an approaching train calling signals. About 28 minutes into my wait, I started the car to head away on my next errand . . . then I heard the radio, “clear signal Cola.” There was a train very close.
Moments later the crossing lights for Walnut Street began to flash. With little time to squander, I grabbed my Nikons and made my way to the tower’s shadow, where a couple of years earlier I exposed some nice photos in the glint light.
Just after 7pm, this Norfolk Southern loaded coal train passed me on its way from the coal fields to Baltimore.
It was a bright and sunny Sunday morning in Staunton, Virginia.
Kris and I paused briefly near the shops of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad.
This short line has on its property, an unlikely collection of antique locomotives. When I was a teenager, I would have been keen to find such an eclectic array of locomotives in one place.
I suppose I still am! Today, however, what fascinates me are the relative gradients of the trackage in this compact yard.
I made a few photos from the side of the road before heading off again.
Tracking the Light posts daily about railroad photography!
In March, courtesy of my old pal TSH, Kris and I visited the iconic Hotel Roanoke for lunch. I had the Reuben.
The majestic Tudor-style hotel is a relic of railroading’s golden age.
Roanoke was at the very heart of the Norfolk & Western, and for many years this grand hotel was owned and operated by the railroad. It is conveniently situated just a short walk from the former N&W station—now the O. Winston Link Museum (featured in my earlier post).
My father stayed here on one of his visits to Roanoke in the 1950s.
Today, while trains still pass along the main line just a short distance from the grand structure, the Hotel Roanoke is no longer owned or operated by the railroad.
Photosexposed with my Nikon Z6 III with 24-70mm Nikkor lens.
Tracking the Light Examines Railroad Photography Daily!
Standing essentially in the same spot, working with the same camera (Nikon Z7 II with a 70–200mm lens), I photographed Amtrak Keystone 658 catching the evening glint at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
In the first photo, I set the zoom lens to 140mm to include the electrical pylon and overhead high-voltage wires.
In the second photo, taken 24 hours and three minutes later, I photographed the same scheduled train. This time, former Metroliner cab control car 9646 was leading, a pickup truck was driving east on Jefferson Drive, I had the lens racked out to 200mm (cropping the pylon and wires), while an extra layer (or two) of air pollution tinted the sunlight more toward the red end of the spectrum.
For a few fleeting days in early April decorative trees blossom along Lancaster’s Jefferson Drive.
It is the third change of seasons that I’ve aimed to capture Amtrak passing the lush Spring trees.
This year, one of Amtrak’sold Metroliner cab cars in the new Phase 7 livery leading a Harrisburg-bound Keystone made for a constrast to earlier views.
Years ago, I studied a beautifully printed Japanese railfan’s magazine that presented compelling compositions of electric trains passing flowering trees.
Photos exposed using my Nikon Z6-III with 24-70mm lens.
