This features recent work and exceptional images for display and discussion.
View from Amtrak 48 at Rochester’s new station.
Heading east on the back of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited, I exposed these views from the dutch doors of Silver Splendorat Rochester, New York on its cross country journey.
Photographer, Otto Vondrak caught us at the Rochester station, a place much changed from my visits here in the 1980s.
Seeing the ‘new’ Rochester from the windows of the train was a bit surreal.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I exposed this photo from the back of Silver Splendor as it rolled eastward on Amtrak no48, the Lake Shore Limited.
For this photo I used my Lumix LX7, and by using a slow shutter speed I allowed the tracks to melt into a sea of motion blur.
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s famous Zephyr is one of the most significant trains of the 20thCentury.
In November, I photographed the preserved Zephyr at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, where the historic train set is proudly display in the lobby.
It was great to see the Zephyr in person again. Last time I saw the train back in the 1990s, it was undergoing a thorough cosmetic restoration in Wisconsin.
I’ve written extensively about the Zephyr, describe the train’s context, history and technology.
You can buy my book from Amazon see:
https://www.amazon.com/Streamliners-Locomotives-Trains-Speed-Style/dp/0760347476
Today, Friday December 7, 2018, Trains Magazine released Episode 11 of my podcast Converstions with Brian Solomon.
Bob Bentley of Massachusetts Central is my featured guest in an interview conducted at the Palmer Public Library in Palmer Massachusetts.
See Trains at:
http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/2018/09/conversations-with-brian-solomon
Or listen to the podcast on Sound Cloud:
https://soundcloud.com/user-312824194/conversations-with-brian-solomon-episode-11
Yesterday I received my author’s advance copy of Jan 2019 TRAINS Magazine.
This is the first issue of the new redesigned Trains.
This is an excellent issue and I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy it.
I dedicated my column to my friend John Gruber who passed away in October.
It’s a sad irony that John was with me at Kalmbach Media the day my new portrait was taken for the magazine’s redesign.
It was 30 years ago today that I exposed this Kodachrome 25 slide at the east-end of Buffalo’s Frontier Yard.
In this view, there are two westward freights on the former New York Central Water Level Route.
I was fond of Conrail’s six-motor General Electric diesels, and C36-7 6620 caught my eye.
My notes from the day have gone missing, which is unusual and annoying, because I’ve generally made a habit of keeping detailed note from each trip over the years.
However, I recall that I was traveling with Doug Eisele and Pete Swanson and that we made a tour of Buffalo area freight operations. I exposed this view using my Leica M2 with a 90mm Elmarit.
The day began bright and clear, but by midday clouds had rolled in from Lake Erie.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day, sometime twice!
Two weeks ago Amtrak’s Southwest Chief greeted a frosty sunrise at BNSF’s sprawling Argentine Yards, west of Kansas City.
I made these digital photographs from the dome and vestibule of Silver Splendor,the former CB&Q Vista-Dome in which I was traveling cross-country.
A rosy sunrise tints my perspective; it sure made this famous yard look like a neat place.
These days the only regular trains to use the old Santa Fe Raton Pass crossing are Amtrak 3 and 4, the Southwest Chief. The days of helpers over the three percent are all but a memory.
This day two weeks ago: Arriving on No.4, we had more than ten minutes at Raton to stretch our legs and take in the mountain air.
I used the opportunity to make some twilight images of Silver Splendor, the Budd-built Vista-Dome that I was traveling on.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 and Zeiss 12mm Touit lens, I exposed several views in the blue glow of evening. Dusk is a great time to balance the light inside the passenger car with outside illumination.
Yesterday, 30 November 2018, I located a collection of my Irish Rail slides from 2005. Among them were these views of ‘bubble cement’ trains (consisting of pressurized four-wheel powdered cement wagons) passing Islandbridge in Dublin on 26thof May that year.
These were exposed on Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) and processed at Photocare on Abbey Street in Dublin.
I scanned these using an Epson V750Pro flatbed scanner making large TIF files, then made colour and contrast adjustments using Lightroom to improve presentation. In addition, I also implemented some digital sharpening to make the photos prior to outputting as scaled JPGs (for Internet presentation) to make these appear closer to modern digital images.
Irish Rail stopped operating cement through Dublin about a decade ago, and so these views are now historic.
‘I shudda taken that left turn at Albuquerque’—Bugs Bunny.
I always associate Albuquerque with the Warners Brothers Cartoons.
So it seems appropriate that the New Mexico suburban train is called the Rail Runner and features a stylized cartoon bird on its side.
‘Beep! Beep!
It had been more than 20 years since my last visit to New Mexico. This was my first by rail.
I was on my way east with Dave and Rhonda Swirk and Derek Palmieri of New Hampshire’s Conway Scenic Railroad, documenting Budd Vista-Dome Silver Splendor on its journey from Los Angeles to its new home in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
As we glided east at the head-end of Amtrak number 4 theSouthwest Chief,we met or overtook dozens of freights, many of them intermodal trains, on BNSF’s former Santa Fe Transcon.
Wow, BNSF sure runs a lot of freight!
I exposed these photos digitally using my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm XT1.
Part of the challenge of making photos of trains from the train is trying to compose while in motion of moving subjects. Not only does this make if difficult to level the camera, but it leads to motion blur and other potential defects.
I exposed this vintage Fujichrome colour slide using a Nikon N90s in March 1999.
My reason for selecting Herne Hill was to picture the Eurostar in third rail territory on its run from Waterloo International to the Channel Tunnel. Catching this suburban train as it passed the junction was just happen-stance.
The old slam door cars are now more than a decade gone from revenue working, and to me this photo seems like a long time ago.
Tracking the Light is on autopilot while Brian is Traveling.
Back in 2006, I made this view on Fujichrome Sensia of a rebuilt and modified Tatra tram passing the Slovak National Theatre, in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Slovakia is among the countries I profile in my new book Brian Solomon’s Railway Guide to Europe, now available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store.
Brian Solomon is presently traveling.
This morning (November 14, 2018), I traveled with my old friends Paul Goewey and John Peters to make photographs of Pan Am Railway’s office car train.
The OCS began its run at East Deerfield Yard for its run down the Connecticut River Line to Springfield and Hartford Line toward Berlin and then to Plainville, Connecticut.
Normally the bastion of Pan Am’s well-kept FP9s, today the OCS ran with GP40s because of the need to have cab-signal equipped/Positive Train Control compliant locomotives on Amtrak’s Hartford line and related connections.
I made these backlit photos in the morning from the old ‘East Deerfield Railfan’s Bridge’, a span soon to be replaced as the new bridge is nearing completion.
Two weeks ago, I made this view from EI131 as it took off from Dublin Airport on its way to Hartford.
Working with my Lumix LX7, I made this aerial photograph looking south toward Howth Junction.
Last night, November 12, 2018, my father and I paid a visit to the new Berlin, Connecticut station to collect a visitor from Amtrak 412.
The train was running behind the advertised, which gave me time to make a few photos of the well-lit modern facility.
I featured Berlin back in June at the time of the CTrail Hartford Line commuter train start up.
See: TEN photos: All-New Berlin Station—Connecticut, that is!
Also see: Berlin, Connecticut Revisited.
These photos were exposed using my resuscitated Lumix LX7. I worked in RAW and adjusted the files in post processing to optimize highlight and shadow placement, present more pleasing contrast, and improve color saturation.
I exposed this Kodachrome 25 slide at the west portal of Tunnel 41 in a heavy snow squall. Lighting was low, so I used my f1.8 105mm Nikkor telephoto at its maximum aperture.
Southern Pacific bought the photo from me and in the early 1990s used a cropped version on the cover of the company magazine (the Southern Pacific Bulletin).
Unfortunately the original image received rough treatment during pre-press and was returned to me with scratches and dust imbedded in the emulsion.
Working with Lightroom, I’ve partially restored the image digitally.
Last month, Ken Fox, Donncha Cronin and I explored the old Great Southern & Western Railway viaduct at Borris, County Carlow, see: Magnificent Vestige at Borris, County Carlow. [https://wp.me/p2BVuC-5Qe].
In addition to digital photos, I made a select few film photographs.
For me there’s something fascinating and compelling about putting a relic of former times on film. It’s just more real.
Photos were exposed using a Canon EOS3 with 40mm pancake lens on Kodak Tri-X; and the film processed in Ilford ID11 stock developer mixed 1 to 1 with water for 7 minutes 30 seconds at 68F, then scanned with a V500 flatbed scanner and imported into Lightroom for final adjustment.
Palmer, Massachusetts’s Steaming Tender restaurant has featured my photo in a recent poster advertising a Paranormal Interactive Investigation to be held at the old Union Station building on February 5, 2019.
I made the original photo on Kodachrome in 1992 using my Nikon F3T with 105mm Nikkor lens mounted on a Bogen 3021 tripod.
Yesterday, I had one frame of film left in my Nikon F3.
I’d been exposing photos of Dublin’s North Side and I wanted to process the film before dinner.
I exposed this view of Heuston Station and the old Kingsbridge (now Sean Heuston Bridge) on frame 37.
The sky was impressive; dark blue with textured clouds rolling across it like a flowing tapestry.
To make the most of the usual light, I did a few tricky things.
I exposed the film for the sky and clouds with the intention of some non-standard chemical processing.
To make the most of the shadows with out roasting the highlights, I presoaked the film in a very dilute bath of Kodak HC110 at 75F for 6 minutes with very little agitation. Then, I drained the presoak solution and processed the film in Ilford ID11 mixed 1-1 with water at 68F for 7 minutes (considerably less than the recommended time).
The results were even better than I expected.
On the evening of October 23, 1987, I exposed this Kodachrome 25 slide using my Leica M2 with 50mm Summicron lens.
Today Genesee & Wyoming is a name associated with more than 110 short line and freight operators in North America, Europe and Australia.
In 1987, the original Genesee & Wyoming Railroad was a New York State short line that had only recently begun to extend its arms.
I went to the Shops and Scored Three Cool Trains!
Yesterday was a bright sunny morning in Dublin. I coordinated my walk to SuperValu at Heuston South Quarter to neatly coincide with the passage of Irish Rail’s IWT Liner.
I timed this well and only waited a few minutes at Islandbridge Junction. Rather than my normal angle from ‘the box’, I opted for an over the wall view a little further up.
Continuing along St. John’s Road toward Dublin Heuston Station, I was surprised to hear another 071. I peered over the wall to discover that Irish Rail 073 (in heritage orange paint) had come down to shunt Belmond’s Grand Hibernian.
Dashing to SuperValu, accomplished my shopping in record time, and returned trackside to catch 073 bringing the Grand Hibernianthrough the wash, and then stopped in front of me at Islandbridge Junction. As this was happening Paul Maguire sent me text to alert me that the elusive Sperry train was on its way over to me.
Minutes later, Irish Rail 076 with Sperry came across to Platform 10 where it was scheduled to run around before heading to Bray.
I walked around to Conyngham Road to catch the Sperry train on its way into the Phoenix Park Tunnel.
Not bad for a trip to the shops!
More monochrome film photos: Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s autumn tour at Mallow, County Cork last Saturday.
These were exposed on Kodak Tri-X using my Canon EOS-3 with 40mm pancake lens and processed in Ilford ID11 developer.
Black & white film is well suited to making atmospheric images on dull days.
Irish Rail’s line from Dublin to Rosslare hugs the River Slaney north of Wexford town.
On our exploration of disused lines in county Wexford, Ken Fox, Donncha Cronin and I made a short detour to photography the ‘Up-Rosslare’ at Killurin as it ran along the west bank of the Slaney.
This is a pretty part of the line, and a place I hadn’t explored in almost a decade.
The last time I’d made a photo here, it was a 141-class diesel hauling the then ‘new’ weedsprayer. That wasn’t yesterday!
These images were made with my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm zoom, files adjusted for contrast and exposure in Lightroom.
Tracking the Light posts every day!
I described the failure of my trusty Lumix LX7 in yesterday’s post:
Final Frame? Lumix LX7 Coils Up
https://wp.me/p2BVuC-5Rm
Despite its failure on the day of the tour, I’d made good use of the camera right up to the end. This versatile picture making device had been a staple of my camera bag for more than four years.
Below are a selection of photos from Saturday 13 October 2018 of RPSI’s The Southwestern rail tour that operated from Dublin Connolly to Cork, then via Limerick, Ennis and Athenry and back to Dublin.
On these rail tours I tend to focus on the people as much as the equipment.
Tracking the Light Publishes Daily.
It was cloudy in Dublin; it was lashing rain in Ennis.
At no time did we see the sun.
Yet, it was a rewarding trip, and I’m happy with my photos.
I made these views of Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s ‘The Southwestern’ diesel tour using my FujiFilm XT1.
More to follow!
It’s not all about trains. It never was.
Over the weekend, Ken Fox, Donncha Cronin and I made an exploration of abandoned Irish railways in counties Carlow and Wexford.
We began at Bagenalstown and worked our toward Wexford.
I find long abandoned railways inherently compelling, but sometimes difficult to convey in pictures.
This is a selection of images from my FujiFilm XT1 on the Bagenalstown to Palace East route, a line shut to traffic in the 1960s. In some places structures, bridges and rights-of-way remain, in others the line has been reclaimed and there’s virtually nothing left to see.
These photos are to convey the aura of the closed line, I’ve made no effort to place them in geographical order.
In tomorrow’s post, I’ll cover the visual highlight of the line.
As I got off the down Waterford train from Dublin at Bagenalstown, County Carlow, I immediately began considering photo options. I didn’t have much time, because the train was only in the station for a couple of minutes.
I took a position at the back of the Irish Rail ICR adjacent to the old station building, and made a series of digital photos using my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm Fuji zoom lens.
I’ve selected two of the sequence here: One wide angle, one telephoto; same camera, same location, same vantage point, same railcar, but different focal lengths.
April Fools Day many years ago, My father and I visited St. Erth, Cornwall, where I made these Fujichrome Sensia II slides of the lower quadrant semaphores that controlled train movements there.
Trains Magazine has recently posted my sixth podcast, an interview with Mass Central’s Bob Bentley.
Listen to this podcast and others in the series by clicking on the link below.
http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/2018/09/conversations-with-brian-solomon
I made this photo of Bob with Mass-Central NW5 2100 on a fine October morning about ten years ago at the railroad’s Palmer, Massachusetts yard.
This will be among the photographs I’ll present this coming Monday (8 October 2018) to the Irish Railway Record Society in Cork.
My talk, titled General Motors Diesel-Electric Locomotives in North America, will be held at 8pm on the 8thof October 2018 at the Bru Columbanus Meeting Rooms in Wilton, Cork City.
Yesterday, 29 September 2018, I made these views of a LUAS Green Line tram wearing the latest fully covered advertising livery as it worked up Dawson Street in Dublin on its way to Broombridge.
September often brings sunny days in Ireland, and yesterday was a fine afternoon to make a few photos.
This encounter with the colourful tram was fortuitous, rather than planned, as I was on a shopping mission and photography was a secondary activity.
All the images were exposed using my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm zoom lens.
No, not on display. Not yet! This was a service train.
It had just begun to rain. So rather than making a potentially bland colour view, I exposed this photograph on black & white film using my Canon EOS 3 with 40mm lens
My choice of film is a bit obsolete: Fuji Acros 100. I have a few rolls left in my bag.
Afterwards, I hand processed in a Paterson tank with Rodinal Special mixed 1 to 31 with water for 3 minutes 45 second at 68F.
It’s been decades since the old Grand Canal Harbour behind the Guinness Brewery was drained and filled in.
Recently, I explored this area on my way over to visit Coopers Cafe operated by my friends Jeff and Noel Brennan.
This is on the edge Dublin’s Liberties, an industrial neighborhood with a lot of history. Today, it’s up and coming, although many of the neat gritty old buildings remain.
Photos exposed on Ilford FP4 using a Nikon F3 with 24mm Nikkor lens. Processed in Ilford ID11 using a customized recipe.
Gauzy autumn light is perfect for photographing black steam locomotives on the move.
Yesterday, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland operated steam excursions between Dublin, Drogheda and Dundalk. Plans to work with engine 85 were foiled by difficulties with the turntable at Connolly Station.
Instead RPSI engine No.4 did the work.
Paul Maguire and I drove to a remote overhead bridge near Mosney.
I exposed this view using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens. To make the most of the scene, I imported the RAW file into Lightroom and adjusted it for contrast and saturation, using a digitally applied graduated neutral density filter to bring in sky detail.
Learn more about the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland:
https://www.steamtrainsireland.com
As I was preparing this post, Dublin’s Radio NOVA was talking about the excursion on FM.
There’s a purple tram prowling Dublin’s Green Line.
The other day I was on my way over to John Gunn’s Camera Shop on Wexford Street and I made these photos with my Lumix LX7 of LUAS trams gliding along Harcourt Street.
This is a perfect place to pose modern Citadis trams against a backdrop of Georgian Terrace houses.
To compensate for flat lighting, with two of these three images I made some minor manipulations in post processing to boost sky detail, lighten shadows and improve contrast.
That means one of the images is simply the unaltered camera-JPG. Can you guess which one that is?
Many Irish Rail locomotives have nicknames. Engine 222 is ‘The Bishop’ or ‘Bishop Tutu’, which is an allusion to its number.
Over the last 20 years, I’ve caught this locomotive at many places across the Irish network.
See: DAILY POST: Timber and General Motors, June 10, 2006
