The visual metaphors of these images are apropos.
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North Conway: Sunset and Highball.
Category Archives: photography
There has to be Rain for a Rainbow.
One week ago, I was sitting in the North Tower of Conway Scenic’s North Conway Station. To the west the sun was shining. To the east it was pouring rain, and the rain was still falling all around. I said to Conway’s operations manager, Derek Palmieri, ‘There must be a rainbow.’
And there was!
Briefly it was a full, but faint, double.
Outside I went, where I made a variety of photos with my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm XT1 cameras.
This one is from the Lumix.
Sometimes where there’s a rainbow is a sign of change. A fortuitous signal for the future. And this is how I see it.
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Moose in the Night.
Elwyn of North Conway’s Moose Safari invited me to join him on one of his nocturnal tours searching for New Hampshire’s elusive Moose.
I say elusive, because in the nearly three months I’d spent in New Hampshire, including considerable time roaming the old Maine Central Mountain Division searching for locations and waiting for trains, I’d not seen any moose.
Elwyn knows the roaming patterns of these great animals and brings visitors to see them on a nightly basis. Like finding freight trains in New England, finding moose requires a detailed understanding of their patterns and paths. He explained that its not about simply waiting for the moose, but actively going to find them.
I joined Elwyn’s Moose Safari on the night of the full moon in front of Conway Scenic’s North Conway Station.
After a few hours of scouring New Hampshire’s highways and byways, we spotted a pair of moose. Elwyn illuminated the roadside with lights mounted to his tour vehicle and using that light, I made this photo using my FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm f2.0 lens. The camera was set at ISO 6400; f2.0 1/30thof a second.
If you are interested in joining one of Elwyn’s Moose Safari’s contact him at: moosetours@yahoo.com
Tracking the Light Finds a Moose!
30 Years Ago at Rockville Bridge.
It was a bright and hazy August 1989 morning, when my old pal TS Hoover and I set up on the east bank of the Susquehanna River to capture this view of the famous former Pennsylvania Railroad Rockville Bridge.
I made this Professional Kodachrome 25 (PKM) slide using my old Leica M2 with a 90mm Elmarit.
It was just one of many Conrail photographs exposed on one of our great adventures in the 1980s!
Tracking the Light Looks Back!
Moat Creek Trestle and a Bear!
I’d been eying Conway Scenic’s wooden pile Moat Creek trestle as a good afternoon photo location since I arrived at the railroad in May.
While I’d made a variety of angles from West Side Road that runs parallel to the line, until last Friday (August 9, 2019) I hadn’t hiked into the bridge.
As discussed in yesterday’s post ‘Rare Move During My Signing—GP9 works the yard,’ the necessity to move a few old freight cars posed some unusual photographic opportunities.
When I learned that GP7 573 would be hauling a flatcar down to Conway, New Hampshire for storage, I decided this would make for my opportunity to catch a train in low afternoon sun on the Moat Creek Trestle.
Old 573 was whistling for a crossing just north of the bridge when I heard loud rustling in a tree opposite the tracks from my location. A sizeable bear climbed down out of the tree and ambled through the undergrowth about a car-length from my position.
Of course, I’d selected a prime 27mm lens to frame the train on the bridge and this lens was less than ideal for photographing the bear.
The photographs of the train and bear were exposed about a minute apart.
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Rare Move During My Signing—GP9 works the yard.
Sometimes when engaged with one task, something unexpected occurs that demands your attention.
Such was the situation last Friday while I was standing on the platform at North Conway, New Hampshire during my book signing event.
Conway Scenic’s GP9, 1751, still dressed in a New York Central inspired livery applied by former owner Finger Lakes Railway, was engaged to switch a few freight cars out of the North Yard.
In more than two months at Conway Scenic, the only freight car that I’d seen turn a wheel is a tank car that has been rigged up to supply water for steam locomotive 7470. So when I saw 1751 moving the two ancient flats in the yard, I excused myself from book signing tasks and made a few photos with my FujiFilm XT1.
There was gorgeous afternoon light bathing the North Conway station. The Valley excursion train was out on the line, so in one of the odd moments, the platform was almost empty and there few cameras in sight.
Later in the day, in a related incident I had a close encounter with an alarmingly large bear, but I’ll get to that in a future post.
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Gertrude Emma at Bartlett
Tinted Glass
My project for today is dome car Rhonda Lee.
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Brian’s Signing Event
Yesterday, Friday August 9, 2019, I traveled by train and signed books at the North Conway Station (New Hampshire).
I discovered that’s its pretty challenging to sign books while traveling on early 20thcentury steel coaches rolling over jointed rail on track ballasted with cinders!
Conway Scenic’s Derek Palmieri assisted me with selling the books, as did Amy from Conway Scenic’s Brass Whistle Gift Shop. The railroad’s Susan Logan, Alta Crouse and Cathy Trecarten helped organize and promote the event.
Thanks to Dave and Rhonda Swirk for hosting me and to everyone who stopped by for a chat and to buy books!
I was delighted when my old friend Bob Bentley came by to talk about railroads. He reminded me that GP9 1757, formerly of the New Hampshire Northcoast, was briefly a Mass-Central locomotive.
It was a fine day for a book signing!
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Rhonda Lee Summer Sunset.
Last night, August 8, 2019, I traveled on Conway Scenic’s Dinner Train for the second evening in a row.
The purpose of my trip was in preparation for some more involved filming in the coming days.
However, when we arrived at Bartlett, New Hampshire we were greeted by a stunning summer sunset, I reached for a camera. Well, actually three cameras. I reached for three cameras.
I then arranged with conductor Derek Palmieri to make a few photos.
Budd Vista dome Rhonda Lee (née Silver Splendor) has only been recently re-lettered and made for a fine sight catching the summer sunset.
These images were the products from my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.
I also exposed a few images with my Lumix LX7. I’m sure someone will groan when they read that I made black & white views on Ilford HP5 with a Nikon F3.
You’ll have to wait for the film photos, as it might be a few weeks before I have the time or facilities to process them.
Bartlett is one of my favorite places to catch Conway Scenic, and it seems I’m here almost every day, by road or by rail!
Don’t forget, today August 9, 2019, I’ll be signing books on Conway Scenic’s 1330 (130pm) Valley Train to Conway, and at the North Conway Station from 230 to 5pm!
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Headline: Author Brian Solomon at Conway Scenic Railroad
Tuesday’s Conway Daily Sun featured a short story about my books to highlight my book signing event tomorrow afternoon, Friday 9, 2019 at the Conway Scenic Railroad.
Although short, this article covered some of the highlights of my published work including my European Railway Guide, columns in Trains Magazine, and photos in the Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society!
Conway Scenic’s Susan Logan gave me a copy of the article, which I read while traveling on the 6 pm dinner train in preparation for a video/photo shoot this weekend.
When it rains it pours, and it did!
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Freight House at Bartlett, New Hampshire.
Sometimes a photo is worth a 1000 words. (Especially if you don’t have the time to write them!)
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August 4th, 2019 is Conway Scenic Railroad’s 45thAnniversary!
On August 4, 1974, Conway Scenic carried its first revenue passengers from its historic North Conway, New Hampshire station south to Conway on the old Boston & Maine Conway branch. Locomotive 7470, then carrying abbreviated number ‘47’, did the honors.
Today, August 4, 2019 is a special day for the railroad and steam locomotive 7470.
See: https://www.conwayscenic.com
Since the locomotive was restored earlier this year, it has been among my regular subjects at Conway Scenic, and I’ve filmed it for several short videos.
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TV Crew Films Conway Scenic
Among my assignments this past week on the Conway Scenic Railroad was to guide a TV production crew from Boston’s Channel 5 WCVB.
After they enjoyed a ride and a meal in dome car Rhonda Lee, I collected the crew midway up the mountain, and Conway Scenic’s President and General Manager Dave Swirk and I brought them to some of the most scenic vistas on the line to film the train.
They were able to benefit from my weeks of location scouting in order to film a segment on Conway Scenic that is expected to be broadcast in the coming weeks.
It was a beautiful bright day on the mountain, and they were able to get views of Mount Washington with Conway Scenic’s Notch Train.
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Book Signing Next Week!
One week from today, I’ll be signing books at the Conway Scenic Railroad!
Book Signing: Meet the Author!
On Friday August 9, 2019, I’ll be conducting an ‘on-train and at-the-station’ book signing on the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.
I’ll be traveling on the 130pm train to Conway with a pen in hand, and then visiting the Brass Whistle Gift Shop in the North Conway station from about 230pm until 5pm
The Conway Scenic’s Brass Whistle Gift shop has a host of my titles for sale and ready to be signed by me.
My titles for sale will include:
Vintage Diesel Power
Electromotive E units & F units
Streamliners
Railway Guide to Europe
Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals
GE & EMD Locomotives
Classic Railroad Signals
I only do a couple of book signings a year, so this is a great opportunity to travel on Conway Scenic’s Valley Train and buy a signed book!
Tracking the Light is a DAILY Blog!
One Year Ago-August 1, 2018.
On this day last year, I was traveling with Chris Guss, photographing Canadian National’s Wisconsin Central line.
I made this view of a CN local freight at Ackerville, Wisconsin using my old Lumix LX7. You can see my shadow in the foreground.
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Conrail’s OIEL—April 7, 1989.
I’m reviewing thousands of Conrail photos to make final selections for my new book on Conrail. Among the images I’m considering is this one (and similar views) of Conrail’s OIEL (Oak Island, New Jersey to Elkhart, Indiana) that I exposed on the former Erie Railroad in New York’s Canisteo Valley.
I like this photograph because it captures the essence of the old Erie Railroad as it winds along the Canisteo River. In the distance, you can see one of the many upper quadrant Union Switch & Signal style-S semaphores that governed train movements through the 1980s.
Will this slide make the final cut? I have hundreds of color slides exposed in the Canisteo Valley back in Conrail days.
Tough choices will be made.
Regardless, someone might complain, ‘there’s too many scenic views with semaphores in the Conrail book!’
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Thalys at Antwerp.
In February 1999, I exposed this view of a Thalys TGV-style high-speed train at Antwerp, Belgium using my Nikon N90S with Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO).
To make the most of the angular high-speed train against a backdrop of traditional brick buildings, I used a moderate telephoto lens and a relatively slow shutter speed (probably about 1/60thof a second). This has the effect of keep the train sharp while softening the background and foreground.
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Sunrise at Cookshire, Quebec.
The other day on the Conway Scenic, I was telling film student Adam Bartley about a photograph I’d exposed on the former Canadian Pacific at Cookshire, Quebec.
I have relatively few photos on the old CP line in Quebec east of Montreal, and this one is one of my favorites.
I made it with very little set up time, and using something less than my sharpest lens.
This appeared as a full page image on page 102 of Railway Photography, a book authored with the late John Gruber in 2003. We dedicated the book to the memory of our friend the artist Ted Rose, who had passed away the previous year.
Get up early and be ready to photograph: if you’re not there. you won’t get the shot. Photographers George S. Pitarys and Brian Solomon spent several days in January 1998 photographing Iron Road Railways’ Quebec Southern. On the last morning of the trip, they hit the road well before sunrise and followed an eastbound train in the sub-zero gloom. This exposure was made at Cookshire, Quebec at sunrise. The clouds that made for the rosy morning glow would soon prevail leaving for a flat gray day. Sometimes your first shot of the day is your best. photo by Brian Solomon
Nikon N90S; Fuji Provia 100 (RDP)
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Book Signing: Meet the Author!
On Friday August 9, 2019, I’ll be conducting an ‘on-train and at-the-station’ book signing on the Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.
The Conway Scenic’s Brass Whistle Gift shop will have a host of my titles for sale and ready to be signed by me.
See:
My titles for sale will include:
Vintage Diesel Power
Electromotive E units & F units
Streamliners
Brian Solomon’s Railway Guide to Europe
Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals
GE & EMD Locomotives
Classic Railroad Signals
I only do a couple of book signings a year, so this is a great opportunity to travel on Conway Scenic’s Valley Trainand buy a signed book! (If you don’t want me to sign my name, I can sign another name instead!)
I’ll be on the 130pm departure to Conway with a pen in hand, and then at the Brass Whistle Gift Shop in the North Conway station from about 230pm until 5pm.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Listen for the Click—Conway Scenic Railroad’s 45th Anniversary promotional video.
Next weekend, August 3rd and 4th, will represent Conway Scenic Railroad’s 45thanniversary of steam operations and revenue services.
To mark the occasion of the railroad’s first 45 years carrying revenue passengers and as an invitation to visit the railroad on Sunday August 4th, 2019, I put together a very short promotional video. This includes some rarely seen archive materials.
This was posted to Conway Scenic’s new YouTube channel and to its Facebook page yesterday.
If you listen very carefully, you can hear me making the still photograph that appears here.
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Patched, Tired and DIrty—Old Cabra Road Dublin.
In March 2016, I exposed this view of Irish Rail 072 leading a per-way panel train up the Branch from Islandbridge Junction toward Dublin’s North Wall.
At the time, 072 was still wearing the black and silver livery introduced to Irish Rail’s 071 class during the Celtic Tiger years.
Old 072 was looking patched, tired and dirty as it worked up through the cutting near the Old Cabra Road.
I exposed this view using my FujiFilm XT1.
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Sunset Saco River Crossing
Last night I ventured along the banks of the Saco River to make this sunset view of Conway Scenic’s dinner train on its westward run toward Bartlett from North Conway, New Hampshire.
Why a back lit view?
Two reasons: Backlighting helps illuminate the trees, create greater contrast on the rocks in the Saco, and helps to better illustrate the bridge.
But, more important to this photo: I’d intended to try for a more traditional view, but was unable to find an easily reachable and suitable location on the far side of the bridge in the few minutes of set up time before the train arrived. Complicating matters was that I was also working with a video camera and carrying lots of equipment along the riverbank was limiting my agility.
So now you know!
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From Real Train to Lego Train: A Short Video Production.
Conway Scenic’s David Swirk asked if I could be available to photograph Lego model builder Dawson Santoro, who had built the Lego model of Conway Scenic’s excursion train that is displayed at the North Conway, New Hampshire station.
On the spur of the moment, I decided to make a short documentary video of Dawson’s visit. Members of the Conway Scenic railroad assisted by moving Dawson’s skillfully built model train into the yard, where we posed it alongside a Conway Scenic consist specifically assembled to resemble the model.
I felt like Bob Dylan, composing a song, singing, playing guitar and harmonica all the same time. I was arranging two tripods, two video cameras, and three still cameras pretty much simultaneously, all the while trying to interview Dave and Dawson and stage manage the relative positioning of the model and scale train. I did have some help carrying the tripods in between shots.
Complicating my filming was the July heat, plus gusty winds and the cacophony of noise that characterize operations around North Conway, not to mention some complicated lighting.
Sometimes we just have to do these things when the opportunity presents the time!
Adam Bartley assisted in post production, and in little more than a week we produced a very short video about Dawson, his train and the Conway Scenic prototypes. We put this up on Conway Scenic’s YouTube channel yesterday.
Please check out the video and tell your friends!
See Conway Scenic Lego Train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ADkU8bOx78
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Videographer on the Roof!
Among the finest railroad vantage points in North Conway, New Hampshire is from Conway Scenic’s station roof.
On several occasions over the last few weeks, I’ve made arrangements to access this rooftop to film Conway Scenic’s trains as part of on-going promotional efforts.
One afternoon a few weeks back, I was joined by Adam Bartley, a qualified Conway Scenic Trainman and film student. While he made video, I exposed a few still photographs.
Like other elements of Tracking the Light, this is a work in progress.
You can see some of the videos that I’ve helped film on Conway Scenic’s Facebook Page:
and on its new YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq6vcQzv2ys
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Pudding Pond Posed Panoramic.
If you are not viewing this on post on Tracking the Light, you’ll need to click the link or you’ll miss the panoramic photo.
Last Friday (July 19, 2019), we traveled on Conway Scenic Budd-built RDC 23 Millie east toward Redstone, New Hampshire on the former Maine Central. On the return we paused at Pudding Pond so that I could make some photographs.
Once I was off the car, by arrangement it moved forward so the front of the RDC was catching the sunlight.
In addition to conventional photos, I also made this panoramic composite using my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera. The camera has a panorama preset that requires you to make an even sweep across the scene while holding the shutter release. The camera sews together the images and outputs them as a completed panorama.
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Every Day is Sunny in North Conway . . .
. . . except when it rains!
Tracking the Light posts Daily, rain or shine!
Last week at North Conway, New Hampshire hot humid afternoon gave way to rain forest-like torrential rains.
In the twilight of early evening, I exposed this raining view using my Lumix LX7 handheld.
The slight blurred effect is a combination of the cascading downpour and relatively slow shutter speed. For me the combination of heavy rain, dusk, and slight camera blur makes for a painterly effect that helps transcend the decades.
The Gateway Cut at Crawford Notch.
Near the summit of the former Maine Central Mountain Division at Crawford Notch, the line passes through a deep rock cutting in a natural low point in the mountains known as the Gateway.
Conway Scenic’s normal operations of its Notch Train to Crawford’s Station finds the train passing the Gateway at the peak of high sun. In other words, one of the most difficult times for photography using natural lighting.
Fires in the West resulted in particulate matter and haze, which last week provide a great degree of diffusion, making these condition an ideal time to catch the Notch Train on its uphill run.
Working with my Lumix LX7, I exposed this view from the railroad east end (compass south) of the famous cutting. Having locomotive 1751 in the lead was an added bonus.
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BNSF GEs in the Snow!
I thought in the heat of high summer, it might be a refreshing time to present some frosty views from last January.
Previously, I’d posted some black & white photos exposed during a lake effect snow squall at Brookfield, Wisconsin on CP Rail’s former Milwaukee Road main line that I’d made on a photographic adventure with Trains Magazine’s Brian Schmidt.
That same morning, I’d also worked in color using my FujiFilm XT1.
Here’s a view of a westward empty grain train passing the old Brookfield station led by brightly painted BNSF GE’s.
It’s a stark contrast from the leafy trees and high summer temperatures of today.
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Short and Steep; views from the Ascent of Mount Washington.
Last Saturday’s excursion atop Mount Washington lent to some precipitous views of the line.
Over its 150 years, I imagine that every inch of this short but steep railway has been photographed.
Not withstanding that, I’ve added my FujiFilm XT1 photos to the mix. Here’s a selection as we rode up on the train. Special thanks to our brakemen on the way up who allowed me to make a few photos from the door at the end of the car.
Tracking the Light Rode the Mt. Washington Cog Railway!
Distant Raging Fires Make For Rosy New Hampshire Sunsets.
Fires in Canada and as far away as Alaska have resulted in layers of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere.
During the day this has resulted in gausy skies that diffuse the sun.
At dusk the dust and ash contribute to some stunning sunsets.
Last night, I noticed a rosy glow in the west as I sat editing video in the North Tower of North Conway’s former Boston & Maine station.
Working with my Lumix LX7, I exposed these views in the fading light.
The sky had a magenta hue that reminded me of Stockholm sunsets after the Icelandic volcano eruption of 2010.
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Mount Washington Cog Railway—Revisited
Many many years ago.
In the dusts of time.
Before I carried a camera!
I traveled on the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
I was very young and it was bitterly cold at the summit, so the charms of the railway were lost on me.
Last Saturday, my friends and I revisited this world famous attraction.
The Mount Washington Cog is 150 years old this year and the oldest cog railway in the world. It is built almost entirely upon a wooden pile trestle with an average gradient of 25 percent (1 in 4).
The views get more impressive as you gain in elevation.
Although largely operated with ‘bio diesels’, there are still some steam locomotives.
I made these photographs from the base station as we were getting ready to board. I largely focused on the diesels, as the steam was only being prepped and not working the mountain.
More soon!
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Mountain Division—Bartlett Sunset.
Wednesday evening July 10, 2019, I made this sunset view of Conway Scenic Railroad’s dinner train at Bartlett, New Hampshire.
The dinner train uses largely the same consist as the railroad’s Notch Train, but operates in the evening from North Conway to Bartlett and return.
Owing to the extreme exposure contrast between the darker areas of the car’s undercarriage and the highlights in the sky, I carefully balanced my exposure using the camera’s histogram to retain the maximum amount of detail, and later adjusted the RAW file in Lightroom in post processing to allow for the most pleasing image.
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Connecticut Southern Reflections—four photos.
Last week CSX’s B740 brought CSOR 2011 to Palmer, Massachusetts for interchange with CSOR’s Genesee & Wyoming sister railroad, New England Central.
I made these views of the locomotive in the yard near the site of the former Boston & Albany freight house.
CSX’s had recently installed a new signal box/cabinet, and I made photos of the bright orange locomotive reflecting in the shiny metal.
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Budd Car Sunset.
The other evening I exposed this trailing view of Conway Scenic’s RDC number 23, Millienear Glen-Jackson on its evening run up to Attiash .
On of the best kept secrets among Conway’s scheduled trains are its RDC runs for Attitash that depart North Conway on select evenings at 6pm.
I like the RDC, a typical Budd Car, that was common to New England passenger services when I was growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s.
For this photo, I was working with a FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm prime telephoto. The camera color profile was set to Velvia (see photo above), but ultimately I worked with the camera-RAW file in Lightroom to adjust color temperature, contrast and saturation (see photo below).
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Weedy Summer: New England Central 611 at Vernon, Vermont.
Warm sunny summer mornings are very pleasant. However with the warm weather comes rapid plant growth which can complicate railroad photography.
Take for example these views that I made at Vernon, Vermont at the end of June, 2019.
New England Central’s 611 crew was taking Brattleboro-Palmer turn southbound with locomotive 3476 in the lead (a one upon a time EMD SD45 re-built to a SD40-2/’SD40-3’ configuration.)
To get a bit of elevation, I scaled a mound on the east side of the line, near the grade crossing at the switch for the old power plant.
I liked the cows grazing in the nearby field, so working with my Canon EOS-7D with 200mm lens, I made a distant view. Unfortunately for the, the brush had grown so much that it seems like the freight is emerging from the undergrowth!
I also made a few photos with a FujiFilm XT1 and 27mm pancake lens. Of these, the more distant view seems to work better from a compositional standpoint. SD45 enthusiasts make argue otherwise!
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