Kris and I were sitting on the platform enjoying dinner at Palmer, Massachusetts’ Steaming Tender restaurant when the unmistakable sound of wheels clattering across the CSX-New England Central diamond grabbed our attention.
Amtrak’s 448 wasn’t running, so what was this?
Eastward Amtrak Light engines!
This included a Cabbage painted for Downeaster service and a P42 in the new ‘Phase 7’ scheme—the first that we’ve seen.
I exposed these photos using my Z7-II.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On that hazy evening in Palmer, Mass., last week, I made several classic nocturnal locomotive portraits of New England Central GP40-2L 3015 that has been painted to honor America’s veterans and service members.
During the course of switching, this sharp looking locomotive paused for a few minutes. Thick haze contributed to the laser-like beams of the locomotive headlights.
I made these images with my Nikon Z7-II firmly mounted on a 3Pod tripod.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
My third Railroad Photography 101 Class was a success!
This was held at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania last week.
While the first part of this 3rd session was conducted outside, the last part of the class was held inside the Museum in the main hall.
Museum Director Patrick Morrison asked if we would like to explore some of the restored locomotives and cars on exhibit in the hall and offered to open up a few of the museum’s gems for photography.
This was a wonderful idea, and soon the students and I were climbing in and around the exhibits.
I had never before been on a Pennsylvania Railroad E44 electric, so it was a thrill for me to take a look inside and sit in the engineer’s seat. These boxy high-horsepower electrics were built by General Electric and share a resemblence with GE’s diesel-electrics built around the same time.
My photos for this exercise were exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with a 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom lens.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I have a long history of making night photos of trains in Palmer, Massachusetts.
The names have changed since my first attempts at exposing Tri-X in the early 1980s, but Palmer remains an interesting place to practice night rail-photo techniques.
The other night a full moon was rising through an ash-tinted sky, (presumably as the result of Canadian wildfires). Kris said, ‘Never mind the train! Look at the moon!!” It was a grand golden globe.
New England Central’s 608 was switching the former Central Vermont yard. So, I made several images attempts to make compositions with the train and the moon. The steam locomotive on display is a stock-industrial 0-6-0 built by Porter in the early 20th century.
Making the most of the moon proved challenging and I’m not completely pleased with this selection.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
The other night, Kris and I paid a sponaneous visit to my old stomping grounds at Palmer, Mass.
While the New England Central was switching the former Central Vermont Railway yard, we could hear an approaching eastbound freight on CSX’s former Boston & Albany.
I set up my 3pod tripod on the platform of the old Union Station (now Palmer’s popular Steaming Tender restaurant), and exposed a sequence of photos of the passing train using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
These images were made at 1/15 second at ISO 1000. NEF Faw files were converted to DNG format pins DxO PureRaw software and then adjusted in Lightroom to alter color, contrast and exposure.
Wildfires in Canada contributed to haze that made for some interesting visual effects.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Just one more week until my 7pm illustrated program featuring more than 6 decades of photography of Philadelphia’s Trains and Trolleys.
This will held by the Philadelphia Chapter NRHS at the Elkins Park SEPTA station on June 19th.
I will include a variety of photographs. Many of them are from mine and my father’s archives, including this December 31, 2016 view looking west on Girard Avenue.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Last Sunday former Chesapeake & Ohio 4-8-4 was towed to Strasburg, Pa., to begin an operational restoration.
Monday, Kris and I swung by Strasburg to catch a glimpse of the great machine.
Back in 1997, I caught C&O 614 when it was working excursions between Hoboken, New Jersey and Port Jervis via the former Erie Railroad.
Below is an action photo of the engine at Port Jervis under bright June 1997 sun and a photo of it last Monday evening at Strasburg.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
We paid a visit to Amos Herr Park in Landisville, Pa., which provides trails near Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line.
I made a few telephoto photographs on a sunny afternoon of Amtrak Keystone 665 as it rolled west under wire.
My favorite is the trailing view of ACS64 638 framed by trees (third photo).
The arrangement of catenary masts with single supports on the north side of the line aids photography by minimizing the number of vertical distractions.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
At 7pm on June 19th, 2025, I am presenting a slide program to the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society at the Elkins Park, Pa., SEPTA Regional Rail Station.
This will feature more than 60 years of photography of railway operations in greater Philadelphia. I am melding together a special selection of mine and my father’s photographs that will touch on a variety of subjects including Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading Company, Red Arrow Lines, SEPTA, Amtrak and modern freight railroads.
See the chapter notice below:
Appearing at the Philadelphia NRHS June 19thMeeting, at the Elkins Park SEPTA Regional Rail Station at 7pm is:
Brian Solomon
Noted Photographer and author of over 70 books!
And Marketing Director for the Conway Scenic Railroad!
Please join us at this specially created program by Brian on 60 years of Philadelphia railroad and Trolley photography, using his own and his dad’s pictures
Non-Members and guests welcome! Especially guests from nearby NRHS and PRRT&HS chapters!
We will have a raffle of donated items and baked treats at the meeting
SPREAD THE WORD!
In the summer of 1983, my family traveled to Vermont to photograph Steamtown operations on the Green Mountain Railroad.
I made this view on Kodachrome 64 of former Canadian Pacific Railway 4-6-2 1246 on its return run from Chester to Bellows Falls.
It was one of several Kodachrome slides that I made that day. In addition, I also exposed some black & white film.
I was soon to begin my Senior Year at Monson Jr. Sr. High School, in Monson, Massachusetts. In October 1983, I traveled with my friend Bob Buck on Steamtown’s final run over Green Mountain’s former Rutland Railroad line. In the years after that trip, Steamtown was gradually relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
The speed restriction for the curves at Gap offers an opportunity to work with two cameras in tandem.
For this sequence, I made a few telephoto views using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens, followed by a near normal view with my Z7-II with 24-70mm lens set at 53mm.
The beauty of modern autofocus, auto-exposure digital cameras is the ability to switch rapidly between cameras for maximum versatility.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
At 9am on June 10, 2025, the third session for my Railroad Photography 101 class will convene at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.
Where the previous classes were held inside the museum’s main hall, this session is focused on the yard and the equipment displayed outside.
Recently the equipment in the yard was significantly re-arranged in preparation for work to build a roundhouse to display some of the gems in the museum’s collection.
Yesterday morning, I toured the yard with Museum Director Pat Morrison in preparation for Tuesday’s class. I made these images with my Nikon Z7-II as we made our inspection.
For tickets see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-101-session-three-tickets-1318803158749?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tracking the Light posts every day!
This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post https://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/dusk-at-greenfield-road/
Kris had suggested seeking out Norfolk Southern’s night local, which we found working at Greenfield Road in Lancaster, Pa.
After exposing a few photos using my FujiFilm XT1 (as presented yesterday), I made this series of images with a Lumix LX7.
The first image is of the train at Greenfield Road, where it was working High Steel Structures. The others were along Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line along Jefferson Drive.
All the images were converted in DNG format from RAW files using DxO PureRaw.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
At times of stress and when sadness threatens to obscure my focus, I’ve often turned to railroad photography as welcome distraction.
The other night on our way back from Fox Meadows Creamery in Leola, Kris suggested we detour via Greenfield Road: “Maybe we’ll see the local freight.”
On our way, we spotted the headlights of a GP38-2 illuminating the catenary masts of the former Pennsylvania Railroad, and sure enough, Norfolk Southern’s night local was making its drop to High Steel Structures.
Burning fusees warned motorists that the train was blocking the road. This job often has locomotives a both ends.
While some of the highway traffic was less than impressed by seeing the freight at work, we were delighted. I made a selection of photos using my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Touit. Although I had my tripod, I opted to make these photos handheld using high ISO. I converted the Fuji RAW RAW files in to DNG format using DxO PureRaw, then cropped and adjusted contrast, color and exposure in Adobe Lightroom.
Later, I exposed a few photos with my Lumix LX7, but I’ll save those for a later post.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In the long days, early morning illumination at Norfolk Southern’s Lewis (Dillerville) Yard in Lancaster, Pa., made some opportunities for classic sunlit photos of antique EMD diesels.
Back in April, I posted a few photos here on a dull day. I knew I could improve upon them, so last Sunday I paid another visit, and this time I bought out the heavy equipment.
Images were exposed digitally using Nikon Z6 and Z7-II cameras.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Although, I’ve made countless photos at Esbenshade Road, on this occasion I was interigued by the crop patterns in the field on the northside of the Strasburg Rail Road tracks.
The combination of a richly textured sky and these foreground patterns made for an interesting setting.
I made a sequence of images using my Nikon Z7-II mirrorless. In post-processing I created two variations from the same cropped NEF RAW file.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I scoped out a different location to roll by Amtrak’s Keystone.
So Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I, paid a cloudy evening visit to catch Train 667 near the village of Witmer—about 4 minutes away from the train’s Lancaster, Pa., station stop
ACS-64 electrics were positioned at both ends of the consist.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Eleven years ago, I attended the Streamliners at Spencer event in North Carolina with fellow photographer Pat Yough.
Over the course of three days I exposed hundreds of photos of the myriad preserved locomotives and roling stock on display.
While the various EMD diesels were the stars of the show, one of the curiosities was this former Santa Fe Railway Alco PA dressed as Nickel Plate Road 190.
Working with a Lumix LX7, I made this image at dusk on the evening of 31 May 2014.
Below are three versions (all scaled for internet presentation as Jpg images);
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I like the curving track in the shadow of the hillside at Tamaqua, Pa. This has that classic look of old time mountain railroading.
Below are two versions of the same digital file. I exposed this view of Reading & Northern’s vintage EMD diesels in early evening light using my Nikon Z7-II.
The top photo is an in-camera JPG that was enhanced at the time of exposure using Nikon’s Active D-Lighting setting.
The bottom photo is the camera’s NEF RAW file with adjustments in post processing using Adobe Lightroom. These refined the contrast and controlled highlight and shadow setting.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Last night Kris and I paused at Leaman in Paradise, Pa., to roll by Amtrak’s Keystone enroute to Harrisburg.
It had been raining heavily all day, and just as I stepped out of the car the sky opened up.
I’d set my Lumix LX7 to ISO 400, which is about the functional limit of its sensitivity. While it is possible to set the ISO setting higher, the results are not usually worth it.
I set the zoom to its maximum (17.7 mm), which about the equivalent to a 70mm lens on 35mm film camera. As the train drew close, I panned the leading ACS-64 locomotive with the shutter a 1/100 of second in effort to keep the locomotive and train as sharp as possible despite comparatively high speed.
The pantograph of the locomotive was dispersing water from the overhead catenary as it sped westward.
Below are two versions of the same file.
The first is the in-camera RAW without adjustment or cropping, but scaled in Lightroom for internet presentation.
The second is an interpreted file. First, I converted the RAW to DNG using DxO PureRaw, which corrected for lens defects and reduced the effects of pixelization from high-ISO, while effectively sharpening the image. I then imported this file into Lightroom to make cosmetic adjustments to contrast and exposure, lightening shadows and reigning in the highlights.
PureRaw’s re-interpretation of the pixels in the RAW file combined with water on the lens, pouring rain and panning motion resulted in some visual artifacts that are something other than was perceived with the naked eye. However for presentation here, the interpreted PureRaw version (complete with post-processing cropping) appears as a more dramatic image.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I’m seriously hoping that my overly aliterative title represents a unique combination of words never previously considered in the history of language!
And, that it caught your attention.
Amtrak Keystone 661 was close by and I wanted to try a different angle at the old Irishtown Road crossing.
When the grade crossing was closed and the road relocated, a raised earthen berm was constructed south of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line. This berm offered me a slightly elevated view with some purple flowers in the foreground.
Post processing editing in Adobe Lightroom provides easy access to the camera’s metadata files, which among other things reveal the f-stop, shutter speed, ISO and other camera details. This saves me from the need to make detailed notes on my digital files, except for things like train ID, engine number and location.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
One of the great things about modern digital photography is tha ability to make satisfying photographs on dull days.
Mass Coastal’s vintage EMD GPs layover at the Hyannis, Massachusetts on a cloudy day.
Exposed using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On Sunday, Keystone Train 661 was running five minutes behind the advertised.
Kris and I were waiting patiently at Gap. I stood the shade of a tree.
Although this may sound vaguely poetic, in fact standing in the shade is key to this image: avoiding the direct rays of the morning sun eliminates the effects of harsh lens flare.
I exposed a sequence of images as the westward train glided through the curve at Gap. This view was made with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens set for 190mm at f3.5. The relatively wide aperture allowed for shallow depth of field. My camera’s autofocus was set to the center lower left and the result is that the front of ACS-64 626 is razor sharp. Gap’s famous clock tower in the distance is slight out of focus, and yet a prominent part of the composition.
The classic catenary supports date from Pennsylvania Railroad’s electrification and continue to hold the wires in place for Amtrak’s trains.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Yesterday, following a trip to the Down at the Farm Creamery, Kris and I returned to the Strasburg Rail Road.
The only camera I had with me was my trusty FujiFilm XT1 and 12mm Zeiss Touit wideangle lens.
I might tell you that I only use my FujiFilm XT1 occasionally, instead preferring my Nikon Z cameras and Lumix LX7. However, since I December, I’ve exposed more than 800 images with the XT1. (So I guess I make pretty good use of this camera after all!).
Among these were the few photos that I made of Strasburg Rail Road’s 2-6-0 No. 89 working toward Cherry Hill Road. I wanted to make the most of the scene, and the Zeiss 12mm Touit was a pretty good option.
I converted the camera’s RAF RAW file to a DNG file using DxO PureRaw, and then created two versions by making adjustments to color, contrast and exposure using Adobe LightRoom.
I’ve included each my three files below.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
My FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a 12mm Zeiss Touit is an additive camera-lens combination. This exceptionally sharp lens offers a 99 degree field of view using the X-series APC sensor.
While I only use this lens in select circumstances, especially where I want to make the most of a train in a landscape.
Last Tuesday, I waited for Strasburg Rail Road 89 as it approached Carpenters at Black Horse Road. Working with the adjustible rear display, I held the camera about 2 1/2 feet above the ground (about knee-level) and exposed a burst of images of the locomotive.
My aim was to freeze the engine in its classic pose with ‘rods down,’ while taking in the surrounding landscape. For this image, I converted the FujiFilm RAF Raw file to a DNG file using DxO PureRaw before making nominal changes to contrast, and shadow and highlight detail.
Tracking the Light posts every day!
Yesterday’s post featured the Middletown & Hummelstown, a classic shortline that connects its namesake Pennsylvania towns.
Over the last 18 years, I’ve paid more than a dozen visits to Middletown. However until last Sunday I hadn’t visited Hummelstown.
[That’s not precisely accurate. Back in 1992, I traveled through Hummelstown by rail on the way to Pittsburgh. I recall passing the nearby Hershey plant.]
Kris had suggested that we take a drive to see if we could find a train on the move.
As we drove into Hummelstown for our first visit, we heard a distant horn sounding for a crossing. We made our way to the tracks, arriving in time to spot the headlights of an eastward Norfolk Southern double-stack container freight. Evening sun made for a nicely glinting silhoette. Talk about lucky!
I reached for my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom and exposed a series of photos.
In post-processing, I cropped the distant image. Below are three versions of the distant view plus a closer image.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
The Alco S-6 switcher was an uncommon model. Just over 125 were built, and only a few survive in 2025.
Kris, Seamus-the-dog and I were driving around on summer evening. Clouds were starting to give way when we approached Middletown, Pennsylvania.
The old Middletown & Hummelstown was quiet, but Alco S-6 number 151 (dressed for the late Western Maryland) was parked near the railroad’s Middletown station.
I made a few photos using my Nikon Z7-II, looking for various ways to compose the same essential elements.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In 2007, I was researching a book at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The museum’s Kurt Bell suggested that I make some photos at Irishtown Road in nearby Bird-in-Hand, which was one of the few remaining grade crossings on Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line, the former Pennsylvania Main Line via Lancaster.
Working with a Canon EOS-3 and 24mm lens, I made several Fujichrome color slides on a warm evening.
Since moving to Lancaster County, I’ve revisited Irishtown Road on several occasions. The public crossing was closed a number of years ago and the road redirected.
Below are three comparision photos. While these are all exposed from the same approximate vantage point, in my recent images I’ve not tried to exactly replicate the light and angle of my 2007 photo.
In 1963, my father also made photos near this crossing. In those days, Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 and E44 electrics were the rule of the day. Working with scans from his old slides, I may try to replicate his images at a later date.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I mentioned that during last week’s Railroad Photography 101 class (held at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania), I was working with two cameras. Previously, I displayed the images I made with a FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Tuoit.
The photos in this post were made with my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
I’ve often said that when it comes to photography ‘there is no “right” answer’. Which is why I often try to learn from other photographers, and why I’m always experimenting with equipment and technique.
For these photos, I set up the museum’s portable LED lights to provide better lighting a on select locomotives. The intention was to direct diffused light into shadow areas and allow for more uniform exposure.
My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is scheduled for Tuesday June 10th. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-101-session-three-tickets-1318803158749?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
We though we’d heard a whistle for a crossing on Norfolk Southern’s Lititz Secondary. The timing was about right for the local to pass, so I drove us over to Manheim, Pa., by the preserved former Reading & Columbia station where we waited for a little while.
Although the local failed to materialize, I used the opportunity to document the scene and some of the preserved railroad equipment at this location. A trolley is preserved here, and it resides in a small trolley barn near the station. One of these sundays, perhaps we’ll come by for a visit when the trolley is on display.
Photos exposed using my Lumix LX7.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
We arrived at Cherry Hill Road shortly before Strasburg Rail Road’s evening train was due.
This presented a comparison opportunity.
Working with my Nikon Z7-II, I simultaneously exposed in RAW and JPG (with Active D-Lighting feature ).
The purpose of this comparison was to see how close Active D-Lighting would match my post-processing corrections in a ‘perfect’ evening sunlit situation.
Below are three versions. The first is the un-modified camera-RAW (scaled and converted to JPG for presentation in Word Press); the second is the same RAW file adjusted in Lightroom to my desired appearance in terms of exposure, contrast, color and saturation. The last is the scaled in-camera JPG with Active D-Lighting feature.
Tracking the Light examines railroad photography every day!
I just experienced an ‘oh wow, you must be kidding’ moment.
For more than 15 years I’ve been making photos with Lumix LX-series cameras. One of the principle advantages of these cameras is their ability to capture images using both RAW and JPG.
Recently, I’ve been reexamining my Lumix RAW files using DxO PureRaw software, which corrects for lens aberrations and converts the files to DNG format.
For this TTL post, I thought it would be neat to compare the camera-RAW file, the un-adjusted PureRaw file, and my cropped but otherwise unadjusted RAW file.
I didn’t expect to learn that all of my Lumix RAW files exposed since 2009 have had MORE image area (albeit distorted) than I was aware of!
In other words, I’d never seen the full picture before.
Below are the three variations of a single Lumix RAW image that I exposed at New York’s Grand Central Terminal in July 2018.
Each is described in the captions.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Tuesday at 10am, my second class in the Railroad Photography 101 series convened at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
I delivered my 30 minute slide show, then brought participants into the main hall, where I used portable LED lights to provide illumination of locomotives that normallyl languish in shadow.
Afterwards, I answered questions, offered suggestions, discussed the value of post processing and discussed photography.
During the session, I worked with two cameras. These views were made using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Carl Zeiss 12mm Touit. This allowed me to make photos of equipment in comparatively tight places, All these images were exposed with camera firmly mounted on a 3Pod tripod.
Except for the image of the PRR B1 electric, the photos benefit from fill light from the portable LED lights. My next class is scheduled for Tuesday June 10. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-101-session-three-tickets-1318803158749?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tracking the Light is Brian Solomon’s Daily Photo Blog
The Norfolk Southern signals at Cola in Columbia, Pa., displayed a stop indication for movements in the westward direction.
The moon was a fine crescent and I aimed to juxtapose the lunar aspect with the railroad signals against the backdrop of the old Pennsylvania Railroad catenary masts.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Evening light at Tamaqua, Pa., allowed for another comparison between my Nikon Z’s in-camera Active D-Lighting JPG contrast reduction setting and my own interpretation of the NEF Raw file.
In this situation, my feeling is that ADL interpretation missed the mark. While it may have softened the contrast, the color and overall interpretation did not accurately render the scene.
Below are the two interpretations. This feature will need further study. On the plus side of this exercise is that I always exposed using NEF and JPG simultaneously.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
It was a clear morning last Saturday and I was aiming to try something a little different. Over the last couple of years, I’ve made countless photos of Strasburg Rail Road number 89 (a former Canadian National 2-6-0 Mogul type) crossing the pastoral fields in Pennsylvania Dutch country.
Working with the contrast of mid-morning, I exposed this view of 89 on its return run from Leaman Place. By including a small tree, I’ve provided a visual balance to the locomotive.
The result is a scene that could have been a century ago.
Tracking the Light Posts Everyday!
