In February 2010, I was traveling with Chris Guss and Pat Yough when I exposed this Fujichrome slide of Western New York & Pennsylvania’s Driftwood Turn (known as ‘the DFT’) on its northward ascent of the former Pennsylvania Railroad grade over Keating Summit.
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The Right Bank of the Rhein is a busy freight corridor. Trains run in waves, and often follow each other several minutes apart on their north-south journey across Germany.
Kaub station sits wedged into a hillside with a castle above, and a sweeping curve to the south. In the afternoon, the sun swings around, which makes it a great place to photograph trains on the move.
Bombardier’s TRAXX locomotives family includes several classes of electrics. While the DB red class 185s may seen repetitive, open access operations make for a bit of variety. It seems that there’s always another freight working its way up or down the Rhein Valley. And this provides an opportunity to refine photographic angles and technique.
I made this selection using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
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The wonders of technology! I’m writing and posting this from a bus on the roll. The bus offers better WiFi than I have in my apartment.
Anyway, here’s a view I made from the Rhein ferry looking down river toward the famous Loreley Rock on Wednesday September 9, 2015.
Exposed with my FujiFilm X-T1. One of the great features of this camera is the active level in the viewfinder. Such a tool aids making level images from a boat!
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The fine art of the pacing shot was perfected many years ago. In the steam era, Jim Shaughnessy and others paced big steam across the prairies and grasslands in a quest for dramatic images.
I was traveling along the west bank of the Rhein a couple of days ago with Denis McCabe, Stephen Hirsch and Gerry Conmy.
The railway here is exceptionally busy. The sun was bright and we were searching for photographic locations.
‘Green signal. Southbound.’
A minute later, ‘there’s a train overtaking us!’
I unrolled the window, switched my Lumix on, set it to ISO 80 at f8 and used the ‘A’ (aperture priority) mode, and exposed this series of images in rapid succession.
By using the settings described above, I allowed the camera meter to adjust the exposure to compensate for changing lighting conditions, while insuring the slowest possible shutter speed to maximize the effect of background blur.
Complicating the exposure was the reflective silver paint.
Other than scaling for internet presentation, I have not altered these images in post processing.
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Yesterday (September 10, 2015) was an exceptionally clear and bright day in the Rhein Valley.
The conditions were ideal for photographing across the river, which opened up numerous photo locations.
Gerry Conmy, Dennis McCabe, Stephen Hirsch and I selected this view near St. Goarhausen. Behind us is the double track west bank (or ‘Left Bank’) line.
In addition to DB (Deutsche Bahn—Germany Railways), there a great variety of private and open access operators on the Rhein Valley lines.
I used my Lumix LX7 to capture a southward freight led by a Siemens Taurus electric against an impressive cliff-face as intermodal ships pass in the river. There’s always something interesting to watch alone the Rhein. This was just one of dozens of trains we photographed yesterday.
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Germany’s Rhein valley is one of my favorite places to photograph railways.
Here dual double track lines operate on either side of the river, and wind among stunning scenery, with castles and medieval architecture.
The variety of trains makes it even better. I never know what to expect next.
How about a a yellow rabbit in work train service?
(Germany’s class 215, 216, 217, and 218 diesels have become known as ‘rabbits’ because of their unusual exhaust stacks.)
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Way back in August 1998, I was visiting a friend in Bonn for a few days. One warm evening I took the tram across the Rhein to Bonn-Beuel bahnhof on the heavily used right bank (east bank) line.
Fast forward 17 years: Along with my friends Denis McCabe, Gerry Conmy and Stephen Hirsch, I revisited this location.
The trams still stop in front of the DB railway station, and it looks much the way I remember it.
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In the dim early hours of September 9, 1995, I spotted Wisconsin Central’s recently acquired former Santa Fe FP45 leading a southward train through Duplainville, Wisconsin.
Normally I walked to work. I lived just a few blocks from the Pentrex Publishing offices on Grand Avenue. That morning, twenty years ago today, I’d been prowling around in my Mazda looking for angle to photograph the Wisconsin Central.
WC’s FP45 6652 was a one of a kind, and a prize to be scored! When I saw that engine roll across the diamonds at Duplainville, knew I’d be a little late to my desk.
WC freights tended to roll along, and chasing was difficult.
However, this southward freight had to make a meet at Vernon, south of Waukesha. The resulting delay was both long enough for me to make a swift drive on country roads to Burlington, Wisconsin, and for the sun to rise high enough to expose Kodachrome.
I set up in the park on the east side of the tracks. The Canadian Geese in the pond were an unanticipated bonus.
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Terraced vineyards and stunning scenery make for a picturesque setting to photograph trains.
Using my Lumix LX7, I framed up the all-stops DB local train with some grapes in the foreground and an 18th century church in the distance.
The Lumix lens offers excellent depth of field, camera controls permit precision focusing.
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On September 3, 2015, I made this photo of an interurban electric from Bonn gliding along the streets of Köln.
The Bonn and Köln tram systems are linked via interurban connections.
One hundred years ago the Bay State Electric Railway was one of the most extensive interurban electric networks in the world. Today it is all but unknown. Yet, Interurban lines survive in Germany.
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The KölnTriangle building in Köln Deutz on the east bank of the Rhein offers a magnificent view of the railway bridge and the famous Dom.
A few days ago, Gerry Conmy, Stephen Hirsch, Denis McCabe and I spent about an hour watching the trains here. To the northeast is the Köln Deutz Bahnhof and a maze of related trackage. Beyond is a junction and a yard.
From above, it’s like an enormous model railway.
Photography is challenging because of the plate glass barricades in the roof garden. I largely overcame difficulties with reflections and dirt by using a very wide aperture and holding the camera lens as close as possible to the glass, while shading the camera with my hand.
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This classic EMD was one of many guests posed for the Streamliners at Spencer event on May 30, 2014.
Photo from Lumix LX7 archives.
Brian is presently traveling in Germany.
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The sun low on the horizon often provides the most colorful light of the day. It had rained and above the clouds were just thinning, and the sun dropped under for a few minutes.
Denis McCabe and I went down the west bank of the Rhein in Köln, and I made this view of a tram crossing with a fleeting rainbow in the eastern sky.
Yes, there’s a bit of luck involved, but also it helps to recognize when the light is about to get interesting.
The six track railway bridge over the Rhein at Koln offers a continuous parade of trains.
In just a few minutes I made many interesting photos.
In this image, on of DB’s Class 120 electrics whirrs over the massive bridge. This electric was among the earliest commercially-built locomotives using a modern three-phase traction system. It was among the more unusual trains I photographed on the evening of September 2, 2015.
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It’s been a few years since I last visited the Köln Hauptbahnhof.
For the railway photographer it is total sensory overload! Trains come and ago in parallel. There’s almost always something on the move.
Even as I write this the bells of the Dom are chiming.
Lx7 photos exposed September 2, 2015.
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The famous J is lit with artificial light during the Streamliners at Spencer event on May 31, 2014.
Photo from Lumix LX7 archives.
Brian is presently traveling in Germany.
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I ran this image in my book Railroads of California.
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On June 1, 2014, Pat Yough and I traveled on the Carolinian from Charlotte to the Philadelphia area. We were returning from a successful visit to the North Carolina Transportation Museum’s Streamliners at Spencer event. The train departed Charlotte on time. I enjoyed the service, but I can’t say I endorse North Carolina’s gratuitous air-line style boarding procedures.
As I write this, I’m putting the finishing touches on a book that will feature photography from that adventure (and many others). Tomorrow I fly to Köln, Germany with some Irish friends to begin ten days exploration of the Rhein and Mosel Valleys. During that time Tracking the Light will continue to post daily, but will be on ‘auto-pilot’ for a while. Stay tuned!
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It was a bright afternoon, and Pat Yough and I went hunting for locations along Huntington Avenue in Boston.
It had been a few years since I’d last explored this backwater of the MBTA system.
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For me writing books is a never ending process. The other day, while working feverishly to finish my current project A Field Guide to Trains, FedEx called by and delivered my latest published work.
Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals covers many of my favorite railway stations in the United States and abroad. It represents more than 30 years of my photography and includes photos by my father, Richard Jay Solomon, as well as those made by Tim Doherty, Pat Yough, Tom Kline, John Gruber, Doug Riddell and others.
Thanks to editor Todd Berger and project manager Alyssa Bluhm at Voyageur press for tying together all the pieces and sending me my advance copy.
The book should be available on October 1st, 2015 from the Quarto Publishing Group and Amazon.
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I’m honored to have been included in the new Southern Steam 2016 Calendar put together by Ken Fox and Kevin Meany. My photo is August 2016. Buy the calendar and check it out (proceeds for charity).
Rather than spoil it for you, I’ve posted one of my outakes, an image I made in 2006 at Farranfore, Co. Kerry, rather than show you the image used in the calendar.
Yesterday afternoon some unsettled weather blew through Dublin. In the course of less than an hour the sky went from blue to cloudy with rain showers and then back to blue.
Walking along the LUAS Red Line, I spotted an iridescent glow in the sky. It didn’t last long, but I thought I’d try to work with it.
As always, I had my LX7 handy.
Trams run about every five minutes this time of day, so I made the most of my window.
To make the most of these photos I had to adjust contrast and saturation in Lightroom. I avoided the temptation to over do it. After all the rainbow should appear as I saw it. It didn’t need over-enhancement, just balance. I’ll write more about this subject later, but one of the great advancements of the digital age is the ability to control contrast in photos.
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Pardon the brevity, I’m facing a deadline. (Two really)
Amtrak train 75 led by a North Carolina DOT F59PHI at Salisbury, NC, on May 30, 2014.
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It was on the afternoon of August 26, 2010 at Three Rivers, Massachusetts, that my father and I made photographs of a pair of restored Pennsylvania Railroad passenger cars that were being hauled by Amtrak 56 the northward Vermonter.
These were en route for use on a special excursion for a political candidate running for Vermont office. Two days later, we drove to the Georgia Highbridge south of St. Albans, Vermont and followed the special southward.
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It’s always sad to see an old Alco cut-up. Nothing lasts forever.
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That’s New England Central job 611. (A turn that runs from Brattleboro, Vermont to Palmer, Massachusetts).
All I want to know is what Emily Dickenson might say about all this? Hmmm?
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At 10:54 am this morning (Sunday August 23, 2015) Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s Marble City (Dublin Connolly to Kilkenny) led by engine number 4 made an impressive display working up the Gullet from Islandbridge Junction in Dublin.
Shortly before the arrival of the special, an Irish Rail ICR eased up to the bridge of signals. While this wasn’t what I anticipated, it makes for an interesting contrast in equipment.
Déjà vu? I think so.
Kudo’s to the RPSI and Irish Rail for running the train. I hope everyone on board has an enjoyable trip!
See: http://steamtrainsireland.com for details on up coming steam trips.
With a few of the distant exposures, I found the camera struggled to pick an accurate focus point. However, by using the ‘continuous high’ setting I was able to make up for the problem by making a lot of photos in short bursts as the camera focused in-and-out. Steam can often fool autofocus (especially on dull days) and its important to be ready this degree of uncertainty when making photographs.
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While I’m on the road in late July 2015, I thought it would be nice to look back to August 1993. I made this view on the Santa Fe of an eastward GP60M at Port Chicago, California.
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Here is a sequence of three views made in rapid succession of Amtrak 99 on CSXT’s former Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac route at Neabsco, Virginia.
Making this photograph was a joint effort: I was traveling with Vic and Becky Stone and Pat Yough. Vic suggest the location, Pat drove the hired car, and I consulted the Amtrak schedules.
Over the past three years in Tracking the Light, I’ve posted thousands of images. Yet, an underlying purpose of this site is the discussion of the process of making the photos.
It would be easy enough to simply display wonderful calendar quality images, but I’m hoping to enlighten the reader with some of the background behind the photo.
Occasionally a photograph comes easily; by sheer dumb luck an opportunity will present itself that makes for a stunning photograph. However, most of the time making interesting railway images requires research, patience and skill with the camera.
I’ll continue to do my best with providing hints to the research, tips on how to more effectively use a camera, and bits of background behind the photographs. You are on your own when it comes to patience!
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Here’s one deep from the archive: I was traveling with my father and brother and we’d come to South Amboy to watch the engine change where E8s were replaced by venerable GG1 electrics on New York & Long Branch passenger trains (North Jersey Coast Line) running from Bay Head Junction to Pennsylvania Station, New York.
We got lost on the way down and ended up in a post-apocalyptic waterfront at Perth Amboy.
Finally, we were trackside at the South Amboy Station.
Here’s a slightly improved variation: It should have a bit more ‘snap’ (contrast in shadows).
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A few days ago, I stood with Colm O’Callaghan and Ciarán Cooney at the foot bridge near Cherry Orchard west of Dublin.
The most elusive of all Irish Rail trains was on the move. To the uninitiated, the spoil train might seem a fool’s prize, but to the regular hunter and the connoisseur of the obscure, catching the spoil train is about as good as it gets.
As we waited the weather deteriorated. By the time the train came into view we had just about the worst possible lighting: heavy cloud directly overhead but bright bland sky in the distance and no way of minimizing the horizon. In other words, the lighting was too flat on the subject, but way too contrasty (and bright) in the distance.
With black and white film, I’d have over-exposed my negative by ½ to 1 full stop and then carefully processed it by under-developing by about 30 percent. (Shortening up my time). Then I’d selenium tone the negative, and when printing plan on some intensive dodging and burning. In the end, I have a series of dodgy looking prints that I’d probably never show to anyone, except under duress.
Instead, I exposed this image digitally using my Panasonix LX7. Gauging exposure with histogram, I ignored the advice of the camera meter, and did my best to avoid clipping the highlights, while avoiding total under-exposure.
Then, using Adobe Lightroom I experimented by trying replicate the scene using digital manipulation. Each of the following photos represent various attempts of making something out what would ordinarily go into the bin (trash).
The first photo is the un-manipulated RAW, the others show various degrees of adjustment.
Which of these do you like the most?
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At 9:50 am, Irish Rail 074 led the weed spraying train out of the old Guinness sidings at Heuston and headed down the Cork line.
Clear skies made for nice weather. Not everyday is as nice. Tomorrow Tracking the Light examines what to do with photos made in dismal conditions . . .
Stay tuned!
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Yesterday I posted a few photos of the Helsinki-Moscow sleeper Leo Tolstoi, which reminded me of some photos I made on a visit to Tallinn, Estonia back in 2002.
At the time, second-hand General Electric C30-7As and C36-7s were being delivered from the USA to supplant Soviet Era M62 diesels.
I thought the old Soviet machines were pretty cool.
Exposed on Fujichrome slide film using a Contax G2 rangefinder.
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This train is a bridge between east and west, connecting the Finnish and Russian capitals.
It was a dreary evening at Helsinki Central when Markku Pulkkinen and I exposed photos of this unusual passenger train.
The car behind the Finnish Sr1 electric locomotive is an auto-carrier for Russian automobiles (presumably the expensive imported kind with darkened windows).
Exposed using my Lumix LX7 digital camera.
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Prelude: on Friday, August 14, 2015, General Motors-built 201-class 8208 worked the Dublin to Ballina IWT liner. I’d photographed that move on the quad-track near Cherry Orchard.
I was interested in this recently painted locomotive, which, of-course, is styled for the Dublin-Belfast express passenger service, and not freight.
Day of action: On Saturday, I saw reports of 8208 working the up-IWT liner. This was an otherwise dull afternoon. I crossed the War Memorial Park on foot. No Vikings with their long boats today.
I found my spot, and was poised at the Con Colbert Road bridge over the three track-line in a cutting (known colloquially as ‘the Gullet’). Moments before the liner appeared, the sun briefly emerged from the clouds. Lucky me! And so this Saturday-freight eased up to the ‘Bridge of Signals’ giving me plenty of time to expose photographs.
First, I made a few strategically composed color slides with my Canon EOS 3 with 100mm lens, then exposed some digital photos with my Lumix LX7
Not bad for few minutes away from the computer on a weekend afternoon.
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