I hadn’t explored Boston’s Blue since 1999, so the other day while waiting for a flight at Logan airport I took a spin over the length of the line.
History lessons are on display at many Blue Line stations.Blue Line train at Airport Station.
The Blue Line has its origins with one of America’s most unusual suburban railways, the narrow gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn. At one time, beyond living memory, this was operated using a fleet of Mason Bogie engines, a peculiar type derived from the English Fairlie.
Later the route was electrified.
Historic views posted in MBTA’s modern station and architectural details hint at this once wonderful railway.
It remains a peculiar operation because of its blend of third rail and electric overhead. At the airport station you can witness the transition between electrical systems.
I found train frequency excellent, with cars passing in both directions about every four minutes.
These photos exposed with my ever versatile Panasonic Lumic LX7.
The connection from Blue Line’s Airport Station to Logan involves one of these vehicles.A train to Wonderland arrives at the Airport Station drawing current from the overhead lines. I didn’t meet Alice at Wonderland. No white rabbit either. However, a few Blue Line passengers may consider millinery (hatting) as a trade.State Street Boston. A good service on the Blue Line. Not so good on the Orange Line, though.Nice new cars.Beachmont Station incorporates visual elements that hark back to steam days on the BRB&L.
Beachmont.Someone somewhere is being cute: the Blue Line cars are in the 0700-series. This one is 0707. I also noted 0727, 0747, etc. Funny these cars don’t run to Riverside!0707 at the Airport Station. I’ve a nice photo of an old Boeing at Rochester, New York. Perhaps for a future post.
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In June, I revisited Gladstone Station. The quaint 1891-built Queen Anne style depot at the end of NJ Transit’s former Lackawanna Branch is a nicely kept station building. Unfortunately the old station structure is hemmed in by a host of modernity, all ugly and out of character with the style.
I arrived and departed on the train pictured by the station. Photos exposed with a Fuji X-T1.
It was a rosy red sunset on Friday July 10th. Jupiter and Venus could be seen in the western sky.
Tracking the Light reader Douglas Moore told me that the signal cleared to green shortly after I headed away and CSX’s Q437 (Framingham, Massachusetts to Selkirk, New York) manifest freight passed in darkness.
I exposed this image using my recently purchased Fujinon Aspherical 27mm pancake lens. This is one compact and very sharp pieces of glass.
I’m hoping the combination of a sharp lightweight lens with relatively fast aperture will serve me well in low light.
Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera fitted with a 27mm pancake lens. 400 ISO, 1/60th of a second f5.0 white balance set to daylight.Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less digital camera fitted with a 27mm pancake lens. 6400 ISO, 1/15th of a second, f2.8. Daylight white balance.
I’ve been scanning a batch of 120 color transparencies.
I exposed this image in May 2007 while I was working on my book Railroads of Pennsylvania that featured the Delaware-Lackawanna among other railroads in the Commonwealth.
Exposed on 120 size Fujichrome using a Rollei Model T with fixed 75mm Zeiss Tessar lens. Scanned using an Epson V600 scanner. Scaled and compressed for internet display.
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Fifty Five years have passed since the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western merged with Erie Railroad to form Erie-Lackawanna. EL was a flawed short-lived creation that disappeared into Conrail in 1976.
Today, the old DL&W electrified main line at Summit, New Jersey is operated by NJ Transit.
DL&W was before my time. But in the early 1980s, I recall visiting Summit with my father on the ride out to Gladstone on former Lackawanna multiple units. Even then, those cars seemed to me to belong to an earlier epoch.
In June, I revisited Summit and made these photographs.
The old DL&W station at Summit has a classic look about it. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.Stainless steel multiple-units glide into the station at Summit. Today many trains through Summit go to Penn-Station, New York rather than the old DL&W terminal at Hoboken.
Owing to the alignment of the track and depth of the cutting, high noon allows for light on the tracks. While there might nicer sun at other times of the day, it would be of little use here because of the shadows in the cut.
The old DL&W line is a cutting at Summit and the station straddles the line.
Today those old MUs are just a memory here. No chance either of seeing a DL&W three-cylinder Mountain type on a coal train, or a Hudson leading the Lackawanna Limited on its way to Buffalo. Just shadows, modern electrics and the old station.
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Years ago I noticed there seemed to be a natural law regarding the ratio of traffic to scenery in regards to railroad locations.
Lines blessed with stunning scenery generally suffered from a dearth of traffic, while the busiest places tend to be scenically bereft.
There are, of course, a few notable exceptions. California’s Tehachapi crossing comes to mind, as does New York’s Lower Hudson Valley. Both places are blessed exceptional scenery and frequent railway operations, and this makes them popular places to photograph.
Switzerland must not be considered in this equation as the whole country completely violates the natural law of railway photography.
Yet, many of the world’s most scenic lines—railways legendary for their stunning panoramas—have been abandoned, or lie dormant.
Then at the other end of the scale we have Secaucus Junction. Let’s just say it’s one of the busiest places in the Northeastern United States.
Outbound NJ Transit 4617 approaches platform B at Secaucus Junction.Trains come at go at Secaucus Junction every few minutes. FujiFilm X-T1 photograph.Secaucus Junction has some very interesting signaling. FujiFilm X-T1 photograph.An Amtrak Regional train blitzes the station.
The station exists on several levels, with the former Pennsylvania Railroad lines crossing over the former Erie. How many tons of concrete? I don’t know. And the whole structure is neatly situated in the Jersey Meadows (ie an extensive brackish marsh).A view of the station from the Erie-Lackawanna side. (Lower level). This holds to the formula; it is by far the prettiest part of Secaucus Junction, and the least active. Lumix LX7 photo.A train from Suffern, New York to Hoboken accelerates away from Secaucus. Lumix LX7 photo. Notice the three separate sets of high voltage electrical lines.Looking west from Secaucus Junction. Fuji X-T1 photo.Look trees!Signals at Secaucus Junction.
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When ever I think of Hoboken, New Jersey, I conjure up a vision of that classic Warner Bros., Bugs Bunny cartoon titled: ‘8 Ball Bunny.’
Bugs, upon discovering that the performing Penguin he’s just guided from Brooklyn to the South Pole was born across the Hudson from Manhattan, cries out. . . “HOBOKEN!? Oooo I’m dyin’ . . .”
That classic line, plus a bucket of steamed clams at the now-defunct Clam Broth House, and images of the old copper-clad Lackawanna Terminal represent Hoboken for me. It gets a bit confusing when I visit Antwerp, but that’s a story for another post.
On July 9, 2015, fellow photographer Mike Gardner and I made photographs from the recently reopened Willimansett Bridge between Holyoke and Chicopee, Massachusetts.
Train 56, the northward Vermonter crosses the Connecticut River. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with a Fujinon Aspherical 27mm Pancake lens. Colors in the image file have been enhanced for internet presentation.
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Sometimes I wonder if I’m living in the wrong century.
Lumix LX7 photo at Harboside in Jersey, New Jersey.
On June 26, 2015, I exposed this digital image at Harborside of an NJ Transit light rail train destined for Hoboken.
Although there’s virtually no evidence today, decades ago this was the site of intensive Pennsylvania Railroad waterfront terminal trackage.
More than a century ago PRR’s vast arched shed was located at Exchange Place (a few blocks to the south) while the entire area was blanketed with tracks.
My father photographed PRR MP54 electrics at Exchange Place in the early 1960s, and I recall watching a Conrail NW2 work freight trackage here in the early 1980s.
Today, the area is covered in towering office blocks.
It is similar to modern waterfront development at Dublin’s North Wall but on a larger scale. In Dublin, as in Jersey City, light rail crosses the site of heavy rail trackage against the back-drop of geometric office-block architecture.
The heat of the summer is a nice time to reflect on a photograph that benefitted from a frosty day.
Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s ‘Snow Train’ was an annual event that made the most of the weather and the equipment.
Back in 1996, Dick Gruber and I spent two very productive days photographing the event.
Saginaw Timber number 2 arrives at the station in North Freedom, Wisconsin on February 18, 1996. Steam locomotives are most dramatic in icy weather.
I exposed this morning arrival of Saginaw Timber number 2 at North Freedom, Wisconsin using my Nikon F3T with 200mm lens and Kodachrome 25 slide film.
By taking the prism off the top of the camera (one of the great features of the Nikon F3 design) I was able to hold the camera close to the ground for a more dramatic angle. The caveat was that I had to compose the image in reverse.
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Way back in the day, before third rail electrification was the rule, compact steam locomotives worked trains on New York’s elevated railways.
Most of the original Els are long gone, and many of today’s elevated structures spanning streets in The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens stem from the electrified era.
Nearly forgotten are the Manhattan Els, all of which were torn down decades ago.
Old postcards survive that show the way things were.
Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.
In June, I made these photographs of the elevated structure that survives above the streets at Broadway and Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn. I find it astounding that when Els were more common, they were decried as ‘ugly.’ Simply bizarre.
When I was a kid these turnstiles scared me. I though for sure I’ll be diced to pieces. Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.
In most other cities, such a title might seem to be redundant, but not in New York.
Here are a few digital photographs made in late June, designed to capture the atmosphere of the Subway (but not the aroma). All exposed with a Lumix LX7.
R-train.
Fulton Street.Franklin Avenue.Franklin Avenue.Photographing the J train.Cortlandt Street.Warning!
In the realms of rail-transit, certain vehicles survive in revenue service much longer than others. When I was growing up, antique streetcars on Philadelphia’s Red Arrow Lines, and old Lackawanna multiple units were among the oldest cars around.
When exploring the New York City Subway at the end of June with Walter Zullig, Jack May and my father, I made point of photographing the Budd-built class R-32 cars, which are now in their 51st year of service.
Marcy Avenue.
Like most Budd-rail vehicles, the R-32/R-32As (known as ‘Brightliners’) are constructed from shot-welded stainless steel. Undoubtedly this has contributed to their longevity.
A confluence of New York City Subway routes above ground at Broadway Junction offered me myriad photographic opportunities.
Trains above and below. At Broadway Junction the ‘L-train’ makes its appearance above ground. Confusingly the ‘L-train’ runs mostly underground, while the New York City Subway system, which runs the ‘L,’ operates many elevated lines (known as the El’). Got that? Oh yeah, and by the way, the Broadway at Broadway Junction, isn’t the same street with all the theaters. That other Broadway is in Manhattan.
After enduring long waits for trains at the Far Rockaway-end of the A-line, it was a pleasure to have trains rolling in all directions and at various levels at Broadway Junction.
Rather than merely change trains, my father, Jack May, Walter Zullig and I spent a while at this busy station making photographs.
An R32 works a J-train service.
Looking west on the J-line at Broadway Junction.The ‘L-Train’ emerges from the depths.What could be more appropriate than an appearance of this train on Tracking the Light?
The highlight of our short visit was the passage of the inspection train, which seemed to be the physical manifestation of Tracking the Light!
Tomorrow at look at the R32s—cousins to the Zephyr!
The far-end of this well-known Subway route was among the lines we explored on our epic June 25, 2015 tour of New York City rail-transit.Jack May, Walter Zullig, my father and I, walked from the Long Island Rail Road station at Far Rockaway to the nearby New York City Subway station (located on an elevated structure).
At one time this had all been part of the same route, but now there’s several blocks between rail-heads.
The A Line Deli at Far Rockaway, amidst the sounds of sirens. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.
Elaborately decorated glass bricks are a feature of the stations on the A Train route.
The NYCTA Station at Far Rockaway is decorated with colored glass. Panoramic composite exposed with Fujifilm X-T1.Far Rockaway. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.
As we rolled westward, my father recalled visiting Rockaway Beach decades earlier when there were rows of beach-side bungalows and city streets.
Once west of the Far Rockaway the scene changes.We got off at 44th Street and took a look around.
Much of Rockaway beach seems devoid of structures, with old streets vanishing into the encroaching sand. The Bungalows are just a memory. Yet, massive multistory apartments loom in the distance above the railway structure, like something out of a doomsday film.
A concrete elevated structure keeps the tracks above the sand covered streets.An inbound A Train from Far Rockaway. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.This place, is largely devoid of people (except for visiting photographers) and features a mixture of urban decay and encroaching beach. Panoramic composite exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1.An outbound A train rattles along on the elevated. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.Fujifilm X-T1 photo looking toward Far Rockaway.Nice place for a car chase! Fujifilm X-T1 photo.Outbound train as seen from the inbound platform at 44th Street. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.Inbound A train at 44th Street. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.Colored glass at 44th Street.
It’s a strange place to be. And a stranger place to make photos. This is not the New York City visited by most tourists! Yet the A train continues to JFK Airport and beyond to lower Manhattan and ultimately up-town.
How long, I wonder, would it take to ride from one end to the other?
The Long Island Rail Road (two words) is one of America’s most intensive heavy-rail commuter operations.My late friend ‘Uncle’ Harry Vallas—a locomotive engineer on the line—affectionately called it the ‘Wrong Island Fail Road.’On the morning of June 25, 2015, my father, Jack May, Walter Zullig and I, took a trip from New York Penn Station to Far Rockaway. We changed at Jamaica (cross platform, no stairs). Our trains were air conditioned. The tracks were smooth and welded. And we arrived on time.
I made these photos with my digital cameras.
Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1.Tickets to ride. Lumix LX7 photo.The back of a paper ticked shows a schematic map of the network. Jack May gave me this as a souvenir. LX7 Photo.Inside the train on the way to Jamaica. LX7 photo.Changing trains at Jamaica didn’t allow much time to take in the sights. LX7 grab shot on the platform.Recalling old times on the LIRR on the way to Far Rockaway. It was really different back in the day (so I learned).Interior panoramic composite of a Long Island Rail Road car. Exposed with a Fuji X-T1.Fuji X-T1 view.
Far Rockaway is a functional facility. Shortly after our arrival an in-bound train departed. Fuji X-T1 photo.
On June 25, 2015, I made these photographs at New York’s Penn Station. This is Amtrak’s busiest station, and a terminal for Long Island Railroad and NJ Transit suburban trains.
Once it was one of the world’s most elegant railway terminals, built in a style inspired by the Roman baths of Caracalla; but today Penn Station is mostly functional, with little in the way of elegance to inspire the traveler.
However, good and interesting photographs should not rely on great architecture as a crutch to draw the eye of the viewer, right?
Welcome to New York!Tracks, wires, iron girders and fluorescent light.A large black & white photo may remind passengers of the age of elegance. Yes, Virginia, we are standing in the same place.On the plus side, all Amtrak trains were running to schedule. Really!Penn Station allows direct connections between various railway services. Onward to the Long Island Railroad!
Photos exposed with a Panasonic Lumix LX7 digital camera.
I’ve spent a lot of time researching railroads in Worcester. It was the site of one of the earliest North American railway junctions and was perhaps the first significant railway gateway city.
Yet, for all its history, Worcester can be a difficult place to make satisfying railroad photographs, owning in part to a massive grade separation project a century ago that raised the tracks above the city streets and effectively partitioned the city.
So much of what’s good and bad about Worcester are direct effects of its railroads.
CSX Q423 assembles its train at the west end of Worcester Yard. The passenger platform at Worcester Union Station offers a decent view of the CSX yard, however most of the year this is lit from the south, which make photography challenging. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 Digital Camera. The multistory building to the right of the train is the old Osgood-Bradley building.I could title this photo, ‘The Grand Partition’—it is where two primary transportation corridors cross; I-290 spans the former Boston & Albany line. Both partitions (corridors) have facilitated traffic through Worcester, but disrupted the fabric of the city beyond comprehension. Worcester is a city of contrasts; fascinating, and frustrating.
On the long days of summer. The sun swings far to the north and makes for nice afternoon light at Worcester Union Station. Near the Summer Solstice, I made a few photos of CSX symbol freight Q423 (Worcester-Selkirk, NY) with one of the remaining AC6000CWs wearing its as-built ‘Bright Future’ paint.
I exposed this view of the infrastructure at Helsinki in September 2001. This is some impressively engineered and perfectly maintained track structure.
Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) slide film using a Nikon F3T with 105mm lens.
At the end of July, I’ll be revisiting Finland and expect to ride and photograph Finnish railways during my journey! Stay tuned!
Years ago, the former Boston & Albany ‘West End’ was among my favorite places to photograph. The cosmic qualities of the railroad’s east slope of Washington Hill seemed to offer unlimited vantage points.
This can be a serene place, especially in the early morning.
B&A’s Washington Hill grade (1212 line relocation) near milepost 130.
On one of the longest days of the year, I made my way trackside, and revisited places that I haven’t been to in several years.
At Middlefield, I met fellow railroad photographer Don Pasquarelli and we compared experiences.
Looking east.In the pre-dawn glow, I watched CSX Q293 change crews at Palmer. More than two hours later it was climbing toward Washington Summit. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.
These days, the old B&A route is not as busy as I recalled it from Conrail days in the 1990s. Back then a traffic swell had the railroad alive with trains in the morning. Based on my old photo notes, I’d expect to see as many as ten trains between dawn and lunch time.
By contrast, on this June morning we saw five moves over the railroad, which was two more than I expected. But today’s trains are only part of the story. For me, the B&A West End is now more about the place than about what passes through it.
The sound of the lead SD70MAC’s dynamic brakes preceded the passage of CSX Q022 by several minutes. Exposed with my Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.On the westend it helps to know your locations. Over the years I’ve learned that in the long days of summer, there’s nice light on this tangent in the morning. It also helps to have goat-like agility to get into position ahead of the train.Hours pass between trains. Shortly before the noon-hour, CSX Q-264 came east with more than a mile of autoracks in tow.
In yesterday’s post [Tracking the Light’s Panchromatic Pan Am] I alluded to the various color profile presets available on my Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera that emulate film types.
Here I’ve displayed several images all exposed individually within a few minutes of each other as a means of exploring the effect of each of the color profiles. Other than scaling for internet presentation, I have not altered the color, contrast or sharpness of these images and the effect is essentially how it appears in the camera-produced Jpg file.
Which do you like best?
X-T1—Provia color profile.X-T1—Velvia color profile.X-T1—Astia color profile.X-T1—Color Neg ‘Hi’ color profile.X-T1—Pro Neg standard color profile.
Reporting live from Amtrak train 54, The Vermonter, on June 27, 2015. During our engine change at New Haven—electric locomotive 914 was replaced with Genesis diesel 102—I made photos of Amtrak’s Boston-Washington Acela Express, train 2253 arriving at New Haven.
No engine change needed for the Acela express! The total elapsed time on the platform was just two minutes.
Amtrak Acela Express, train 2235, with power car 2006 at New Haven. Lumix LX7 photo.Broadside of the Acela Express at New Haven.Amtrak Acela Express, train 2253, at New Haven. Lumix LX7 photo.Old Amtrak AEM-7 914 heads for New Haven motor storage. A few weeks ago sister locomotive, Amtrak 915 was sent to Strasburg, Pennsylvania for preservation. How much longer will the old AEM-7s work? Lumix LX7 photo.Vermonter passengers watch the New Haven engine change.
Imagine the time savings for the Vermonter if it ran with a dual-mode diesel-electric—electric, such as the Bombardier locomotives used by NJ Transit!
Photos exposed with my Lumix LX7.
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I traveled up on NJ Transit, met my father at Penn Station, and now we are traveling northward on Amtrak’s Vermonter—Train 54. Every seat on the train is occupied.
Photos exposed with my Lumix LX7 and uploaded with Amtrak’s WiFi.
Richard J. Solomon and Pat Yough at Penn-Station on June 27, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Richard Solomon with Vermonter at Penn-Station on June 27, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.
A veteran of many years service—Amtrak AEM7 914 at Penn-Station on June 27, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.
A large portion of the New York City ‘Subway’ is elevated above street level. On June 25, 2015, my dad, Jack May, Walter Zullig and I took a whirlwind tour of New York City rail transit, during which I made dozens of photos from myriad locations.
Broadway Junction on June 25, 2015. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1.
New York City’s rail transit, including the subway, is undoubtedly one of the most visually complex transportation systems in North America, and presents endlesspossibilities for photography.
I’ll plan a series of posts featuring photos from this trip over the coming weeks.
Back in the day, Kodak used the term ‘Panchromatic’ to distinguish its latest black & white films from the older ‘orthochromatic’ emulsions.
Standard black & white setting with Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera. Pan-Am’s POED (Portland to East Deerfield) is stationary allowing ample time for comparisons images.
Today, we might take for granted that a photographic medium will reproduce all the colors as we see them, but old black & white emulsions were really pretty limited and some colors were not reproduced accurately (or at all), leading to a variety of unusual imaging effects.
Orthochromatic plates were largely sensitive to blue light. Among other effects of this limited spectral sensitivity was the tendency to overexpose the sky in relation to the rest of the scene. So, instead of the appropriate shades of grey, sky-blue tended to appear white. This is why so many glass plate photos appear to have been made on cloudy days. It is also one reason why sunset ‘glint’ photos were much harder to expose.
FACT: There are very few 1900-era glint photos of 4-4-0s.
‘Panchromatic’ means a film with full-spectrum sensitivity. But, I’m using the term in regards to my Fujifilm X-T1 Digital Camera. This, of course isn’t a film-camera at all, despite being the only camera I’ve ever owned that had the world ‘film’ in printed bold letters on the view-finder.
One of the great things about the X-T1 is its built in color profiles that emulate Fuji’s classic film types: Provia, Velvia, Astia, and some color print films.
It also has several black & white pre-sets, that offer the effects of using green, yellow and red filters and the appropriate spectral response.
Black & white with ‘Red’ filter setting. This alters the end result which among other things make the blue locomotives appear slightly darker. (No physical filter was used in the exposing of this image).This image was made with the ‘Provia’ color profile, which I’ve included for point of comparison. Tomorrow’s post (June 6, 2015) will feature more color profiles.
On May 24, 2015. I had the good fortune to arrive at the Boston & Maine Railroad bridge over the Connecticut River at East Deerfield shortly after freight POED (Portland to East Deerfield) paused here at a perfectly picturesque position on the span.
I used this opportunity to run through the gamut of color profiles and black & white settings on the X-T1. I also made a few panoramic composites, which could lead to the title for a posting ‘Panchromatic Pan Am Panorama,’ but I read somewhere that gratuitous alliteration is considered poor writing.
I realize that some pundits may argue about my application of ‘panchromatic’ to a digital image. So just for the record, I’d also exposed some Fuji Provia 35mm film at this same scenic setting. Satisfied? Super!
Not really. In 2010, the massive eruptions of a volcano in Iceland brought havoc to air-travel across Europe. Personally, I was seriously inconvenienced on several occasions.
But the ash did make for some stunning sunsets!
I made this view of the Stockholm Metro on May 6, 2010 using my Lumix LX3.
Amtrak’s Springfield-Hartford-New Haven shuttle, train 495, arrived in New Haven. We had just a few minutes to make photos before train 95 (Boston-Newport News) arrived early behind new ACS-64 624.
Amtrak 495 with a push-pull set on track 4 in New Haven. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak 495 at New Haven. Lumix LX7
On an adjacent track, a set of old Metro-North multiple units were ready for their final journey.
These old MUs have served for many years, but will carry passengers no more—fare-thee-well old MUs! Lumix LX7Amtrak 95 arriving at New Haven Fujifilm X-T1 photo.Richard J. Solomon with 611 shirt at New Haven, Connecticut at 8:41 am on June 25, 2015.WiFi on the train allows for uploads to Tracking the Light on the go! Fujifilm X-T1 digital photo.
It is 8:00 am on Thursday, June 25, 2015 and my father and I are riding Amtrak 495 toward New Haven, Connecticut where we’ll change for train 95 from Boston.
We are on our way to New York City for an expert tour of the New York subway system.
Amtrak 495 arriving at Windsor Locks on June 25, 2015. Lumix photo.Richard J. Solomon on board train 495. Note 611 T-shirt. Lumix photo.Richard J. Solomon checks Tracking the Light on his smart phone. Live from Amtrak 495! Lumix photo.
Friday nights trackside represents a tradition going back more than three decades. Back in the day, Bob Buck would hold court at his Tucker’s Hobbies in Warren, Massachusetts, then we’d head down to Palmer for dinner and afterwards convene at the old railroad station to watch trains pass in the night.
I’d make photographs.
A group of us have maintained the tradition and still meet in Palmer some Fridays. However, a few weeks back Rich Reed offered a suggestion, “Lets do something different. How about we meet in Worcester, and I’ll drive everyone to Mansfield where we can watch the Acela blast by at 150mph.”
We opted for one of the long days of June, and proceeded to plan.
Mansfield, Massachusetts has a long history with the railroad. This mural features a classic 4-4-0. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.Nearing its top speed Amtrak’s Acela Express, train 2166, races toward Boston. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera. Shutter set at 1/1000th of second.Panoramic composite of the MBTA station at Mansfield, Massachusetts. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.
As we all recalled later on, even this idea had originated with Bob Buck. Back in the 1980s, Bob would take a summer evening and drive a group of us to the old New Haven Shoreline route.
Sometimes Bob would bring us to Readville, other times Mansfield, or Attleboro. We’d variously meet with locals, including Dave Clinton and Bob Karambelas, who’d show us new locations and share railway information. On at least one occasion we visited Edaville and traveled on the narrow gauge.
In the glow of dusk, a Boston-bound MBTA accelerates away from the station at Mansfield. The locomotive is one of the new HSP-46 diesels built by MPI at Boise, Idaho and features GE major components. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera, photo altered digitally in post processing to balance contrast.Our group has been watching trains on Friday evenings since the 1980s (perhaps earlier). This day we opted for Mansfield, rather than Palmer. Something new, something different. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.The automated voice came on: ‘Please stand behind the yellow line’. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.MBTA train 828 arrives at Mansfield. Lumix LX7 photo.MBTA engine 1126 pauses at Mansfield with train 828. LX7 photo.Overhead catenary at Mansfield. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.MBTA 825 arrives at Mansfield. LX7 Photo.
At the end of this June 2015 evening we made a toast to the memory Bob Buck—the man who brought us all together and for years shared the railroad with us.
Earlier this month on my visit to Harrisburg, I made the opportunity to photograph the Harrisburg Station, now officially the Harrisburg Transportation Center.
Harrisburg is one of America’s last active stations with a traditional train shed over the platforms.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania June 3, 2015. Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.
The last time I photographed this station was back in the summer of 1989 with my friend TSH on one of our big two-week long Pennsylvania-centered photo adventures. Back then we’d timed our visit to intercept Amtrak’s Broadway Limited. Hard to believe but its been about 20 years since Amtrak ceased running that classic train.
These photos were exposed on June 3, 2015 using my Fujifilm X-T1 and Lumix LX7 digital cameras. Back then I’d been using Kodachrome 25. For me, what is interesting is that in both instances the lighting conditions were about the same.
Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.A westward Norfolk Southern autorack train passes the Harrisburg passenger station with the Savanna & Atlantic heritage locomotive. Exposed with my Fuji X-T1.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.
Forty Five Minute Exposure at Old Gorge on Kodachrome 25
Back in the day, I’d attempt to make long exposures on Kodachrome 25. I was facing a nearly insurmountable wall of diminishing returns, because of this film’s reciprocity curve it suffered very poor low-light sensitivity. In extremely low light (when minimum exposure times were calculated to be longer than about 5 minutes), K25’s effective ISO rating approached zero.
This view was made on the west slope of Donner Pass using my Nikon F3T fitted with an f1.8 105mm lens (opened to f1.8) and firmly mounted on a Bogen 3021 tripod. I opened the shutter to allow for the passing of westward SP freight. The head-end headlights and oscillating lights helped illuminate the setting, while the light streaks were largely the result of the helper at the back.
At the left, you can see the lights of Sacramento, California, more than 50 miles away and some 2,000 feet lower. What’s missing is the tremendous sense of elevation and the vast depth of the American River Canyon at the left. Here we have empty black space.
The scene was cosmic. The sound show was sublime. My slide? Not so great. In a situation like this one, Provia 100F would have performed much better, but it didn’t exist then. Today’s Digital cameras would be vastly superior. Compare this view, to the images I made at State Line Tunnel back in February.
Over the years I’ve made a lot of photos at the Palmer diamond, where CSX (ex Conrail, nee Boston & Albany and etc) crosses New England Central (ex Central Vermont.) at grade.
The other day I decided to take a completely new angle on this well-photographed spot and I set my camera to monochrome (ex black & white) with a red filter adjustment (applied digitally and is among the Fuji X-T1 preset ‘color profiles’) then set the camera to make a panoramic composite.
I hold the shutter button down and sweep the camera laterally, the camera automatically exposes a burst of images and then sews them together internally. In this case, I set the sweep from right to left.
Fuji X-T1 panoramic composite. This is a digitally combined image made from more than two dozen photos exposed in rapid succession and stitched together in-camera.
If you look carefully, there’s a stationary New England Central GP38 on the north-side of the diamond crossing.
A tightly cropped view from the above panorama showing the New England Central-CSX diamond crossing.
This is essentially the same type of function/option now offered by many smart phones. However, I’m exposing the images using my Fujinon 18-135mm lens (which allows me to set the focal length of the pan) and the end file is about a 17mb JPG, which produces fairly detailed image.
I’ll post more panoramic composites over the coming days/months.
Trolling through my slide archives the other day I came across a series of images made back in August 1996.Back then, I was working at my desk at Pentrex Publishing in Waukesha, Wisconsin when Doug Riddell and his family walked into the office. At that stage, Doug was our columnist for Passenger Train Journal, and I’d been working with him for two years, but this was my first time meeting him face to face. We all enjoyed a memorable meeting.It’s important to have a camera at the ready. I exposed this series of Fujichrome slides with my Nikon F3T with an external Vivitar flash.
Dick Gruber and Doug Riddell in August 1996. Exposed on Fujichrome with a Nikon F3T with Vivitar flash.Doug and Ryan Riddell with Carl Swanson—editor of Passenger Train Journal. Exposed on Fujichrome with a Nikon F3T with Vivitar flash.
I especially like the photos of Doug with his son Ryan. Back then Doug was an Amtrak Engineer; today he is retired, but his son carries on the family tradition.Two weeks ago, it was Ryan’s birthday, and so Doug, Pat Yough and I, made a point of photographing Ryan working Amtrak’s Silver Star, train 92. (see: Tracking the Light Special Post: Happy Birthday Ryan Riddell!)
Ryan and Doug Riddell June ’15.
I think the photos here help put Ryan’s Birthday post in better context! Happy Father’s Day to Doug! And to all the fathers and sons working for the railroad!
In April 1997, I traveled with my father to Japan for an intensive few days of photography and railway exploration. In that time I managed to expose 85 rolls of film. (Not all of railways).To my shock, it turned out that bringing Fujichrome to Japan, was akin to bringing ‘coal to Newcastle’. Not only was slide film plentiful, but it was substantially cheaper than in the USA. However, just to make my mark, I also brought some Kodachrome.
Streetcar in Okayama exposed on Fujichrome with a Nikon N90s. April 1997.Richard J. Solomon with our friend Asao in the mountains southwest of Tokyo, April 1997.Shinjuku, Tokyo on April 19, 1997, exposed on Fujichrome using a Nikon N90S with 28mm lens fitted on a Bogen tripod.A Kodachrome 25 slide exposed in Tokyo, Japan. Streetcars are not common in Tokyo, but there is one long line, and I spent a morning documenting this. Buying a ticket wasn’t as easy as I hoped!
Hiroshima.
This has been among my father’s favorite railway trips and he’s always asking me to post the Japanese photographs on Tracking the Light.
Happy Father’s Day Pop!
Richard Jay Solomon makes a photograph of a Series 400 Shinkansen train on the platform at Fukushima, Japan on April 19, 1997. Exposed on Fujichrome film.
One of the 400-Series Shinkansen trains at Fukushima, Japan. Exposed on Fujichrome.
Quiet morning in Tokyo on April 18, 1997.JR signal at Osaka, April 1997.Bozo View at Shinjuku Station, Tokyo on April 23, 1997.JR suburban train in Tokyo on April 18, 1997.Osaka, Japan on April 24, 1997.
Richard J. Solomon with newspaper waiting on a railway platform in Tokyo on April 23, 1997.
Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.
On June 6, 2015, I made a series of images contrasting a modern commuter train with a famous steaming visitor at Manassas, Virginia. (Hint: the crowds are not out for the diesel.)
Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1.Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1.1940-styling meets 2000-styling. (Keep in mind when the 611 was built its design was already a decade old.) Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1.
