Category Archives: photography

Announcements, photography

Trains-Beyond the Byline

On June 4th, Trains Magazine’s web edition featured me in its ‘meet the author’ style series ‘Beyond the Byline’.

A few months back, the magazine’s Prodution Editor Nastassia Putz asked if I would participate and sent me a list of questions. This sounded like fun.

My replies included some short essays and a variety of photos, including this variation on the first photo I had published in the magazine.

In February 1984, I’d traveled on Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiast’s New England States Limited. During a layover at Brattleboro, Vermont, I made a series of black & white images of this train with my Leica 3A. It was raining and I got soaked. Later I made prints and sent some to then Trains editor David P. Morgan who published this one in the News section of the magazine. I was a senior in high school at the time and I was very excited to see my photo in print.

My other answers and illustrations can be viewed by going to the Trains site. I’ve included links below. The top features a photo that my wife Kris made of me at Conway Scenic Railroad a few years ago.

Click the link:

Beyond the byline with Brian Solomon

Or use this link and scroll to the bottom of the webpage.https://www.trains.com/trn/railroads/history/

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photography, Tips and Technique

Train Crew—Portraits

My photography for Conway Scenic Railroad often focuses on the people.

The train crew are the faces of the railroad and are often featured in the company’s social media and advertising. Not everyone likes to be pictured, so I tend to focus on those who don’t mind my camera.

Last week, fine Spring weather made for some great light to photograph railroaders at work.

I often use short telephoto lenses and wide f-stops for shallow focus to better set the people apart from the background. In post processing I soften contrast and lighten shadows to make for more flattering images.

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photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Technicolor Trolley

Yesterday we paid a visit to Maine’s Seashore Trolley Museum, where I photographed former Wheeling Traction Company car 639 under wire.

Painted in the classic ‘Traction Orange’ this featured an old advertisement for a movie filmed in ‘Technicolor’.

A while back, one of my Irish friends asked if I’d gotten used to digital photography, I replied, “I still haven’t gotten used to Color!”

These photos were exposed digitally and in color, using my Nikon Z6 and Lumix LX7 digital cameras.

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photography, Tips and Technique

June 3, 2015-Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

On this day eight years ago, I visited Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I’d taken Amtrak’s Keystone from Philadelphia and upon arrival spent some time in the State Archives visiting with Kurt Bell while researching for a book on steam locomotives.

I made these photos around the old Pennsylvania Railroad station in the afternoon using my FujiFilm XT1.

Later that month, I bought a new Apple MacBook Pro laptop and with it, Adobe Lightroom. I’ve been using Lightroom ever since to adjust my RAW files (these included).

A tightly cropped version of the above photo.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Gertrude Emma on the Roll at 125!

In recent weeks, I’ve focused on making still and video images of Conway Scenic Railroad’s Sawyer River and Mountaineer excursions to be used in upcoming advertising.

I wanted to capture the trains with Spring greenery and characteristic White Mountains scenery.

Among the placed I set up was along the Saco River where the ‘3rd Iron’ truss crosses. Here I was aiming for a broadside setting where I could picture the train rolling by.

I made this panned view of popular Pullman open observation car Gertrude Emma crossing the bridge.

This American classic is 125 years old this year! It was built in 1898 for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Conway Scenic restored the car in the 1980s.

Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens set at 70mm; f16 1/30th of second, ISO 100.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Pick One—Which View is More Interesting

Yesterday morning, I traveled on the 1100 Conway Scenic excursion to Conway, NH. After the locomotive ran around and was doing its continuity brake test, I exposed a series of telephoto photos of the train.

Below are two of my favorites.

At the top is a shallow-focus ‘power shot’ that emphasizes the train. Below is a more interpretive angle that includes a family observing the train during the run around. This view reminds me of when I was young and my father would bring my brother and I out to watch trains.

So, which of these two photos do you like better?

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photography, Rail transit marathon

Germany meets Charlotte

May 31st, 2014, I stood in the grass south of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina to photograph a German-dessigned Siemens Mobility-built model S70 tram working as the Lynx.

I like photographing modern lightrail systems in urban environments.

The sun was softened by a cloud moments before exposure. I rescued the image in post processing with some shadow-lightening and contrast adjustment, and by warming the color temperature.

Since my 2014 visit to Charlotte with photographer Pat Yough, the city has expanded its light rail system and purchased many more Siemens trams.

Lumix LX7 photo, exposed in RAW and adjusted with Adobe Lightroom to create an internet-sized JPG file.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Red Sun in the Evening.

Last week smoke and ash from fires in western Canada made for some very unusual lighting conditions.

Driving around Strasburg, Pennsylvania, Kris and I observed the sun as red globe descending into a greyish evening sky. This seemed unworldly.

I wanted to capture this effect, and selected a location off Blackhorse Road, near where I’d photographed trains a couple of days earlier. This provided enough elevation to allow for a good view of the horizon.

To better capture the definition of the sun, I selected a small aperture (large ‘f’ number), and intentionally under exposed by about 2/3s of a stop.

To retain the reddish color, I set my white balance to ‘daylight’, otherwise the camera’s software would attempt to ‘balance’ the color and neutralize the unusual color created by refraction of the light in the atmosphere (the very effect I was hoping to capture).

Althought, this might seem contrary, I also, made a couple of photos using my Nikon Z6’s black & white modes.

Below are several examples . If you look closely at the englarged image of the sun you’ll see a sun spot.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Nine Years Ago—Confluence of Celebrity Locomotives!

At the end of May 2014, fellow photographer Pat Yough and I took Amtrak to Salisbury, North Carolina to partake in the epic gathering of celebrity locomotives described as ‘Streamliners at Spencer.’

This was an extremely well organized and enjoyable event.

Many of our fellow photographers were on site.

Over the seveal day-long event, I exposed numerous photos of beautiful locomotives.

Our first full day at Spencer Shops was May 29, 2014.

Below are a selection of the JPGs, I made with my Canon EOS-7D on that day. In retrospect, I find it fascinating to see that gathered in one place were so many familiar faces of railroading!

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photography, Tips and Technique

Streamlined Steam in a Pastoral Setting

Last week, Strasburg Rail Road was offering ‘In-Cab Experiences’ with former Norfolk & Western steamlined J-Class locomotive 611. These were scheduled to operate in a relatively secluded section on the Leaman Place-end of the railroad.

I made this digital view looking across the fields of the locomotive under steam using a Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom. My aim was to capture the majesty of the locomotive in pastoral setting.

By using selective focus and aiming through the lush Spring foliage, I hoped to create a sense of depth.

After exposure, I made a few nominal adjustments to the Nikon NEF RAW file using Adobe Light room. Notably, I used the ‘Select Sky mask setting’ to selectively lower the highlight density in the sky-area in order to avoid a loss of color and provide better balance the overall scene.

Exposed at 1/500th of a sec, f5.6, ISO 100, 70-200mm zoom set to 200mm.

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photography, Tips and Technique

OH NO! When Auto Focus Fails . . .

The other day I had an ‘oh no!’ moment involving the autofocus system on my Nikon Z6 fitted with a 70-200mm zoom.

Most of the time the autofocus with my Z-series cameras works very well. On rare occasion it misses completely.

I was set-up at Christiana, Pennsylvania along Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line waiting for westward Keystone service number 605 in order to catch it passing the old PRR station.

I’d set the autofocus to ‘single-point’ (which allows to preselect a distinct point in the frame as the desired place of sharpness) and the system to ‘AF-C’ (continuous), a mode that in theory should continuously adjust the focus on the subject point.

There were three complicating conditions that in combination yielded an undesirable result. 1) The scene was back-lit with bright morning sun, which can make it more difficult for the autofocus system to quickly pick the focus on the desired point. 2) The train was moving faster than 90mph, which not only made it difficult to focus, but gave me no room for error when the shutter was released. 3) The headlights on Amtrak’s ACS-64 use a form of LEDs that produce a wavelength that can momentarily confuse the autofocus system on the camera. I’ve experienced these unfortunate effects previously.

The result was one photo where the focus was slightly off, followed by a second closer image where the focus was missed completely.

One solution for future efforts; I can use the autofocus to pre-focus on the desired location and the switch it off, thus avoiding the condition where at the last split second the focus shifts. But this too is a gamble, and doesn’t always work as hoped.

Although close to what I’d hoped to capture, the autofocus missed slightly and the front of the engine is not precisely sharp. The focus a actually about 40 ft further back. While this may appear sharp enough for internet presentation, it not great in terms of precision focus.
A split second later I made this slightly closer image, and in this one the camera focus system was confused altogether. I wasn’t aiming for a abstract image, but rather a nice sharp image of the train with the old station in background. Considering the speed at which this train was moving, but the time the camera refocused, the headend was alread passed me.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Mastodon at Blackhorse

My favorite Strasburg Railroad steam locomotive is former Norfolk & Western 475.

I like its classic appearance and long boiler, but I’m also drawn to the relatively unusual wheel arrangement; 4-8-0.

Historically, this type was sometimes described as a ‘Mastodon’, perhaps because of its proportions. Another name for the 4-8-0 is ‘Twelve Wheeler,’ and this, while descriptive, doesn’t invoke romantic or alusive connotations.

Sunday, Kris and I caught old 475 coming and going at Blackhorse Road. I made these photos with my Nikon Z-series digital cameras. I thought back to November 1996, when I made photos of this same engine here on Kodachrome film. A differnt media for a different time.

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Amtrak on the Main Line under wire

I often wonder if titles make a difference in viewership. If I called this ‘Energised ACS-64s ‘ would you have read it?

A couple of days ago, I set up at Leaman Place where the Strasburg Rail Road meets the old Main Line and waited for a pair of Amtrak Keystone services to pass by at speed.

Amtrak 605 was westbound, Amtrak 600 was eastbound. Confusingly, Amtrak’s 600-series Keystone trains are typically let by its ACS-64 electric locomotives that are also numbered in the 600-series.

Inevitably someone will ask me what the difference is between a train and locomotive. The Keystone services are train and carry train numbers. Amtrak’s ACS-64 are locomotives and carry locomotive numbers. One identifies a service (software) the other identies a specific piece of railroad rolling stock (hardware).

Amtrak 605 passed first; while Amtrak 600 passed only two minutes later. Had 605 been running just a little late, I may have scored a running meet.

All four photos were exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series Nikkor zoom lens.

Amtrak Keystone No 605 is led by ACS-64 623.
Amtrak Keystone No 600 is led by ACS-64 622.
Tail end of Amtrak Keystone No 600.

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photography, Tips and Technique

J-Class 4-8-4 Upclose!

Working with my Nikon Z7-II, I made these close-up views of Norfolk & Western J-Class number 611 at Strasburg.

This is a very popular locomotive!

I opted for some low-angle views in part for dramatic effect, but also to stay below the army of cell-photo photographers captivated by the J-class under steam.

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Dusty Sunrise at Gap—Amtrak 642

This morning, the combination of agricultural haze, moisture in the air, and dust high in the atmosphere from fires in western Canada made for soft rosy morning light.

I don’t make a habit of posting photos to Tracking the Light the day of exposure, so today is an exception.

A little while ago, I set up at Gap, Pennsylvania along the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line, now Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line, in anticipation of Keystone train 642 racing east toward Philadelphia.

As the train took the curve west of Gap, I exposed this sequence of digital photos using my Nikon Z6 with Z-series 70-200mm zoom. ISO set to 400, white balance to ‘daylight auto’. All photos adjusted using Lightroom.

Although a non-conventional view, I like the last in the sequence that features the train in the distance with the focus on the wild flowers. Isn’t this how we often see trains, just a glimpse in the distance?

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Norfolk & Western 611 on the Move!

The first time I witnessed Norfolk & Western 611 on the move was on a trip with John Gruber nearly 29 years ago. We’d traveled from Wisconsin to northern Indiana to catch the BIG streamlined 4-8-4 working west on the old Nickel Plate Road near Valparaiso.

In May 2015, Pat Yough, Vic & Becky Stone and I photographed 611 working out of Manassas, Virginia on the old Southern Railway.

Yesterday, Sunday May 21, 2023, Kris and I watched 611 work Pennsylvania’s Strasburg Rail Road. It was a beautiful Spring day, and we made some lovely images of the engine crossing the fields in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

I made these views with my Nikon Z-series digital cameras.

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Union Pacific SD70ACe—Colfax, California

Fifteen years ago today—May 20, 2008, I made this telephoto view of a Union Pacific SD70ACe leading an eastward freight at Colfax, Calif., on the ascent of Donner Pass.

I was working on my book ‘Railroads of California’ and looking to update my coverage of the Donner Pass crossing.

The photo was exposed on Fujichrome using a Canon EOS-3 with 100-400mm Canon zoom lens. Telephoto compression accentuated th effects of the gradient at Colfax.

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252 with Frankenstein Cliff

My last photos of Monday’s Mountaineer Special were made just east of the Arethusa Falls grade crossing on New Hampshire’s Crawford Notch.

I’d explored this location for nearly four years. It appears among the early photos of the line that date back to the time of its construction. Yet is difficult to capture effectively. It is most effective of an eastward train.

My fascination is with the distinctive rocks of Frankenstein Cliff that loom ominously above the train. This time of the year can be key to making a successful photograph here. During the summer, when trees are completely leafed out, and light is thick with moisture it can be more difficult to see the cliffs above the train.

Mid-Spring can provides a better balance between the mountainous backround with foreground, while offer a hint of green foliage.

I made this view with a Nikon Z6 with70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom.

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Mountaineer Social at Milepost 79

Yesterday, Conway Scenic Railroad operated its annual Mountaineer Social demonstration/familiarization train. This was the first excursion of the 2023 season to run over Crawford Notch to Fabyan, New Hampshire.

I followed the train by road to make photos and video for upcoming advertising campaigns.

I made this telephoto sequence at milepost P79 near the Arethusa Falls grade crossing using a Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom.

Although back-lit, hazy clouds diffused the light which added depth.

I made some selected adjustments in Lightroom, including overall lightening of the images and softening of overal contrast

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F-Unit Surprise at Sawyers River

Saturday, on our way back from travels in the White Mountains, Kris and I were approaching Sawyers River.

In passing, I said, “The 12:30 Sawyers train should be running around right about now. Check to see what engine is on it today.”

“There’s the head light, hey wait, I think its the F-unit!”

This was a pleasant surprise. Turns out that 470 Club’s former Boston & Maine F7A 4268 that was restored to service in 2022, had been assigned to the Valley services for its first run of the Spring season.

We pulled into the parking lot at 4th Iron Bridge over the Sawyers River and I set up to catch the train on its return to North Conway. GP38 252 was leading eastbound while at the back was the classic F7A.

From here we followed the train east to Bartlett, Goves and Glen, before returning home.

GP38 252 crossed the 4th Iron Bridge over Sawyers River. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set at 70mm. ISO 100 .
Conway Scenic Railroad 252 at 4th Iron Bridge. Lumix LX7 photo.
Former Boston & Maine F7A 4268 was at the west end of Saturday’s Sawyer River train. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Zoom lens (set to 104mm). Lush green foliage makes for a nice Spring setting.
Approaching Albany Avenue in Bartlett, New Hampshire. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
The railroad’s Kershaw ballast regulator was stored in the siding at Barlett. Lumix LX7 photo.

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Telephoto trailing view at Bartlett, New Hampshire. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom lens set to 150mm.
photography

Signaling Relic at Plymouth

Yesterday, we paused at Plymouth, New Hampshire to document a surviving example of a Union Switch & Signal lower quadrant semaphore on the former Boston & Maine’s Boston, Concord & Montreal route.

I’m sure there is a story about how this relic from the early years of automatic block signaling has survived in place on this rarely used former B&M route.

The signal is long out of service and likely a vestige of passenger services on this once important route. Signals of this type were typically used to protect following moves. In this configuration, the signal was was designed to display three aspects for two block protection in Automatic Block Territory.

Photos exposed using a Lumix LX7.

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Approach Solitude

This is among my favorite signal photos. It has appeared in various publications over the years including my original book on railroad signals.

I made the image on a trip along the old Denver & Rio Grande Western in the Utah desert on September 3, 1996 the mid 1990s with Mel Patrick and my pal TSH .

This shows an ‘Approach’ aspect for an eastward train at the west switch of Solitude siding. Seen in the distance is the headlight of a westward train taking the siding.

I made the image in the minutes before sunrise when the light in the desert is rapidly changing. Exposed with a Nikon F3T.

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Colorful diesels in May Morning Light.

It was a beautiful morning in North Conway the other day. I arrived just as a switch crew was working the yard. They were moving equipment to suit the needs of the roundhouse crew.

I spent a few minutes with my Nikon Z7-II and 24-70 zoom to make the best use of the rich morning sun.

I found that it helps to chat with the crew, so I could anticipate each move and be in position to make the most of the situation.

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Announcements, photography

Union Pacific Book!

I thought May 10th would be the perfect day to announce the publication of my new book titled Union Pacific and Its Predecessors.

This covers more than 150 years of Union Pacific history and includes the modern day railroad and most of its primary components (among the them Chicago & North Western, Missouri Pacific, Southern Pacific and Western Pacific)

If you ask, ‘Why May 10th?’ then you will need to read the book! (See chapter 1, pages 16 & 17).

My old pal TSH (and Tracking the Light reader) made the cover photo of UP freights at Norden, on Donner Pass.

The book is available from Kalmbach Media at: https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/book/01319

One of many interior photos show the Union Pacific in action. I made the original image on FujiChrome with a Nikon F3 with 180mm lens.

Tracking the Light marks May 10th!

photography, Tips and Technique

Conway Branch Bridges (Part 2) and a SNAKE!

On y travels with Wayne Duffett last week during his annual inspection of the bridges on the Conway Branch, I made more than 100 photos with my Lumix LX7.

I documented both Wayne’s detail inspection of each bridge, and the bridges themselves.

During the course of our investigations we encountered a snake along the Saco River. Any guesses as to what kind of snake this is? Something viciously poisonous no doubt!

Any ideas as to what sort of snake this is? A lethal rattling copper-coated New Hampshire python viper?

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Work Train Caboose

In recent weeks, Conway Scenic’s work train crew have made great use of the railroad’s century-old wooden bodied caboose.

Although it is Spring, a chill has remained in the air in New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley. So, several days ago the crew improved the car’s coal stove in the car and put it to use.

Using my Nikon Z7-II (with 24-70mm Nikkor lens), I made these photos at North Conway of the caboose and its classic coal stove To make the most of the large NEF RAW files, I processed them using Adobe Lightroom, reducing highlight density to improve detail, while lightening shadows.

Although, I have described these techniques in previous Tracking the Light posts, in this post, I’ve pushed the effect to a greater degree, which makes the alterations more evident.

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Last Run—May 4, 2023

In classic railroad tradition, Kris and I held one final run of the Wee Reading Co., complete with commemorative banner.

One of the RDC’s brought scale mileage collectors on a spin up frieght only lines. Then the 0-4-0 camelback took two cabooses from the yard, made a final spin around the main line and Mine Hill branches, up the switchback one last time and to the staging yard at the top of the hill.

The scale chasers paced until they ran out of road.

The tracks are clear, except for a lone caboose at West Cressona yard. All the other equipment has been boxed up and packed away.

Tomorrow, I begin packing away the structures and then I’ll begin lifting of the track.

Lumix LX7 photo.
Lumix LX7 photo.
Lumix LX7 photo.
Lumix LX7 photo.

Special thanks to all my friends who helped me make this scale railway possible including, Bob & Ken Buck, Joe Costello, Ron Crenshaw, Tim Doherty, Paul Goewey, Dan Howard, Bill Keay, Richard Reed, Doug Scott, my father Richard Jay Solomon, my mother-in-law Sharon Sabbatino, and of course my wife Kris!

It was fun, but it’s done. Good bye Wee Reading Company Mark I!

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Saco River Flooding-May 1, 2023

It rained all day and all night over the weekend. In the wee hours of Monday morning I was awakened by a monsoon that pounded away at the roof of the house in Center Conway.

After work on Monday, May 1, 2023, Kris and I went to photograph the Saco River that had burst its banks and flood the appropriately named River Road between East Conway, NH and Fryeburg, Maine.

I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.

River Road in East Conway looking toward Fryeburg.
River Road in Fryeburg, Maine looking toward the New Hampshire state line.

The broad raging waters of the normally placid Saco River at Fryeburg, Maine. This shows the central piers of the old River Road bridge.

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May 1st—Warsaw and London

On May 1, 2002, I arrived in Warsaw on the overnight sleeper from Dresden. I made this photo of Warsaw Central Station using Fujichrome slide film exposed with a Nikon F3T fitted with a 24mm Nikkor lens.

A version of this image previously ran on Tracking the Light in August 2014.

I was visiting London on May 1st, 2016. During the course of my travels, I made the view below of the Underground at West Brompton using a Lumix LX7.

1 May 2016, London Underground station at West Bromton. Lumix LX7 photo.

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Work Train Working! EIght photos.

Simply catching a work train on the roll is only half the fun.

Seeking out its work area and photographing it in action tells a story.

Last week, I exposed these action photos of Conway Scenic Railroad’s Work Extras at work along the line.

My cameras of choice for these images are my Nikon Z-series mirrorless digital. With a 24-70mm zoom on one, and a 70-200mm zoom on the other I have great flexibilty for making photos of trains and people.

The only problem is the weight! These cameras are fairly heavy.

All the images were processed from Nikon NEF RAW files using Adobe Lightroom.

Using a comapartively slow shutter speed allows the falling ballast stones to blur, which helps convey the sense of motion and working being accomplished.
On my wee Reading Company, I have a 1:87 scale Baltimore & Ohio hopper similar in pattern to this full size B&O hopper at Conway Scenic.

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photography, Tips and Technique

26 April 2013-Containers Pass Donamon

Ten years ago today, I held my Canon EOS 7D fitted with a 40mm pancake lens and aimed it east toward Irish Rail’s approaching IWT Liner running from Dublin’s North Wall to Ballina.

It was a bright day at Donamon in the west of Ireland, and we could hear the 071 leading the Liner as it accerated away from Roscommon station several minutes before the train came into view.

Locomotive 086 was one of several of the 071 class locomotives painted in black, silver and yellow. This one had a cab door that was still wearing the older 1990s-era orange and white scheme.

Below are two versions of the same image. The top is a camera generated JPG. The bottom was created by making minor adjustments to the Canon RAW file using Adobe Lightroom.

Canon 7D JPG, scaled for internet but otherwise unmodified.
File created from an adjusted Canon CR2 RAW file using Adobe Lightroom.

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Work Extra at Willey Siding

Last week Conway Scenic’s Work Extra reached Willey Siding on the climb to New Hampshire’s Crawford Notch. This consisted of GP9 1751 and a laden ballast car.

For the railroad enthusiast this consist represents an unintentional pairing of former Baltimore & Ohio equipment.

The ballast car was a B&O two-bay coal hopper built in 1941, while GP9 1751 was originally Chesapeake & Ohio 6128 (built in 1956) and following the C&O/B&O merger was transferred to Baltimore & Ohio’s roster becoming 6677. It continued to serve Chessie System and later CSXT until the 1980s.

I wonder if they ever worked together on the former B&O?

I made this selection of images using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless digital cameras, which can do an excellent job of replicating the old Kodachrome 25 color palatte.

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Farewell Wee Reading Co.

Over the next couple of months Kris and I will be moving.

Part of the challenge of this relocation exercise will be the disassembly of my scale interpretation of the Reading Company in Pennsylvania coal country.

I began this two and a half years ago and the railroad gradually expanded. While I’d begun to install scenery, only about half the railroad enjoyed scale realism. Once we had decided to move, I stopped adding scenery and instead focused on operating the railroad.

Soon I will begin boxing up the locomotives, rolling stock and buildings. I will lift the track for future use and salvage elements of the electrical system including hundreds of feet of wire, dozens of lights and LEDs, plus numerous toggle switches that I used to control train movements.

Unfortunately, when I began planning the railroad, I failed to anticipate the need to take it apart. So, structure of the railroad consisting of wooden benchwork, as well as the scenery cannot be easily recycled.

I made these photos last night using my Nikon Z7-II to help preserve how the railroad looks.

Someday, the Wee Reading Company will rise again and it will be better than ever!

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photography, Tips and Technique

Reflection at Notchland

Wednesday afternoon I exposed this sequence of photos of Conway Scenic Railroad’s Work Extra passing Notchland, New Hampshire .

This classic location alongo the former Maine Central Mountain DIvision is readily viewed from Route 302 that runs parallel to the tracks.

The Work Extra was reversing down grade with the conductor controlling the move from the back platform of the caboose.

I like the traditional arrangement of a single EMD GP9 with work train and caboose.

Which of these variations do you like best?

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photography, Tips and Technique

Caboose by the Nose

My Nikon Z7-II has a feature; the rear display screen is touch sensitive and it allows you to make a photo by touching the screen. It has another feature which senses when you are looking through the eyepiece and switches the view from the rear touch screen to the eyepiece.

On occasion, while moving my eye to the eyepiece my nose touches the rear display and releases the shutter resulting in an unintentional image. This usually annoys me, since I don’t like to erase photos and I don’t like to waste space on my memory card.

Yesterday, I scrambled up an embankment to make a photo of a Conway Scenic’s Work Extra that was collecting felled trees and other vegetation west of Notchland, New Hampshire near milepost 77 . I went to frame up a view of the caboose at the back of the train when my nose made a photo.

‘Nose view’—my unintentional shutter release of the caboose at the back of the Work Extra. Not bad considering I wasn’t looking through the viewfinder when my nose tripped the shutter!
I made this photo moments after the ‘Nose View’, this time using the 24-70mm zoom lens to more tightly frame the image. Adequate, but I think I like my ‘Nose View’ better.

Here’s the irony, although unintentional, I like the ‘Nose View’ exposure better than the framed composition I made moments later.

Following this comedy of errors, and before the train moved up the line, I relocated. Once in position, I then made a series of photos of the caboose as it passed me.

Two additional images of the train. These were composed and exposed without my nose interfering.
Short telephoto view from the same location as above.

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Freight over the Gotthard Pass—April 2016

On this day seven years ago—15 April 2016—my Irish friends and I were visiting Switzerland’s famous Gotthard Pass.

This was shortly before opening of SBB’s new 35-mile long Gotthard Base Tunnel, so the old sinuous double-track electrified line was still alive and very busy with freight and passenger traffic.

In the evening near Zgraggen, Switzerland we caught this uphill DB freight winding its way toward the old Gotthard Tunnel.

I exposed this vertically oriented image as part of a sequence of photos with my old FujiFilm XT1 digital camera.

FujiFilm XT1 with Fujinon 18-135mm lens set at 25mm and f7.1, 1/500th of second, ISO 400.

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