It was a bright day in mid-October. Not wanting to squander the sunshine, I set out toward New Holland, PA hoping to catch the daily Norfolk Southern local freight that works the branch.
I set up at the New Holland, Post Office at Diller Avenue, and after a short wait the local ambled along on its westward run toward Lancaster.
To make the most of the passing train, I made my initial images from a low angle for dramatic effect.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On our brief visit to Havre de Grace, Maryland in mid-October, I made these views of Amtrak’s late-running train No., 120 gliding across its early Twentieth Century bridge over the Susquehanna River. Leading the train was ACS-64 No. 633.
This antique bridge fascinates me. It’s an old-school pin-connected deck truss. And it’s an impressive imposing structure for its size and length. Word to the wise: get your photos because it is soon to be replaced!
While nothing lasts forever, I’ll miss this old bridge when its gone.
I made these photos with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Here is another photo from the real-life setting for my one-time Wee Reading Company HO model railroad.
A few weeks back on my birthday, Dan Cupper and I made a productive exploration of old Reading Company lines operated by Reading & Northern.
This included following the PNPV local freight led by a pair of former Lehigh Valley SW8 switchers up the old Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven Railroad—one of the oldest surviving railroad routes in the United States, now in operation for more than 190 years.
At Becks this train stopped to switch out the far end of West Cressona Yard.
I admit that this looks very different in real life than on my former model railroad, but it was still neat to be standing there admidst rusty autumn leaves and two 70 plus year-old diesels.
Below are two versions of the same image. The top is the Nikon NEF RAW file, scaled as a JPG for internet but otherwise unaltered.
The next down is the same file adjusted to improve appearance.
I’ve also included a screen shot of the Adobe Lightroom work window that shows how I used the slider controls to obtain my results.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
On November 14, 2021, Kris and I were invited to participate in a Trains Magazine-sponsored photo freight with Soo Line 2-8-2 Mikado No. 1003.
The trip was organized by Angela Pusztai-Pasternak and hosted by Wisconsin & Southern.
Although we only joined the trip for a few of the scheduled run-bys, we had a wonderful time and made dozens of satisfying photos.
The trip was very special for me because it was the last time I saw Jim Wrinn—late Editor of Trains Magazine.
Also see: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/digital-monochrome-soo-1003/
Tracking the Light Posts Daily
I’ve been testing the quality of a Fujinon XF f2.8 50-140mm zoom lens using Kris’s Fujifilm XT4 digital camera.
This is an extremely sharp and versatile piece of glass. I like the Fuji X series cameras because they are relatively easy to use and produce excellent color right out of the camera that require relatively little adjustment.
A couple of weeks ago, I put a Fujinon XF f2.8 50-140mm lens through its paces at Christiana, Pa. These photos were made with the camera set to RAW, with the files processed using Iridient X Transformer to take maximum of the Fuji RAW format by converting them to DNG format
I then used Adobe Lightroom to output files as scaled JPGs for presentation here.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On October 21st, Kris and I paused at Reading & Northern’s Tamaqua (Pa.) Yard, where I photographed the railroad’s No. 2004.
Initially, I was interested in making photos of the locomotives resting here in an autumnal scene. When I recognized 2004 as one of the railroad’s ‘rare’ SD38s, I decided to make the most of this find.
Previously on Tracking the Light I featured Reading & Northern SD38 number 2000—a former Penn Central locomotive. (See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/rare-bird-on-the-reading-northern/).
Any locomotive more than a half-century old is undoubtedly worthy of attention. However, where the four-motor GP38 was among the most common EMD diesel-electrics of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a great many still at work on American rails, its six-motor cousin was never common. Among the 53 SD38s built, Detroit, Toledo & Ironton bought five. Similar in appearance to the SD38, was the six-motor SD40 numbered more than 850 built. Even more common was the seemly ubiquitous SD40-2, which numbered in the thousands.
When Grand Trunk Western acquired DT&I in 1983, these rare birds joined the GTW roster. In 1986, I was surprised to find a freshly painted GTW SD38 working a cable laying train on the Central Vermont Railway in Palmer, Massachusetts. It was the first time, I’d ever seen a six-motor diesel on CV’s Palmer Subdivision. In researching the history of the 2004—pictured here—I found that R&N’s 2003 (GTW 6253) was the locomotive I’d photographed all those years ago.
Hopefully, during our wanderings in coal country over the coming weeks and months, I’ll come across R&N 2003, which will bring me full circle with this rolling antique and help complete my SD38 photo story.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Of Amtrak’s 70 Siemans ACS-64 electrics, only No. 642 wears the special paint scheme that honors American veterans.
Thanks to Dan Cupper for alerting me that Amtrak 642 was working Keystone train 652, which I caught passing Gap, Pennsylvania.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
It had been about 20 years since my last visit to the Main Line at Tyrone, Pennsylvania, where Norfolk Southern’s former Pennsylvania Railroad tracks make a sharp curve through the narrow valley along the Little Juniata River the south end of town.
Last month, Kris and I pulled up to theTyrone Amtrak station, and when I stepped out of the car I could hear the distant sounds of General Electric diesels chugging east.
We didn’t have long to wait and soon a headlight appeared.
Working with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom, I made this series of photos. Telephoto compression in the tight curve at the station makes it look like I was much closer to the tracks that I really was.
Auto focus made it much easier to keep the locomotives looking sharp.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In March 2023, the United States Postal Service issued a plate of five railroad station stamps. Among these is the former Reading Company station at Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. This hasn’t served as a Reading passenger station since 1963, but is now a railroad themed restaurant.
In October, I paid two visits to the Tamaqua Station Restaurant; first with Kris, to meet up with Pat Yough, Scott Snell and Brian Plant, during our fall foliage photography of Reading & Northern’s 2102 under steam; second, about a week later with Dan Cupper.
During the course of these visits I made more than a dozen photos of the classic building—inside and out.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
The Crescent is Amtrak’s daily long-distance train that connects New York City with Atlanta and New Orleans.
Nearly five years ago, my father and I traveled overnight on the Crescent between Wilmington, Delaware and New Orleans as part of a three-day Amtrak epic that began at Windsor Locks, Connecticut and concluded at Houston, Texas.
During mid-October, Kris and I spent the afternoon following the Susquehanna River down to Perryville, Maryland. I navigated our way to the MARC commuter rail station from memory. (I’d last stopped there in 1992). This is situated along Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad’s Northeast Corridor. Upon arrival, I saw there was a train coming, alerted Kris and grabbed my Nikon Z6 to make telephoto views.
As the train approached, I made this sequence of digital images, while Kris filmed its passing with her phone. It was the southward Crescent with Viewliner sleepers and diner at the back.
Crosslit late autumn sun made for dramatic images as the train braked for the slow order over the Susquehanna River bridge. The challenge was capturing the light on the train between shadows from the electrification supports. (Tip: It helps to have a rapid release setting to take bursts of images.)
Another train was approaching from the far side of the river. But I’ll save that for a later post.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
October is my favorite month for making railroad photos. Low sun and rich autumnal foliage can make for stunning settings. Yet, finding brilliant colored trees lineside isn’t always so easy.
Driving along on the highways in Anthracite country of eastern Pennsylvania in October you’ll see plenty of beautifully colored trees, but often, when you find your way to the tracks the leaves there are still green, or brown, or gone.
A few weeks back, Kris and I were following Reading & Northern’s 2102 as it led an Iron Horse Ramble toward Jim Thorpe.
Back in 2015, Pat Yough and I made a similar trip to photograph the railroad’s colorfully painted Pacific type, engine 425 on a foliage trip. Among my favorite photos from that day were those made at Zehners, near South Tamaqua, and so that’s where Kris and I stopped to catch 2102.
Kris and I arrived well ahead of the train. Folks had begun to gather. I was impressed by the trees. Bright sun illuminated the mid-morning sky and we made some satisfying images of the train as it passed.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I was on my way back from the grocery. I’d spotted Norfolk Southern’s outbound New Holland Branch local paused on the running track near the junction with Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line east of the Conestoga River bridge in Harrisburg.
On the hope of finally scoring a photo of a train at the Greenfield Road grade crossing near our apartment, I drove there without delay.
Since we moved to Lancaster last Spring, I’ve been over this grade crossing dozens of times. Only once had I a seen the train here. Kris had made a video, but I hadn’t time to get the photo I want. Most mornings, I hear the New Holland branch train whistling for the crossing, and on several occasions I’ve waited on spec. On this day, all the pieces fell into place.
While the big gun (Nikon Z6) was equipped with an impressive telephoto zoom, what I needed was a wide angle. Luckily, I had my ‘Wee Lumix’ (Lumix LX7) in my pocket at the ready.
This convenient small camera has a great sensor and an extremely sharp lens. The challenge using it in bright sun is seeing the image in the rear screen. Despite this handicap, I made the most of the situation and exposed two images as the local freight crossed Greenfield Road on its way to New Holland.
I have my LX7 set up to simultaneously save exposed photos as RAW and JPG files. In this situation, the JPG’s were profiled using the camera’s color preset mode: ‘Standard’. (Other choices include: ‘Vivid,’ ‘Natural’ and ‘Portrait’). Below I’ve displayed both the in-camera Jpg and a scaled version of the RAW file for comparison. There’s no right and wrong, which is why I always save the files in both formats.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In late October, Kris & I drove down the east bank of the Susquehanna to Port Deposit, Maryland. This historic town offers some magnificent views of the river.
The four bridges in the picture from closest to furthest are: Interstate 95, CSX’s former Baltimore & Ohio, US Highway 40, and Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad bridge that runs between Perryville on the east bank to Havre de Grace on the west bank.
I made this photo with my Nikon Z6 and 70-200mm Z-series zoom set at 200mm. I wonder what I could do here with an even longer telephoto lens?
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On my birthday I went to visit the railroad that had inspired my HO-scale Wee Reading Company.
In May, Kris and I had traded the joy of the Wee Reading Company—a microcosm that I created of Pennsylvania anthracite country railroading—in order to move to and live in Pennsylvania.
Fellow photographer Dan Cupper joined me on a day-long exploration of Reading & Northern operations. We began the day at Port Clinton, and followed the PNPV (Port Clinton to Pottsville) freight to West Cressona on the old Mine Hill Railroad—one of the component lines of the Reading system.
I made photos at the old yard, along the street and houses that I’d conceptually recreated as the center-piece of my HO-scale fantasy—itself now a memory.
This seemed completely surreal, but resulted in some interesting photos.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
October 21, 2023, Kris and I were poised and ready at Molino to photograph Reading & Northern’s former Reading Company class T-1 4-8-4 No. 2102.
Although he photographed from a different angle back in October 1963, my father caught a Reading Iron Horse Ramble at Molino, which was part of the reason I wanted to photograph 2102 here.
On this day, we were among dozens of other photographers at this location. Everyone was respectful of each other and did a remarkably good job of trying to stay out of each other’s photographs.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On this day in 1996, I was driving from Wisconsin to Massachusetts in a U-Haul truck with most of my worldly belongings (including the majority of my photographs).
Would you believe me if I told you that I took a detour to follow the old Erie Railroad main line across New York’s Southern Tier, and when I heard on the scanner that an eastward coal train was through Hornell, I drove the U-Haul into a grave yard on the banks of the Canisteo River, climbed a tree and exposed this series of color slides?
Would you?
Tracking the light Posts EVERY day!
This season the Strasburg Rail Road decorated in the spirit of Halloween.
I made these photos on my various visits during October.
Boo!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Saturday, October 28, 2023, Kris and I drove to Bellefonte, Pa., to see the first runs of the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society’s recent restored Budd-RDC.
Bellefonte was hosting its Talleyrand Fall Fest and the traffic around the town was a bit intense. Also tickets for the train ride were completely sold out, so rather than travel on the car we settled on rolling by the RDC at a grade crossing near the station.
The trackage is operated by North Shore Railroad’s Nittany & Bald Eagle and historically was part of the PRR system.
The group’s RDC is car 9167, originally New Haven Railroad number 40, which makes it a sister car to Conway Scenic’s number 23 Millie (originally New Haven number 23), which I’ve often featured on Tracking the Light.
For more about the Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society and their restored RDC see this recent article on the Trains News Wire by Dan Cupper: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/after-18-years-rail-group-resumes-rdc-runs-in-bellefonte-pa/
For the society’s site and ticket information see: https://bellefontetrain.org
I made this sequence of photos using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless camera.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Ok, so now I feel old.
On October 29, 1983, I had only passed my 17th birthday a few days earlier. On that morning I traveled from The Bronx to South Amboy, New Jersey for the final day of operation of the former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electrics.
At the time, I had built a model railroad focused on South Amboy.
I made this photo to resemble the setting of my HO scale South Amboy.
New Jersey DOT’s GG1 4877 had been repainted in PRR’s tuscan five stripe and I wanted to make the most of the retro-look.
At the time, I was working with my 1937-vintage Leica 3A loaded with Kodak Ektachrome 200.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
October 21st, Kris and I paid another visit to the Reading & Northern to photograph 4-8-4 No. 2102 in action.
This is such an awesome locomotive in every regard.
We arrived trackside at Hamburg, Pennsylvania just after 9am. This is on the old Philadelphia & Reading’s original mainline.
After less than half an hour we heard the whistle and anticipated the passage of the great machine leading an Iron Horse Ramble on its march toward Jim Thorpe.
What is really cool is that 60 years ago, my father was doing the same thing! I grew up looking at Pop’s Reading Company slides. There’s a lot of history around locomotive 2102 and that’s part of the draw of the engine for me and a lot of other people.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
I was on my way to intercept Amtrak’s westward Pennsylvanian. As I cautiously approached the Jefferson Road grade crossing in Lancaster, I looked left and spotted the headlight of Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch local freight in the distance.
That’s some good luck! I had enough time to park the car and pick my spot.
In the lead was Norfolk Southern SD40E 6340—another former Conrail SD50. In its original incarnation, this had been Conrail 6722.
It’s great to live in a neighborhood where you can see trains at random times, and find them by happen-stance.
Now to find that photo of 6722 in blue!
These photos were exposed using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
By design, this day last week I caught up with Dan Cupper and railroad artist Craig Thorpe at Black Horse Road in Strasburg. We planned our meeting to coincide with the passing of the hourly excursion.
I made photos of the train and my friends.
Craig had brought with him a print of painting that he made of Reading & Northern 4-8-4 2102 at Nesquehoning that he created from still photographs that Dan had made.
After Strasburg 89 passed, we walked up the hill to Carpenters Cemetery and photographed the return run. In the meantime some Amish farmers were working a nearby field with an impressive team of draft (draught) horses.
These views were products of my Nikon Z-series mirror-less digital cameras.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Some photos are worth a 1000 words. For me today, this Kodachrome at ‘milepost’ 57 says everything it needs to.
Today, Tracking the Light Marks the Day!
A couple weeks ago, I caught up with my friend Kurt Bell at the Strasburg Rail Road, and later we went across the street to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. These are two institutions with which Kurt has had decades-long affiliations.
Kurt is a Railroad Collections Archivist in Harrisburg with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museums Commission and the author of a book about the Strasburg Rail Road.
It was a beautiful autumn day and we wandered among the antique trains, visiting with people and taking in the majesty of the railroad environment.
I think one of the highlights of the day for Kurt was seeing his old favorite engine, Strasburg No. 31 (a former Canadian National Railways 0-6-0 switcher) ‘in kit form’ in Strasburg’s shop, where it has been undergoing restoration work.
Kurt had a story to tell me about everything we saw and everyone we met. I learned a lot about tourist railways and railway museums that day!
I made the photos with my Nikon Z7-II.
Thanks Kurt!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
October 23, 1983: I traveled with Bob Buck to Bellows Falls, Vermont for the last run of Steamtown in Vermont.
Canadian Pacific Pacific No. 1246 and all three Green Mountain Railroad RS-1s were assigned to an epic consist that ran over Mount Holly to Rutland and back.
On the westward climb to Mount Holly, I made this view from the window of the train using my Leica 3A.
I was impressed by the large number of chasers on Route 103 in hot pursuit of the train.
The day had started out bright, but soon turned wet and windy.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In the summer, the sun sets to the north of the old Pennsylvania Main Line at Greenfield. And during the long days, Kris and I made a number of photos of Amtrak trains on their way to and from Harrisburg under wire.
Now into autumn, the sun is in the southern sky, which lends for a new dimension on this Greenfield location,
I made this photo of westward Keystone train 667 zipping along the old Pennsy with a nicely illuminated autumn evening sky.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In March 1997, I was traveled from California to Denver with photographer Mel Patrick. We were returning from WinterRail ’97, which was one of the great rail-photographic venues of the 1990s.
A decade earlier Mel had published some memorable photographs of the Western Pacific in the pages of CTC Board magazine and on this trip he and I revisited some stunning locations.
This view looks timetable-west on Union Pacific’s former WP main line. We were perched atop a hill near West Wendover Nevada/Utah to photograph an eastward Union Pacific intermodal train inching its way across the vast expanse of desert in eastern Nevada.
For point of reference, the headend of the freight is just over three miles from our vantage point. The near row of mountains is at least a dozen miles away, while the distant snow-crested mountains, including Spruce Mountain were about 60 miles distant.
I made the photograph on Kodachrome 25 using a Nikkor 105mm telephoto.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Bird-in-Hand is a classic Pennsy Main Line location.
The 1920s-era grade separation with concrete stairwells over Pennsylvania Route 340 is largely intact.
The once four-main railroad snakes through a gentle curve, which can make for a dynamic setting. I caught eastward Amtrak Keystone 670 shortly after its Lancaster, Pa., station stop.
The zebra striped cab-car works well in the autumnal scene.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
In September 1990, I made a trip over Donner Pass.
What was special about this trip was photographing the familiar piece of railroad on Donner in new way.
Between Autumn of 1989 and Autumn 1990, I made dozens of trips over California’s Donner Pass to photograph Southern Pacific trains. What was visually significant about the Sept 1st, 1990 trip was that I’d borrowed a Nikkor f4.5 300mm lens from Brian Jennison, with whom I was traveling.
Over the course of a long weekend, I used this novel focal length to take ‘new’ photos of familiar places.
Among the variety of 300mm views, was this photo that I made at 7:37am on September 1, 1990 of SP 6713 west at Yuba Pass, California. It was one of several from a fixed tripod sequence.
The novelty of the extreme telephoto compression had caught my interest and I made the most of this borrowed lens. Up until that time, the longest lens in my camera bag was a Nikkor f4.0 200mm.
It was only on reviewing my notes from this trip did I realize how much this telephoto had impressed me on that trip. Ironically, a new Nikkor 300mm was completely out of my price range at the time.
It is interesting to see how working with this one lens influenced the way I made photos on that trip.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Strasburg Rail Road operates its freight on weekdays between the East Strasburg Station and the Norfolk Southern interchange at Leaman Place Junction (pronounced like ‘lemon’), in Paradise, Pennsylvania.
My friend Dan Cupper featured Strasburg’s freight operations in the October 2023 Trains Magazine in his article titled ‘The Strasburg Rail Road You Don’t Know.’
He tells the history and inside story in this well written and illustrated feature.
Most of the time I’ve photographed Strasburg’s freight has been by dumb luck. On this occasion, I paused at Black Horse Road to roll by a steam excursion, when I heard the bark of a diesel horn approaching Cherry Hill Road crossing.
On this afternoon, the freight led by SW8 8618, was working ahead of the passenger train , so I walked down the hill from the Black Horse Road crossing and made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Clear autumn mornings are one of my favorite times to make photographs.
The other day, everything came together: the weather was perfect, and Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch local was right on time. This featured classic EMD diesels back to back, and I had just enough time to get into position at Jefferson Drive to catch the train in lush setting.
I made this sequence of photos as the train squealed through the curve on its way toward New Holland, Pennsylvania.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Strasburg Rail Road’s Mogul No. 89 was sprinting toward the East Strasburg station near the grade crossing with Paradise Lane.
I wanted to capture the spirit of the moment and the motion of the engine. The backdrop of Red Caboose Motel and flags flapping in the wind was a bonus.
I like the burst of steam from the whistle.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
This was a just a routine scene from 40 years ago: Amtrak’s eastward Lake Shore Limited (Boston section) train 448 at the Warren Crossovers.
Back in the days when Conrail’s former Boston & Albany was still operated as a traditional directional double-track mainline (under rule 251), there were manual cross-overs at strategic locations, including Warren, Mass.
Historically (pre-1960), the Warren Crossovers also served the Warren Yard and the long unsignaled eastward running track from West Warren that had allowed slow moving freights to keep out of the way of faster eastward trains.
These crossovers were removed after Conrail installed TCS signals and single-tracked the B&A east of Palmer in 1986.
I made these photos on Kodachrome using my Leica 3A during the second week of October 1983.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Here’s another classic K25 slide from that wonderfully perfect autumn day on October 14, 1988.
I’d been following Delaware & Hudson PLMT (Pittsburgh & Lake Erie-Mount Tom) unit coal train that was rolling east on Conrail’s Southern Tier (former Erie Railroad) main line.
The old Cass Street Tower had controlled the Junction where the original Erie Maine Line that went west via Andover, New York diverged from Erie’s Buffalo Line that went via River Junction and Attica, New York. By 1988, the Buffalo Line was the preferred route for most freights.
Delaware & Hudson had trackage rights on Conrail between Buffalo and Binghamton, NY. By mid-1988, Guilford Transportation Industries had relinquished control of the D&H, and New York, Susquehanna & Western was the court appointed operator of the line.
NY&W had acquired a fleet of former Burlington Northern SD45/F45s that it assigned to road freights.
I was fan of the SD45, and when I caught this coal train slogging east on the old Erie, I did my best to keep up with it, making photographs with my old Leica M2 along the way. This view at Cass Street was one of just 16 places I photographed the train that morning.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
To mark the date, I thought I’d share this classic Kodachrome Slide of MBTA F40PH-2 1013 passing former New Haven Railroad semaphores at Readville, Massachusetts.
I made this photo using my old Leica M2 back in June 1987.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Reading & Northern’s class T-1 2102 is an awe inspiring locomotive.
On October 1, 2023, Kris and I were poised to photograph this machine as it worked former the Central Railroad of New Jersey line near Nequehoning, PA.
Rich autumn sunlight and a hint of autumn foliage made for excellent conditions.
The locomotive crew made a show of steam and smoke as the engine passed us.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
