Yesterday, Kris and I were wandering around southern Pennsylvania on an afternoon drive. We crossed the Susquehanna and followed back roads across farm field and through villages.
I saw a highway sign that read, “Stewartstown 7 [miles]”, and so we drove there.
Meandering into the village, I told Kris about how there used to be a tourist railway at Stewartstown. I was wondered if the tracks were still in place . . . and then . . . Lo and Behold, there was a 44-ton diesel with its headlight lit and passengers boarding an Reading Company coach at the old station.
I dare say I was flummoxed!
We went out along the line, and I set up in a forest. After a short while, I heard the bark of an airhorn, and the 44-ton diesel leading the short excursion came around the bend. It was like a dream from another time!
I was running errands. On my way back to the apartment, I found that Greenfield Road under Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line was closed—likely as result of flooding from the recent rains—so I detoured around via Willow Road. On my way, I heard Norfolk Southern’s New Holland local sounding for a crossing.
I approached Willow Road (in greater Lancaster) with haste. With my Lumix LX7 in hand, I pulled over in time to see theNS local freight approaching. I didn’t have much time to set the camera. So, I zoomed in, framed up my photo and exposed a series of digital images.
The first two were the best.
When I got home I discovered that the camera was set to record in JPG rather than RAW. That’s not the end of the world, but not having a RAW file greatly limits the ability to make adjustments.
In this case, it doesn’t matter much, December morning sun produces excellent lighting conditions with very good contrast and color.
I’ve scaled the best of the sequence for presentation here, but the photo is otherwise unaltered, and appears basically as it looked right out of the camera.
I was home about 5 minutes after I made this photo.
Perhaps the greatest concentration Reading Company artifacts is at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
Thanks to our friend Dan Cupper who arranged a special visit to this citadel of railroad preservation, Dan, Rich Roberts, Kris and I were treated to personal tour.
We were met by the museum’s Rich Brodecki and introduced to a variety of the museum’s volunteers, including archivist Richard Bates. We spent nearly two hours surrounded by vestiges of the late, great Reading.
Highlights of our tour included the museum’s model railroads, especially the HO-scale interpretation of the Reading, which reminded me of what I’d hoped my own Wee Reading Company could have become. This features a coal mine and several villages.
Outside, we viewed a variety of former Reading locomotives and cars. We were given a tour of Reading business car No. 15, which is a remarkable relic of the railroad’s past, and I had the opportunity to see the cabs of a Reading Alco C-630 and General Motors NW-2.
I made these photos using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras. I’m looking forward to another visit in the future.
Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 113 is one of those ‘Brigadoon’ steam locomotives.
In case you haven’t seen it, ‘Brigadoon’ was a 1940s musical, later a popular film, about a mythical Scottish village that only appears once every hundred years. When I was in high-school, the local summer theatre group performed this production; I played trombone in the pitband.
I use the term ‘Brigadoon’ as an allusion to a tourist railroad (or locomotive) that makes infrequent or rare appearances. In the case of 113, this a locomotive that only makes a few trips a year, which makes it a special treat to see in action.
A couple weeks back, Kris and I made the effort to visit Minersville, Pa., to see the engine, then set up on the old Mine Hill & Schuylkill Railroad route to photograph it in action.
The Mine Hill route was part of my vision for the Wee Reading Company HO-scale railroad that I’d built when we lived in New Hampshire, which made it a special place to see this steam locomotive in action.
In 2014 and 2015, I’d traveled with photographer Pat Yough to catch 113 on this route, and the photos I’d made on those trips were part of the inspiration to make this line the heart of my model railroad.
In this respect, I’d come full circle.
The location we selected was at Becks, west of West Cressona Yard. This offered a relatively open place with good sunlight.
While trying to pick the best place to photograph, I started a conversation with an elderly woman with a house over-looking the line. She told me that she’d grown up to the sounds of idling locomotives at the St Clair roundhouse near Pottsville. “My great grand father had worked for the Reading. He had two train wrecks on a very steep part of the line and told me about many years later.”
I asked if it was ok to stand in her yard to make my photos, and she thought it would be fine. This gave me a better trailing view to picture the steam locomotive at the back of the Santa Special.
I made these views of the passing train using my Nikon Z7-II digital camera. While I was waiting for the train to pass, Pat Yough called to say that Reading & Northern 2003 (the elusive SD38 discussed in previous episodes of Tracking the Light) was in the yard at West Cressona! Stay tuned for more!
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts on the day after Thanksgiving was a bit light on birds. Kris and I had come to see the Polar Express (published previously on Tracking the Light). However, Mass-Coastal’s empty energy train was also on its way.
I made these photos of the short freight as it rolled toward the famous Cape Cod Canal bridge.
We thought it was neat that we caught several moves through this scenic area in just under an hour. What better place to catch Mass Coastal then in this coastal Massachusetts location?
During the Christmas peak, Strasburg Rail Road operates half-hourly departures on its very popular run to Leaman Place.
This schedule results in steam-hauled trains meeting every half hour on the siding at Groffs near Cherry Hill Road in Strasburg, PA.
Soft winter sun on Saturday and pleasantly warm temperatures made for an ideal time to photograph the Groffs meet, so Kris and I set up just before lunchtime in anticipation of the show.
I made this photographic sequence using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
I’ve found that successfully photographing holiday light displays requires a bit of patience and some counter-intuitive techniques.
When I used film, a tripod was a necessary requirement. That is not true with modern digital cameras.
I’ve found that my most successful images are exposed when there’s still a hint of light in the sky. These generally look better than when colored lights are photographed against an inky black sky.
For these photos at Greenfield in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was working with my Nikon Z7-II and 24-70mm lens.
After a little experimentation, I settled on the following settings: ISO 2500, f4, White Balance preset ‘shadow’. I allowed the camera to select the exposure in ‘A’ (auto) mode, but dialed in -0.7 exposure compensation. This was key to avoid over-exposing the lights or allowing the background to appear too bright (my goal was have a dark background, but not so dark as to lose all detail.)
I made some minor adjustments in post processing, including increased saturation, nominal brightening of shadows, and overall adjustment to exposure to better balance the contrast and color.
March 19, 2005: CP Rail freight 412 roars through Delanson, New York on the Delaware & Hudson’s Albany & Susquehanna route.
I was traveling with fellow photographers Tim Doherty and Pat Yough.
We’d strayed off course, having started the morning on the west end of CSX’s old Boston & Albany, and kept pushing west.
I made this image on Fujichrome using a Nikon F3 with Nikkor 180mm telephoto lens.
To make the most of the puddle in the foreground, I took the prism of the camera and held the body close to the water level, while looking down through the fresnel focusing glass. The challenge of this unusual technique is composing the photo in reverse, since without the prism the fresnel projects a mirror image.
Previously, I’ve discussed my quest to located Reading & Northern SD38 2003, having stumbled upon R&N SD38s 2000 and 2004 during my wanders through coal country in recent years.
My desire to locate 2003 is to complete a circle that began in the summer of 1986, when I photoraphed this locomotive in a previous incarnation as Grand Trunk Western GTW 6253. This had arrived Palmer, Massachusetts leading a Central Vermont fiber-optic cable laying train.
I find it remarable that this unusual General Motors diesel has survived all these years and now regularly operates relatively near my new home in Pennsylvania. Yet, despite various trips to photograph the Reading & Northern, the 2003 has eluded me.
My friend and fellow photographer, Pat Yough, suggested I check the yard at Pittston Junction (near Wilkes-Barre), as the 2003 might be there.
My wife, Kris, and I called into Pittston Junction on a beautiful November afternoon. There was an array of locomotives and rolling stock here. Initially, I’d spotted an SD38, and I though for a moment my quest was over.
On closer inspection, I discovered it was locomotive 2004, again. The same SD38 that I’d spotted a month earlier at Tamaqua.
There’s old 2004, another of the ex Grand Trunk former Detroit, Toledo & Western SD38s, but not the one I was hoping to photograph.
Ironically, among the other Reading & Northern equipment at Pittston Junction was a streamlined passenger car named for Solomons Gap.
My quest was to be continued . . .
This ironic symbolism of locating this serves as a double entandre for today’s post.
Among the world’s oldest surviving locomotives is Reading’s Rocket. This was recently relocated from Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
It was named to honor of Robert Stepenson’s original Rocket of 1829—the locomotive that is the ancestor of most subsequent reciprocating steam locomotive designs.
Reading’s Rocket was built in England in 1838 by Braithwaite & Company and shipped across the Atlantic to the Port of Philadelphia and then by canal to Reading, Pa. It was first steamed in May of that year, and began working in passenger service in July 1838.
The locomotive later greatly altered from its original appearance and then subsequently restored to more or less its as built condition.
Thanks to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for facilitating my photographs of this rare and antique machine.
Photos exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Typical of early locomotives, Rocket has inside connect rod connections and inside valve gear. This vital equipment—located between the wheels of the locomotive—is key to the engines operation, but goes largely unnoticed by most observers.
A clear blue dome at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts made for picture-perfect conditions.
Cape Cod Central’s Polar Express consist was led by a vintage New Haven Railroad FL9, while at the back of the train was a sister FL9 and an even rarer GP59.
The FL9 was created by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division for New Haven in the 1950s to allow passenger trains to run directly from Boston to New York City’s electrified terminals without a need for a locomotive change. Just sixty of this model were built between 1956 and 1960.
Where the FL9s have been widely photographed, EMD’s model GP59 has gone comparatively unnoticed. This is a much rarer locomotive, with just 36 built. For decades these worked for Norfolk Southern in relative obscurity.
One of these unusual locomotives was acquired by Mass-Coastal earlier this year. Finding a GP59 in passenger service is very rare and I was delighted to see this cranberry colored machine in action!
In addition to these digital photos, I also made a few color slides on Fujichrome Provia 100F. Those images remain latent on the roll of film in my Nikon F3.
Reading & Northern’s North Reading Fast Freight makes an afternoon run from the North Reading Yard to Pittston, Pa.
In October, fellow author & photographer Dan Cupper and I made a project of catching this premium train on the move.
We set up at Reynolds, near South Tamaqua, Pa., where made a series of photos.
Leading the train was the recently repainted SD40-2 number 1983 (former 3062) , that commemorates 40 years of Reading & Northern/Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern operation. This wears a shade of blue remainiscent to that on the railroad’s scheme used on Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern’s CF7s back in the 1980s.
Reading & Northern SD40-2 number 1983 leads symbol freight NRFF (North Reading Fast Freight). Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 70-200mm zoom lens.Exposed with a Nikon Z7-II with Nikkor 24-70mm zoom lens.
It was an overcast morning at Thorndike, Massachusetts, when I set up along Massachusetts Central’s Ware River Line to catch the northward freight.
The pair of classic EMD GPs produced a nice roar as they worked along the Ware River.
Using a borrowed Canon, I made this photo on Fujichrome Velvia (50 ISO slide film).
The soft lighting combined with Velvia’s high saturation allows for a painterly quality. This is improved by lightening the image using Adobe Lightroom.
Below are two versions of the same scan, one is lighter than the other.
Among my slides from 8 September 2008, was this image of freights at Wien Huttelsdorf, Austria.
In the afternoon, I aimed my Canon EOS3 loaded with Fujichrome Provia 100F toward an ÖBB Siemens-built Taurus electric as it hummed its acceleration song while leading a freight out of a siding and out on to the main.
In the foreground is a ‘slip-switch’ or ‘puzzle-switch’, an arrangement of rails that allows maximum route flexibility between converging routes.
For 15 years this slide sat unlabled in the dark. Working from my notes taken during my September 2008 trip, I was able to accurately label these photographs.
Kris and I wandered over to the Strasburg Rail Road to watch steam in action.
Engine No. 90, a 2-10-0, leading a Santa’s Paradise Express excursion had met another excursion at Groffs and was accelerating upgrade toward the East Strasburg station.
My handy Lumix LX7 was my camera of choice.
I expose this photo as color RAW image.
In post processing, I converted the photo to monochrome using the saturation slider control, then made a variety of adjustments to contrast and exposure to manipulate appearance.
Below are the original file, a basic black & white conversion, and my final adjusted photograph.
In December 1998, I had a brief gig as a narrator/commentator on the Leavenworth Snow Train.
This ran with an Amtrak consist between Seattle and Leavenworth, Washington to bring excursionists to the recreated Bavarian village situated on the west slope of Stevens Pass.
On one of the trips, I made this photo of the train near Leavenworth as passengers made the tranfer to school buses to reach the nearby Bavarian village.
Amtrak F59PHi 461 on Stevens Pass with the Leavenworth Snow Train. Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia 100.
Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts is effectively the gateway to railways on Cape Cod. The immense railroad lift bridge over the Cape Cod Canal was the largest of its kind when completed in 1935.
This impressive lifting through truss is normally left in the ‘open’ position to allow the passage of water traffic. It is lowered by a bridge operator when necessary to allow a train to pass. The bridge operator is located on the bridge.
Another historic structure is the old New Haven Railroad signal tower. This cast concrete structure was built to a standard plan that was adopted at many locations on the railroad.
Interestingly, Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh also built cast concrete signal towers to this plan.
I made the following photos of these New Haven Railroad icons on our visit to Buzzards Bay in November.
Massachusetts Coastal GP7U 2006 was originally Santa Fe Railway GP7 2689.
On our visit to Cape Cod, we found this antique from 1951 basking in the late afternoon sun at the Hyannis yard.
I made a selection of photos from different angles, using different cameras and different lenses, to show how the angle of the sun and other differences can greatly affect how color is perceived and recorded.
So which is the ‘true’ color of the locomotive? There isn’t any ‘true’ color, it all depends on how you perceive it in the moment. The appearance of paint color changes with as the light changes.
Cape Cod Central’s cranberry is a difficult color in part because it is a mix a blue and red hues. Blue is greatly affected by the color of the sky; red by the sun. With a polarized sky and the sun low on the horizon the angle of view (and angle of reflection) affects the apparent color more than on a day with more diffused sunlight and the sun higher in the sky.
Complicating matters for the modern day photographer is that different camera sensors and color profiles also affect the way that color is recorded.
This is the classic three/quarter angle.Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom. Set at 45mm, f9.0 at 1/80th of a second. ISO 80.A slightly more broadside view: the shadow hints at the angle of the light. Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom. Set at 40mm, f9.0 at 1/80th of a second. ISO 80. Note the relative position of the moon compared with the above image.This photo was made just a few minutes after the above image while using my Lumix LX7; ISO 80, f4.0 1/250th second. The camera has a different sensor and color profile than the Nikon. The color balance has a greater amount of red and the saturation is higher than with the Nikon images above.Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set to 160mm. ISO 100 f9.0 1/320th of a second .Back lighting with low sun produces a ‘glint’ effect that reflects a portion of the sunlight back toward the camera. This has the effect of desaturating the color of the equipment. While we can still see the cranberry coloring on the locomotive, it is significantly subdued compared with the images made using over the shoulder light. This is partially the result of having to ‘stop down’ (underexpose) to compensate for the brighter ‘glint’ light.This is a tighter variation exposed using a longer focal length setting on the zoom lens (200mm compared with 160mm in the image above). Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom, ISO 100 f9.0 1/320th of a second.
On the evening of 8 September 2008, I was on a whirlwind tour of Hapsburg cities with fellow photographer Denis McCabe.
Working with a Canon EOS-3 loaded with Provia 100F, I made this low-angle photo of a Ring tram paused at the Rathausplatz-Burgtheater stop.
At the time, I carried a compact mini Gitzo tripod that was well suited to this type of urban photography.
I like the contrast of the opulent Hapsburg architecture with the drain-grate in the foreground.
Fujichrome Provia 100F was an ideal choice for this type of night photography because the film incorporates filtration layers designed to minimize the color spikes caused by various types of artificial light.
On 2 December 2005, clouds had given way to a burst of late afternoon sun at Wellingtonbridge, County Wexford as sugarbeet was being loaded into the wagons that would take them by rail to Mallow, County Cork.
What this photo cannot convey is the earthy scent of the freshly harvested beet and the ‘clop clop clop’ sounds of the beet being loaded.
Below are two versions of the Fujichrome slide scan. The top is the raw unmodified scan. The bottom is my adjusted JPG of the same scan. I aimed to make a more pleasing photo by lowering contrast, lightening shadow areas, and warming the color temperature
Since this photo was made; the beet traffic ended (long story), the beet wagons were scrapped, and later the railway through Wellingtonbridge was closed to regular traffic. However, old Irish Rail 134, one of 15 Class 121-GM diesels, was preserved and has since been restored and repainted into its as-built gray and yellow livery.
Friday, November 24, 2023, marked the beginning of the Polar Express season on Mass Coastal Railroad/Cape Cod Central Railroad.
Since we were in the neighborhood, Kris and I checked in on Cape Cod Central and located the excursion train-set that was being prepared for the day’s “Polar Expressing” near Mass Coastal Railroad’s HQ in East Wareham, Massachusetts.
Low November sun made for some nice light to photograph the static set. Working with my various cameras, I made a series of photos.
I’ve presented several variations of the same basic image. I have my favorite, which I’ve indicated in the caption below.
This is my favorite. I feel that this best puts the train in its setting, while balancing a variety of compositional elements. I’ve used selective focus with a shallow depth of field to focus interest on the the front of FL9 2011. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z series zoom; ISO 100, 125mm, f4 1/1250 sec.This version is from a slightly lower angle. I’ve cropped extraneous elements to the left and right of the train set. While this version is more dramatic and focused on the train, I don’t find its as interesting as the top image. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z series zoom; ISO 100, 130mm, f4 1/1250 sec.In this version, I’ve taken a more traditional angle and used greater depth of field. Also, the railroad has positioned its festive wreath on the front of the engine. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z series zoom; ISO 80, 58mm, f9 1/160th sec. I took a more broadside angle for this photo. Exposed using my ‘Wee Lumix’ (Panasonic Lumix LX7). I made this before the wreath was hung on the front of the engine. Notice that the Lumix has a different color palate and this handles the red-orange differently than my Nikons.
Not far from our Lancaster apartment, Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line to Harrisburg crosses the Conestoga River on an impressive multiple-span stone arch bridge.
Fellow author and photographer, Dan Cupper had shown me how to reach this bridge before Kris and I relocated. Since our move last Spring I’ve paid several visits to the western bank of the river, but I hadn’t caught Amtrak’s diesel-hauled Pennsylvanian here until the afternoon of Halloween Day.
The combination of late-season foliage, polarized sun and relatively clear autumn air, made this an ideal time to picture the train on the bridge. I checked various angles along the riverbank before deciding upon this place to make my images.
Amtrak train 42, the eastward Pennsylvania crosses the Conestoga on October 31, 2023.
Photos exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
Twenty years ago, during November and December I would focus my photography on Irish Rail’s Sugar Beet campaign.
This was an intensive and fascinating operation that focused on the movement of sugar beet from the loading point at Wellingtonbridge, Co. Wexford to the sugar processing factory in Mallow, Co. Cork. The trains were typically hauled by a variety of Irish Rail’s 1960s and 1970s-era General Motors diesels and used a fleet of antique vacuum-braked four wheel beet wagons.
Over the years, my friends and I got to know many of the players in this magnificent stage show, which often added a personal element to watching and photographing the trains in action.
Ireland in November: chilly with low midday sun, the ground perpetually damp and an agircultural scent in the air.
The 2003 beet campaign had an unusual twist. Earlier in the year, an accident at Cahir, Co. Tipperary on the Waterford-Limerick Junction line had damaged a key bridge, as a result the sugar beet trains were diverted northward to Cherryville Junction (on the Dublin-Cork line) and to Kildare where the locomotive would run around, and then toward Cork via Limerick Junction.
On November 27, 2003, my friends and I were set up at Cherryville Junction. Irish Rail class 071 No. 081 had been holding at the signal as trains passed on the main route. Then when traffic cleared, the 081 with 750 tonnes of sugar beet got the signal to crossover and head ‘up-road toward’ Kildare. The locomotive was roaring away as it snaked through the Cherryville crossover.
I exposed this view on Provia 100F (RPD-III) using a Nikon F3 with 180mm Nikkor telephoto.
Much has changed in the intervening years, but I still carry the 180mm lens and Irish Rail 081 is still on the roster. The sugar beet trains are but a memory.
On our November visit to Cape Cod this year, Kris and I spent a day photographing beaches and tracing the route of the Old Colony Railroad line that once ran all the way to the pier at Provincetown, Massachusetts.
The railroad was abandoned decades ago and most of the infrastructure was scrapped or recycled. However, in places it’s possible to see evidence of the old right-of-way, or at least conceptualize where the tracks once were.
I made these photos using my Nikon Z-series mirrorless digital cameras.
A view looking across Pamet Harbor; the former Old Colony right-of-way is visable near the the center right of the photo. The railroad once crossed the water here on it its way to the station at Truro, Massachusetts.Near Pilgrim Beach, looking compass north (railroad east) on Highway 6A toward Provincetown, the railroad once ran parallel to the road, possibly along the right-of-way now occupied by the electric lines to the right of the road.Historically the railroad ran on to the pier at Provincetown. I don’t know if the pier pictured is the same pier that actually carried the railroad, or a later structure. Those are questions for a deeper investigation.
I found that the colorful autumn leaf season lasted weeks longer in Pennsylvania Dutch Country than it does in New Hampshire’s White Mountains and other areas of New England.
On November 11, 2023, I made these photos at Black Horse Road of Strasburg Rail Road’s 2-10-0 number 90 working midday excursions. Several beautiful trees were displaying their late season colors.
Clear autumn air and bright sun made it possible to get some more distant views of the train.
I’ve always preferred the late season foliage, when the green leaves have largely changed, some trees are bare, but a few radiant trees of red and yellow remain and the sun is low and bright.
Although there were no trains expected, Kris and I called into the old New Haven Railroad station at West Barnstable, Massachusetts. Late November foliage and fading sun made for some wonderful atmospheric conditions.
I like the signs from various eras that identify this place. The Conrail blue sign is especially cool.
In earlier posts (from 2018, 2021 and 2022) I’ve featured the decaying Delaware & Hudson cabooses that reside here and passing Mass-Coastal/Cape Cod Central trains.
All photos presented here were made with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series lens; NEF RAW files were adjusted with Adobe Lightroom to make the most of the scene.
On Tuesday, Kris, her mom Sharon, and I visited this popular museum (formerly known as the Plimouth Plantation) which is focused on recreating and interpreting the early English settlement at Plymouth and their interactions with the people that had been there for generations before the Europeans arrived.
I made a selection of photos with my Lumix LX7 to capture the essence of the place. I liked the musket demonstation the best, but the herd of goats were also pretty neat.
Afterwards, we sussed out MBTA’s disused Plymouth station. Apparently, commuter rail service to Plymouth had been suspended some time ago and as of Tuesday it had not been restored. The rail was rusty, but the electric sign was still welcoming us.
I was always impressed by the length of Electro-Motive Division’s SD50 diesels. I first saw these on Conrail in 1983-1984.
Although more powerful than the common SD40-2, the SD50 was a troubled locomotive design and wasn’t as well regarded as the earlier EMD road diesels.
Despite this, many of the old SD50s are still at work in secondary services. In recent weeks, I’ve been featuring Norfolk Southern’s SD40Es, many of which were rebuilt from old Conrail SD50s.
Reading & Northern has a small fleet of SD50s, including several former Missouri Pacific units built in 1984. Back in October, Dan Cupper and I caught up with Reading & Northern SD50E 5049 (originally Missouri Pacific SD50 5049) working the old Reading Company yard at Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.
R&N 5049 was putting together a train of empty coal cars to head out to a loading point on a vestige of the old Lehigh & New England, known as the Arlington Branch. I’ll feature photos from that adventure in a later episode of Tracking the Light.
Photographing with my Nikon Z7-II and Z6 cameras, I varied my exposure in a effort to best capture the locomotive it its environment, then working with the NEF RAW files, I made nominal adjustements to exposure, contrast and color using Adobe Lightroom for the photos displayed here. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens. I like the way the paint on the locomotive mimicked the foliage.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom lens. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
Street trackage offers great opportunities for placing the railroad in a cool setting.
Kris and I had just finished our lunch with Wayne Duffett, who was in Middletown to inspect bridges for the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad.
While Wayne was making his arrangements, we watched as former Western Maryland Alco S-6 151 was fired up. This was going to make a run down Brown Street to collect a car from the Norfolk Southern interchange.
We set up about midway down the street. The Alco was preceded by a trainman with a flag as I exposed this group of digital photos using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
On the evening of November 20, 2018, I stood at the back of the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Budd Vista Silver Buckle—then named Silver Splendor–which was positioned at the rear of Amtrak train 48 the eastward Lake Shore Limited. As we glided away from Chicago Union Station, I made a series of digital photos using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit.
There’s something magical about rolling along at speed through complex urbanity under the veil of darkness, pierced by electric lights and a prevailing sodium vapor glow.
Silver Splendor was on its way east to Conway Scenic where it would be renamed Rhonda Lee. I became very familiar with this Budd dome when I joined the ranks of Conway Scenic full time in 2019. Hard to believe these photos were made just five years ago!
FujiFilm XT-1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit; ISO 2500, f2.8 1/9 sec.
Several weeks back, our friend Wayne Duffett had business on Pennsylvania’s Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, a short line that operates a short segment of the former Reading Company. Wayne posed with the railroad’s vintage GE 65 ton diesel number 2. Later, we drove to Middletown, where we had lunch in the classic Brownstone Cafe on Union Street.
After lunch the railroad fired up its antque former Western Maryland Alco S6 switcher to do a little work. Stay tuned for views of the grand old Alco at work . . .
Among my thousands of ‘lost’ Kodachromes is this view from 32 years ago on Southern Pacific’s Modoc Line.
‘Lost’ is a relative term. In the 1990s, I was exceptionally prolific. I spent lots of time making photos: Not just of railways but of just about everything. If you were standing next to me in the 1990s, I probably made a photo of you too.
Anyway, while I made a great many photos, I was especially picky in my editing and rejected thousands of images. Today, many of the ‘rejects’ look pretty good. In some instances, I was diligent and labeled even my substandard slides. In other circumstances, I never got to the yellow boxes and they went straight into a carton full of more slides.
These ended up packed away in my parents’ attic for more than 25 years. Gradually, I’ve been retrieving the cartons, going through the ‘lost’ slides, and pairing them up with my notebooks.
So! This box was labeled ‘Modoc Beet’. Luckily, I took pretty good notes on the trip, and I have a good memory of making the photos.
On November 18, 1991, Brian Jennison, J.D. Schmid, and I chased the ‘Beet Hauler’ compass east on SP’s Modoc Line from Texum near Klamath Falls, Oregon to Stronghold, California and back. This was led by three 1950s-era SP SD9s (rebuilt as SD9Es).
I noted that we photographed the outward (empty train) at Texum, Malone, Oregon, and Stronghold, California, paying special attention to the locations of wigwag grade crossing signals, and the semaphores at Stronghold, where SP crossing BN’s former Great Northern.
This particular image didn’t make my cut in 1991. It sat in the box for 32 years until Monday, when I scanned it.
Unfortunately, I cannot specifically identify the location, although I suspect it is near Malone.
So what’s wrong with this photo? To my 1991-eye, I would have rejected it because: 1) the sun was obscured by a cloud; 2) It didn’t feature a wigwag signal, 3) the SD9 had its ‘Mars Light [oscilating headlight] removed, and 4) I had better photos of the same train from the same day. Despite all that , this image looks pretty good to me now! Kodachrome slide exposed with a Nikon F3T with 35mm PC lens.
There’s enough unlabeled slides in my lost Kodachrome files to fill years’ worth of posts on Tracking the Light.
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.
Exposed using a Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom lens.Exposed using a Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom lens.Exposed using a Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom lens.
