Sometimes a review of ‘out-takes’ will reveal a few gems. This is a lesson in how the passage of time can make the commonplace more interesting.
On the morning of September 7, 1989, I spent several hours around South Norwalk, Connecticut, making photos with my Leica M2 on Kodachrome 25 slide film. My primary subject was the old New Haven Railroad and the passage of Metro-North and Amtrak trains.
Since that time, the Metropolitan series cars that once dominated Metro-North’s suburban service have been all but replaced. But back then many of these cars still had a relatively new sheen to them.
More striking have been changes to the South Norwalk station. The scene is very different. Among the changes has been construction of a large multistory parking garage, which now occupies the space to the north of the station.
Grand Central bound Metro-North train approaches South Norwalk on September 7, 1989.South Norwalk station as it appeared on the morning of September 7, 1989. Today, the scene is complete changed.Notice the sheen of the stainless steel on this Metropolitan-series electric car.A view from the street looking north toward the old New Haven electrified line.Looking toward New Haven Connecticut.
Yet, I also made a few photos of the town and passing road vehicles, which help give a flavor for South Norwalk in the late 1980s now more than a quarter century gone.
The street had its fair share of interest too.Wheels said the bus.
The best of the photos from this morning are held in a different file, and these are merely what I deemed at the time as ‘extras.’
Last week, I wrote about violating one of the cardinal rules of good railroad photography, that is aiming directly into the sun. In question were some views along the Ware River Railroad, er . . . sorry, rather the Mass-Central, as it is now known.
It may come as a shock to some readers of Tracking the Light, but this was not my first time aiming the camera toward the sun when photographing trains!
What I present here is an unusual image. Not because it is a trailing view of an Amtrak Turbotrain racing through North Chili, New York (rhymes with Dubai rather than Silly Hippie) on its way to Grand Central. (Yes, the Turbos went there back in the day). But, because I’ve opted to make a mid-morning silhouette in an unlikely way.
A thin layer of cloud had softened the morning sun. I was working with a Linhof Karden Color B 4×5 view camera fitted with a 90mm Schneider Super Angulon lens and Tri-X black and white sheet film (manufactured nearby in Rochester, New York).
Photographing moving trains with a view camera is no easy task, and on this day I had the camera firmly set up on a heavy tripod.
However, one advantage to the view camera is the ability to lift the front plane of the camera. This allowed me to keep the camera level while obtaining more sky area without causing unnecessary distortion to the train.
I’d set up the camera well in advance of the Turbotrain’s passing. Back in 1987, when I made this image there were no cell phones nor Julie to provide me with schedule updates.
Behind me was the Union Road grade crossing (long since replaced with an overpass). I had only one shot and I wanted to place the rear nose of the Turbotrain such that it didn’t intersect the trees to the right or the silhouette effect would be lost.
Another advantage of the 4×5 media is the ability to capture much greater amounts of information than possible with smaller film formats. As a result, I was able to capture superb tonality across a wide exposure range.
Unmodified scan of the original 4×5 negative. No adjustments to contrast or exposure.
Admittedly this black & white negative had always vexed me in the darkroom. However, I scanned it the other day, and using Lightroom found that the contrast manipulation I was unable to achieve chemically, was easily accomplished with digital adjustment.
Adjusted photograph, using both localized and global contrast and exposure controls.
I made this detailed telephoto view of Guilford Rail System’s former Santa Fe SD26 621 at East Deerfield yard.
The SD26 was a peculiar looking locomotive that featured a classic arched roof cab, slanted nose, with a humpbacked hood section and air reservoirs located on top.
Light and shade: By sculpting with low afternoon light, I was able to emphasize the SD26’s shapes while minimizing other elements of the scene. Notice the effects of reflections in the windows and off the cab nose.
Over the years, I made many photographs of these locomotives on the road. For me this unusual angle captures the distinctive shape of the SD26, two of which soldiered on in road-service into the mid-2000s.
One of the advantages of making a panned photograph is the ability to instantly transform a dull scene into a dynamic photograph.
I made this photograph of an eastward Amtrak train under wire on the old New Haven Railroad near New Haven, Connecticut at 9:38am on December 27, 1986.
Amtrak’s Material Handling Cars (MHCs) were some of the newest equipment on the move in 1986.
At the back of the train was a pair of relatively new Material Handling Cars, which where then allowed in high-speed service.
Rather than simply expose a flat light photo of the cars on the back of the train, I selected a slow shutter speed and kept the camera in constant motion with the train to make this panned view.
Aiding my ability to make this pan photograph was the Leica M3 camera that had a very soft shutter release. My exposure was 1/25th of a second at f5.6 on Kodachrome 25 slide film.
I’d be willing to wager that there are very few panned photos of new Amtrak MHC cars under wire!
(If you are not viewing Tracking the Light, please click on the post to see the variations from Dark to Light.)
Kodachrome was a great film but it had its failings. It’s spectral sensitivity tended to render blue too dark in relation to the other colors.
An unfortunate result of this sensitivity was that at times of high sun, when there is a greater amount of ambient blue light, Kodachrome was both less sensitive and produced an unacceptably constrasty result that over emphasize the already unflattering light of midday.
For this reason, I often put the camera away during midday, or switched to black & white.
This slide is an exception. On June 29, 1989, I photographed an eastward Conrail freight with C32-8(a model known colloquially as a ‘Camel’) passing the old Boston & Albany station at East Brookfield, Massachusetts.
The unaltered scan from the original Kodachrome 25 color slides. Owing to the time of the day, the slide is contrasty and as a result of the sensitivity curve of the film, it appears underexposed.
I have many better photographs of these unusual locomotives and superior views of the old station, both of which are now gone. Yet, I’m glad I made this slide.
For years, it remained in its yellow box as returned to me by Kodak. Although sharp, it wasn’t up to par with my slides from the time and so I’d deemed it unworthy of projection.
Today this is a pretty interesting image and through the comparative ease of digital processing, I can compensate for some of the failings of the film.
Using Lightroom, I’ve been able to adjust the contrast, exposure and color balance to make for a more acceptable image.
I’ve presented three variations: the above image is the unmodified scan (scaled for internet presentation); the other two have various levels of adjustment aimed at producing a more pleasing image.
In this variation, I made some quick adjustments to color temperature, overall exposure, while lightening the shadows.This version required more intensive work in post processing. I’ve locally adjusted shadows and highlights, while further tweaked overall exposure and made localized changes to color balance.
I love a great sunset glint opportunity. Last autumn, I revisited this spot at Green’s Farms, Connecticut with Pat Yough and George W. Kowanski.
While I exposed a number of views digitally, for this image I used my Canon EOS 3 with 100mm lens. As the train glided toward me I exposed a sequence of color slides on Fujichrome Provia 100F.
I scanned the slides using a Epson V750 Pro flatbed scanner and adjusted the TIF files in Lightroom for final presentation here.
It is imposable to anticipate how this image will looks on your individual computer screen/device, but I can say it sure looked stunning on the big screen projected by a Leica lens!
Amtrak train 88 catches the glint at Green’s Farms at 4:15pm on November 8, 2015. Provia 100F.
Sometimes small operational anomalies on a railroad will combine to benefit the photographer by opening up different angles or opportunities.
Last Wednesday, delays on Mass-Central’s northward run (owing in part to congestion at Palmer Yard that resulted in a later than usual departure) combined with operation of engine 1750 with a southward facing cab opened some different winter angles on the old Ware River Branch.
I was traveling with Bob Arnold and Paul Goewey and we made the most of the variations in winter lighting along the route.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, over the last three decades, I’ve made many photos along this line. So, I’m always keen to find new viewpoints of this operation.
Low clear sun in January makes for rich colors and wonderful contrast, but also posed problems caused by long shadows.
It is true that carefully placed shadows can augment a scene, but random hard shadows too often do little more than add distractions and disrupt a composition.
Below are a few of the more successful angles I exposed on this southward trip.
Three-quarter lighting at South Barre, allowed for nice illumination of the railroad’s logo on the side of GP38-2 1750, while showing the old Mill that is now home to the Wildwood Reload. Exposed with my FujiFilm X-T1 with 18-135mm lens.Beautiful afternoon light near Barre Plains makes for great contrast that brings out the texture in the foreground grasses. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.I could make this view of the old Mills at Hardwick any day of the week, and I’ve been meaning to drive up one of these days to make the most of the light. So as I was walking into position to make my set on the far side of the Ware River at Gilbertville (featured below, I exposed this view with my 12mm Zeiss Touit. The old Boston & Maine line that ran parallel to the B&A Ware River Branch had run behind these mills. The tracks were lifted in the 1930s, although the Hardwick station survives. Mass-Central’s present line is behind me.The sun had swung around at Gilbertville, so we tried this angle to feature the buildings alongside the tracks. I’ve cropped this 12mm view to eliminate the harsh shadows in the foreground.Must all railroad photos be serious? Mass-Central’s crew are friendly, so we gave them a passing wave. I was multitasking, by waving and photographing at the same time. Photo exposed with my Zeiss 12mm Touit.A telephoto view south of the Church Street crossing Ware off State Route 32. Exposed with my 18-135mm lens set at 135mm.Same location as above but with a wide-angle setting on my zoom lens to take in the Ware River Valley. At one time B&M’s line was located on the opposite side of this narrow valley.Afternoon lighting at Ware made for some nice texture on the old coal sheds along the Boston & Albany. In summer these tend to be obscured by foliage.South Street in Ware was lit nicely. This is the same location (albeit from a different angle) featured on Tracking the Light on Thursday January 7, 2016. In those earlier images I was standing in St. Mary’s Cemetery. See: Mass-Central on Ware Hill; Boston & Albany’s Ware River Branch in a Modern Context. (link below).
Sometimes the shadows conspire against making the desired view of the train. By the time Mass-Central arrived at Thorndike, the shadows had covered the tracks. Oh well, a challenge for another day.
Not happy with these? I’ll try again on another day when the freight runs a bit earlier, or in a softer day, when there are no harsh shadows.
Tracking the Light explores new angles; New Posts Daily!
Someone once said, ‘never photograph by aiming directly into the midday sun’. And, this advice has been melded into the cardinal rules of good railway photography.
The other day, while photographing along Mass-Central’s former Boston & Albany Ware River Branch at Gilbertville, I opted to violate this basic premise of good photography.
Three considerations;
Over the years (35 of them) I’ve exposed a great many images of the Mass-Central on its former B&A branch. (A fair few of these images, I feel are indeed quite good, and perhaps border the category of ‘above average’.) So, if I end up making a bad photo (or two), who cares?
My 12mm Zeiss Touit lens is an unusual piece of equipment. Owing to the nature of its design and exceptional high quality glass, I can make photos that frankly wouldn’t work so well with more conventional equipment.
By selecting a very small aperture (f22), I can create a sunburst effect in a clear polarized sky while continuing to retain shadow detail.
By selecting a small aperture and carefully exposusing manually by close attention to the camera’s histogram, I’ve optimized the digital sensors data capture. Essentially, I’ve attempted to retain some detail in the shadow areas while controlling the highlights. The use of a very small aperture (f22) creates the sunburst effect. This would be far less effective with this lens set (for example) at f5.6.Another tip: to help reduce the exposure of highlights (bright areas) I’ve taken advantage of a high wispy cloud that muted the direct effects of the sun. Exposed with a 12mm Zeiss Touit lens on a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. This is a camera produced Jpg, unaltered except for scaling necessary for internet presentation.An extreme lighting situation. Another effect of using a very wide-angle lens set with a very small aperture is tremendous depth of field (the relative focus between near and far objects in the photo). A jet contrail help diffused the light. I’ve also made a very nominal global contrast adjustment to lighten the shadow areas. In this instance, I have not applied any external filters.
So, are these photos good? Will I be fined by the aesthetics police? That’s up to you to decide!
But, honestly, what else would you have me do with a northward train coming directly out of the midday sun? I could have made no photos, but that wouldn’t make for a very interesting post, now would it?
Winter is an excellent time to photograph Mass-Central former Boston & Albany Ware River Branch.
The lack of foliage and a dearth of heavy underbrush opens up angles for photography obscured during the warmer months.
My challenge is to find new views on this railroad that I’ve often documented over the last 35 years.
On Monday, January 4, 2016, I made these views of the southward Mass-Central freight descending Ware Hill on its return run to Palmer.
Here I present two of the sequence of images. Compositionally, I feel the first image works better as it allows the eye to wander from the locomotive at right to the other subjects. The second image places too much emphasis on the left side.
Mass-Central 1750 leads the railroad’s southward freight near South Street in Ware, Massachusetts on January 4, 2016. Color temperature and contrast adjusted in post-processing, notably with the addition of a ‘graduated filter’ setting over the sky area to improve detail. (Note, this is not a true external graduated filter, as will be detailed in later posts.)Color temperature and contrast adjusted in post-processing, notably with the addition of a ‘graduated filter’ setting over the sky area to improve detail. (Note, this is not a true external graduated filter, as will be detailed in later posts.) Both images exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.
Which do you prefer?
Tracking the Light Explores Photographic Technique Daily!
It was rare glorious sunny day back in September 2015. Irish Rail had a full complement of trains on the move. Catching clean 071 class diesel 077 with the second IWT Liner was a bonus.
I exposed these photos along the Dublin-Cork line at Hazelhatch (about ten miles southwest of Dublin). Special thanks to John Cleary, who advised me on the day’s program, provided road-based transport and suggested some angles.
Down Irish Rail InterCity Railcar at Hazelhatch. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Photos by the rules:
Sunny day; tick!
Sun at least 30 degrees above the horizon and over right shoulder and positioned for evenly-lit three-quarter view; tick!
Rolling stock nearly free from shadows; tick!
Polls and wires minimized; tick!
View of railway wheels; tick!
shutter speed fast enough to stop the action; tick!
Trees and fences safely in the distance; tick!
Bonus qualifications: nominal elevation, clearly identifiable location and clean equipment.
Points subtracted: zoom lens used instead a prime ‘standard lens’. Digital used instead of film. Colour used instead of black & white. Evidence of people in some of the photos (minus two points, Tsk!)
Everyday Tracking the Light presents new material (qualified and otherwise).
Are these elements insidious intrusions or compositional aids?
The other day I was inspecting a nature photography magazine. Each and every photograph featured a stunning landscape free from the hand of man. Waterfalls and luscious skyscapes, arctic views and verdant forests.
Nowhere were there poles, wires, or tarmac roads. This magazine had portrayed a world free from industry, electricity, commerce, and railways!
Fear not good citizen! Tracking the Light will fill these photographic omissions!
Take for example these images of Pan Am Railways/Norfolk Southern’s intermodal train symbol 22K, photographed in November 2015 near its Ayer, Massachusetts terminal.
Intermodal train 22K at Ayer, Massachusetts in November 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.
A ruinous landscape? Just imagine this scene free from roads, wires, and the hand of man. What would be left to photograph?
Here’s a similar view of Pan Am Railways/Norfolk Southern symbol freight 22K at Ayer. Exposed with my Fuji X-T1 digital camera.
I arrived at Bernardsville, New Jersey on bright December afternoon. I’d never explored this station on the ground before, although I’d traveled through it on various occasions by train.
In the early 1980s, my father and I made several trips to the old Lackawanna Gladstone Branch to photograph the ancient former Lackawanna electrics that still prowled the line.
On my recent visit, NJ Transit’s stainless steel multiple units (known as Jersey Arrows) were the order of the day.
Exposed in December 2016 using a FujiFilm XT-1 digital camera.The use of a zoom lens allowed me to make a variety of photographs in rapid succession of the same train as it paused for its station stop.I like the effect of the dark shadow in the foreground on this view.As the engineer released the brakes, I exposed this telephoto close-up.
These cars are hardly new and now are on the wane, and so well worthy of photography. On recent trip on the North Jersey Coast Line, I passed a scrap yard full of the remains of these old cars.
Remember, equipment that once new will someday be retired.
Gardner, Massachusetts, exposed on December 15, 2015 with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
I exposed these views of Pan Am Southern symbol freight 28N at Gardner, Massachusetts on the old Boston & Maine Fitchburg mainline.
Dark Clouds on the Horizon.
Heavy wintery clouds were rolling in from the west, yet a few shafts of sun remained. The contrast between the bright sun and billowing churning clouds allowed for dramatic lighting; ‘storm light’.
Gardner, Massachusetts, exposed on December 15, 2015 with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
I was traveling with Bob Arnold and Paul Goewey. Our bonus on this day was catching one of Norfolk Southern’s recently acquired former Union Pacific SD90MACs (a large General Motors model, built to accommodate a 6,000 hp diesel, but in this case powered by GM’s more reliable 16-710 engine with a more conservative rating).
Pan Am’s 28N is a autorack train that drops cars at Gardner and Ayer, Massachusetts. At Gardner Providence & Worcester interchanges, and often P&W’s WOGR (Worcester-Gardner) arrived about the same time as an eastward Pan Am freight.
Gardner, Massachusetts, exposed on December 15, 2015 with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
By the time the P&W arrived at Gardner, the dramatic light had faded, yet the sky was still full of texture.
My photo at Shirley offers the hope of safe journey in 2016, but also a reminder to photographers that 2016 will see the decommissioning of many old signals such as these old General Railway Signal searchlights.
How many more days will these old signals serve as intended?
Tracking the Light has been Posting Daily since 2013!
(only see one sunrise photo? click thislink to view Tracking the Light’s site.)
Looking forward to 2016: I’ve decided to usher in the New Year with a collection of sunrise views that I’ve made over the years.
Sunrise is one of the best times to make photos as the light is low, colorful and dramatic. Sunrise is always varied.
Also, I’d like to dispel a myth that I’m never up early. 😉
Of these varied views, which do you like the most?
Sunrise, Dublin. Lumix LX7 photo.Sunrise, San Francisco, exposed with a Nikon F3T on Fujichrome slide film in 2009.NJ Jersey Transit sunrise at Matawan, New Jersey in December 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Sunrise, CP83 Palmer, Massachusetts October 25, 2009. Lumix LX3 photo.Sunrise, West Warren, Massachusetts, November 2015. Lumix LX7 photograph.Sunrise near Oulu, Finland, July 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.Boston & Albany sunrise, Tennyville, Palmer, Massachusetts, December 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.1990s smoky sunrise at Solitude, Utah.Sunrise at Newark, New Jersey, December 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Another Palmer sunrise. Sometime, before today.
Of these two photos, which do you like best? (only see one photo? click on Tracking the Light for the full post).
As the years ends, I’ve drawn on two clichés; reflection and sunset.
A couple of weeks ago, I exposed both of these images using my Lumix LX7 on the Black River & Western.
Reflect back over the last year? Did you make memorable photographs?
Steam locomotive number 60 reflects in the windows of doodlebug M-55 at Ringoes, New Jersey. Lumix LX7 photo.Sunset symbolizes the end of the day, but also the beginning of night. It is when light is in transition.
For my sunset image of Black River & Western 2-8-0 number 60, I show a dual transition; the fading light of day is one; the other is the conceptual juxtaposition of the antique world of the steam locomotive with the modern world of tarmac roads, uninspired modern architecture and a proliferation of wires.
Back in the day, a long long time ago (1906, I think), a self-appointed man of knowledge carved into stone the rules of good railroad photography. When translated these read something to the effect:
To take a good train picture you must:
Always use a standard lens;
Expose on bright sunny days;
The sun should be at least 30 degrees above the horizon and over your left shoulder positioned for an evenly lit three-quarter view;
Keep shadows off all railroad rolling stock;
Minimize or eliminate all wires and poles;
Refrain from including people;
Always select a vantage point that allows for a clean view of locomotive wheels;
Select a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action;
Avoid distracting or complicated backgrounds.
Keep trees and fences in the distance.
Amtrak ACS-64 652 leads Keystone train 648 east at Trenton, New Jersey in a December 2015 downpour. Digitally exposed using a Lumix LX7.
‘Something about Norfolk Southern’s 24K, sorry didn’t catch the details,’ I replied.
A call was made; the angle of sun was inspected and Pat made a decision.
‘We can get breakfast, then catch the 24K before it arrives at Morrisville.’
Vintage PRR map with key lines identified in red.
Back in the days of the old Pennsylvania Railroad, the Trenton Cutoff was an electrified freight route used by freights as a shortcut around Philadelphia, that also served to avoid grades and minimize interference between through freight and passenger operations.
This late-era heavily engineered line is comparatively difficult to photograph these days.
Under Norfolk Southern’s modern operations, the Trenton Cutoff no longer functions as it had under PRR.
Conrail discontinued the electrification on the line in the early 1980s; today, the old PRR Main Line east of Harrisburg is largely void of through freight (as it primarily serves as a passenger route for Amtrak Keystones and SEPTA suburban trains).
However, today a few NS symbol freights are routed via old Reading Company lines to Norristown then via a Conrail-era connection to the Trenton Cutoff, thus avoiding the old Main Line. Got that?
Anyway, our quarry, intermodal freight 24K, terminated at yard near Morrisville, Pennsylvania opposite the Delaware River from Trenton. We set up near the yard.
First we scored our breakfast, then we scored photos of the 24K, before moving on to other projects.
Not all important railroads are blessed with pastoral scenery. The catenary poles and wires tell of the Trenton Cutoff’s history. At one time Pennsylvania Railroad’s P5A, GG1 and E44 electrics plied the line. More has changed than the just locomotives
Consult your schedules, watch the signals, listen for the hum of the rail, and stay poised.
This is the heart of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, a raceway for passenger action. In between the fast flying Acela Express runs and Amtrak Regional trains are hourly all-stops SEPTA local runs.
Trains Under Wire.
On the morning of December 19, 2015, Pat Yough and I visited SEPTA stations north (east) of Philadelphia on the former Pennsylvania Railroad electrified four-track line. No GG1s today, but we did catch two old AEM-7s.
Low level platforms here are soon to be ‘improved.’Amtrak ACS-64 number 651 leads train 153 at Levittown, Pennsylvania. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Tips of the day: stay sharp and remember that the long distance trains (Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Crescent, etc) are not listed in the Northeast Corridor schedule and can run ahead of the posted station times as listed in their respective schedules in the Amtrak National Timetable.
SEPTA local 9714 makes a station stop at Levittown, Pennsylvania. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.Many times I’ve traveled on this train; Amtrak 56 the Vermonter, seen here approaching Levitttown behind ACS-64 635.Amtrak Keystone 663 is led by Siemens-built ACS-64 610. The sharp photographer needs to keep the train numbers distinct from engine numbers. This can get a bit confusing on this section of line since both the ACS-64 locomotives (motors) and Keystone trains use 600 series numbers. Just remember one is a piece of equipment, the other is a scheduled service.Ouch! Bad luck, on an otherwise clear morning one lingering fluffy cloud quenched the sunlight just as one of two AEM-7s of the day passed. Engine 927 leads Amtrak train 155 at Levitttown, PA. FujiFilm X-T1 photo, adjusted in post processing with Lightroom to correct contrast, exposure and color temperature.Amtrak Keystone 662 is in push-mode with ACS-64 636 at the back. (In other words this is a trailing view.) FujiFilm X-T1 digital image with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.Who said you can’t use a wide-angle when photographing a high-speed train? Acela Express 2250 was racing along at an estimated 125 mph when I exposed this view with my FujiFilm X-T1 digital image with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens. I had the camera in ‘CF’ (Continuous Fast, what I call ‘turbo flutter’) and the shutter speed at 1/2000th of a second.SEPTA 9707 makes a station stop at Levittown on its way to Trenton, New Jersey.Amtrak 98 rolls eastward (northward) at Levittstown on the final leg of its trip from Florida to New York Penn-Station. Remind me, why did Amtrak invest in new baggage cars?Amtrak Keystone 664 had this battle-worn AEM-7 at the back. Quick action at Croydon allowed for a satisfactory trailing view of the aged electric in action.I always like to catch the long-distance trains under wire. Amtrak ACS-64 606 leads train 91 the Silver Star on its run to Miami, Florida. Photographing the German-designed electrics under old PRR signal bridges makes for a contrast in time and technology that helps tell the story of today’s Northeast Corridor.Amtrak train number 20, the Crescent was running ahead of its posted time when it passed Croydon. Pat Yough had checked the time on his smart phone, so we were poised for action when its headlight appeared.
Is it a retro railroad fantasy to make images that resemble those of the late-Reading Era in 2015?
Reading & Northern GP39RN 2532 leads one of the company’s Santa Trains at Becks near Cressona, Pennsylvania. This locomotive was originally classified as EMD GP30 and is painted to resemble Reading Company freight locomotives as they appeared in the 1970s. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Traveling with Pat Yough, I made this selection of photographs at the former Reading Company yards at Cressona, Pennsylvania in December 2015.
Back in the 19th Century, Philadelphia & Reading consolidated various railroads primarily for the movement of anthracite. In its heyday, this railroad was one of the busiest and most profitable in the United States.
Coal demand and transport has changed dramatically in the last 130 years.
Reading Company’s operations entered a long decline in the 20th century and were finally folded into Conrail in 1976. Reading & Northern emerged as a Conrail spinoff in the 1980s.
Reading & Northern’s old Reading Company yards at Cressona, Pennsylvania. Exposed in ‘monochrome mode’ with my LX-7. I’ve adjusted the tonality with an in-camera red-filter setting.
Today, using a host of vintage railroad equipment R&N provides freight service and seasonal excursions in the spirit of the old Reading Company. Anthracite remains among the commodities moved by the railroad.
R&N paints its vintage locomotives and some freight cars to resemble those of the late-era Reading Company.
This is a similar view to the black & white image above, and aimed to include R&N’s GP39RN. This could be a view of an R&N freight, or perhaps almost passable (if we cropped the ‘derail’ sign, and ignore the graffiti-covered 1980s era freight cars) as a view of the Reading Company from the 1970s. Yet, it’s really a modern R&N Santa Train excursion. Restored CNJ 0-6-0 113 is puffing away at the back of the train. Lumix LX7 photo.Trailing view of R&N’s neo-GP30 disguises the true nature of the day’s excursion. This could easily pass as a R&N freight. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
The line between documentation and photo recreation is blurred.
Through select cropping, I can either reveal the nature of the passenger excursions, or at first glance make R&N’s excursions operation appear like a Reading Company freight from the mid-1970s, or even its own weekday freights.
When does documentation become a re-creation? In the case of R&N does such a distinction even matter?
R&N offers a window on the old order, which is a relief for a railroad photographer aiming to step back from the contemporary scene dominated by massive class I carriers with modern six-motor safety-cab diesels moving unit trains of coal, ethanol and intermodal containers, and modern passenger trains.
LX7 panned photo—relatively slow shutter speed and careful continuous panning motion allowed the main subject to remain sharp while the background slips into a sea of blur.
Tracking the Light Poses Questions and Reveals the Secrets of Photographic Technique—Every Day!
New Hope & Ivyland’s former Reading Company station at New Hope, Pennsylvania. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 digital camera, nominal shadow adjustment from a RAW file.How about a happier, brighter, super-saturated version of the same photo? Here the contrast, exposure, saturation, color balance and clarity have been boosted in Lightroom for maximum holiday cheer. Hark the ho ho, and all that! LX7 photo.
In the hustle to get to where you going, don’t forget to take in the finer points of traveling.
The week around Christmas is one of the busy travel seasons for Amtrak and can be an interesting time to make photographs.
Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad Station at 30th Street in Philadelphia is one of the nicest large terminals in North America.
Lumix LX7 photo.
I made these photos at 30th St. the other day with my Lumix LX7 while waiting for Amtrak train 148, which connects Washington D.C. with Springfield, Massachusetts. (This is a direct train, and one of the few that still changes from electric to diesel at New Haven.)
ACS-64 number 649 leads train 148 on track 4 at 30th Street Station. I boarded the Quiet Car.
After exposure I made nominal adjustments to the RAW files using Lightroom. To clean up the images and make them more pleasing to the eye I adjusted contrast and color saturation.
Slight adjustments can make a photo ‘snap’ which gives that extra something special that helps grab your attention. Extreme adjustments can alter the image and produce far-fetched fantasy images. (Which at Christmas in Philadelphia could be a good thing, right?)
My Lumix LX7 is a great tool for photographing the subway. It has a fast lens (f1.4) while the camera body is light, compact, flexible, and discrete.
For my New York City Subway photography exercise; I set the ISO to 200, the white balance to ‘auto’, set the exposure to dial to ‘A’ (for aperture priority, meaning I manually select the f-stop and the camera selects the appropriate corresponding shutter speed for optimal exposure ) and open the f-stop to near it’s widest setting.
The Lumix LX7 allows me turn off all the sounds and lights, so when I release the shutter nothing beeps or flashes.
I exposed both RAW and Jpeg files simultaneously. While the camera’s automatic exposure was close, I needed made minor adjustments to contrast and white balance in post-processing using Lightroom.
Typically this is necessary to bring the highlights under control while opening up (lightening) the shadow areas to make detail more visible.
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Every so often I like to stir up the muck, open a few eyes, raise a few fists, and perhaps invoke a couple of smiles.
I made this digital photograph using a recently devised camera technique. I created the image ‘in-camera’ using my mirror-less FujiFilm X-T1 with the electronic shutter; I did this without unusual external attachments, filters or complicated post-processing manipulation.
So, how did I do it? And why?
Shocking railroad photograph? Sometimes a technique is so raw, so radical, or so non-conventional, your eyes will grip the results, while your brain tries to add up the dots.
At one time the Boston & Maine was a poster child for the General Railway Signal Company.
These days some of the old GRS searchlight signals remain but they are rapidly disappearing.
Here’s a railroad photography tip: catch the old signals while you can, they are fading fast, and soon they will be gone.
I’ve issued this signal warning before, and I’ll do it again.
Over the last month, I exposed these photos along the old B&M in the vicinity of Ayer, Massachusetts. These railroad photos are intended as more of a record, than as active illustrations of the old signals.
Looking east at Ayer, Massachusetts.In many places B&M searchlights are approach lit, in others they are continuously lit, such as here in Ayer.
B&M was among railroads that used staggered heads for intermediate signals. Notice the use of both the traditional ‘G’ plate and the more recent ‘D’ plate.
The searchlight style of signal was developed more than 90 years ago. It has been out of favor for new installations for more than two decades.High green! (There’s a train coming).Fallen soldiers.
The millennium was coming to a close. I was just back in Ireland after a few months wandering. I arrived by ferry from Holyhead the night before.
The short days of winter offer moments of stunning low sun against what can often be a stark Irish environment.
It was the height of Irish Rail’s annual sugar beet campaign, so Denis McCabe and I headed first for Wexford (Wellingtonbridge to be specific) then worked our way west, finishing the day at Clonmel, County Tipperary.
Although, we come for the sugar beet, a side attraction were a pair of timber trains that were unloading there.
I was working with three cameras. One was a Nikon loaded with Ilford HP5. Ironically, most of those black & white photos have been squirreled away in my files for the last 16 years.
Ilford HP5 is a great film and offers excellent tonality on stark winter’s days.
Here’s a sample of what I did that afternoon at Clonmel. Pretty neat in retrospect, however, what was more significant for me photographically was that this trip inspired a half-decade of intensive photographic adventures to document the sugar beet campaign.
Irish Rail class 071 engine number 076 lead a loaded sugar beet train at Clonmel.The old four-wheel sugar beet wagons were a fascinating subject. They looked positively ancient, even back in 1999!Looking west at Clonmel.At that time only one passenger train a day served the old station in each direction. Someone inside suggested I take the bus!In the sidings off in the distance were two timber trains. One is hiding behind the signal cabin.A pair of venerable GM diesels shunt a timber train at Clonmel. Don’t travel there today and expect this sort of action, you’ll only be disappointed. (Although the cabin remains active).
Here we have two forms of railway transport in an active image.
I’ve always liked photos that show transport on two levels (or more). This photo worked out well. I caught a tram passing below a steeple-cab electric in suburban Prague in early June 2000.
What makes the whole image more interesting is the tram passenger flagging the car to stop. This puts a bit life in the photo.
Incidentally, if you haven’t been there, Prague is one of the great tram cities, and offers endless opportunities for photography.
Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia 100 with a Nikon F3T with 24mm lens. Slide scanned using an Epson Perfection 600, file adjusted for contrast using Lightroom.
Back in the day it wasn’t always easy to obtain a satisfactory exposure. Sometimes we got it wrong.
Such was the case on February 6, 1959, when my father made a very dark slide of a New Haven Railroad EP-3 electric leading a long distance train at 204th street in The Bronx.
Did a cloud block the sun at just the wrong moment? Did he simply use the wrong setting? Who knows. But the other day, I rescued this very dark slide from his ‘doubles file’ long stored out of sight.
By my estimate I’d say it is about 2-3 stops underexposed.
Slide Scanning in three 3.5 parts
I made three scans of this slide, from which I produced four variations of the image.
This is the first scan: I exposed it normally using my Epson V600 with the Epson software set for ‘auto exposure’. The result pretty dark, yet still lighter than the original.For my second scan, I optimized the exposure and manually set the highlights and shadows using a histogram graph. Using Lightroom I exported two variations. This is the first, which is unmodified from the scan.My second variation of the second scan required a bit of work in Lightroom in order to adjust contrast, highlight and shadow detail, while boosting the saturation, clarity and other controls. The result offers better exposure, color and contrast, but it is too grainy.For my third scan I opted for a different approach. I used VueScan and opted for a multiple pass scan (which in effect scans the slide 3 times to obtain the greatest amount data from the slide). I imported this scan into Lightroom and made my corrections for color, contrast (local and global), saturation and etc, but also used the noise suppression feature. Since this results in an over-all softening of the image, afterwards I locally sharpened key areas of the image.
My question: all of this scanning and correction required about 45 minutes of my time. While it was neat to rescue this long forgotten image of an EP3 electric, would my time be better spent making less labor-intensive scans of properly exposed slides from the same period?
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For me this one image of the Bangor & Aroostook really conveys the spirit of a railroad in motion and captures the lay of the land of coastal Maine.
What makes a great railroad photo? It has to be more than just a picture of an interesting train.
Brandon Delaney was driving his Toyota sports car and I was leaning out the window with my Leica as we paced the northward Searsport Turn. I made this image as we passed a grade crossing at Prospect, Maine.
Exposed on August 5, 1986 on Kodachrome color slide film.
The great rolling ribbon of Highway 174 is one of several visual threads that helps tie the photo together and makes for added interest. The electric poles and grade crossing signals are cool elements too.
This isn’t just a railroad photo of a GP9 on the move, but an image showing a train in motion crossing a distinctive landscape.
It was a week before September 11, 2001. I’d taken the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. During my first couple of days I rode around on the tram exploring the city.
Comfort class on a Tatra. Exposed with my Contax G2 rangefinder on Sensia 100 slide film.
In short 2001 was a very intensive year photographically. A week after ‘9-11’, I’d headed off to Spain in search of General Motors diesels and TALGO trains.
When my Estonian slides came back from the processing labs, I’d quickly picked out key images and the rest were filed away, largely unedited along with a host of other trips from the same year.
For years, I wondered what had happened to the Tallinn tram photos. I recalled riding the trams, but the slides were not mixed in with my other Estonian photos.
Trams by the Baltic sea at the Kopli terminus. Contax G2 rangefinder photo exposed on Sensia 100 slide film.
Complicating matters, I returned to Estonia a year later for an even more extensive trip and many of my photos of railway operations around Tallinn were exposed in 2002.
Last week, I found these images along with the photos I made in Spain, Finland, and Ireland, plus those along New York’s Southern Tier, northern and central Pennsylvania, the Berkshires of Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charlottesville, Virginia and Vermont, all of which were exposed over an 8 week span.
They didn’t paint cars like this in Soviet times! Contax G2 rangefinder photo exposed on Sensia 100 slide film.Near the main railway station. Contax G2 rangefinder photo exposed on Sensia 100 slide film.Contax G2 rangefinder photo exposed on Sensia 100 slide film.
I’m glad I kept notes to sort it all out!
Tracking the Light Takes Many Angles on Photography!
It was on the evening of August 5, 1984 that I exposed this photo in the tradition of Richard Steinheimer, Jim Shaughnessy and the legendary Mr. Link.
I’d admit it was a long day, but that never stopped me. Bob Buck and I had set out from Tenants Harbor, Maine in the morning. As per tradition, we’d called into Northern Maine Junction and signed releases with the Bangor & Aroostook.
The railroad was very friendly and advised us of a northward freight heading to Millinocket. This had an F-unit in consist (number 42, just in case you needed to know).
We spent our daylight hours making photos along the way.
Then in the evening we returned to Northern Maine Junction.
My father had lent me a large Metz electronic photo strobe. I was perfecting my night flash technique, where I’d carefully blend existing light with strategically placed strobe bursts.
I was particularly interested in Bangor & Aroostook’s rare BL2 diesels.
This view focuses on engine 54, while the famed American Railfan, engine 557 that had been repainted into its as-built scheme, lurked in the darkness beyond.
A few key pops with the flash sorted that out.
Exposed on Kodak Safety Film 5060 Panatomic X (ASA 32) using a Leica 3A with 50mm lens. Lighting is a mix of sodium vapor lamps and electronic strobe. Film processed in Kodak D76. Negatives scanned with an Epson Perfection V600, and digitally adjusted for contrast and exposure using Lightroom. Slow speed film was ideal for this type of night work because the existing light was less light to blow out the highlight detail during the prolonged exposure. I’d often have to leave my shutter open for several minutes while I walked around setting off flashes.
Did you know that Tracking the Light posts something different everymorning?
As I approached the Tenneyville bridge in Palmer (that’s the Route 32 bridge in modern parlance), I heard two CSX trains talking to each other. It was obvious a meet was in progress between CP79 and CP83 (east and west ends of the signaled dispatcher controlled siding).
When I crossed the bridge, CSX Q293 (westward empty autoracks) was easing along below me. The signals at CP83 had just cleared and the sun had just peaked above the horizon.
In a matter of moments, the engineer on Q293 would begin to accelerate. I needed to act quickly.
With my VW, I can accelerate faster than a long freight train, and I was lucky that the roads were clear of traffic.
I drove to a known photo location near the location of the old Boston & Albany freight house (demolished in 1989). This has the advantage of being open, while providing a long view on the tangent track through Palmer yard toward the rising sun.
I arrived with just enough time to set my FujiFilm X-T1 and expose a series of photos of the train rolling west out of sunrise. Soft morning clouds dampened the harshness of the direct light.
CSX Q293 rolls west against a backdrop of the rising sun at Palmer, Massachusetts on November 18, 2015. The Tenneyville Bridge is visible in the distance. My set up time: about 15 seconds.
Here I’ve included both a long telephoto view, and a wide angle to give you a sense for both the lighting and the location. The wide view required a bit of contrast control and exposure adjustment to make for a satisfactory final image.
The range of contrast of this wide angle view required a bit of post processing. I prefer the telephoto view, but this one gives a good lay of the land. Both were exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. If I had had time, I’d have exposed some color slides.
On the day, steam locomotive 461 had done the honors for the paying passengers.
After the train arrived back at Connolly, freshly painted Irish Rail 071 (class leader) tied onto the empty carriages to bring them across to Inchicore.
Irish Rail class 071 at Connolly Station with the RPSI empty Cravens on 21 April 2014. Exposed on Fuji Acros 100 film.
I exposed this view at the end of the day using my Nikon F3 with 24mm lens. Using my perfected chemical recipe, I processed the Fuji Acros 100 film in Kodak HC110 then toned the negatives with selenium solution. Finally, I scanned them and made minor adjustments in Lightroom (mostly to remove dust spots).
Why black & white? Why film?
Why not?
I’ve always exposed film, and while digital photography tends to dominate my image making, I still expose the occasional roll of B&W or color slide film.
Back in my Pentrex Publishing days (in the mid 1990s) I wrote an editorial about the ultimate demise of the searchlight signal.
Even then, this style of hardware was out of favor for new installations, yet thousands of the old signals still remained.
Today they are fast disappearing, and at many installations they are already gone.
Old searchlights west of Ayer, Massachusetts. Once common, this style of signal has been out of favor for decades and are now rapidly being replaced.
Two weeks ago, when traveling with Bob Arnold and Paul Goewey, we opted to photograph an outbound MBTA train passing these General Railway Signal searchlights on the old Boston & Maine west of Ayer, Massachusetts
MBTA train 453AM works west of Ayer with HSP46 2027 in the lead.. How long will this new diesel and these old signals co-exist? Bets anyone? The replacement signals are already in place at Shirley, a mile or so to the west.
I wanted to feature one of the new HSP-46 diesels passing the vintage signals to show the contrast in technology. The window for making this type of photograph is rapidly narrowing, as these searchlight’s replacements are in place and will soon be cut in.
My book Classic Railroad Signals, published by Voyageur Press, details many varieties of older signal hardware and tells the story of American signaling with stunning photographs and detailed historical information. Get your copy today!
My author’s advanced copy of January 2016 TRAINS arrived the other day. This magazine features my ten-page article on how to interpret railroad signals.
This is the first page of the opening spread for my article in January 2016 TRAINS.
This issue features some of my favorite signal photographs.
Cover of January 2016 TRAINS. (photo by Scott Lothes)
