It’s hard for me to believe these photos are nearly 30 years old!
Bob Buck and I were at Springfield Union Station on December 30, 1985, watching trains, as we often did back then.
Conrail TV5 pulled up and stopped. I used this opportunity to make a few black & white photos using my father’s Rollei Model T and Metz hand-held electronic flash.
I’d worked out a technique of blending existing light with electronic flash that retained the essential lighting of the scene.
TV5 was a rarely photographed train that carried intermodal trailers from Boston to St. Louis. It was one of several piggyback trains that rolled over the B&A route in darkness.
At the time, these seemingly mysterious night-time piggy back trains fascinated me, and I was very pleased to have captured this one on film
I made two exposures. The first is pretty good. The second suffered from a knock to the camera or tripod. Today, I’d have the opportunity to check my exposure and focus on site, back then all I could do was hope for the best.
I processed the film by hand.
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Glad to rekindle your days in West Springfield! I have many photos from the Springfield area from the mid-1980s. Mostly black & white, such as the view of Tv5. I’ll continue to post these on Tracking the Light.
All the best,
Brian S.
As a kid, I spent a lot of time across the river in the West Springfield Conrail yard watching trains with my dad. And when I moved across country via Amtrak, I departed from SPG. Great shots, and thanks for bringing back those memories!