Every so often someone will ask if have any regrets. I’m never sure what they’re getting at, but yes, Yes I do.
My regrets? Not learning photography skills more quickly.
I made this photograph in late 1978 (slide mount reads ‘Feb 79’, but if I recall correctly, it was right around Christmas. Prompt processing wasn’t on my agenda back then).
I traveled with my father and brother to the old New Haven electrified lines. We picked this spot and set up. We were all delighted to catch this GG1 with an eastward Amtrak train. I can still feel the excitement when we spotted the old motor in the distance.
At that time I had access to all of my dad’s lenses. We probably had a 90 or 135mm with us at the time. Yet, I opted to use my 50mm.
Why? I just didn’t know any better.
Today, I look as this image and see three elements that I could have put together more effectively; the aged former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric (pantograph first), old New Haven short-arm left-handed semaphores (most American semaphores aim to the right), and winter glint light.
Now, I’d use a telephoto to feature the signals and the electric in tighter more visually pleasing composition. This what I saw at the time, I just included too much dead space in my image and the locomotive and signals are too distant.
At least I was using good glass and Kodachrome film. There’s that anyway.
Tracking the Light explores photography every day.
I think we all made pictures like this when we were beginners. I know I did!
But you probably made the right decision. If the loco had overlapped the building, it would have been lost against the background. Ideally you should have been one gantry farther along the line, and the buildng would not have been an issue.
But as wts says, you got the shot, and there are various crop options and enhancements you can make nowadays. And any shot of a GG1 in action, especially at an interesting location, is a shot to treasure.
I’d crop the original differently: from the right till the rightmost wire at the top, and from the bottom till the rightmost rail. I think the building on the left makes an interesting contrast to the approaching train. I’d try to brighten the headlight. I’d bring the foreground out of the darkness almost to the amount in your cropped photo. In any case, better the shot you got than no shot at all!
I recall typically seeing the GG1s with pantograph at the back, rather than the front. Perhaps someone versed in operations specific to the time period can offer a more elaborate answer?
Brian S.
Great shot of a place and equipment long gone. Curious about Pan-first. Was this scene an anomaly during a time when normal running was the trailing Pan in case of a snag… Or maybe simply the engineer(s) didn’t know or didn’t care ?