On our drive back from Pennsylvania last month we stopped in to Port Jervis, New York.
This town was once synonymous with the Erie Railroad which maintained significant facilities and yards here.
Today, little is left of the sprawling freight yards, and relatively little freight passes over the former Erie route, but Port Jervis is the western extent of NJ Transit/Metro North commuter service from Hoboken, NJ.
On this dull Saturday morning, Metro North’s weekday commuter fleet was tied up in the small yard west of the present passenger station, near the site of the old Erie engine facilities.
I thought that this collection of diesels made for interesting subjects. Photos exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
If had been clear and bright, I’d have been looking directly into the mid-morning sun.
Upon leaving the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Kris and I heard a distant locomotive horn.
Although, there were no trains scheduled, I surmised there was an extra on the line, so we drove to the first grade crossing west of the yard and waited.
After just a few minutes, Strasburg Rail Road’s former New York Central SW8 ambled westbound towing a lone three-bay hopper carrying ballast.
That was a lucky catch!
We then drove to the parking lot opposite the shop where I made a few more photos.
The other day, I accompanied Wayne Duffett of TEC Associates on his annual inspection of the bridges on Conway Scenic’s Conway Branch.
This railroad was built in the early 1870s, by Boston & Maine constituent railroad, the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway. The last B&M train operated over the branch in 1972, nearly 50 years ago.
The bridges on the line have long and varied histories.
I made several hundred photographs as Wayne tapped, rapped, poked, measured and visually inspected each and every span.
The Conway Branch has wooden, stone, iron, steel and conctrete bridges.
I learn a lot when scrutinizing a railroad at this level.
In March, Kris and I stopped by the Middletown & Hummelstown railroad yard in its namesake town.
My last visit here was in 2009.
I made a few photos of M&H’s rare diesel locomotives, which includes an Alco S-6 switcher, an Alco T-6 switcher (that was one of last diesels built by Alco before it exited the domestic locomotive market) and a GE 65-ton center cab.
While I exposed a handful of black & white photos on film, I also made these digital images with my Nikon Z6.
Middletown & Hummelstown Alco S-6 diesel switcher is painted for Western Maryland, the locomotive’s original owner.
Yesterday, April 12, 2022, Conway Scenic operated a loaded ballast train on the former Maine Central Mountain Division.
Leading the train was former Maine Central GP38 255 acquired by CSRR last October.
I arranged to be in position at the west end of the Frankenstein Bridge to catch the up-hill move, and exposed this sequence of digital photographs using my Nikon Z6 mirror-less camera with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Although overcast, the lighting was well suited to a red locomotive with black ballast cars.
My old Lumix LX3 had the ability to save a handful of photos in the camera’s built in memory (without an SD card).
This was a great benefit, especially in those moments where suddenly I realized that, “Oh Sh!#! I left the SD card on my desk!”
Not a problem, the camera would store the image internally for downloading later.
On 11 April 2012, I had one of those unforgettable “Oh Sh!#!” moments when I’d spotted a colorfully painted LUAS tram on Abbey Street in Dublin and when I went to photograph it the camera advised me I was saving to the internal memory.
Phew!
That was ten years, and three Lumixes ago.
However, not only did the camera save the photo, but it was able to save both as a JPG and as RAW. And this was lucky, because a pesky afternoon cloud had just drifted in front of the sun, so my photo was very constrasty and slightly underexposed. Working with Lightroom I was able to lighten the original photo, correct the color temperature, and level the image.
My scaled but otherwise un-adjusted Lumix LX3 RAW photo.This image was created by working with the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom to bring up detail in shadow areas, correct the color balance and level, and lighten the overall exposure while retaining desired color saturation.
No hope with getting that kind of double save if you forgot to put film in camera! (Been there, done that!).
In two weeks time, I hope to be making use of my latest Lumix on the streets of Dublin!
This was among the many slides that I scanned yesterday.
In my ongoing effort to scan, archive, and organize my slide collection, I’ve been scanning slides, and reorganizing the original chromes so that they are placed together by similar subject.
Conrail is just one of dozens of my subject categories . Ultimately, I hope to subdivide the Conrail slides in to smaller categories largely based on precursor railroad routes.
This Kodachrome 25 image of a westward Conrail unit coal train was exposed in September 1988 at School Road in Batavia, New York, near milepost 399 on the former New York Central ‘Water Level Route’ main line using my old Leica M2 with 50mm f2.0 Summicron lens.
It is one of hundreds of Conrail photos I exposed between 1985 and 1999 of Conrail trains working the old Water Level Route.
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania at Strasburg is among America’s finest railway museums. Not only does the museum have one of the best collections of significant locomotives, rolling stock and artifacts, but their indoor display offers superb interpretation in a railroad themed environment.
During our visit on St. Patrick’s Day, I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens.
Adobe Lightroom is an excellent tool for processing museum photos because it easily enables lightening of shadow, controlling highlights and contrast, while adjusting color temperature and color balance. This allows for significantly more pleasing images.
Statue of Pennsylvania Railroad’s Alexander Cassatt.Pennsylvania Railroad baggage car.Kris poses in front of Pennsylvania Railroad class D16sb 4-4-0. In 1981, I traveled behind this antique on the Strasburg Rail Road.Pennsylvania Railroad 5901, the only surviving Electro-Motive Division E7A.Detail of a statue of Baldwin Locomotive Works founder, Matthias Baldwin (1795-1866).Pennsylvania Railroad class B1 electric 5690.On January 1, 1980, I photographed this former PRR GG1 electric at New Haven, Connecticut. Today, it is one many locomotives displayed at the railroad museum of Pennsylvania.This Union Switch & Signal color light once authorized train movements on the Reading Company.
Three years ago—April 9, 2019—I visited SNCF’s Gare_de_Lille-Flanders (France).
It was a damp day with dark leaden skies and well suited for photography beneath a train shed.
I made this view using my old Fuji XT1 fitted with a 28mm Fujinon pancake lens.
Below are two interpretations. One is derived from the Fuji Raw by Lightroom, the other was first converted using Iridient and then adjusted (using the same color profile settings) in Lightroom. Compare the roof of the train shed in the two versions.
Converted from Fuji Raw using Lightroom.Converted to DNG format using Iridient then adjusted in Lightroom.
On Wednesday April 6, 2022, I traveled with Train Master Lacey and Conductor Weimer on GP38 255 from North Conway to Conway, New Hampshire and back.
This was the first locomotive over Conway Scenic Railroad’s Conway Branch since the end of the 2021 Holiday season. My last trip over the line was a test run with steam locomotive 7470, where I used the opportunity to videotape the engine crossing the Moat Brook Bridge.
On our April 6th trip, we collected Easter decorations stored in the Conway freight house for distribution along the line as part of the annual Easter Egg hunt for the benefit of children traveling on the Easter Bunny Express.
I assisted with the collection and positioning of the eggs along the line, while documenting the opening move. Rusted rail conditions meant that we approached each highway crossing ‘prepared to stop and flag’.
It was a gorgeous sunny day and well suited to photography with my Nikon Z6 fitted with 24-70mm Z-series zoom!
Conway Scenic Railroad GP38 255 positioned at the old Boston & Maine freight house in Conway, NH. The Easter Eggs have been hung from the handrails in prepartion for distribution along the line.Conductor Weimer with locomotive 255.Passing my billboard photo at Conway. I made the image of Conway Scenic’s 573 at Milepost 64 back in the Spring of 2019.Conductor Weimer flags Highway 16 in Conway village.The view at Moat Brook.
I wrote about Pennsylvania Railroad’s Rockville Bridge in my book Railway Masterpieces published in 2002.
“The third bridge at Rockville was started in 1900, and opened to traffic in 1902. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Rail Facts and Figures, as ‘the world’s largest stone arch railway bridge over a river’. It consists of 48 stone arch spans.”
Last month Kris and I paid a visit to the Rockville Bridge. As we approached this magnificent viaduct a westward Norfolk Southern freight was crawling across, yet we had arrived too late to catch the head end of the train on the bridge.
We decided to wait a little while to see if another freight would come along.
Finally after about 45 minutes, I could hear a GE diesel chugging away on the far side of the Susquehanna. As the train started across the bridge, the evening sun emerged from the clouds, producing some very fine light to photograph the train.
I exposed these photos with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens firmly mounted on my mid-1990s vintage Bogen tripod.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens set at 170mm, f5.0 1/500th of a second, ISO 200.Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens set at 76mm, f5.0 1/500th of a second, ISO 200.
When in Rome on this day in 2017 (April 5th), I photographed a Leonardo Express airport train gliding through the platforms at Trastervere station.
I was traveling light on this expoloratory trip to Italy and only carrying my Nikon F3 film camera and Lumix LX7 compact digital camera.
I returned six months later with my Fuji XT1 among other equipment. At the time I was researching and photographing for my book: Brian Solomon’s Railway Guide to Europe.
Last month during our brief visit to Lewistown, PA, we caught two trains, one right after the other. Just a few minutes after the westward Pennsylvanian made its station stop, this Norfolk Southern intermodal freight worked west through the interlocking.
In the lead was 4092, one of Norfolk Southern’s AC44C6M rebuilds. These were converted from traditional DC traction Dash9-40CW locomotives into poly-phase AC traction diesels.
Photos exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens and Lumix LX7.
NS 4092 west at Lewistown, PA. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom. Note the UPS truck on the road in the distance.Panned photo with Lumix LX7, f8 at 1/80th of a second.Trailing view with Lumix LX7
Englarge section of the main photos to demonstrate relative sharpness.
As a follow up to Saturday’s post, I am posting this sunny morning photo of Conway Scenic Railroad’s GP35 216 the I exposed using the Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera fitted with a vintage manual-focus Nikkor f2.5 105mm lens.
Here I’ve opened the aperture to its widest setting and manually focused on the front of the locomotive.
To demonstrate the exceptional sharpness of this lens with the digital camera I’ve also included a much enlarged portion of the image focused on the number boards.
This telephoto view with shallow focus helps set off the front of the locomotive from the rest of the scene which adds both drama and intrigue.
Among the features of the Nikon Z6 kit that I bought in 2020 is an adapter to fit older Nikon lenses directly to this modern digital body.
Although I briefly experimented with this adapter when the camera was new, by in large, I’ve made my photos using Nikon Z-series zoom lens specifically designed for the camera.
The other day on a whim, I decided to fit my old Nikkor F2.5 AI 105mm to the Z6 and make some photos of the chickens in the back yard and of Boomer the dog. I was amazed at the exceptional sharpness of this lens when used wide open (f2.5). This allows for razor sharp selective focus.
Selective focus on Joy-the-Rooster Chicken (center).
Since the lens is fully manual, I had to set aperture and focus the old fashioned way (with some help from a focusing aid in the camera).
My success with 105mm making the chicken and dog photos led me to take a few images with this lens around the North Conway, NH railroad yard where I work. During the last week the lads have been cleaning the trains in preparation for Conway Scenic Railroad’s Spring operating season and they made for good subjects to test the selective focus technique.
On this day three years ago, photographer Denis McCabe and I wandered the narrow streets of Lisbon, Portugal.
I used my Fuji XT1 to make this portrait oriented view of a classic tram navigating a steep narrow street.
Iridient software does a more effective job of interpreting the data from the Fuji camera RAW files than Lightroom.
Last night I imported the Fuji camera RAW file into Iridient for conversion to DNG format and then imported the DNG file into Adobe Lightroom for minor adjustments tothe color, constrast and exposure in order to make the most of the camera sensor.
Yesterday I learned the very sad news that my friend and long-time Trains Magazine Editor Jim Wrinn had passed away.
RIP Jim.
Jim in his old office at Trains in 2017.John Gruber, Jim Wrinn and Brian Schmidt in 2016.Jim and his wife Cate with Norfolk & Western J-Class 611 at Spencer, North Carolina in 2014.
Three years ago, March 30, 2019, I exposed this view of the Porto Metro at Trindade Station (Portugal).
This modern light rail metro system was built, in part, on the right-of-way of a traditional narrow gauge railway line that served Trindade station as its city center terminus.
Photographer Dennis McCabe and I explored this Metro system on a very wet day in April 2014, and returned in 2019 to much brighter weather.
I exposed this view from the platforms at Trindade Station using my Lumix LX7.
On Monday, March 28, 2022, Conway Scenic began the process of clearing the former Maine Central over Crawford Notch.
Last year, the railroad reached the summit on March 31st, which was something of a early record for Conway Scenic. In a normal year, the line might remain closed through April.
Former Maine Central 255, a GP38 acquired from the Vermont Rail System late last year, was chosen to make the clearing run West.
Where last year I traveled on engine 573, this year I pursued the first train on the road, and departed about two hours after it left the North Conway yard.
The crew on first movement over the line west of Attitash (the limits of Snow Train operation) expects to find obstructions. During the winter fallen trees, rocks and ice accumulation routinely block the line.
I knew Extra 255 was west of Bartlett, so at various places beyond Bartlett, I inspected the track. Near the Arethusa Falls grade crossing, I contacted the engine crew via train radio to find their location.
They had made it as far as the rock cutting west of the Frankenstein Bridge, where the engine was blocked by a significant ice fall.
I hiked up to the bridge and made photos of the engine returning east.
One of the privileges of working for Conway Scenic is the ability to request a lift back down hill. The brief engine ride saved me another half mile hike in freezing temperatures. When I got back to my car it was just 23F.
This was the first rail movement across Frankenstein of 2022.
In mid-March, Kris and I arrived at Lewistown Junction, Pennsyvlania a few minutes before the scheduled arrival of Amtrak’s westward Pennsylvanian (train 43). We had stopped at a nearby Sheetz for burritos to go.
Working with the Amtrak/VIA Real Time App, I learned that train 43 was running about 9 minutes behind the advertised. That allow for more time for lunch.
I made this series of photos with my Nikon Z6 fitted with 70-200mm Z-series zoom and a Panasonic Lumix LX7 as the train approached its Lewistown station stop. Amtrak P42 number 99 was in the lead. At the back were a pair of private cars.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.Lumix LX7 photo.Lumix LX7 photo.Lumix LX7 photo.
In the 1960s my father, Richard Jay Solomon, made numerous photos of Reading Company’s famous Iron Horse Rambles. This included countless photos of Reading T-1 2102.
As I’ve previously recalled on Tracking the Light and in the pages of Trains Magazine, these photos were, in part, my inspiration for the HO-scale Reading Company that I’ve been building in my Finacé’s basement.
Early in the planning for the railroad Kris and I bought an HO model of 2102, and in February last year (2021), I ran one of my father’s famous photos of this engine, a picture that I featued in my book Locomotive, 20 years earlier (see below).
A week ago Friday (March 18, 2022), Kris & I visited Reading & Northern’s Port Clinton, PA offices and obtained permission to visit the 2102 and make photos. This was a privilege and a real thrill. It was the first time I’d seen this engine up close.
Later this year R&N plans to have this magnificent machine operating in excursion service on their railroad.
My father’s image of 2102 on an Iron Horse Ramble in the 1960s.My HO scale recreation of 2102 seen at speed on our interpretation of the Reading Company.My recent digital photography of Reading & Northern’s former Reading Company 2102 at Port Clinton, PA.
Tracking the Light Post Daily!
In the 1960s my father, Richard Jay Solomon, made numerous photos of Reading Company’s famous Iron Horse Rambles. This included countless photos of Reading T-1 2102.
On this day three years ago (26 March 2019), Denis McCabe and I photographed CP (Comboios de Portugal) train IC513 crossing the massive valley-spanning viaduct at Luso-Bucaco, Portugal.
I made this pair of coming and going photos using my Fuji XT1 mirror-less digital camera.
The top photo required a bit of contrast adjustement using Adobe Lightroom, while the bottom photo is simply a scaled version of the in-camera JPG.
A week ago (March 18, 2022), Kris and I called into the Reading & Northern at Port Clinton, Pennsylvania.
We obtained permission to be on the property and make photos.
Although, I had visions of seeing something older, grander, and of greater personal interest, I was impressed by the vintage EMD diesels sitting outside the company offices.
Reading & Northern 2000 was a classic SD38, a 2,000 hp six-motor EMD, built for the Penn Central in 1970, and later served Conrail.
Where the GP38 was a common type (as were the GP40 and SD40 models), the SD38 was unusual—a real rare bird with just 63 built.
I’ve only photographed a scant few SD38s in all my years wandering North American rails, including those operated by Conrail, the US Steel roads: Bessemer & Lake Erie, Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range, and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; and at least one Grand Trunk Western unit, that back in 1986 showed up on Central Vermont in Palmer, Massachusetts leading a cable laying train.
So here we find this rare diesel, ripe for a few photos: I made this photo with my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens. But, I also exposed a frame or two of HP5 using an antique Nikon F3 with 50mm lens.
Soon we were on the verge of finding something rarer, cooler, and the reason for our visit . . . stay tuned!
A week ago (March 17, 2022), Kris and I visited the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania at Strasburg, where we saw a variety of finely preserved locomotives and rolling stock.
Among the most interesting and unusual pieces on display was Reading Company 800, a perfect example of an overhead electric multiple unit car that once operated on suburban lines in the Philadelphia area.
Of the thousands of locomotives and railcars preserved across the United States, there are relatively few electric multiple units in their as-built condition, which is what makes this display so unusual.
I got a kick out of seeing this car again because it is a Reading Company car and thus relates to our model railroad enterprise in Kris’s basement (although we don’t delve into electrified territory on the wee pike.)
Working with the Amtrak/Via Real Time Live Map ap (https://asm.transitdocs.com), I was able to pinpoint within a few minutes when Amtrak 654 eastbound from Harrisburg would pass Gap, Pennsylvania, where Kris and I were waiting for the train.
This Amtrak train featured a short push-pull consist with a former Budd-Metroliner cab control car at the east end and ACS-64 625 at the back.
Amtrak 654 eastbound on the former Pennsyvlania Railroad at Gap, PA.Siemens-built ACS-64 number 625 pushes at the rear of the train.
To stop the action, I set my Nikon Z6 at 1/2000th of a second and exposed bursts of photos as the train zipped by us.
During our tour of the East Broad Top Railroad last week (March 2022), I made a variety of atmospheric interpretive images inside the old shop buildings at Orbisonia, Pennsylvania.
The railroad has done an amazing job of shoring up these 19th century structures, while retaining their rustic character.
I last visited these shops in 1997! A quarter century ago.
These photos were exposed with my Nikon Z6 digital camera.
Last week on our visit to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Kris and I called into the gift shop where we discovered that my latest book, How Steam Locomotives Work, is now on sale!
It was a great thrill to see my new book in person.
My late friend Jim Shaughnessy exposed the cover photo.
These days when I think of ‘The Millie,’ it is Conway Scenic’s RDC 23 that comes to mind.
The other Millie is much older. And that is East Broad Top’s Baldwin 2-8-2 No 12.
Last week Kris and I were given a tour of the East Broad Top facilities at Rock Hill Furnace, Orbisonia, Pennsylvania and I was reacquainted with Millie, a locomotive I hadn’t seen or photographed in nearly 25 years.
I made this view using my Nikon Z6 digital camera.
Strasburg Rail Road’s former Canadian National Railway 2-6-0 made for a stunning silhouette against a late winter sky.
Gauging the exposure for these contrasty scenes requires a bit of interpretation.
Since the locomotive is black, I allow it to fall into the shadows, and instead concentrate on retaining detail in the highlight areas of the sky.
This is most effectively accomplished by making test images and studying the histogram that shows pixel distribution across the exposure range. With this tool I aim to avoid excessive over exposure in the highlight areas.
Then in post processing, I work with Lightroom to re-balanace the image by lightening shadow areas and controlling highlight detail.
Below are three examples providing variation on a theme.
Strasburg Rail Road’s evening Wine & Cheese train made for a stunning sunset subject as it climbed the hill toward Esbenshade Road last Saturday evening (March 12, 2022).
Drifting snow had filled the cuttings, which bitterly cold temperatures made for ice crystals in the evening sky that made for colorful lighting effects as the sun reached the horizon.
I braved a steady frosty wind to made these photos with my Nikon Z6 fitted with 70-200mm zoom. These images were edited from the camera NEF (RAW) files using Adobe Lightroom.
On the last weekend of Snow Train, I traveled on the headend of the first Saturday departure with engineer Wayne Duffett.
When we arrived at Attitash, New Hampshire, which is the western terminus of Snow Train, I hopped off Conway Scenic’s GP38 255.
Since Conway Scenic doesn’t normally run west of Attitash until much later in the season, the line was still covered with snow beyond the limits of the railroad’s excursion operation.
I used the opportunity to show the train with the Attitash ski area in the distance to the right.
Exposed Digitally using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Nikkor lens.
Late season snow blanketed the ground and was still falling, when Kris & I caught former Canadian National Railways 2-6-0 number 89 leading the return run from Paradise.
Paradise, Pennsylvania, that is. We were set up near near Black Horse Road in Strasburg.
I made this photo on Saturday (March 12, 2022); but by Monday the grass was green and the birds were chirping.
Exposed digitally using my Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera with f2.8 70-200mm Z-series Zoom lens, set at f10, 1/1250th of a second, ISO 200. RAW image adjusted for contrast and exposure using Adobe Lightroom.
