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Peach Bottom by the Light of the Moon

Kris suggested we take an evening drive to see if we could find a freight on the move.

In recent months, we’ve explored Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch, and based on the times we’ve caught eastward trains on the move, I thought Peach Bottom, Pa., might offer a good place to roll a train by.

The moon was nearly full and relatively high in the sky when we arrived. I parked near the public boat launch near the Susquehanna River, shut the car off, and listened . . .

“Do you hear that? We have a freight coming!”

What luck!

I set up my 3Pod tripod and attached my Nikon Z6-III with 1.4 50mm and made a few test photos as the distant roar became louder and more pronounced.

Test photo: Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch as seen by moonlight along the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River at Peachbottom. Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, ISO 100.

After a few minutes, we saw the headlight of the approaching train.

My camera was set at f1.4, at 1/60th of second with ISO64000, and I made some trailing views. This appeared to be one of the Consol Energy unit coal trains and featured a mid-train DPU.

I focused on the grade crossing to make a photo of a former Conrail coal hopper. I think that it’s pretty neat that after all these years, Conrail-painted hoppers survive in service.

When I got home, I processed the NEF RAW files with DxO PureRaw to remove noise and correct lens defects.

Norfolk Southern unit coal train on Port Road Branch by the light of the moon; Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, 1/60th of a second, ISO 64,000, NEF Raw file processed using PureRaw.
Norfolk Southern unit coal train on Port Road Branch by the light of the moon; Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, 4 seconds, ISO 400, NEF Raw file processed using PureRaw.
Norfolk Southern unit coal train passing Peachbottom on the Port Road Branch; Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, 1/80th of a second, ISO 64,000, NEF Raw file processed using PureRaw.

Tracking the Light explores railroad night photography!