In May 1985, I was on the last leg of a two-week railroad trip.

I’d used up most of my film making photos of trains at a variety of destinations and stopovers from Atlanta, to Cumberland, Chicago and Toronto.

On this final bright morning, I rolled by the action at Dorval in suburban Montreal.

Although I still had a few frames of 120 black & white film left in my father’s Rolleiflex, along with some Kodachrome 64 loaded in my Leica 3A, I opted to make this image on 35mm black & white film using a spare Leica fitted with an old Elmar lens with antiquated coatings. While sharp, the lens was poorly suited to modern image-making. Complicating matters, I did a poor job processing the film.

My results were flat, grainy, and uninspired. I wish I’d used the tools at hand to make a better photograph of this VIA Rail LRC—an MLW-powered tilting train, the likes of which I’m unlikely ever to see again.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!