Tag Archives: #073

photography

Irish Rail 073 at The Box

It was like old times again! Last week, Irish Rail’s General Motors diesel 073 in retro paint was working the down IWT Liner (Dublin North Wall to Ballina, County Mayo).

I’d met fellow photographer Jay Monaghan along Dublin’s St Johns Road. The sun had cleared away the clouds, and while I went to the famous ‘Box’ that overlooked the wall, Jay took a position closer to track level.

In my Nikon F3, I had a fresh roll of Kodak Ektachrome 100. I fitted the camera with a telephoto lens to make a classic photo, portrait format to feature the Wellington Testimonial. As the liner came around the corner at Islandbridge Junction, I exposed a couple of color slides, and then popped off a sequence of digital photos with my Lumix LX7.

After long last, I was photographing a freight from my old spot.

These digital photos were made in April 2022, but they reminded me of my efforts from years gone by! (I sent the slides in for processing on Monday and hope to get them back next week).

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photography

Irish Rail 071s at Islandbridge Junction—Two Photos on 14 March 2019.

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A little while ago I made this pair of photos at Islandbridge Junction in Dublin.

In a repeat of a few weeks back clouds were racing across the sky making for wild changes in the quality of light from moment to moment.

First up was today’s (14 March 2019) IWT Liner from Dublin’s North Wall to Ballina, County Mayo. This had 073 in retro orange. A few minutes later, Irish Rail 080 came around with an empty LWR (Long welded rail train).

The clouds foiled my first effort. But breaks in the cloud allowed for respectable telephoto view of the LWR. On the downside, my 50mm colour slide of same won’t be as impressive as the clouds quickly dampened the light again.

Such are the challenges of photographing moving trains in Ireland.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Bad Luck with the Belmond!

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Two Sunday Mornings in a row I walked up to the line with an aim of catching an 071 class locomotive in heritage paint leading Belmond’s Grand Hiberniancruise train on its run from Dublin Connolly to Waterford.

Two Sundays, two locations, two heritage locomotives (numbers 073 and 071 respectively), and two different Irish Rail scheduled trains that got in my way.

Gosh, bad luck!

In both instances, I came away with different photos than I’d set out to make.

Irish Rail 073 leads Belmond’s Grand Hibernian in Dublin on 2 September 2018. An Irish Rail intercity rail car destined for Heuston Station is stopped at a red signal. Bad luck! The Belmond train was running a few minutes behind the advertised.

Bright sun, fluffy clouds, elevation, all the elements for a calendar perfect image. Oh no, an ICR! Shoo shoo!

Well, that didn’t work out as hoped! But then again, I have a zillion photos here anyway.

My question: might these photos age well? Perhaps the intrusion of the ROTEM ICRs may make these photographs more interesting in years to come?

 

I’m not one to get overly excited when a photo opportunity doesn’t work as planned. Sometimes it’s best to just keep making photos when a scene plays out.

PSSSST! (I also made some sneaky 35mm slides that may make the most of both situations).

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Tips and Technique

I stood here for what? Fool in the Rain: Irish Weather Part 2.

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Having a little information can be a dangerous thing.

Irish Rail’s 073 in heritage paint was working the IWT  liner.

It’s just a short walk to Islandbridge Junction.

In theory, if I timed my walk right I wouldn’t have to wait more than a couple of minutes.

And then for reasons unknown, Irish Rail held the IWT Liner in the Phoenix Park tunnel for 20 minutes. Twenty minutes seems like eternity when some fool is waiting in the rain.

Was it worth it?

Exposed digitally using a FujiFilm XT1 with f2.0 90mm lens. (f2.5 1/500 second at ISO 400)

Screen shot showing camera EXIF data.

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Tips and Technique

Irish Rail 073 in Heritage Paint at Dublin’s North Wall.

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Irish Rail 073 was repainted in 2017 into heritage orange paint.

When I arrived in Ireland 20 years ago, most locomotives were in some variation of this orange-livery. Today, 073 is a novelty.

The bright orange with white trimming makes for a great subject, even on cloudy days since its stands out well from the background.

I made these views last week at Dublin’s North Wall of the arriving IWT Liner.

FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.

FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.

FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.

FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.

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photography

11 Photos of the Emerald Isle Express at Connolly Station, Dublin.

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Monday, 25 September 2017 saw the launch of this year’s week-long Emerald Isle Express sponsored by Railtours Ireland.

 The train consisted of Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s preserved Cravens carriages hauled by Irish Rail class 071 locomotive number 073 recently repainted in a heritage orange livery.

It was a fine bright morning and I made these photos from Platform 5 at Connolly Station using my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm digital cameras.

Irish Rail 073 arrives on platform 5 with the train for the Emerald Isle Express.

Railtours Ireland greeted its passengers in style. Photo exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera fitted with a 90mm f2.0 lens.

Photo exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera fitted with a 27mm f2.8 lens.

Photo exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera fitted with a 90mm f2.0 lens.

Detailed view of Irish Rail 073 in retro paint. Photo exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera fitted with a 90mm f2.0 lens.

Lumix LX7 photo, colour and contrast adjusted in post-processing.

Photo exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera fitted with a 90mm f2.0 lens.

Lumix LX7 photo.

Lumix LX7 photo.

Photo exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera fitted with a 90mm f2.0 lens.

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