Tag Archives: #7470

Tips and Technique

Telephoto of Steam!

Yesterday (September 3, 2022), Kris and I stopped in at Conway, NH to observe the arrival of the morning train led by steam locomotive 7470.

This is the last weekend of regularly scheduled steam service for the summer season and I wanted to make a few photos and catch up with steam locomotive engineer Wayne Duffett.

I made these photos of the 7470 and crew at Conway using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom. By working with the variable focal length telephoto I was able to quickly compose images of the crew and their locomotive.

All images were exposed in the NEF (RAW) format, imported into Adobe Lightroom for adjustment, and exported as JPGs for internet display.

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Tips and Technique

7470 with Nikon Zoom

On Sunday, July 31, 2022, I used my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom to focus on the details of Conway Scenic Railroad’s 7470 and its crew,

Locomotive engineer Wayne Duffett was at the throttle of the 101-year old Canadian-built 0-6-0.

I worked with the Nikon NEF RAW files in Lightroom to get the maximum amount of detail in shadows and highlights while maintaining good contrast overall.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Lumix and the Locomotive

Does equipment make a difference?

When I started producing Tracking the Light a decade ago, my thought was to offer very detailed essays focused on photographic technique, processes, and how to make the most of specific pieces of equipment.

My format has since morphed into something less detailed and more visual.

I often carry my Lumix LX7 digital camera because it is compact, lightweight and yet has the ability to make exceptionally sharp photos that I can use in books and magazines.

Yesterday, I made these images with the LX7 of Conway Scenic steam locomotive 7470. I used some photos for the company Facebook page and hope to use them in advertising.

Although these photos were scaled, what you see here are the in-Camera JPGs without significant alteration to color, contrast, exposure or sharpness.

If I were working with a different digital camera system, how might that have changed my results?

Yesterday, I also exposed some Ektachrome of 7470 using my 30-year old Nikon F3 with f1.8 105mm lens.

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Steam on the Conway Branch!

Yesterday morning (July 23, 2022), Kris and I timed our visit to Allens Siding Road to perfectly coincide with the operation of Conway Scenic Railroad steam locomotive 7470 on the 915am Conway train.

I’d scoped this location out the day before (featured in yesterday’s post) just make sure it was the best place to picture the steam locomotive working.

We arrived a minute before the eastbound train passed. (Conway Scenic timetable 34 predicates all movements on a east-west axis. Conway being the further station East and Hazens being the furthest west, without consideration for the compass).

After the eastward train passed, we had about a 20 minute wait for the return.

Engineer Wayne Duffett made a good show climbing the grade west from the Swift River Bridge.

All photos were exposed using my Nikon Z6 with a 24-70mm Z-series zoom and adjusted for contrast and color balance using Adobe Lightroom.

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Steam on the Radio

Yesterday, July 1, 2022, I organized a broadcast at Conway Scenic Railroad by Lakes FM 101.5 and the Hawk 104.9 FM. In conjunction with this, I invited Ben and Danny of the band Eastwood Station to play some original music, and asked Conway Scenic general manager Dave Swirk if he could bring out steam locomotive 7470 to sound its whistle live on air.

It was a very successful day at North Conway!

In between radio spots, I made these photos with my Nikon Z6, some of which I put up on the railroad’s facebook, while recording the musicians and steam locomotive with digital video.

The railroad hopes to have the steam locomotive out of the roundhouse and under steam for display and training over the 4th of July weekend.

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7470 Under Steam

For Father’s Day, Sunday June 19, 2022, Conway Scenic Railroad brought steam locomotive 7470 out of the roundhouse under steam for display and training.

Presently, Conway Scenic is training a new generation of firemen to help work on the locomotive.

More than 600 people came down last sunday to see the locomotive. This engine should be on display again today, Saturday June 25, 2022.

I made these photos with my Nikon Z6 digital camera for display on the company’s Facebook and Instagram pages and for distribution to the media.

The railroad hopes to operate this 101-year old 0-6-0 type locomotive this summer in exursion service.

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Announcements

EXTRA!! The Engine that Saved Itself.


LUCKY BREAK!

This morning (January 2, 2022) a fire started in the cab of Conway Scenic Railroad’s steam locomotive 7470.

At this point the cause is believed to have stemmed from a fault with the engine radio. The fire damaged a spring in the whistle valve that set off the engine whistle. The shrieking whistle alerted our steam locomotive mechanic who called 911.

I was called shortly after 6am and proceeded to the roundhouse where I made these photos in my capacity as Manager of Marketing & Events for Conway Scenic Railroad.


While there is minor damage to engine 7470’s cab and minimal damage to the 1874-built roundhouse, the situation could have been much worse. You could write a story: ‘The engine that saved itself!”
Thanks to the North Conway Fire Department and everyone that assisted in preventing spread of the fire.


Conway Scenic’s ‘New Year’s Special to Sawyer River’ will proceed as advertised. Motive power will be former Maine Central diesels.
Boarding is at 12 noon today (January 2, 2022).

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Tips and Technique

Steam Twilight—7470 on the Three Percent.

Last night (December 30, 2021) Conway Scenic Railroad took 0-6-0 number 7470 for a test run.

The locomotive with crew and mechanics operated within the North Conway yard limits to the ‘Bottom of the Hill’ and returned up the three percent grade to North Conway station.

This was the first run of the steam locomotive since its repairs, and the first time it has been under steam since January (2021).

I was making a video sequence using my Nikon Z6. The camera allows for medium-resolution Jpg still photographs to be captured simultaneously with video.

This 1 MB image was exposed early in my extended video sequence. Minor adjustments to exposure and contrast were implemented in post processing.

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photography

WInter Steam! Round 3; Using the Z6 at Second Iron.

On Saturday, January 2, 2021, I limited my photo arsenal to just three cameras.

For this view of the Conway Scenic Railroad’s Winter Steam crossing the Saco River at ‘Second Iron,’ I was used my Nikon Z6.

I made some nominal modifications to the camera raw file (NEF) using Adobe Lightroom. Specifically, I lightened the shadow areas, brought down the highlights, while whitening the whites to help separate the steam from the sky and keep the snow looking clean and fresh. I also slightly increased saturation since the RAW capture appeared a bit dull.

Locomotive 7470 was reversing over the bridge after making its first run-by for the photographers on the trip.

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Winter Steam! Round 2 the RAW files.

As a follow up to yesterday’s post, I’ve included a second selection of photos exposed with my FujiFilm XT1 of last Saturday’s Winter Steam event at Conway Scenic Railroad. (See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/2021/01/04/winter-steam-round-1/)

Yesterday, I presented images scaled directly from the Camera produced JPG files.

To make the most of the images presented in today’s post, I imported my Fuji RAW files into Iridient X-Transformer for conversion into the DNG format, and then imported the DNG conversions into Adobe Lightroom for adjustment.

As previously described on Tracking the Light Iridient X-Transformer does a superior job of interpreting the data captured in RAW by the Fuji X-series camera than simply importing the RAWs directly into Lightroom.

Using the Lightroom sliders I made nominal adjustments to contrast, color temperature, and exposure in order improve the interpretation of the photographs.

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Steam Over the Saco.

The book High Green and the Bark Peelers describes this then-new bridge (built c1949) which had replaced a traditional wooden covered bridge.

The other day, I walked along the banks of the Saco River in Conway, NH to make this view of Conway Scenic Railroad’s 7470 on its northward run in freshly fallen snow.

The original image was exposed as NEF (Raw file) with my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera. I imported the file into Adobe Lightroom to make nominal adjustments to color, exposure and contrast. This allowed me to make the most of the directional winter lighting.

Although a largely monochromatic scenic, this is actually a full color photograph. Perhaps I should return one of these days with a film camera?

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Steam at Second River Run!

Yesterday (Saturday, December 26, 2020) Conway Scenic Railroad fired up and operated steam locomotive 7470 for the first time since January.

The 1921-built 0-6-0 made three public runs, two to Conway and its last run of the day to Bartlett over the former Maine Central Mountain Division.

Cool temperatures made for stunning displays of locomotive exhaust.

Wayne Duffett was at the throttle of 7470 working it west at Second River Run in Bartlett, NH in these photos made toward the end of the day.

All were exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens. Working with the camera RAW (NEF format) files in Adobe Lightroom, I made a variety of adjustments to improve overall appearance.

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Tips and Technique

Conway Scenic 7470 Gone Retro—August 2019.

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Last night, I was inspecting scans of some black & white negatives from last summer that are stored on my hard drive.

These are some photos from a Sunday morning in early August at North Conway, New Hampshire of locomotive 7470.

All of these are from a roll of Fuji Acros 100, exposed with a Nikon F3 with 50mm lens and processed with split-bath/multi-stage development using a weak bath of HC110 followed by Rodinal for primary development.

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Steam in the Snow!

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Yesterday, January 4, 2020, Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts Inc., operated its famous Steam in the Snow event at the Conway Scenic Railroad from North Conway to Notchland, New Hampshire.

Locomotive 7470 was the star of the show.

Several photo run bys were organized to allow travelers on the train to make photos and enjoy watching the locomotive in action.

Conway Scenic’s President and General Manager Dave Swirk was at the throttle of the steam locomotive.

As a representative of Conway Scenic, I traveled on the train for part of its journey and documented people enjoying the event.

This view at Notchland, shows Mass Bay RRE’s photo line up during the first of three staged runbys at this location.

Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens mounted on a Bogen tripod.

More to come!

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Conway Scenic 7470 Switching in the North Yard—four photos.

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At the end of June 2019, I exposed a few frames of Ilford HP5 using an old Nikkormat FTN with 105mm Nikkor Lens of Conway Scenic’s 0-6-0 7470 working the North Yard at North Conway, New Hampshire.

Following my normal presoak procedure; I processed the film using Ilford ID-11 mixed 1-1 with water for 6 minutes 15 secs at 70F.

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