Sunday, I featured a photo of Connecticut Southern’s southward road freight crossing the old New haven Railroad bridge over the Farmington River at Windsor.
Today’s photo is of the same structure, but in the morning from the east side.
Amtrak train 147 at Windsor, Connecticut. Exposed with a FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.
This classic bridge is easily accessible with good parking, which makes it a nice place to catch trains on the Springfield-Hartford-New Haven Line (now marketed by CT Rail as the ‘Hartford Line’).
Brian Solomon is Traveling: Tracking the Light Normally Posts Daily
The other evening at the modern Amtrak station in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, Trains Magazine’s Brian Schmidt and I set up to photograph Hiawatha Corridor trains during their station stops.
The southward train arrived first, and featured one of the former F40PH diesels, now a cab-control/baggage car in the lead. These are colloquially known as ‘cabbages’, and this one was painted to honor American veterans.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 and 27mm lens, I set the camera to ISO 6400 and panned the train as it arrived to allow for the effect of motion.
Friday afternoon January 18, 2019, Trains Magazine’s Brian Schmidt and I visited Duplainville, Wisconsin to catch Amtrak’s westward Empire builder, train number 7, as it split the signals in a snow squall.
Amtrak P42 50 leads train number 7 west at Duplainville, Wisconsin.
I was delighted to see that the Milwaukee Road-vintage searchlight signals that I remember from my days in Wisconsin (now more than two decades ago) are still active.
The third locomotive in the Builder’s consist was the elusive Amtrak 156, ‘the bloody nose’—so named for its wearing of the 1970s-era Amtrak paint scheme.
I exposed these views using my FujiFilm X-T1 with 90mm f2.0 telephoto. White balance set to ‘daylight’.
Local photographers had gathered for Amtrak’s daily passing.
Amtrak 156 is one of several ‘heritage’ locomotives wearing paint schemes from years gone by..
I had almost an hour at 30thStreet Station, Philadelphia while waiting for Amtrak 94 from Washington.
This magnificent former Pennsylvania Railroad Station offers a mix of classical and modern railroading.
Wandering with my ‘new’ Lumix LX7, I made this selection of hand-held digital photographs.
Of special interest was the old Solari board used to display arrival and departure information. This was under repair/adjustment. I’ve heard that it may be soon retired.
Many years ago, my old pal T.S. Hoover and I would make a project of photographing the old New Haven Railroad during the holiday season.
This past New Years Eve (December 31 2018), I maintained this tradition, although that wasn’t my intent!
I was transferring from Amtrak 405 from Springfield to Amtrak 195 from Boston. Let’s just say the Boston train wasn’t holding to the advertised and I had ample time to wander around and make photographs of the passing action.
New Haven isn’t pretty, high level platforms combined with a plethora of poles, catenary masts, catenary, signs, garbage, stray wires and other visual clutter hasn’t improved this classic setting, but there’s a great variety of equipment on the move.
Shoreline East lurking on left, CT Rail Hartford Line on right; FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.CT Rail Hartford Line train. Lumix LX7 photo.Shoreline East train with a former Amtrak P40 at the back departs eastward for Old Saybrook. FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.Metro North M8s on left, old M2s on the right. FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens..
No GG1s, RDCs, FL9s, E8s or other relics that made this a fascinating place when I was a teenager. For that matter there weren’t any E60s, AEM-7s, F40s or SPV-2000s either.
Boston-bound Acela Express. Lumix LX7 photo.
Boston-bound Acela Express. FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.
Back in October 2018, I reported how my old Lumix LX7 suffered a failure owning to being drowned two days in a row.
Later I reported how I resuscitated the camera by leaving it in a zip lock bag with rice for four days in an effort to dry it out.
For two months the camera struggled on.
In the mean time my old friend Ken Buck offered to sell me his rarely used LX7.
Last week I took him up on the offer, as my original LX7 had finally reached the end of its usefulness.
The other day, I put the ‘new’ Lumix LX7 to the test and made these photos of Amtrak 57, the Saturday southward Vermonter making its station stop at Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
Low sun is a key to dramatic railway photos, and shortly before the train arrived, the clouds parted.
This is now my third Lumix LX-series camera. My first was a LX3, that I used from October 2009 to April 2014; my second was the ‘Zombie Lumix’ previously described. Long live my third Lumix!
Well I can tick off this state. December 16, 2018, I made my first ever photo on the ground in Alabama, when I got off the Crescent during its station stop.
Using the rear display extended, I held my FujiFilm XT1 low to the platform for this dynamic angle of Amtrak P42 126 that was leading train 19 southward toward New Orleans.
Ten minutes later I was in the diner and on the roll southward again.
On Saturday evening, December 15, 2018 we had almost 45 minutes to wander around the platform at Washington Union Station as Amtrak changed engines on train 19, the Crescent bound for New Orleans.
Rain, mist and artificial light made for some atmosphere.
I exposed these views hand-held using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.
I’m uploading the photos live from the train at Charlottesville, Virginia for a scheduled posting on Tracking the Light on Sunday morning December 16, 2018.
This evening we boarded Amtrak’s Crescent, train 19,at Wilmington, Delaware.
Although, dull and about to drizzle, I made this late afternoon photos at the former Pennsylvania Railroad station using my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm XT1.’
Lumix LX7 photo at Wilmington, Delaware.Amtrak train 156; Lumix LX7 photo at Wilmington, Delaware.Amtrak ACS64 651 on train 156; Lumix LX7 photo at Wilmington, Delaware.Train 161 at Wilmington, Delaware. Lumix LX7 photo.Wilmington, Delaware. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak’s Crescent at Wilmington. FujiFilm XT-1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit.Viewliner sleepers on Amtrak’s Crescent at Wilmington. FujiFilm XT-1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit.Hall of mirrors! FujiFilm XT-1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit.
I’ve adjusted the camera RAW files in Lightroom to boost color saturation and contrast in an effort to improve the overall appearance of the photos.
Last night a damp inky gloom greeted us as we alighted from Amtrak’s Vermonter at the former Pennsylvania Railroad station at Wilmington, Delaware.
A SEPTA Silverliner V electric multiple unit set sat on the opposite platforms waiting to depart for Philadelphia.
I made several exposures with my Lumix LX7. Working with the RAW files in Lightroom, I maximize the amount of visual information in the photos by lightening shadows and darkening highlights while adjusting contrast and color saturation.
Amtrak’s Vermonter is one of a few trains that still changes engines at New Haven, as result of it running through from non-electrified territory to the north.
In the case of Amtrak 55, the common GE-built P42 diesel (number 192) was exchanged for a Siemens-built ACS-64 high-voltage electric.
Amtrak added a coach to the front of the train too. A wise move considering how crowded this train is.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1, I set the camera to ISO 1600 and the white balance to ‘auto’, and made some photos from the platform during our 24-minute pause at New Haven Union Station.
Many years ago, my late friend Bob Buck recalled to me a story of a child gazing out the window at the steam, smoke and wires, “Pa, is this hell?” “No son, this is New Haven!”
The train is now approaching its station stop at Meriden, Connecticut.
It was announced that from Hartford the train was completely sold out. Thus demonstrating that old adage no one rides trains anymore because they’re too crowded!
I exposed these photos with my FujFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.
As we roll along, the files were downloaded to my MacBook using Image Capture software, scaled for internet using Lightroom, and uploaded via Amtrak’s WiFi to WordPress for presentation on Tracking the Light.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily, and sometimes more than once!
Heading east on the back of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited, I exposed these views from the dutch doors of Silver Splendorat Rochester, New York on its cross country journey.
Photographer, Otto Vondrak caught us at the Rochester station, a place much changed from my visits here in the 1980s.
A westward CSX local meets Amtrak in Rochester, New York. Lumix LX7 photo.FujiFilm XT1 photo of a westward CSX local freight.FujiFilm XT1 photo of a westward CSX local freight.
CSX local at Goodman Street Yard in Rochester. FujiFilm XT1.Amtrak 48 at Goodman Street Yard, Rochester, New York.
Seeing the ‘new’ Rochester from the windows of the train was a bit surreal.
In recent months, Chicago Metra has been painting its older EMD diesels in a modern livery.
My first experience seeing these old engines in new dress was approaching Chicago Union Station on Amtrak number 4.
I made these views ‘on the fly’ from the dutch door of former Burlington Vista Dome Silver Splendor(nee Silver Buckle) that was rolling over old home rails on the last lap of the run from Los Angeles.
I worked with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a 18-135mm zoom lens, which gave me necessary compositional flexibly as the scenes rapidly changed.
Rolling east on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, I made a variety of photos of BNSF freights from the train as we crossed Missouri on the way from Kansas City to Chicago.
Here we have one view from a Superliner, one from the dutch door of Silver Splendor and one from that car’s panoramic dome.
Over taking an eastward freight as viewed from Silver Splendor’s dome. FujiFilm XT1 photo.
FujiFilm XT1 photo from the dutch door. A BNSF westward stack near Bosworth, Missouri.
Along the Mississippi near Ft Madison, Iowa, the view from an Amtrak Superliner. FujiFilm XT1 photo.
These days the only regular trains to use the old Santa Fe Raton Pass crossing are Amtrak 3 and 4, the Southwest Chief. The days of helpers over the three percent are all but a memory.
This day two weeks ago: Arriving on No.4, we had more than ten minutes at Raton to stretch our legs and take in the mountain air.
I used the opportunity to make some twilight images of Silver Splendor, the Budd-built Vista-Dome that I was traveling on.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 and Zeiss 12mm Touit lens, I exposed several views in the blue glow of evening. Dusk is a great time to balance the light inside the passenger car with outside illumination.
Between Albuquerque and Raton Pass (on the New Mexico-Colorado state line) I counted three bastions of Union Switch & Signal style-T2 upper quadrant semaphores on our journey over the former Santa Fe in Vista-Dome Silver Splendor.
I watched the blades drop from the vertical as we passed—a scene I’d not witnessed for many years.
The view of a semaphore dropping from ‘clear’ to ‘stop and proceed’ as seen from Vista Dome Silver Splendor on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief.
Lumix LX7 photo near Las Vegas, New Mexico.
East of Las Vegas, New Mexico. FujiFilm XT1 photo.
FujiFilm XT1 photo.
FujiFilm XT1 photo.
In 2018, these signals represent the last large collections of active semaphores on any North American mainline.
The Style T2 was detailed in my book Classic Railroad Signals in a sidebar titled ‘Sante Fe Semaphores Survive in New Mexico’ by John Ryan and the late John Gruber.
Last week, I awoke to sunrise east of Flagstaff, Arizona riding in Budd Vista Dome Silver Splendor as it traveled east on Amtrak no.4, the Southwest Chief.
The luxurious 1956-built stainless steel dome is a classic car from America’s streamlined era.
It was on its way to a new home on the East coast after years being based in California.
The pleasure of traveling in a Vista Dome is enjoying its comfortable elevated panoramic view of the passing scenery. An added bonus on BNSF’s former Santa Fe Transcon is the unceasing parade of freights.
Sunrise on the Santa Fe east of Flagstaff, Arizona on November 18, 2018. Notice the headlight of an approaching BNSF freight.
Sunrise on the Santa Fe east of Flagstaff, Arizona on November 18, 2018.
Overtaking an eastward BNSF freight east of Dennison, Arizona. 90mm view.
Rolling east at Winslow, Arizona. 90mm view from Silver Splendor.
These images were exposed digitally using my FujiFilm X-T1. Some of the photos were adjusted in post processing to compensate for the dome’s tinted glass.
Saturday evening, November 17, 2018, Amtrak’s Southwest Chief—train number 4—made its scheduled station stop at Fullerton, California, its first after departing Los Angeles Union Station.
Budd Vista Dome Silver Splendor was in consist on its big trip east.
The dome was met by some of its California fans who waited trackside to see it off on its journey.
Silver Splendor was making the trek to its new home on the East Coast after many years entertaining travelers in the West.
Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, train no.4, pauses at Fullerton, California.
Former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Budd-built Vista Dome on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief at Fullerton, California on November 17, 2018.
Fullerton, California.
A view East on the old Santa Fe at Fullerton. Seven hours earlier I’d been making photos from that footbridge.
I exposed these views hand-held using my FujiFilm X-T1.
Tracking the Light Posts Everyday, sometimes twice!
Last week, working with my FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens, I exposed these digital photos of one of California’s most modern, and most impressive railway stations.
This is such an impressive looking building that I drove past it while I was trying to find it!
Slightly diffused mid-morning sun made for nearly ideal lighting to make the most of this facility.
Would front lighting make for a better photo?
Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center is abbreviated ‘ARTIC’.
Backlit diffused sun with overhead skylights made for a difficult exposure.
View with a 12mm Touit lens.
Footbridge to go from the station building to the Metrolink platforms.
On the afternoon of November 14, 2018, I exposed this view from the east bank of the Connecticut River looking across toward Windsor Locks as Amtrak’s northward Vermonter crossed the circa 1906 New Haven Railroad-built bridge.
To help balance the contrast and better retain detail in the sky, I used an external graduated neutral density filter made by Lee Filter.
This is a 0.9ND or three stops grad filter.
In addition, I adjusted the camera RAW file to maximize highlight and shadow detail, control contrast and improve saturation.
Sometimes the classic view is too good to pass up.
The other day clear sunny skies led Mike Gardner and me to West Warren, Massachusetts to catch Amtrak’s westward Lake Shore Limited passing the old mills along the Quaboag River.
This is a scene I’ve often photographed.
Here I worked with my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens with the camera set for a Velvia color profile.
Amtrak train 449, the Lake Shore Limited, as seen passing West Warren, Massachusetts in November 2018.
Brian Solomon sits down with Trains’ passenger columnist Bob Johnston and retired Amtrak engineer Craig Willett to talk about the national passenger carrier. This is the second in a multi-part conversation that began in Episode 2.
Here’s a thoroughly today scene: An Amtrak Midwest Siemens Charger at Milwaukee’s Intermodal Terminal.
Diffused afternoon sun works well with the geometry of the station’s architecture and the curves and lines of the Siemens Charger.
Using my FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with a 12mm Zeiss Touit, I opted for a skewed angle that accentuates this modern scene. In post processing, I adjusted contrast and color balance.
In the mid-1930s, Milwaukee Road introduced its high-speed streamlined Hiawatha on its Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities route where elegant purpose-built shrouded 4-4-2 and 4-6-4 Alco steam locomotives whisked trains along in excess of 110mph.
Today, Amtrak’s Hiawathas have Siemens Chargers on the Milwaukee end, and former F40PH Control-Cab/baggage cars, known as ‘Cabbages’ on the Chicago-end.
While Amtrak provides an excellent corridor service, today top speed is just 79mph.
I can’t help but think that as a nation we’ve lost the plot on this one.
We went from elegant, fast steam streamliners to this?
Panning my Fujifilm XT1 plus 27mm lens in parallel with Amtrak’s fast moving Hiawatha has allowed for the effect of speed and motion. ISO 200, 1/125thof a second. Note: that my shutter speed wasn’t especially slow.
Heavy rain had given the ground a lacquer-like gloss.
Chris Guss and I had arrived at Sturtevant, Wisconsin to roll by an Amtrak train. (Featured the other day in: FIRST ENCOUNTER: AMTRAK CHARGER.
While waiting for the northward train. I made a series of photographs of Amtrak’s relatively new Sturtevant station. I’ve always liked the effect of a twilight sky, when the blue light of evening nearly matches the intensity of electric lighting.
Fujifilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit at ISO 2000.
greater color saturation and contrast applied in post processing.
Here, I worked with my Zeiss 12mm Touit lens. This is flat-field lens, so keeping the lens level, minimizes perspective distortion.
I was without my small tripod, and I used the camera handheld at a low angle. To make use of the reflections of the station in the parking lot.
I set the ISO to 2000. Here are two post-processing variations of the Camera RAW file that feature different contrast curves.
I was curious to experience one of these new locomotives.
The Siemens-built Charger is powered by a Cummins diesel and has a European appearance.
Among their Amtrak assignments is the Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha corridor.
I waited on the platform at the new Sturtevant, Wisconsin station. The eerie blue glow of the locomotive’s LED headlights could be seen reflecting off the rails long before the train arrived at the station.
Working with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit, I set the ISO to 6400 and panned the train arriving at 1/30thof a second at f2.8.
To better balance the color and keep contrast under control, I modified the camera RAW file in Lightroom to produce this internet suitable JPG.
Here’s a screen shot of the camera-produced JPG with EXIF data for comparison.
