Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera with 18-135mm lens at 135mm.
This train originated in Boston the night before. I recall in the 1980s, when this run used to be named the Night Owl. Back in those times it ran Boston-Washington and carried a sleeping car.
At some point it was re-named the Twilight Shoreliner and carried a Viewliner. These days it’s the nameless train 67, which runs from Boston to Newport News, Virginia., sans Viewliner.
It’s a pity there’s no Amtrak sleeping car service overnight on the Corridor anymore.
Doug Riddell provided this location for Pat Yough and me during our Virginia-tour in early June. Eleven years earlier, Doug and I photographed a CSX coal train from nearly the same spot.
Yesterday’s post (see: A Thoroughbred versus a Heron) featured a series of photos of a Norfolk Southern freight on the lift bridge in the foreground that were made just a few minutes before I exposed this image.
Amtrak’s Autotrain (trains 52/53) is one of America’s most unusual daily services. This runs non-stop between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, Florida and is designed as a passenger/auto ferry.
It is Amtrak’s longest and heaviest train. It is one of the only trains that is regularly scheduled to use the older 800-series General Electric Genesis diesel-electrics (model P40).
Because of its length and unusual motive power, it makes for an interesting subject, provided you can find a place to photograph it that conveys these attributes.
On Monday, June 8, 2015, Doug Riddell met Pat Yough and me at Ashland, Virginia. Among our goals for the day were to photograph Amtrak 52 (the northward Autotrain).
The old passenger station at Ashland, Virginia at dawn on June 8, 2015, looking south. Fujifilm X-T1 photo.The old passenger station at Ashland, Virginia at dawn on June 8, 2015, looking north. Fujifilm X-T1 photo. (White balance set to ‘daylight’ rather than ‘auto’ to enhance the effect of sunrise).Doug elaborates on his book Virginia’s Legendary Santa Trains. Lumix LX7 photo.
Based on our experience a few days earlier (see: Tracking the Light visits Ashland, Virginia—June 4, 2015) where we’d photographed the southward Autotrain in the rain, I’d suggested Ashland because of the long tangent and accessibility. Doug concurred and suggested a favorite spot near Patrick Street.
Amtrak number 53, the northward Autotrain, led by locomotives 831 and 816 at Ashland, Virginia. This train was running a on a ‘limited clear’ aspect behind a northward CSX intermodal freight. Fujifilm X-T1 with 18-135mm lens set to 135mm (telephoto). Notice the unusual grade crossing signal with the bracket arm at right.Amtrak number 53 is the longest passenger train consist in America, Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 with 18-135mm lens set to 34mm . Notice the unusual grade crossing signal with the bracket arm.
And so we waited. Good things come to those who wait! The morning was clear, and although 52 fell down a bit (it was running behind schedule), its delay benefited us greatly. Not only were we treated to a steady parade of northward trains with soft June sunlight, but the light gradually improved.
Rolling along on the old RF&P Amtrak 94 was gradually losing time as heat and slow orders conspire to ensure I get more train ride for my money.
At Washington D.C. I had to opportunity to stretch my legs and exercise my Lumix LX7 while engines were exchanged; 155 for 636.
On board Amtrak 94.Spotting a friend on the platform at Ashland! Hey Vic!Passing Amtrak P42 number 172 on the old RF&P.Train watchers at Fredericksburg.Lorton, Virginia where the Auto Train is loaded.Alexandria, Virginia as seen from Amtrak 94.DC Metro at King Street, Alexandria, Virginia.Private cars at Washington Union Station.Amtrak’s ACS-64 610 at Washington Union Station.
I’d had a ticket on Amtrak 95 for Main Street in Richmond. However, a call to my old friend Doug Riddell resulted in a change of plan.
I’ve known Doug for more than 20 years, since I was worked at Pentrex Publishing. Now Doug is retired from Amtrak and living near Ashland.
Getting off the train in the middle of the street is an experience. Especially when its raining. Doug and I had lunch at the Trackside Grill, a short walk from the station.
We positioned ourselves along the street near the passenger station to catch Amtrak’s Auto Train, which as I soon learned, still routinely runs with Amtrak’s older 800-Series Genesis diesels.
Amtrak’s Autotrain with a pair of 800-Series Genesis. Fuji X-T1 digital camera.Track speed down the street is limited to 35 mph during the day. Fuji X-T1 digital camera.Fuji X-T1 digital camera.The Auto train is Amtrak’s longest and heaviest run. Fuji X-T1 digital camera.June 4, 2015 at 6:05 pm at Ashland, Virginia. Fuji X-T1 digital camera.Amtrak 125 makes its station stop on Track 3 at Ashland, Virginia. This is one of the relatively new trains destined for Norfolk, Virginia.
The weather wasn’t the best, but there was plenty of action on the old RF&P and it was great to see Doug again.
I boarded at 30th Street Philadelphia a little while ago and just made a station stop at Wilmington, Delaware. This is leg four in my latest journey.
Main waiting room and concourse at Philadelphia 30th Street Station on June 4, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Solari board announcing train 95. We departed 8 minutes late. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak 95 arriving on track 5 at Philadelphia 30th Street Station on June 4, 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.
Engine 620, one of the new Siemens-built ACS-64 electrics is in the lead.
Today’s destination: Richmond. This weekend my plan is photograph Norfolk & Western locomotive 611. Stay tuned!
May 24, 2015, fellow photographer Tim Doherty and I aimed to intercept Amtrak 57, the southward Vermonter at Bellows Falls. Vermont. (Is there another?).
Exposed with a Fuji X-T1.
It’d been a few years since I last visited this classic railroad junction. My first visits were back in the late 1960s early 1970s, when my family would come up to experience the old Steamtown.
I was impressed to find the old three-head searchlight signal still in operation by the station. These relics are disappearing fast. I feature the searchlight among other vintage signal hardware in my new book Classic Railroad Signals now available from Voyageur Press.
Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.Amtrak station, where? Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.Searchlight signals were once common but are rapidly being replaced.Amtrak 57 makes its station stop at Bellows Falls. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.
Too often travelers today tire themselves by focusing on reaching their destination. My intention is to make getting there part of my trip and not just some necessary endurance to get where I’m going.
Newark, New Jersey’s never looked so good. I blinked and I thought I was near the Port of Rotterdam! Lumix LX7 photo June 2, 2015.
This means: Stopping off. Taking a break. Changing direction. Changing modes. Having a proper lunch. Going for a side trip. And then, eventually getting back on track.
I’m planning to intercept Norfolk & Western 611, by the way.
Mixed in with my regular Tracking the Light posts, I plan to have these ‘Special Extra Posts.’
Presently I’m near the heart of the old Pennsylvania Railroad.
Amtrak train 93 pauses on track 5 at Philadelphia 30th Street Station. LX7 photo June 2, 2015.That ad! I’m thinking: K4s Pacific, Chinese Wall, Big Shed, Gothic head house and a bit of a nasty ol’ grade—but think the oil company has other ideas. LX7 photo June 2, 2015.Amtrak number 93 at the top of the Solari Board. By the way: it was two minutes ahead of the advertised. LX7 photo June 2, 2015.Classic terminal station. LX7 photo June 2, 2015.Streetcar in the rain! SEPTA’s number 10 crosses Market Street. LX7 photo June 2, 2015.
A little while ago, I changed from Amtrak 493 to Amtrak 93. In the the ten minute interval, a Metro-North train arrived from Grand Central and Amtrak Acela (train 2154) made its station stop at the adjacent platform.
The good news, Amtrak 93 is very well patronized, with at least 40 passengers transferring from the shuttle. The bad news, I’m wedged into train 93 which was already pretty crowded. Yet it beats driving on I-95! (And is cheaper too).
Amtrak engine 111 with train 493 from Springfield. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak logo on P42 111.Metro-North M8. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak 2154 arrives at New Haven. Lumix LX7 photo.Trailing power car on 2154. Lumix LX7 photo.Acela service 2154 with trailing power car 2032, and a Shore Line East engine in the distance. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak Acela 2154 departs New Haven for Boston. Lumix LX7 photo.Amtrak AEM-7 923 (looking a bit worse for the wear, but still working!) leads train 93 at New Haven. Lumix LX7 photo.Tracking the Light on Tracking the Light. Like a view between two mirrors . . .sort of. Lumix LX7 photo.
It’s a nicer day to be on the train. A few minutes ago I boarded Amtrak train 493 (Springfield-New Haven shuttle connection to train 93).
Amtrak sign at Windsor Locks. The ‘station’ is just a short platform with a shelter.Tight view of Amtrak P42 number 111 leading train 493 as it approaches Windsor Locks, just before 11 am today.Passengers boarding. Three got on here, including myself. Another 5-6 passengers boarded at Windsor, and a good few at Hartford.Old school Amfleet; rock solid and comfortable, but the windows are kind of small. Standard Amtrak equipment.
I exposed these photos with my Lumix LX7, scaled them on-board the train using my MacBook and uploaded them on Amtrak’s free WiFi.
As I write this the train is approaching Berlin, Connecticut.
I phoned Julie—Amtrak’s automated agent, as you do when you’d like to know if a train is running on time. Amtrak 448, the Lake Shore Limited was a little more than an hour late leaving Springfield.
Dennis LeBeau, Wolfie the dog, and I waited at the bridge in East Brookfield, Massachusetts east of CP64. I said, “448 left Springfield 40 minutes ago. It’s about 25 minutes to Palmer, so it ought to be between Warren and Brookfield by now. We should be seeing a headlight in a couple of minutes.
Brookfield is milepost 66 on the old Boston & Albany. There hasn’t been a station there in my lifetime. East Brookfield is at the east end of long tangent, which provides lots of warning for eastward trains.
Dennis looked west, “There’s your headlight, just like you said.”
I wandered back and forth on the bridge trying to find the most suitable angle. Ultimately I settled on this spot to the north of the mainline. All things being equal, I wish I’d brought my Fuji X-T1; this would have made a nice 135mm view to bring in the green trees and track-ladder in the distance.
Exposed with my Lumix LX7 at f1.7 1/800th of a second, ISO 200 at 7:16pm on May 20, 2015.
Engine 48 was leading train 448 at CP 64. Got all that? Great! Too often, I have to explain the fundamental difference between an engine number and train number.
To the uninitiated this seems like a trivial difference. But to those in railroad operations it could be life or death.
Really it’s a question of hardware versus software. The locomotive is the hardware, the train is a service. Today engine 48 leads 448, but tomorrow it will lead another train with another number. On the timetable, everyday train 48 and train 448 are combined as one between Chicago and Albany. And there’s the confusing coincidence. Train 48 and locomotive 48 are different; one being a service, and the other an engine.
I was on a personal tour of Richmond hosted by my friend Doug Riddell. This was aimed at making photographs, while exploring some history of the area and the nuts and bolts of real railroading.
We paused at Richmond’s Main Street Station to make this photograph of an Amtrak train bound for Newport News. Hoppers roll by on an adjacent bridge.
I was intrigued by the technological contrast between the Genesis diesel-electric and the old Budd-built baggage car behind it. Now, ten years later, Amtrak is replacing its old baggage cars with new cars.
Exposed on Fujichrome with a Nikon F3 with Nikkor f2.8 24mm lens.
The old baggage were among Amtrak’s last heritage equipment inherited from the private railroads when it assumed passenger operations more than four decades ago.
Here’s a pair of photos from the archive. It was a bright and clear winter day, when my father and I intercepted these Amtrak Budd RDCs working the New Haven to Springfield shuttle.
At that time, the Budd Cars (as I knew them) were standard equipment on the Springfield run. I have many fond memories of riding the RDCs.
Exposed with a Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar on Kodachrome 64 color slide film.
I’m glad I have these slides, but I wish I’d made many more image of the old Budds. A few of the RDCs survived into the mid 1980s.
Today, May 9, 2015 has been deemed ‘National Train Day’.
My participation with this event was to mark the passage of Amtrak 449, the westward Lake Shore Limited.
So, with this in mind, a little while ago I positioned myself along Route 67 east of Palmer, Massachusetts at a time-honored location along the Boston & Albany route. (Time-honored = I’ve made photos here many times before).
Here was my test photograph exposed at 2:37pm. An hour and five minutes later Amtrak 449 finally past my location.
What I’d hoped would only take a few minutes, soon extended into an hour. So it goes when waiting for trains, even scheduled moves.
This was my first view of one of Amtrak’s new baggage cars.
Amtrak train 449 seen east of Palmer, Massachusetts at 3:42pm on Saturday May 9, 2015. Exposed with my Fujifilm X-T1 Digital camera.
On August 21, 2010, some friends and I caught this loaded CSX ethanol train symbol K644 working eastward past the Amtrak station at Rochester. In the distance is the old Kodak tower.
On August 21, 2010, CSX K644 rolls through Rochester, New York on the former New York Central mainline. Exposed digitally with a Canon EOS 7D.
This scene, exposed less than five years ago is now completely changed:
Amtrak is preparing for construction of its new Rochester Station.
Last week, my friend Otto Vondrak sent current images from Rochester of the old New York Central era canopies being dismantled; the classic cast iron ‘Rochester’ sign having been removed for safekeeping.
At the time I made this digital photo, I also exposed a single frame of Ektachrome slide film. It was my last roll of Ektachrome, and my last frame in the camera, and it seemed doubly apropos; to make my last Kodak slide in Rochester, and of a pair of Iowa, Chicago & Eastern/Dakota, Minnesota & eastern locomotives painted in colors remarkably similar to those use on the old Ektachrome film boxes.
I’m holding back that slide for future publication.
The tide was in. The sun was low and rich. The train was on time. I was poised at the popular overlook at Pinole, California. Dozens of scheduled Amtrak trains pass this point everyday, so on one level this was akin to ‘shooting fish in a barrel.’
Yet, the ease of photography here, facilitated by great weather, open varied scenery, and frequent operations, makes for a perfect opportunity to experiment and exposed different angles.
Exposed on Fujichrome Film.
In this case, I’ve opted to make a clean, yet dramatic vertical image. Notice how I’ve left ample room on top for a magazine title, and space all around for cover blurbs (left or right) and the requisite bar code (typically located at lower right).
When I was working at Pentrex Publishing in the 1990s, we’d often reject potential dramatic photos as not suitable because there wasn’t room for the cover blurbs. But an absolute killer (that is, no chance for cover placement) was in situations where the bar code would fall on the front of a locomotive. Bar code placement was non-negotiable.
Would this make a good cover photo? I can’t say, but I was looking to fit the format when I exposed this slide in 2008.
The re-opening of Boston & Maine’s Connecticut River line as the ‘Knowledge Corridor’ passenger route in December has made for a variety of new places to photograph Amtrak’s Vermonter that hadn’t had regular passenger trains in more than 25 years.
Amtrak train 55 approaches North Hillside Road crossing at South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D fitted with 40mm pancake lens; f7.1 1/1000 of a second.
In conjunction with the rebuilding of the line was brush removal, especially around grade crossings, which have further expanded photographic potential of the Connecticut River route. In addition to Amtrak, Pan Am Southern’s freights also use the line.
Up to just a few months ago, the view of the line at North Hillside Road in South Deerfield was hemmed in by brush and trees, but now it’s cleared and open.
Pat Yough, Paul Goewey and I were out for the Vermonter on January 23, 2015, and I exposed this image of it racing southward toward its station stop at Northampton.
Back in 1991, my brother Sean and I explored the former Pennsylvania Railroad electrified mainline between Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia. I recalled from that visit that the long tangent at Marcus Hook offered some interesting views and the potential for evening glint.
Earlier this month (January 2015) we returned to this location. SEPTA maintains a ground level station that provides easy access.
I like the location for several reasons: it is open, which allows late sun to reach rail level; there’s a long tangent and signals, that provide advance warning for trains; Amtrak’s trains can travel at top speeds; and it is relatively easy to get around obstructions such as poles and wires than might interfere with photography.
Amtrak AEM-7 919 leads a late-running train 93 at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.Trailing view of Amtrak AEM-7 train 93 at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.A minute after train 93 passed, this eastward Acela Express was caught burning up the rail; you can still see train 93 in the distance. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.Soft, rosy evening glint is an effect caused in part by pollution in the air resulting from large amounts of automotive emissions and dust in the Northeast plus filtration from thin low clouds.
We arrived in time for a flurry of activity just as the sun was setting. These images were exposed using my Canon EOS 7D, but I also made a few images on Fuji Provia 100F using my old Canon EOS 3.
A new ACS-64 electric leads train 85 toward the setting sun at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. Except for scaling, there was no post-processing adjustment to this image. However, to retain the golden glint effect, I used the ‘daylight’ white balance setting on my camera instead of the ‘auto white balance’.A SEPTA Silverliner V accelerates away from the station at Marcus Hook on its way toward Wilmington, Delaware. Except for scaling (necessary for internet presentation), there was no post-processing manipulation to this image.
On January 16, 2015, my brother and I risked the perils of Interstate-95 and drove to Wilmington, Delaware so that I could make a few photos of the former Pennsylvania Railroad station.
I’d been working on a book on railway station architecture, and I wanted to make a few views of this iconic building credited to Frank Furness. Somewhere I’d seen a photo from the parking garage across the street that made me curious.
Completed in 1908, the former Pennsylvania Railroad station at Wilmington, Delaware was designed by Furness, Evans and Company, and is one of many railroad stations in the region attributed to the brilliance of architect Frank Furness. Exposed with a Canon EOS7D with 20mm lens.Close up of the Wilmington Station clock tower. This is a bit of Victorian elegance in a setting characterized by modern infrastructure consisting of steel and reinforced concrete. Exposed using a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens; ISO 200 f5.0 1/500th of a second. Cross lighting helps show the detail in the clock tower brickwork.
Thanks to Sean’s navigation, we easily found the station and the parking garage. I drove to the top level and made my photos. As is often the situation on exploratory trips, I decided this might make a better image at another time of day. At some point, perhaps I’ll return on an August evening and try again.
While on the top of the garage, I photographed a northbound train. This was led by a General Electric P42 diesel-electric, which is not the Amtrak motive power I’d expect to see here in electrified territory!
Amtrak P42 number 60 leads an unknown train northward (eastward) on the North East Corridor. Using my 200mm lens, I focused on the gap in the wires and poles to frame up the locomotive. I rarely make photos along the NEC in Delaware, but I wasn’t expecting a diesel powered Amtrak train. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.
It was a brief visit to Delaware. Getting back to I-95 proved more difficult than finding the station, but in the end we were on our way. The light was getting good and I had visions of a sunset glint location . . .
The late Baldwin Locomotive Works was famous for its factory in this Philadelphia suburb.
What may seem hard to believe is that it’s been nearly six decades since Baldwin’s last new locomotive.
On January 11, 2015, Pat Yough and I set up here for a sunset photograph of Amtrak’s Acela Express.
SEPTA Eddystone station sign. January 11, 2015.Amtrak’s Acela Express catches the glint at Eddystone, Pennsylvania.The local fire department had been tending to an incident nearby.
A well-timed visit trackside to the SEPTA station at Torresdale, Pennsylvania allowed for photography of several Amtrak trains on the North East Corridor in rapid succession.
The new ACS-64 ‘City Sprinter’ electrics are become more common and its nice to get them while they are still clean.
Mural on the bridge depicting more pastoral times.Clean Amtrak ACS-64 leads train 91, the Silver Meteor at Torresdale, PA. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens.Heritage diner and Viewliners glide along on the Corridor; how much longer will the old cars linger?Amtrak ACS-64 with the Crescent, train 20 blitzes Torresdale, Pennsylvania. Canon EOS7D with 200mm lens. I like the contrast between the new locomotive and the old cars; Amtrak in transition.
I was especially pleased to catch Amtrak’s Silver Meteor with one of the new electrics.
There’s something catchy about certain engine numbers. Norfolk & Western’s streamlined J-Class 4-8-4 611 is world famous.
A few months back I featured Chicago Metra’s 611, which is an EMD F40C diesel-electric.
So how about an electric with the number 611. Here’s one of Amtrak’s shiny new Siemens-built ACS-64 electrics, number 611, with train 161 at Branford, Connecticut.
It was noon at the Shore Line East station on January 10, 2015 when I exposed a rapid sequence of this modern locomotive.
Amtrak 611 leads train 161 westbound at Branford, Connecticut on January 10, 2015.
The tricky part of making the photo was selecting the correct exposure for the window of sun between the overhead bridge and the platform. The sun was bright, but lighting from the side. I made several test photos before the train burst into the scene.
Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens; f4.5 1/1000th of a second, ISO 200.
On January 10, 2015, it was a roasting 15 degrees F when I exposed an image burst with my Canon EOS 7D of the passing Acela Express train 2251 (Boston-Washington DC).
West Haven is a relatively new station on Metro-North. It features easy access from Interstate I-95 (Exit 42) and on weekends offers free parking.
Was able to drive right up to the east end of the station platform.
Amtrak’s Acela Express train 2251 at West Haven. It was cold but clear. Exposed using a Canon EOS 7D with 20mm lens. Part of a burst of exposures made with the camera’s motor-drive.Trailing view at West Haven.Metro-North’s West Haven station opened in 2013.
It helps to be at the right place at the right time. Even on the busy Philadelphia-Washington D.C. Northeast Corridor there can be long gaps between trains..
After 20 minutes or half and hour between trains, you might wonder why the line even has four tracks!
And then ever thing seems converge upon you at once.
Pat Yough and I were at Crum Lynne, Pennsylvania on the evening of January 11, 2015. We didn’t spend much time trackside before we had two running meets a few minutes apart.
SEPTA Silverliner Vs pass near Crum Lynne, Pennsylvania. The train on the left is approaching its station stop, while the train on right accelerates toward 30th Street Philadelphia. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. ISO 400.The same two trains a few moments later. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. ISO 400.Just three minutes after the rolling meet between SEPTA trains on the outside tracks, we witnessed this high-speed meet between Amtrak trains on the inside tracks. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. ISO 400.
Was this synchronicity? Or just luck? I don’t know. In the case of the two Amtrak trains both were running a few minutes late, so that was luck. It would have been cool to see all four pass at the same time, but unless we were phenomenally lucky, it is doubtful that such an event would have produced good photos.
In January 1980, I made my first photographs of Amtrak AEM-7s. They were then brand new. I didn’t much care for them then because the represented the end for my favorite GG1s. Nothing lasts forever, and now Amtrak AEM-7s are rolling off their final miles.
I made this photo of Amtrak 945 at South Station last year on the day before the first official run of Amtrak ACS-64 number 600. The new ACS-64 are locomotives that will ultimately supplant the AEM-7s on the North East Corridor.
Amtrak AEM-7 945 at South Station, Boston. Exposed on Fuji Acros 100 black & white film using a Leica M3 with 21mm Super Angulon. Processed in Kodak HC110.
And what of my first AEM-7 photos? I processed my film using oxidized Microdol-X and the negatives were exceptionally thin. (under processed). Perhaps, if I can locate them, I can fix them in post-processing, but that’s a project for another day.
On December 17, 2014, I rode the Vermonter to Amherst. This gave me the opportunity to scope the line for photo locations. Although I’ve traveled this route on various occasions, I wanted one last look at it from an Amtrak train before service is moved to the ‘Knowledge Corridor’ at the end of this month.
North of Barretts is Canal Junction, a little known location where the Boston & Maine’s Central Massachusetts line once joined the Central Vermont route. Originally, B&M had its own line that ran parallel to CVs and this old right of way is now a cycle path.
The old Boston & Maine line through Belchertown was abandoned in the 1930s in favor of trackage rights over the parallel Central Vermont. Today the old right of way is a bicycle path. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.
North of the Old Springfield Road grade crossing, I noticed a swampy clearing that looked like a good place for a photo. So, on December 19th, my dad and I investigated this location.
Earlier in the day we had photographed a Knowledge Corridor test run (covered in an earlier post), and I thought this would make an ideal opportunity to capture Amtrak moves on both lines on the same day.
We arrived at Old Springfield Road, and walked a short distance on the old B&M right of way. I’d gone back to the car to retrieve a lens and make a phone call, when I heard what sounded like a heavy freight coming.
Hark! I think I hear a freight. Richard Jay Solomon has his Lumix LX7 on a Gitzo tripod. We a standing on the old B&M line. There’s little chance we’ll get run over by a 4-4-0 sprinting for Northampton. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 40mm pancake lens.
Sure enough it was! New England Central’s southward manifest freight from Brattleboro to Palmer had stalled climbing Belchertown Hill, and had just got moving again. Amtrak was only a few miles behind.
New England Central’s southward freight on December 19, 2014. Lumix LX7 Photo.Just a few miles behind the freight was Amtrak’s southward Vermonter. We’d gone out for the Vermonter, and lucked into the delayed freight train. This was especially fortuitous because we’d stopped for lunch at Amherst on the way to this ‘new’ location. Lumix LX7 photo.
We caught the freight, and about 10-15 minutes later got Amtrak train 55 (southward Vermonter), then proceeded to Three Rivers where we caught the Vermonter a second time.
Amtrak Extra and Pan Am’s Office Cars on the Move.
8 digital photos and more!
Today, in preparation for the opening of the Knowledge Corridor next week, special trains converged on Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Amtrak’s special was ahead of schedule departing Holyoke with officials on board. Lumix LX7 photo. (You’ll need to be patient to see the color slide exposed here.)
Paul Goewey and I intercepted the northward Amtrak special at Holyoke—where we made use of a location recently opened up by brush clearing in conjunction with work on the line.
Amtrak’s special crosses the Deerfield River on the Cheapside Bridge. Back in the day there was a canal harbor near here. Lumix LX7 photo, December 22, 2014.Pan Am’s Office Car train with F-unit at Greenfield, Massachusetts on December 22, 2014. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.A convergence of passenger trains at Greenfield. Soon, Amtrak will call here everyday! Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.
We followed the train northward. Pan Am posed its Office Car train, complete with vintage F-unit at Greenfield.
Later, we waited patiently at East Deerfield Yard to catch the Pan Am train reversing back. This was my first opportunity to catch one Pan Am F-units on the move.
It wasn’t the brightest day for photography, but we made the best of it with digital cameras. (And I exposed a few slides for posterity!)
Nose to nose at Greenfield. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.An added bonus were these two Pan Am locomotives at East Deerfield Yard.Pan Am’s Office Cars reverse toward East Deerfield in the fading light of evening. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens.Pan photo of PAR-1 at East Deerfield. Lumix LX7 photo.
Today (Dec 19, 2014) Amtrak operated a test train north from Springfield, Massachusetts on Pan Am Southern’s recently rehabilitated Boston & Maine Connecticut River Line in preparation for re-routed Vermonter service (expected to begin at the end of this month).
My father and I went out to document this special move, then went over to the New England Central route to photograph the Vermonter on its present route.
Amtrak 111 leads the northward test train at Old Ferry Road in Holyoke (south of Mt Tom) on December 19, 2014. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. ISO 800.Amtrak’s southward test train at Old Ferry Road in Holyoke (south of Mt Tom) on December 19, 2014. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. ISO 800. Brush cutting efforts have opened up numerous photo locations along the line.
Tracking the Light presents a few views at this busy location.
Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor is in transition as the old battle-worn AEM-7s are being phased out and the new Siemens ACS-64 ‘City Sprinter’ locomotives gradually assume their duties.
Fellow photographer Pat Yough and I were out to make good use of the sunlight. We’d caught Amtrak 600 the ‘David L. Gunn’ (recently named for Amtrak’s former president 2002-2005) working a Harrisburg-New York Penn Station Keystone on the Main Line and were aiming for another photograph of this unique locomotive.
Amtrak AEM-7 924 crosses the Schuylkill River working toward Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station on the former Pennsylvania Railroad. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.Amtrak AEM-7 924. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.New Amtrak ACS-64 621 leads a Northeast Regional train at Zoo Junction. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.A former Metroliner cab-car leads a Keystone service at Zoo Junction. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.Amtrak 600 was named ‘David L. Gunn’ and works at the back of a Keystone train. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.Amtrak 600 was named ‘David L. Gunn’ and works at the back of a Keystone train. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.
It was a clear September 1989 morning when I parked near the twin former New York Central tunnels at Breakneck Ridge and followed a hiking trail to this commanding vantage point looking back toward Cold Spring, New York.
I exposed this photo on Kodachrome 25 slide film using my Leica M2 fitted with 50mm f2.0 Summicron firmly mounted on a Bogen 3021 tripod.
My grandparents lived in Coop City in The Bronx for a dozen years. Their 19th floor apartment had an open terrace that looked across the Hutchinson River toward Amtrak’s former New Haven Railroad line that ran from New Rochelle over the Hell Gate Bridge toward Penn-Station.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, we’d make regular visits. I was delighted by passing of Amtrak trains, and by the time I was ten, I’d figured out how to interpret the timetable to predict when trains would pass.
Amtrak was still operating a fair few former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electrics, and these were my favorite. From about mid-1978, I’d keep my Leica 3A poised at the ready and if a GG1 were to appear, I’d make a color slide, or two.
While I made a great many photographs, my photographic efforts were, at best, rudimentary. Complicating matters was my general panic when a GG1 finally appeared.
As the train rolled into view, I’d try to gauge the lighting using an old Weston Master III photo cell and rapidly adjust the aperture on my Summitar lens, but my understanding of exposure was purely conceptual. In other words, I went through the motions, but really didn’t know what I was doing.
Also, I was photographing the scene with a 50mm lens, and the tracks were at least a quarter mile distant. Later, I learned to use my father’s telephoto lenses for some more effective views, but by then new AEM-7s had replaced the GG1s.
Recently, I rediscovered a box of long lost Kodachrome slides, including a bunch of my surviving photos from my grand parent’s terrace. This one is one of the few passable efforts, and will a little cropping, and some post processing in Photoshop, it isn’t too bad.
An Amtrak-painted former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric works toward Penn-Station in April 1980. Exposed on Kodachrome 64 using a Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar lens. The photo has been cropped and contrast and color were adjusted in postprocessing.
Learning technique is every photographer’s challenge. My learning curve was slow, in part because it was often months between the time of exposure and when I got slides back from Kodak. By the time I reviewed my results, I hadn’t remembered what I’d done, and didn’t know what to do to improve future efforts.
By comparison, kids starting today with digital cameras can see their results immediately and have the opportunity to learn quickly. Perhaps, from one of these same terraces, some kid today has captured one of the final runs of Amtrak’s HHP8s (recently retired from active work) or the rapidly disappearing AEM-7s!
Telephoto View of today’s Amtrak Special crossing the Connecticut River.
See my earlier post on Tracking the Light for a panoramic view of the same train. Half an hour before the special crossed the bridge there was sunlight, but by the time the train arrived the clouds had rolled in.
Amtrak 822 leads an inspection train with one of the Pan Am business cars behind the locomotive. Exposed on Wednesday November 12, 2014 using a 100mm lens fitted to a Canon EOS7D.
This afternoon Amtrak operated a special train on the New Haven-Springfield line.
Amtrak special at Windsor, Connecticut, exposed at 3:05pm November 12, 2014 using a Lumix LX7. RAW file cropped and converted to a JPG after adjustments for contrast.
It is my understanding that the special began the day at Albany. It was scheduled to operate down the Hudson to Mott Haven, then to New Haven, up to Springfield, then to the Knowledge Corridor and east on Pan Am.
Amtrak’s northward Vermonter (Train 56) was about 18 minutes late, and the special was about ten minutes behind it. One of the Pan Am business cars was located immediately behind the locomotive. This had traveled west to Albany on Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited (Train 449) the other day.
This is a cropped version of a photo I made with my Lumix LX7. I also exposed a couple of views with my Canon EOS 7D. I’ll be downloading those shortly!
Soon, Amtrak’s Vermonter will be detoured back to the traditional passenger route north of Springfield, Massachusetts, leaving the New England Central’s former Central Vermont line between Palmer and East Northfield, Massachusetts freight only for the first time in 25 years.
On the afternoon of October 27, 2014, fellow photographer Bob Arnold suggested that we make a photo of the southward Vermonter (train 55) at Three Rivers, where line crosses the Chicopee River on a plate girder bridge.
It was a nice clear sunny day and the foliage was splendid. Somehow the Vermonter managed to lose about 20 minutes in its short run down from Amherst, a station that will cease to serve as a regular stop with the route change.
Distant view at Three Rivers. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 40mm pancake lens.Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 40mm pancake lens.
If you are interested in riding or photographing Amtrak’s Vermonter on this route, don’t delay, time is running out.
It was a windy rainy afternoon when Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited departed South Station. I was riding on the rear platform of private car Caritas with Clark Johnson Jr. and my father.
My dad and I were only traveling to Springfield, Clark was going further.
I exposed this on Kodachrome 25 using my Nikon F3T with 35mmPC (perspective control—shift lens). By adjusting the front element, I maintained the verticals on the skyscrapers in the distance. I like the effect of motion; a train traveling through time.
Today, South Station is much different. Not only was a bus station built over the tracks, but the lines have been electrified for North East Corridor services.
Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.
We had a late start, the weather was a bit iffy, and there wasn’t much running, but my father and I set out anyway to make a few railroad photos in the fall foliage.
Since Amtrak’s Vermonter is in its final months of using the New England Central route between Palmer and East Northfield, Massachusetts, we made a point to intercept it in both directions.
A New England Central local freight was working the interchange track in Palmer. Canon EOS7D with 200mm lens.For more than 19 years, New England Central’s blue and yellow GP38s have worked around Palmer. I wonder how much longer they will last? Lumix LX7 photo.Richard Solomon waves.Amtrak train 57, Saturday’s Vermonter works south of Amherst at milepost 82. A hiking trail runs parallel with the line at this location. New welded rail has been laid along the line. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.
A stop by Pan Am’s East Deerfield Yard found little moving except the hump engine.
The old Boston & Maine line was pretty quiet. This is the view looking west from East Deerfield where I’ve made a great many photographs in the last 30 plus years. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.A burst of sun at East Deerfield Yard. No less than four sets of road power were idling and the yard was full of cars, but not much was moving.
Not everyday is busy in central Massachusetts, but I can always find photographs. Here’s just a few from our afternoon’s exploration.
A spin over to Montague found a GATX slugset working the East Deerfield hump job. Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.I made this panned view of the GATX slug using my Lumix LX7.Millers Falls, Massachusetts, October 18, 2014.Amtrak train 54 the northward Saturday Vermonter crosses the Millers River at Millers Falls. Canon EOS 7D with 100 mm lens. Image adjusted for contrast and color balance.
Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.
