Last week, I spent several days on the former Maine Central Mountain Division making photographs of the line in the autumn foliage as part of my job for the Conway Scenic Railroad.
This is an amazing section of railroad with lots of history and lore.
I’ve included just five of the several hundred digital photographs I made that I feel best capture the season and the character of the railroad.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Yesterday afternoon (Thursday, October 8, 2020), I set up at the Gateway at Crawford Notch to photograph Conway Scenic’s Mountaineer.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been focusing on this train to make publicity photos for advertising, social media, etc.
The sky above the White Mountains was a turmoil of clouds.
Shortly before the train departed Crawford Station eastbound, the sun peaked through a hole in the clouds and brightly illuminated the train against this textured sky.
I was lucky, and later in the day this effect was repeated at Bartlett.
I’ll save that view for a later posting.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
September 24, 2020: I made my way to Frankenstein trestle on the former Maine Central Mountain Division to photograph Conway Scenic Railroad’s Mountaineer.
The autumn foliage has almost reached its peak brilliance near the bridge. The leaves are turning early this year, probably because of drought conditions.
I made these photos using my FujiFilm XT1. Output is the camera JPG with Velvia color profile. Other than scaling for internet, I did not adjust for color, contrast, or exposure.
If all goes well, I’ll be back up on the mountain today. The conditions look to be warm, bright and dry in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Since Genesee & Wyoming took over Rail America, gradually the fleets of diesels operated by the component railways have been repainted into G&W’s corporate livery of orange and black with yellow highlights.
This traditional paint scheme had been used by the original G&W short line railroad for decades.
Here I’ve put the brightly colored diesels in scene that makes the most of the scheme.
New England Central 611 is southbound at Northfield, Massachusetts with locomotive 3475 in the lead. A cloud has briefly diffused the morning sun.
To make the most of the lighting and the scene, I made this telephoto view looking down a road, visually placing the orange and black locomotive in front of a yellow house.
The dominance of orange and yellow for the primary subjects works well in the late autumnal scene, as these colors mimic the muted foliage and grasses associated with the season.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily.
