On the evening of December 4, 2018, I panned CTrail train 4461 led by engine 6695 at the new Berlin, Connecticut station.
Berlin is brightly lit and makes for a good vantage point to watch and photograph passenger trains on the Hartford Line.
To make this pan photo, I set the shutter speed at 1/30thof second, fixed a point in my view finder and moved my camera and body in parallel with the train in a smooth unbroken motion as it arrived at the station.
New Haven bound Trail 4461 arrives at Berlin, Connecticut on December 4, 2018.
Panning is a great means to show a train in motion.
Last night, November 12, 2018, my father and I paid a visit to the new Berlin, Connecticut station to collect a visitor from Amtrak 412.
The train was running behind the advertised, which gave me time to make a few photos of the well-lit modern facility.
Ground level view of the new Berlin, Connecticut station. I steadied the Lumix LX7 by resting it on the curb stones.Amtrak train 412 pauses to let off two passengers at Berlin. Wide-angle view with a Lumix LX7.Amtrak train 412 pauses to let off two passengers at Berlin. Slightly tighter view.Pan of the Amtrak P42 diesel working at the back of train 412.
I featured Berlin back in June at the time of the CTrail Hartford Line commuter train start up.
These photos were exposed using my resuscitated Lumix LX7. I worked in RAW and adjusted the files in post processing to optimize highlight and shadow placement, present more pleasing contrast, and improve color saturation.
There’s little left to remind you of the historic building that once served passengers at Berlin, Connecticut.
In December 2016, during construction of the modern building, the historic New Haven Railroad station was suspiciously destroyed in a fire.
An artist vision of the proposed integration of the old station with the modern structures. It was not to be.
Last weekend was my first visit to the new station. This features some impressive looking architecture, elevators and a high glass enclosed footbridge.
Morning light on the impressive entrance to the new station. Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss lens.
However, it seems to be notably lacking a proper waiting room where passengers can get out of the elements, and features only a ‘portapot’ in place of proper toilets.
In place of our friendly ticket agent, there’s a modern CT rail ticket machine to dispense tickets. You can buy your Amtrak ticket on-line, over the phone, or using an App on your smart-phone.
Also on the ‘plus side’ the station is well suited to photography and will make for a nice place to board and photograph trains. Also, with the expanded Amtrak service and new CT rail Hartford Line trains, there’s more service than there has been in many years.
Any thoughts?
The east-side platform looking south toward New Haven, Connecticut at 8am. Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss lens.Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss lens.
CT rail 6400 making its stop at Berlin, bound for Springfield, Massachusetts. Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss lens.Amtrak 405 to New Haven. Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss lens.Amtrak 461 heading toward New Haven at midday is about to depart Berlin. All aboard! Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 18-135mm Fujinon lens.
Wow! It’s like a German train at Berlin. Berlin, Connecticut, that is.
A German electric multiple unit graces the cover of my book.
CT rail 6400 crosses an old stone arch bridge at Windsor, Connecticut on Sunday June 17, 2018.DB and CFL (Luxembourg Railways) EMUs working together on the famous Hanging Viaduct in Germany’s Mosel Valley.
I’m commenting on the paint liveries, not the equipment or the services.
Working with my FujiFilm X-T1, I exposed more than 100 photos of the new Connecticut commuter rail service on the Hartford Line.
There’s nothing like the first day.
Train rides were FREE.
Springfield, Massachusetts on June 16, 2018.Springfield, Massachusetts on June 16, 2018.Springfield, Massachusetts on June 16, 2018.
Amtrak 461 at Berlin, Connecticut on June 16, 2018.
Yesterday, June 16, 2018 the long awaited CT Rail Hartford Line Commuter service commenced.
My father and I traveled on the first train from Berlin, Connecticut to Springfield, Massachusetts. It was a bright clear morning.
Contrast was a challenge, and for some of these photos I imported the camera RAW image into Light Room for exposure, color balance and exposure adjustment.
Amtrak 460 at Berlin, Connecticut on June 16, 2018.CT Rail 6653 at Berlin, Connecticut on June 16, 2018.CT Rail 6653 at Berlin, Connecticut on June 16, 2018.CT Rail 6654 at Berlin, Connecticut on June 16, 2018.
Today, June 16, 2018, the long awaited CTRail service began public operation on the Springfield-Hartford-New Haven Line.
Free rides were on offer on both the new CTRail trains and some Amtrak services.
CTRail staff at Berlin supplied complimentary tickets!
My father and I traveled on the first northward train (CTRail 6400) between the new station at Berlin, Connecticut and Springfield. The train was very well attended!
More free train rides are available on the route tomorrow (Sunday June 17, 2018).
CTRail’s first public forward run, train 6400, makes its stop at Berlin, Connecticut. Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit.The view near Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
I made many photographs over the course of the day and I’ve yet to look at all of them. Stay tuned for more tomorrow!
This is a follow up to my Tracking the Light post of December 23, 2016, where I explained that on Wednesday December 21, 2016, Otto Vondrak sent me the sad news that the old station at Berlin, Connecticut had been gutted by fire.
This was reported as a ‘total loss.’
I generally avoid accidents, derailment sites, and fires. However, a few weeks ago, I decided I should take a look at the remains of the Berlin station before the scene was made unrecognizable.
This was not an easy photo to make. I have a lot of happy memories of this place. Exposed in January 2017 on film using my Nikon F3.Here’s the Berlin Station’s arched window as it appeared in September 2004.
The old New Haven Railroad station at Berlin, Connecticut was a local favorite. Until recently, it was among the last small staffed Amtrak stations with an historic structure in southern New England.
My friend, and Tracking the Light reader, Bill Sample was a regular Amtrak Station Agent at Berlin. For me Berlin was like stepping back to that earlier era, when the small town station was the portal for travel. Bill would often help me plan trips and buy the most effective ticket for my travel plans.
The station itself was a gem. The interior retained characteristics of an early twentieth century station, complete with chalkboard arrival and departure information and rotating ceiling fan.
In recent months, the old Berlin station had been closed as part of double-tracking between Hartford and New Haven and related station renovations and construction of high-level platforms. The old building was to be integrated into a modern facility designed for more frequent service.
Wednesday (December 21, 2016), Otto Vondrak sent me the sad news that the old station had been gutted by fire. Media sources reported that the building was a ‘total loss.’
These Lumix LX3 digital photos show the building as I remember it in recent years.
Lumix LX3 photo.Lumix LX3 photo.Berlin was once an important junction with diamond crossings.
The photographic lesson is: never take anything for granted no matter how familiar it is. Someday it may be gone without warning.
I used my trip on Amtrak 475/175 as an opportunity to make a few photographs. While I had some bigger cameras in my bag, I exposed all of these images with my Lumix LX3.
I boarded shuttle train 475 at Berlin, Connecticut just as the sun was setting. By the time I arrived in New Haven, only a faint blue glow remained of daylight.
Amtrak 475 (Springfield, Massachusetts—New Haven, Connecticut shuttle) works as a two-car push-pull with a former Metroliner (MP85) cab car leading. The train glides to a stop in front of the old Berlin, Connecticut railway station. Once a double track line, today this is a single track route. Lumix LX3 photo.Even the branch train has WiFi.A Boston-bound Acela Express pauses at New Haven. I had about 15 minutes to make photos before my connection, trian 175, from Boston arrived.The Acela Express accelerates out of New Haven. I panned the rear of the train with the Lumix image stabilization set ‘on’; f2.8 at 1/5th of a second, ISO 200.A Shore Line East suburban train roars away on the platform. These New Haven painted diesels have auxiliary engines to provide head-end power.A set of new Metro-North M8s arrived from Grand Central Terminal. It’s nice to see a shiny new train every so often!An HHP electric slides westward with train 175 in tow. How much longer will these powerful machines work the Northeast Corridor?
I didn’t have a tripod with me, so I used the station signs and other available flat surfaces on the platform to steady the camera. To avoid camera shake, after composing my image, I set the self timer to 2 seconds and press the shutter button.
Also, I overexposed each image by 1/3 to 2/3s of a stop to compensate for the prevailing darkness.
The trip was uneventful. Amtrak is my preferred means for navigating between cities in the Northeastern USA.
On board train 175 at New York Penn Station.Crossing the Delaware at Trenton, New Jersey.Philadelphia 30th Street. Amtrak 175 arrived about 5 minute behind the advertised, but that’s within tolerance, right? This classic Pennsylvania Railroad station is one of the gems of the Northeast Corridor.30th Street Station as viewed from the 29th Street side.A classical entrance to Philadelphia; you just don’t get the same feeling from an airport.Looking east on JFK Blvd toward Center City. SEPTA’s former PRR line to Suburban Station is on the left.
Amtrak shuttle approaches Berlin. Canon EOS 7D with f2.8 200mm lens
Exactly two years ago, I delivered my brother Sean to the Amtrak station in Berlin, Connecticut. He was on his way back to Philadelphia after a brief visit to Massachusetts. Amtrak’s Berlin agent, Bill Sample, is always very friendly and helpful, so we prefer Berlin over some of the closer stations.
I made this image of the southward shuttle train using my Canon EOS 7D with f2.8 200mm lens. There’s a lot of history in this simple photo. The train is led by a cab-control-car rebuilt from one of the old Budd-built Metroliner multiple units. Today’s single main track doesn’t tell much of a story, but Berlin was once a busy junction.
While Pan Am Southern’s route toward Plainville and Waterbury diverges here (at the left), this only sees about one round trip per week. Historically there was a diamond crossing here between New Haven Railroad lines. Also, one of New Haven Railroad’s earliest experimental electrified schemes reached Berlin, but I’m not sure if that would have been in this scene or not.
If all goes according to plan, the double track to Springfield, Massachusetts will someday be restored.
