Tag Archives: #Bird-in-Hand

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Metroliner Night Pan

A tip-in-hand made for an opportunity at Bird-in-Hand!

Our friend and fellow photographer, Pat Yough, tipped us off that Keystone 655 was heading our way and helped arrange for Cab Car 9635 to lead west of Philadelphia.

So what’s the big deal? This is one of at least two former Metroliner cab cars painted in Amtrak’s so-called Phase VII scheme, which—when applied to these vintage cars—closely resembles the look they wore in the mid-1970s. Pretty cool stuff. And while we’ve seen this on various occasions, it always pays to act on a tip!

Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I beelined for Bird-in-Hand to catch the train. A lineside billboard features a bright light, which helps provide illumination for nocturnal movements such as 655.

We didn’t wait long before the gleam of headlights shimmered on the rails, announcing the westward train’s approach.

To make dynamic images of the passing train, I set my Nikon Z6 III to f/1.4 at 1/60th of a second and panned with the movement.

Soon we’ll be heading into longer days, bringing fewer opportunities for night photography—but more chances to work in the evening dusk.

Nikon NEF RAW file process in DxO PureRaw 5 using the Deep Prime option. This corrects for lens defects, improves contrast, and minimizes the effects of pixelization stemming from a very high-ISO setting.

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Shelley Drive Silhouette—March Variations

Last summer, I made a series a variations on a back-lit photograph that I’d exposed looking west at Shelley Drive near Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

The other evening, Kris, Seamus-the-Dog and I returned to this location to catch a pair of AmtrakKeystone trains. In post processing. I repeated the exercise with one of Nikon files of the second train (Amtrak 656).

For me this has special significance: One of the last serious conversations I had with my father on photography was regarding last summer’s sequence. He had preferred the hard, unprocessed silhouette compared with my more interpretive digital interpretations.

Since that time, I’ve found some his black & white negatives exposed in the same vicinity more than sixty year earlier. I’m sorry that I cannot share any these photos with him.

Below are five variations of my image, plus a surprise . . .

Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive; constrast, color temperature, exposure and highlights/shadows altered for cosmetic interpretation.
Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive; heavy constrast, color temperature, exposure and highlights/shadows altered, plus a mask applied to the sky for heavy adjustment to alter appearance.
Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive, NEF file converted to DNG file with lens correction and nominal contrast adjustment, but without heavy cosmetic adjustment or interpretation. Scaled from the Nikon NEF file.
Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive, NEF file converted to DNG file with lens correction and nominal contrast adjustment, followed by additional cosmetic alterations to contrast, exposure, color temperature and shadow/highlight changes.
Did you spot the bird? [Upper left to the left of the catenary poles]. Initially, I thought this might be an errant bit of dust on my Nikon’s sensor. Only after extreme enlargement did I notice that this was in fact a bird in flight. Not a bird in hand, but one in the sky. Sometimes details matter.

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Snowy Night at Bird-in-Hand

I had a few minutes on Tuesday night. Amtrak Keystone 649 was running behind the advertised, while eastward Keystone 656 was less that 20 minutes away.

Icy snow covered the ground, limiting where I could safely park, so I pulled into Bird-in-Hand, Pa. Here, I set up my 3Pod Tripod with Nikon Z6-III, and thenas the two trains passed just a couple of minutes apart, I exposed this series of high ISO photos.

These photos made for an ideal addition to my class on Railroad Night Photography, held last night at the Railroad Museum of PA.

In addition to my short slide show, the museum was open to students who were free to wander the exhibits and make images in comparative darkness.

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Pushing the Envelope at Bird-in-Hand

From LED headlights to distant twinkling starlight, there’s a lot of contrast in this sequence of Amtrak’s westward Keystone train 651 passing Bird-in-Hand, Pa.,

I’ve been pushing the envelope of still photography at this location for several months. My goal has been to ‘stop’ the action of a relatively fast train using only existing light (no flash).

This goal has been aided recently by a very fast camera sensor (in my Nikon Z6-III), a ‘fast-fifty’ lens (Nikkor Z-series f1.4 50mm), and modern PureRaw image post processing that uses AI technology to make the most of photos exposed with very high ISO.

For this sequence, I mounted the camera on my 3Pod tripod (with legs carefully tightened to avoid any unexpected sudden downward movement). I used all manual settings.

Several minutes before the train came into view, I focused on the rails roughly parallel in the film plane to the front of the old freight house (on right).

As the train passed through the scene, I made subtle adjustments in exposure. After the lead engine passed me, I dropped the shutter speed from 1/320th of second to 1/200th to allow more light to reach the sensor.

Following conversion to DNG files using PureRaw, I made a host of selective cosmetic adjustments in Lightroom.

Tracking the Light Posts about railroad night photography.

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Nocturnal Passing at Bird-in-Hand

A few weeks back I tried to freeze Amtrak’s passing at Bird-in-Hand in the gloom of evening, only to be disappointed by my inability to use a fast enough shutter speed.

Fast forward to Thursday night: with a Nikon Z6-III firmly fixed to my 3Pod tripod, I was fiddling with the focus with a Nikkor f1.4 50mm when the rails lit up with an approaching train.

My first few frames were not sharp enough, but the last couple showing the trailing ACS-64 on a westward Amtrak Keystone met with my satisfaction.

A full moon lit up the sky and a street light cast enough light on the passing train; this, combined with a 64000 ISO sensitivity setting, enabled me to use 1/200th of a second shutter speed with the 50mm at its widest opening (f1.4).

I processed the NEF RAW file using DxO PureRaw to de-noise the effects of high-ISO and correct lens defects.

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Bird-in-Hand Blue Surprise

As the days get shorter, the window of light is closing on Bird-in-Hand as a choice afternoon/evening location.

Kris and I had gone for ice cream in Leola, and on our way home we diverted to Bird-in-Hand to roll by Amtrak Keystone 656, where I’d envisioned a trailing view of the train.

After a remarkably short wait, the rails began to sing. I gazed west in anticipation and spotted . . . a blue locomotive in the lead!

It was Amtrak ACS-64 621 advertising Crayola Crayons! (Again).

I wasn’t expecting that! You never know what surprise will come around the bend.

I’d set my Nikon Z7-II for a 1/2500th of second, and I needed the shutter speed to stop the action.

And there’s my trailing view! Ha!

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Lumix at Bird-in-Hand

I paused at Bird-in-Hand on a sunny evening in anticipation of Amtrak Keystone 651.

This is a classic location; but better in the summer than the winter.

I had only my ‘wee Lumix’ and so made the best of it.

When Amtrack 651 sped into view I made these photos.

Not bad for a small easy-to-use camera.

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Brian’s Bright Broadside at Bird-in-Hand

I’m seriously hoping that my overly aliterative title represents a unique combination of words never previously considered in the history of language!

And, that it caught your attention.

Amtrak Keystone 661 was close by and I wanted to try a different angle at the old Irishtown Road crossing.

When the grade crossing was closed and the road relocated, a raised earthen berm was constructed south of the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line. This berm offered me a slightly elevated view with some purple flowers in the foreground.

Post processing editing in Adobe Lightroom provides easy access to the camera’s metadata files, which among other things reveal the f-stop, shutter speed, ISO and other camera details. This saves me from the need to make detailed notes on my digital files, except for things like train ID, engine number and location.

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18 Years and Three Views at Irishtown Road.

In 2007, I was researching a book at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The museum’s Kurt Bell suggested that I make some photos at Irishtown Road in nearby Bird-in-Hand, which was one of the few remaining grade crossings on Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line, the former Pennsylvania Main Line via Lancaster.

Working with a Canon EOS-3 and 24mm lens, I made several Fujichrome color slides on a warm evening.

Since moving to Lancaster County, I’ve revisited Irishtown Road on several occasions. The public crossing was closed a number of years ago and the road redirected.

Below are three comparision photos. While these are all exposed from the same approximate vantage point, in my recent images I’ve not tried to exactly replicate the light and angle of my 2007 photo.

Amtrak’s westward Keystone passes Irishtown Road on 25 September 2007. An Amtrak AEM-7 works at the back of the three-car consist. Since this photo was exposed, Amtrak closed the crossing and removed the grade crossing signals. The road on both sides of the crossing was relocated.
Irishtown Road with an Amtrak Keystone in June 2004.
Amtrak Keystone 664 works east behind ACS-64 656 at Irishtown Road on 17 May 2025. Nikon Z7-II photo.

In 1963, my father also made photos near this crossing. In those days, Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 and E44 electrics were the rule of the day. Working with scans from his old slides, I may try to replicate his images at a later date.

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Yesterday Evening at Bird-in-Hand.

The days are getting longer!

Yesterday evening, after Kris and I finished our workdays, we drove trackside to Bird-in-Hand, Pa., where I caught Amtrak Keystone 649 running a little behind the advertised on its way to Lancaster and Harrisburg.

It was nice to again be able to get sun-on-the-tracks photos in the evenings after work.

I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series Zoom.

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602 at Bird-in-Hand

It’s hard for me to resist a clear evening!

On our way to the creamery, we paused trackside at Bird-in-Hand to roll by Amtrak Keystone 649 on its way west to Harrisburg.

I made this rapid-fire sequence using my Nikon Z7-II with Nikkor 24-70mm zoom lens.

I think these will age well.

Nikon Z7-II with 24-70 set at 32mm; f4 1/1250th, ISO 200.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70 set at 32mm; f4 1/1600th, ISO 200.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70 set at 32mm; f4 1/1600th, ISO 200.

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Pennsylvanians in High Sun

I was hoping to time it right to get the eastward and westward Amtrak Pennsylvanians (trains 42 and 43) passing one another at Bird-in-Hand.

In truth this is a more aesthetic exercise during the winter months when the light is low and the air is crisp. But not all photo opportunities present themselves in the perfect light.

As it turned out the two trains passed by within 90 seconds of one another, so there was no ‘running meet’ for me on this day.

All photos exposed with my Nikon Z7-II. NEF-RAW files adjusted in post-processing using Adobe Lightroom.

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Electric in Motion

I like Amtrak’s Siemens Cities Sprinters—the ACS-64s.

These are powerful, sharp looking and fast!

We had a moment, and I knew an Amtrak Keystone train 651 was less than five minutes away and closing quickly. So we paused along the old Main Line at Bird-in-Hand, Pa.

I don’t where ‘Bush,’ Pennsylvania is, but I wasn’t willing to risk trying to get there to find two ACS-64s on the move when I knew one was so close. (Sorry, it’s ‘bad-pun Thursday’!)

Using my Nikon Z7-II, I exposed a burst of photos as the train raced by trying to make up time as it approached its Lancaster station stop. ACS-64 number 668 was working in ‘push’-mode at the back of the consist.

Below are two of my favorites from this effort. These are scaled from the NEF-RAW capture without alterations to exposure, contrast or color.

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