I’ve been reviewing and scanning slides that I made on a trip to Quebec in October 2004. While a few of these photos have appeared in my books, most have sat for more than 20 years unattended and unedited.
This slide caught my eye. It shows a westward VIA Rail train west of Coteau, Quebec on the Canadian National. This was a trailing shot that I exposed on Fujichrome using my old Contax G2 rangefinder.
Comcolor in Springfield, Mass., processed the film. and I scanned the slide yesterday using a Nikon Coolscan 5000 (LS-5000) powered by Vuescan 9.8.42.05 software, then made final adjustments using Adobe Lightroom.
In August 1984, I was on a big solo rail adventure. Among the places I visited by train was Montreal.
My friend Brandon Delaney had recommended Dorval as a place to watch trains. Here, double-track Canadian Pacific and Canadian National mainlines ran parallel to each other and there was a continuous parade of freight and passenger trains.
On August 14th, I traveled out on commuter train from Windsor Station and spent several hours soaking up the action.
Among the trains I photographed was this eastbound VIA RDC set on the CN heading for Central Station.
I’d positioned myself where the codelines crossed from the north-side to the south-side of CN’s line. This was my clever compositional trick that makes for a more interesting photograph by focusing the eye toward a secondary horizon.
