Old GRS upper quadrant semaphore with Type 2A top of mast mechanism on CSXT’s former Monon at South Raub, Indiana. There’s lots more great signaling photos and detailed information in the book! Exposed with a Contax G2 with 28mm Biogon lens on Fujichrome Velvia.
This features semaphores, search lights, position lights, and one of my favorite types of antique signal: the Hall disc.
I’ve dedicate the book to the late Harry Vallas with whom I spent many hours discussing the finer points of railroad signaling.
In August 2011, Chris Guss and I were exploring Kansas City Southern’s mainline south of Neosho, Missouri.
We made a series of night photos around Ginger Blue. This place gets points for its evocative name. The classic search light signals were another bonus.
As Chris set up and tested his synchronized strobes, I made a series of photos of the signals and surrounding farm yard.
Exposed using a Canon EOS 7D mounted on a tripod. Synchronized strobe lighting was blended with a long time exposure to allow for effects of existing light, including the focused beam of the searchlight signal.My ‘behind the scenes’ image. The white streaks are traces of Chris Guss’s flash light. This was a five minute exposure made digitally and largely with available light. If you look closely, you can see some of the lighting stands and at left, one of the signals. Note the star trails in the sky.
My new book Classic Railroad Signals from Voyageur Press covers the search lights, semaphores and other types of historic signal hardware. I’m looking forward to perusing my author’s copy!
