Tag Archives: #Compound

photography, Tips and Technique

Great Northern Railway Compound at Laytown Viaduct.

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Saturday, 26 October 2019, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland ran a series of trips using Great Northern Railway (Ireland) compound 4-4-0 number 85. on old home rails.

This presented ideal opportunities for photography.

Too often steam locomotives are operated mid-day in high light, which present poor conditions for photography. Saturday’s trips benefitted from low late October sun and cool conditions.

I set up at Laytown where late afternoon sun illuminated the viaduct over an Irish Sea estuary.

The clouds were a nuisance, with dark shadows covering the scene until moments before the locomotive charged northward across the bridge toward Drogheda.

I exposed this view using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.

Thanks to everyone at Irish Rail and RPSI for making Saturday’s steam trips a success!

See: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

photography, Tips and Technique

Room with a View: The Challenges on Photographing from/on a Steam Locomotive Footplate—12 Photos.

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Earlier this week it was organized for me to travel on the footplate of Great Northern Railway of Ireland 85.

The thrill of experiencing a steam locomotive cab on the main line is a rare privilege.

My job was to make photographs and stay out of the way.

Locomotive driver Ken Fox works on the left side of the engine as it rolls through Tipperary countryside.

Locomotive 85 is a three cylinder compound  4-4-0, a 1932 product of Beyer Peacock.

The compound arrangement is what intrigued me, but like the low droning throb sounding  from the 20 cylinder diesel powering an EMD SD45, this element of the steam equipment is beyond my ability to picture.

Instead, I had to settle for making images of the crew at work and the locomotive in motion.

Fireman’s view near Mountrath on the Cork Line.

12mm Zeiss Touit view of the fireman shoveling coal.

Fireman’s view of a Mark 4 train up road near Thurles. Special viewing equipment on my Fuji XT1 made images like this possible.

Fireman’s view. Working the injector.

View of the firebox.

The footplate offers a rough ride, while swirling coal dust and locomotive exhaust complicate photography and the handling of sensitive equipment. The lighting is at best difficult. Staying out of the way often means that I wasn’t always  able to get the angle I really wanted and needed to make due with where I was able to stand.

Driver side view.

Feeding the fire. Lumix LX7 photo.

The locomotive is bathed in smoke and dust.

Special thanks to everyone at the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) and at Irish Rail for making my locomotive journeys possible.

For details about the RPSI and scheduled steam and diesel trips see:

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

Tracking the Light Posts Daily.

 

 

photography

Great Northern Compound Under Steam at Portarlington—Five Photos!

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Yesterday (3 September 2018), sunny skies greeted Great Northern Railway Ireland 85, a 4-4-0 three-cylinder compound locomotive operated by Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, when it paused at Portarlington, County Laois to take water.

This classic Irish express passenger locomotive was working a chartered train from Dublin Connolly to Killarney.

I exposed these images using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens.

The photos here were scaled without modification from camera JPG files using the Velvia color profile.

An active contrast of modern and antique at Portarlington.

85’s safety valves lift making for an awesome sight.

Driver Ken Fox and his crew made a great run from Dublin.

I also made a few colour slides on real FujiFilm: Provia 100F.

Learn more about the RPSI: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

Stay tuned for more steam photos! Including: Room with a View.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!