Tag Archives: #Czech Republic

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Czech Class 122 and 123 Electrics

Sometimes gems can be found in ugly places. See: https://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/a-busy-but-bleak-austere-place-where-am-i/

On our January 2009 visit to Trebusice, Czech Republic, several freights passed, led by classic CD 122 and 123 electric locomotives. In addition, we saw these locomotives coming and going to collect empty and loaded coal trains from nearby yards.

This added a little bit of color to a monochromatic environment.

Photos exposed on Fujichrome using a Canon EOS-3.

The original images were scanned using a Nikon LS5000 slide scanner and the TIF files were processed in Adobe Lightroom to improve color and contrast.

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A Busy, but Bleak, Austere Place; where am I?

Trebusice. . . .

Long ago I noted that there seems to be an inverse ratio regarding railroads with traffic and those passing bucolic photogenic scenery. With a few notable exceptions, the rule is simple: pretty places require lots of patience or great fortuity; while grim, dire venues often benefit from a concentration of traffic.

Rural Vermont: pretty and pretty quiet. Industrial overbuilt northern Indiana: bustling with trains seemingly on the move at every bend in the line.

It was a cool, gray afternoon in January 2009 when Denis McCabe, Tim Doherty, and I visited Trebusice in western Czech Republic (Czechia). Here we found an intensively utilized multiple track electrified line surrounded by strip mines, yards, and heavy industry.

The place was crawling with trains, and correspondingly bleak.

Fascinating, yet apocalyptic. Photogenic because of its exceptional severity.

I exposed a roll of Fujichrome using a Canon EOS 7D. Monday, I scanned a few of the slides. Did I also expose some Kodak Tri-X? I should have. Gray was the operative color. I’ve included a few images here. More to follow in the coming days.

Tracking the Light is on autopilot while Brian & Kris are on holidays.

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Most Trams

On 27 January 2009, I visited the industrial city of Most, Czech Republic with photographers Tim Doherty and Denis McCabe.

We briefly photographed the city’s trams where I made these images on Fujichrome using my Canon EOS-3.

Most was a stark contrast from Prague. Where the Bohemian capital is famous for its beautiful and intricate classic architecture, cobble-stone streets and culture, Most was mostly concrete and heavy industry.

Both places making for interesting settings to photograph railway vehicles!

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January 22, 2009—near Prague, CZ.

It was a dark frosty morning on January 22, 2009, when photographers Tim Doherty, Denis McCabe and I explored the Prague (Praha) suburban station at Praha-Rusyne located to the east of the city center.

I made this photo on Fujichrome. I scanned this with a Nikon LS5000 scanner and then processed the TIF file using Adobe Lightroom. I enhanced the contrast and saturation for dramatic effect.

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Czech Tram on Fomapan

In Autumn on 2016 on a vist to Prague, I made this view with a Nikon F3 using the Czech B&W film Fomapan 100.

I’d read about this film, and bought several rolls in Prague which I put to good use during the duration of my trip.

Upon my return to Dublin, I processed the film in Ilford ID11 diluted 1:1 with water, then scanned the negatives with an Epson V500 scanner.

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Czech it Out!

It was a glorious clear September day when Denis Mc Cabe and I paid a brief visit to Ceske Budejovice on a rail trip around the Czech Republic in 2008.

We changed trains at the main railway station. I spent a couple of hours photographing the historic city, which is famous for its architecture and beer.

At the time I was entertaining a publisher with the idea of writing a book on the cities of the Hapsburg Empire. Although the book never came to pass, I accumulated hundreds of photos of cities from Innsbruck, Austria to Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

I made these photos on Fujichrome using a Canon EOS 3.

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Overgrown freight wagon—Prague

On a visit to Prague, Czech Republic in October 2016, I bought several rolls of locally produced Fomapan black & white film.

At a suburban station to the east of the city center, I made this view of an old four-wheel freight wagon parked on a siding and consumed by the local vegetation.

This photo is a scaled Jpg from the original scanned negative. I made no adjustment to the scanned file in regards to contrast, exposure or sharpness.

Fomapan 100 black & white film exposed with a Nikon F3 camera.

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Open Access at Kralupy

Hey, I didn’t make this up.

On October 14, 2016 during our exploration of the Czech Republic, fellow photographer Denis McCabe and I caught this Metrans Container freight rolling through Kralupy.

I exposed this view as part of a sequence using my FujiFilm XT-1 digital camera.

A Bombardier TRAXX type of electric rolls through Kralupy with a container train in tow.

Kralupy is a busy junction to the north of Prague, wear we witnessed a steady parade of freights.

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Tram and Goggles at Plzen

On a whirlwind trip around the Czech Republic in September 2008, I made hundreds of photos in dozens of places in just a few days. A dozen years later I’m still sorting and scanning them.

Catching railway vehicles on different levels makes for photos with added interest. 

Which is the subject here? The tram in the foreground, the train in the distance, or perhaps the station itself?

It was the afternoon of September 5, 2008, when photographer Denis McCabe and I were photographing at Plzen hlavni nadrazi (Plzen main station) that exposed this Fujichrome slide using a Canon EOS-3.

Ceske Drahy (Czech Railways) class 754 diesels have the nickname ‘Goggles’.

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Kodak Kodak Kodak (on the side of a Tram)

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In May, 2000, I made this photograph of a Tatra tram (advertising Kodak film) on the streets of Prague using a Nikon F3T that was fitted with a Nikkor 24mm lens and loaded with . . .

Fuji Sensia II!

Just for the record, on a visit to Fuji, Japan, I photographed a 1067mm gauge freight train on Kodachrome.

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BRNO, Czech Republic.

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In April 2005, I visited the Czech city of Brno with Denis McCabe and the late Norman McAdams.

Working with a Nikon N90S with f2.8 180mm Nikkor lens, I exposed this Fujichrome Sensia II (ISO 100) slide of a tram as it approached the stop near the main railway station.

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Olomouc, Czech Republic

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It was a dreary wintery morning in January 2009, when I exposed this view of PCC-derived Tatras meeting on the streets of Olomouc, Czech Republic.

I was traveling with photographers Tim Doherty and Denis McCabe on a whirlwind post-Christmas tour of central Europe that began and ended in Prague.

I was working with Fujichrome color slide film using a Canon EOS-3 with a 100mm f2.0 lens

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Ostrava, Czech Republic—Transit Marathon Part 2.

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For my second installment of my 100-city transit marathon, I thought it would be neat to display these three photos I made in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

This was during a visit with Denis McCabe and the late Norman McAdams on April 24, 2005—the my first of two trips to this industrial city in the eastern Czech Republic near the Polish frontier.

The morning air had a brown gauzy tint, while the streets were nearly devoid of traffic.

I exposed these images on Fuji Sensia II (100 ISO) using a Nikon fitted with a 180mm Nikkor telephoto lens.

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