Derailment | Tracking the Light

When I reviewed my latest statistics I was surprised by the results. The top five most viewed posts were neither those that I’d worked the hardest to produce, nor those the I thought might draw the most interest.

What didn’t surprise me was that my clever titles are most often lost in the mix. The blunt ‘THERE YOU GO’ headings generally do better.

So much for subtlety. A rose by any other name basically goes unnoticed no matter how sweet it smells!

The seven most viewed posts:

1 recent-images-of-dublin-ireland

2 tracking-the-light-news-flash-photos-of-philadelphia-schuylkill-river-bridge-derailment

3 sperry-train-at-islandbridge-junction-on-august-30-2012

4 streamliners-at-spencer-photos-by-brian-solomon

5 tracking-the-light-special-post-palmer-hobbies-now-open

6 panasonic-lumix-lx100-review

7 railway-photography-tips-to-improve-your-odds-the-basics

Here’s five posts I wished you’d seen, but statistically you missed. Like a post? Please share it!

1 times-square-shuttle

U2 went there a few days ago and it went viral; Tracking the Light visited and; crickets.

2 running-numbers-springfield-massachusetts-on-a-sunday-morning

So much for betting on clever titles.

3) ghost-of-the-lackawanna-daily-post/

Cool title, cool photo, great information, check it out! (shameless plug, I know, but hardly anyone paid attention before).

4) daily-post-irish-rail-wellingtonbridge-county-wexford-december-2005/

Ah come on, it’s like the beet, man.

5) philadelphia-a-view-from-a-canoe

Hey, what’s da matter, yous got a problem with boats or something? Eh?

I exposed this image at dusk on Fujichrome slide film using my Nikon F3. The low angle afforded by my seat in the canoe, I was able to make the most of the surface of the river without getting wet.

Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.

Please share Tracking the Light!

http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/

Monday Afternoon; January 20, 2014.

View from I-76; a crane attends to a derailed sand hopper at the site of the January 20, 2014 Schuylkill RIver Bridge derailment. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens. — View from I-76; a crane attends to a derailed sand hopper at the site of the January 20, 2014 Schuylkill River Bridge derailment. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens.

The news media reported that early this morning (January 20, 2014), an oil train destined for Philadelphia derailed while crossing the Schuylkill River.

The derailment occurred near I-76 and within sight of Center City.

This afternoon, my brother and I were on our way through Philadelphia, and I had the opportunity to make photos from the car as we passed the derailment site.

Traffic was very slow on I-76, and I ample time to make snapshots with my Canon EOS 7D. On our way back, the clean up efforts continued, so I made a few more images.

It pays to have a camera at the ready to capture events such as this one.