Gardner, Massachusetts, exposed on December 15, 2015 with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
I exposed these views of Pan Am Southern symbol freight 28N at Gardner, Massachusetts on the old Boston & Maine Fitchburg mainline.
Dark Clouds on the Horizon.
Heavy wintery clouds were rolling in from the west, yet a few shafts of sun remained. The contrast between the bright sun and billowing churning clouds allowed for dramatic lighting; ‘storm light’.
Gardner, Massachusetts, exposed on December 15, 2015 with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
I was traveling with Bob Arnold and Paul Goewey. Our bonus on this day was catching one of Norfolk Southern’s recently acquired former Union Pacific SD90MACs (a large General Motors model, built to accommodate a 6,000 hp diesel, but in this case powered by GM’s more reliable 16-710 engine with a more conservative rating).
Pan Am’s 28N is a autorack train that drops cars at Gardner and Ayer, Massachusetts. At Gardner Providence & Worcester interchanges, and often P&W’s WOGR (Worcester-Gardner) arrived about the same time as an eastward Pan Am freight.
Gardner, Massachusetts, exposed on December 15, 2015 with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
By the time the P&W arrived at Gardner, the dramatic light had faded, yet the sky was still full of texture.
My photo at Shirley offers the hope of safe journey in 2016, but also a reminder to photographers that 2016 will see the decommissioning of many old signals such as these old General Railway Signal searchlights.
How many more days will these old signals serve as intended?
Tracking the Light has been Posting Daily since 2013!
(only see one sunrise photo? click thislink to view Tracking the Light’s site.)
Looking forward to 2016: I’ve decided to usher in the New Year with a collection of sunrise views that I’ve made over the years.
Sunrise is one of the best times to make photos as the light is low, colorful and dramatic. Sunrise is always varied.
Also, I’d like to dispel a myth that I’m never up early. 😉
Of these varied views, which do you like the most?
Sunrise, Dublin. Lumix LX7 photo.Sunrise, San Francisco, exposed with a Nikon F3T on Fujichrome slide film in 2009.NJ Jersey Transit sunrise at Matawan, New Jersey in December 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Sunrise, CP83 Palmer, Massachusetts October 25, 2009. Lumix LX3 photo.Sunrise, West Warren, Massachusetts, November 2015. Lumix LX7 photograph.Sunrise near Oulu, Finland, July 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.Boston & Albany sunrise, Tennyville, Palmer, Massachusetts, December 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.1990s smoky sunrise at Solitude, Utah.Sunrise at Newark, New Jersey, December 2015. Lumix LX7 photo.Another Palmer sunrise. Sometime, before today.
Back in the day, a long long time ago (1906, I think), a self-appointed man of knowledge carved into stone the rules of good railroad photography. When translated these read something to the effect:
To take a good train picture you must:
Always use a standard lens;
Expose on bright sunny days;
The sun should be at least 30 degrees above the horizon and over your left shoulder positioned for an evenly lit three-quarter view;
Keep shadows off all railroad rolling stock;
Minimize or eliminate all wires and poles;
Refrain from including people;
Always select a vantage point that allows for a clean view of locomotive wheels;
Select a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action;
Avoid distracting or complicated backgrounds.
Keep trees and fences in the distance.
Amtrak ACS-64 652 leads Keystone train 648 east at Trenton, New Jersey in a December 2015 downpour. Digitally exposed using a Lumix LX7.
Today, December 28, 2015 marks the first anniversary of Amtrak’s final runs of the Vermonter on the old New London Northern line between East Northfield and Palmer, Massachusetts.
Until February 1995, this railroad line had been operated by Central Vermont, which at that time conveyed it to New England Central, which hosted Amtrak’s trains.
It was on a snowy evening nearly three years ago that I used my Canon EOS 7D to expose this image of the old New London Northern station at Amherst, Massachusetts.
Step back 135 years. Before New England Central, before digital photography, Amtrak, or commercial electricity . . .
Poet, Emily Dickinson, today one of the best-known American wordsmiths of her generation, lived just a few blocks from this station.
On occasion Emily Dickinson may have traveled by train from Amherst to Monson, where she’d have visited members of her family who lived there. Perhaps she traveled to other destinations further afoot via connections with the Boston & Albany at Palmer.
Back in 1880 a train journey to Monson was easier than today, since then New London Northern served Amherst with three daily trains in each direction.
Two southward runs from Brattleboro afforded travel to Monson; one stopped at 6:46am, and required a change to a New London train in Palmer, which stopped in Monson at 8:24 am. The other was a through all-stops evening train that departed Amherst at 5:50 pm and stopped in Monson at 7:13 pm. There were similar schedules for northward trains.
Which of these schedules might she have traveled?
Her train’s consist, I imagine, was a light wood-burning 4-4-0 leading a wooden baggage car or possibly a combine coach and a second coach. Track speed was probably about a steady 30 mph, except climbing Belchertown Hill, and likely faster heading downgrade. More research would be necessary to track down the particulars.
Among the lines of her famous poem about her train travels read:
I like to see it lap the miles
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks . . .
From this description, it sounds more like the 5:50pm that routinely took water in Palmer before continuing its journey southward. But then, perhaps she was penning her lines about a northward run on its way back toward Amherst. Maybe the water tank mentioned was that located near the Amherst station. Just some educated guesses.
Tracking the Light takes an angle on Literature in an effort to make more compelling images.
Consult your schedules, watch the signals, listen for the hum of the rail, and stay poised.
This is the heart of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, a raceway for passenger action. In between the fast flying Acela Express runs and Amtrak Regional trains are hourly all-stops SEPTA local runs.
Trains Under Wire.
On the morning of December 19, 2015, Pat Yough and I visited SEPTA stations north (east) of Philadelphia on the former Pennsylvania Railroad electrified four-track line. No GG1s today, but we did catch two old AEM-7s.
Low level platforms here are soon to be ‘improved.’Amtrak ACS-64 number 651 leads train 153 at Levittown, Pennsylvania. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Tips of the day: stay sharp and remember that the long distance trains (Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Crescent, etc) are not listed in the Northeast Corridor schedule and can run ahead of the posted station times as listed in their respective schedules in the Amtrak National Timetable.
SEPTA local 9714 makes a station stop at Levittown, Pennsylvania. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.Many times I’ve traveled on this train; Amtrak 56 the Vermonter, seen here approaching Levitttown behind ACS-64 635.Amtrak Keystone 663 is led by Siemens-built ACS-64 610. The sharp photographer needs to keep the train numbers distinct from engine numbers. This can get a bit confusing on this section of line since both the ACS-64 locomotives (motors) and Keystone trains use 600 series numbers. Just remember one is a piece of equipment, the other is a scheduled service.Ouch! Bad luck, on an otherwise clear morning one lingering fluffy cloud quenched the sunlight just as one of two AEM-7s of the day passed. Engine 927 leads Amtrak train 155 at Levitttown, PA. FujiFilm X-T1 photo, adjusted in post processing with Lightroom to correct contrast, exposure and color temperature.Amtrak Keystone 662 is in push-mode with ACS-64 636 at the back. (In other words this is a trailing view.) FujiFilm X-T1 digital image with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.Who said you can’t use a wide-angle when photographing a high-speed train? Acela Express 2250 was racing along at an estimated 125 mph when I exposed this view with my FujiFilm X-T1 digital image with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens. I had the camera in ‘CF’ (Continuous Fast, what I call ‘turbo flutter’) and the shutter speed at 1/2000th of a second.SEPTA 9707 makes a station stop at Levittown on its way to Trenton, New Jersey.Amtrak 98 rolls eastward (northward) at Levittstown on the final leg of its trip from Florida to New York Penn-Station. Remind me, why did Amtrak invest in new baggage cars?Amtrak Keystone 664 had this battle-worn AEM-7 at the back. Quick action at Croydon allowed for a satisfactory trailing view of the aged electric in action.I always like to catch the long-distance trains under wire. Amtrak ACS-64 606 leads train 91 the Silver Star on its run to Miami, Florida. Photographing the German-designed electrics under old PRR signal bridges makes for a contrast in time and technology that helps tell the story of today’s Northeast Corridor.Amtrak train number 20, the Crescent was running ahead of its posted time when it passed Croydon. Pat Yough had checked the time on his smart phone, so we were poised for action when its headlight appeared.
Is it a retro railroad fantasy to make images that resemble those of the late-Reading Era in 2015?
Reading & Northern GP39RN 2532 leads one of the company’s Santa Trains at Becks near Cressona, Pennsylvania. This locomotive was originally classified as EMD GP30 and is painted to resemble Reading Company freight locomotives as they appeared in the 1970s. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Traveling with Pat Yough, I made this selection of photographs at the former Reading Company yards at Cressona, Pennsylvania in December 2015.
Back in the 19th Century, Philadelphia & Reading consolidated various railroads primarily for the movement of anthracite. In its heyday, this railroad was one of the busiest and most profitable in the United States.
Coal demand and transport has changed dramatically in the last 130 years.
Reading Company’s operations entered a long decline in the 20th century and were finally folded into Conrail in 1976. Reading & Northern emerged as a Conrail spinoff in the 1980s.
Reading & Northern’s old Reading Company yards at Cressona, Pennsylvania. Exposed in ‘monochrome mode’ with my LX-7. I’ve adjusted the tonality with an in-camera red-filter setting.
Today, using a host of vintage railroad equipment R&N provides freight service and seasonal excursions in the spirit of the old Reading Company. Anthracite remains among the commodities moved by the railroad.
R&N paints its vintage locomotives and some freight cars to resemble those of the late-era Reading Company.
This is a similar view to the black & white image above, and aimed to include R&N’s GP39RN. This could be a view of an R&N freight, or perhaps almost passable (if we cropped the ‘derail’ sign, and ignore the graffiti-covered 1980s era freight cars) as a view of the Reading Company from the 1970s. Yet, it’s really a modern R&N Santa Train excursion. Restored CNJ 0-6-0 113 is puffing away at the back of the train. Lumix LX7 photo.Trailing view of R&N’s neo-GP30 disguises the true nature of the day’s excursion. This could easily pass as a R&N freight. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
The line between documentation and photo recreation is blurred.
Through select cropping, I can either reveal the nature of the passenger excursions, or at first glance make R&N’s excursions operation appear like a Reading Company freight from the mid-1970s, or even its own weekday freights.
When does documentation become a re-creation? In the case of R&N does such a distinction even matter?
R&N offers a window on the old order, which is a relief for a railroad photographer aiming to step back from the contemporary scene dominated by massive class I carriers with modern six-motor safety-cab diesels moving unit trains of coal, ethanol and intermodal containers, and modern passenger trains.
LX7 panned photo—relatively slow shutter speed and careful continuous panning motion allowed the main subject to remain sharp while the background slips into a sea of blur.
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Restored Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 number 113 worked Reading & Northern Santa Trains between Minersville and Schuylkill Haven on December 20th, 2015.
Approaching Minersville, Pennsylvania. Exposed with my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
Pat Yough and I made the most of this photographic opportunity, including exposing images of R&N GP30 2532 that worked the Schuylkill Haven-end of the train.
At Minersville, I focused on the locomotive’s details.
Last year, (see: Happy Christmas from Tracking the Light: Doubleheaded Steam) we’d photographed double-headed trains with CNJ’s 113 trailing behind Reading & Northern’s Pacific number 425. Where last year we had overcast weather, this year we had a mix of bright sun and high cloud.
Another change was that 113 recently had had its boiler jacketing restored. While a subtle improvement for the casual observer, it really made for more authentic looking photographs.
Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 113 charges through Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania on December 20, 2015.Trailing view at Cressona Yard on December 20, 2015.
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On the roll at Schuylkill Haven. Panned using my FujiFilm X-T1 with 27mm pancake lens.
New Hope & Ivyland’s former Reading Company station at New Hope, Pennsylvania. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 digital camera, nominal shadow adjustment from a RAW file.How about a happier, brighter, super-saturated version of the same photo? Here the contrast, exposure, saturation, color balance and clarity have been boosted in Lightroom for maximum holiday cheer. Hark the ho ho, and all that! LX7 photo.
In the hustle to get to where you going, don’t forget to take in the finer points of traveling.
The week around Christmas is one of the busy travel seasons for Amtrak and can be an interesting time to make photographs.
Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad Station at 30th Street in Philadelphia is one of the nicest large terminals in North America.
Lumix LX7 photo.
I made these photos at 30th St. the other day with my Lumix LX7 while waiting for Amtrak train 148, which connects Washington D.C. with Springfield, Massachusetts. (This is a direct train, and one of the few that still changes from electric to diesel at New Haven.)
ACS-64 number 649 leads train 148 on track 4 at 30th Street Station. I boarded the Quiet Car.
After exposure I made nominal adjustments to the RAW files using Lightroom. To clean up the images and make them more pleasing to the eye I adjusted contrast and color saturation.
Slight adjustments can make a photo ‘snap’ which gives that extra something special that helps grab your attention. Extreme adjustments can alter the image and produce far-fetched fantasy images. (Which at Christmas in Philadelphia could be a good thing, right?)
In the spirit of the season, I made this image of Black River & Western’s 2-8-0 number 60 leading the North Pole Express across the Copper Hill Viaduct west of Flemington, New Jersey.
Black River & Western, former Great Western 2-8-0 number 60. Exposed on December 19, 2015 using a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit lens. File adjusted using Lightroom to control contrast and color balance.
I made my first photographs at the old Lackawanna Hoboken Terminal with my father back in 1976. He made his first photos there about 20 years earlier.
Today, Hoboken Terminal survives as one of the last great waterfront railroad terminals. Perhaps, the last great American waterfront terminal.
There’s no longer a Lackawanna Limited for Buffalo, nor any of the Lackawanna EMD F3s or F-M Trainmasters that my dad saw, but New Jersey Transit’s Hoboken Terminal remains as one of the most atmospheric locations in the New York City area to make railway images.
Hints of the old order; the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western was one of the great railway companies of the early 20th century.
While I’ve featured Hoboken Terminal previously on Tracking the Light, (see: Hoboken?!) I exposed all of these photos in one morning about ten days ago using my Lumix LX7.
My intent here was no to make one photo, but rather a group of images that capture the character of the place.
I arrived in Jersey City on NJ Transit’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail a few days ago. While I was checking out some comparative ‘now and then’ locations, I made these photos of the modern cars with my Lumix LX7.
(for those viewing via Facebook or other sites, you’ll need to click the link to Tracking the Light for the full effect.)
Then and Now, I think.
Back in 1983, I was fascinated by the Pennsylvania Railroad’s waterfront operations in Jersey City, especially at Exchange Place.
On a family trip, we spent an hour or so exploring the decay around Jersey City so that I could make photos that I’d ultimately planned to use to build a diorama/model railroad.
23 years previously, my father had made photos at the old Exchange Place Terminal. We had difficulties locating anything definable at the site of the once massive station, but made a few photos around the Conrail former PRR yards.
In February 1983, my father exposed this view of Conrail locomotives at Jersey City on Kodachrome 64 using his Leica. I made some similar views that are less impressive as stand alone photographs, by proved useful in trying to relocate this place last week.
Over the last year, I’ve taken a few trips through Jersey City on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and found the place totally transformed from my mental images of the place stemming from the early 1980s.
So, I decided to try to recreate some of our 1983 angles, and last week armed with maps and photos in-hand I went exploring.
This USGS topo map shows the way Jersey City would have been c1950. I’ve placed a blue arrow to show my photo location. (Manhattan Island is located at the far right).
When a cityscape changes beyond recognition, it can be difficult to produce practical ‘now and then images.
These photos are part my work in progress.
I made some cheap copies of the 1983 photos and started exploring Jersey City. While I’d expected to find the 1983 site covered with modern development, I was surprise that the nearest location of our locomotive photo remained undeveloped, albeit surrounded by modern buildings.Is this the exact spot where we made our photos in 1983? I’m not sure, but when I climbed up the embankment it seemed very familiar, although the setting has been transformed. Sorry, no vintage EMD NW2 switchers in December 2015! Exposed with my Lumix LX7.
I’ll call this, Flushing Line Revisited. My first visit was with my dad about 1968. They’ve changed the cars since then
The New York metro-area generates its own quality of light. By afternoon on this day a mix of high cloud and four flavors of atmospheric pollution had tinted the skylight grayish orange with hints of smoggy yellow.
I’ve adjusted contrast in post-processing with the use of a digitally applied gradated neutral density filter to help balance the sky detail.A slightly closer view of the same train. Note the inbound train on the lower level of the elevated structure. Both are moving.
I made these views with my Lumix LX7 from the Manhattan-end of the double-deck Queenboro Plaza station. The Manhattan skyline looms in the distance.
My Lumix LX7 is a great tool for photographing the subway. It has a fast lens (f1.4) while the camera body is light, compact, flexible, and discrete.
For my New York City Subway photography exercise; I set the ISO to 200, the white balance to ‘auto’, set the exposure to dial to ‘A’ (for aperture priority, meaning I manually select the f-stop and the camera selects the appropriate corresponding shutter speed for optimal exposure ) and open the f-stop to near it’s widest setting.
The Lumix LX7 allows me turn off all the sounds and lights, so when I release the shutter nothing beeps or flashes.
I exposed both RAW and Jpeg files simultaneously. While the camera’s automatic exposure was close, I needed made minor adjustments to contrast and white balance in post-processing using Lightroom.
Typically this is necessary to bring the highlights under control while opening up (lightening) the shadow areas to make detail more visible.
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On Thursday December 10, 2015, my father and I traveled on Metro-North to Grand Central Terminal.
West Haven, Connecticut is a modern station with long high-level platforms that opened just a few years ago.
Grand Central remains as impressive as always.
Our train was well-patronized and nearly at standing room by the time we departed Stamford.
This is impressive ridership, considering Metro-North operates a half-hourly inbound service from New Haven, with even more frequent rush-hour service from Bridgeport, and additional trains from Stamford. Not to mention Amtrak’s long distance trains to Penn-Station.
As always, there’s always opportunities for photography
I exposed these photos using my Lumix LX7 digital camera.
The sky was clearing when we arrived at West Haven. Check yesterday’s post for views of a train of antique Metropolitan cars.Amtrak ACS-64 618 leads an eastward Regional train at West Haven.My MetroCard that was good on Metro-North, the New York City Subway and PATH.Metro North train 1541 glides to a stop at West Haven. A good few passengers were ready to board.In the bowels of Grand Central.America’s most famous railway terminal!New Haven Line departure boards.
Would you like to learn more about Grand Central? Consider my new book Railway Depots, Stations & Terminalspublished this year by Voyageur Press! I cover GCT and many other great stations. Don’t miss out order a copy today. Available via Amazon and other outlets.
Sometime last summer, I read a press release proclaiming something to effect that Metro-North’s New Haven Line electric service was now completely operated with the new Kawasaki M8 multiple units, and that all of old Metropolitan cars had been withdrawn.
I thought I did.
Recent trips along the old New Haven seemed to have confirmed this transformation.
So, I was quite surprised the other day when a ghost train arrived at Metro-North’s West Haven Station!
This is great contrast: old Metropolitan cars at the new station. Notice that I carefully included the date in the sign. Lumix LX7 photograph.
Real passengers boarded and it whizzed away toward Grand Central.
Fascinating!
My father and I were supposed to have boarded, as we were on our way to New York. ‘Why didn’t you get on?’
‘What? Ride a ghost train?!’ I’ll wait for the M-8.’ (In truth I was so surprised, my primary thought was to take a photo.)
For my next trick, I’m heading out the Boston & Albany west-end to catch some of the A1 Berkshires on the move. I’ll report back.
Every so often I like to stir up the muck, open a few eyes, raise a few fists, and perhaps invoke a couple of smiles.
I made this digital photograph using a recently devised camera technique. I created the image ‘in-camera’ using my mirror-less FujiFilm X-T1 with the electronic shutter; I did this without unusual external attachments, filters or complicated post-processing manipulation.
So, how did I do it? And why?
Shocking railroad photograph? Sometimes a technique is so raw, so radical, or so non-conventional, your eyes will grip the results, while your brain tries to add up the dots.
Railroad photography isn’t necessarily aided by a windswept empty car park, a host lighting poles, catenary masts, fences, not to mention the metal monstrosity posing as a footbridge.
This was the scene at Readville, Massachusetts on Sunday, Morning, December 6, 2015.
An MBTA train heading for Boston was due shortly. Since locomotives operate on the south-end of consists, I set up for a trailing pan photo. I focused on the new engine and allowed the setting to settle into a sea of blur.
An MBTA HSP46 passes Readville, Massachusetts on Sunday December 6, 2015.
This is one means of making the ugliness more interesting.
Exposed at 1/60th of a second using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. Contrast controlled in post processing using Lightroom.
One hundred and thirty five years ago, the railway station was key to many communities commerce and communications. It offered the connection to the world.
My 1880 Official Guide is a window on the past. The Boston, Barre & Gardner Railroad (among the companies later melded into the Boston & Maine network) schedule lists three trains a day in each direction stopping at Holden, Massachusetts.
Trains ran from Worcester to Winchendon stopping at Holden at 8:28 am, 4:15 pm, and 7 pm, and Winchendon to Worcester at 9:06 am, 1:22 pm, and 7 pm.
Obviously based on this schedule, there was a planned meet between northward and southward trains at the station.
In its heyday, back in 1880 Holden was an important station. It served as a telegraph office and as a transfer point for stagecoaches to Rutland (Massachusetts).
Today the old station is but a relic, the vestige of another time. Its train order signal is no longer part of the rules of operation; and the last passenger train passed in 1953. Yet the railroad remains active.
The old Boston & Maine station at Holden is a reminder of earlier times. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
Providence & Worcester’s freights connect with Pan Am Railways/Pan Am Southern at Gardner and this has developed as a route for the movement of new automobiles and ethanol moving via the port of Providence, Rhode Island.
Providence & Worcester’s southward freight symbol GRWO shakes the walls of the old station. Don’t wait here for a 4-4-0 with combine coach on the 4:15 pm train to Winchendon. (It doesn’t run any more).
My book, Railway Depots, Stations & Terminals features a variety of railway stations in New England, across America and around the world. It was published by Voyageur Press this year and is available from Amazon and other outlets.
Fluffy snow had been falling all morning. Central Vermont’s freight arrived in Palmer and quickly organized to continue south.
I followed the train’s steady progress over State Line Hill, then set up in downtown Stafford Springs, Connecticut where I made these photos on Ilford FP4 black & white negative film using my Leica 3A with 50mm lens.
Central Vermont southward freight at Stafford Springs, Connecticut on February 2, 1985.Trailing view of the same train crossing Route 32 in Stafford Springs.
For me this pair of images does a great job of exemplifying my experience with Central Vermont in the mid-1980s when three, four, five, six, and sometimes seven vintage GP9s would work tonnage freights. The sounds of those old diesels still resonates in my memory.
Would these images have be improved by modern color digital photography? Would they survive for 31 years with virtually no attention from me? For that matter, where will these old negatives or the scans be in another 31 years?
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As I approached the Tenneyville bridge in Palmer (that’s the Route 32 bridge in modern parlance), I heard two CSX trains talking to each other. It was obvious a meet was in progress between CP79 and CP83 (east and west ends of the signaled dispatcher controlled siding).
When I crossed the bridge, CSX Q293 (westward empty autoracks) was easing along below me. The signals at CP83 had just cleared and the sun had just peaked above the horizon.
In a matter of moments, the engineer on Q293 would begin to accelerate. I needed to act quickly.
With my VW, I can accelerate faster than a long freight train, and I was lucky that the roads were clear of traffic.
I drove to a known photo location near the location of the old Boston & Albany freight house (demolished in 1989). This has the advantage of being open, while providing a long view on the tangent track through Palmer yard toward the rising sun.
I arrived with just enough time to set my FujiFilm X-T1 and expose a series of photos of the train rolling west out of sunrise. Soft morning clouds dampened the harshness of the direct light.
CSX Q293 rolls west against a backdrop of the rising sun at Palmer, Massachusetts on November 18, 2015. The Tenneyville Bridge is visible in the distance. My set up time: about 15 seconds.
Here I’ve included both a long telephoto view, and a wide angle to give you a sense for both the lighting and the location. The wide view required a bit of contrast control and exposure adjustment to make for a satisfactory final image.
The range of contrast of this wide angle view required a bit of post processing. I prefer the telephoto view, but this one gives a good lay of the land. Both were exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. If I had had time, I’d have exposed some color slides.
Yesterday, November 20, 2015, I located my notebook from August 1990. I opened it at random, trying to find some information on photographs I made on Donner Pass that year. Instead I found this observation dated August 7th:
I think digital photography is the future of photography in several areas, but to some extent silver photography will always exist.
Today, I processed two rolls of Fuji Across 100 that had been sitting on my desk for more than year.
Among the photographs was this self-portrait I exposed at Connolly Station, Dublin on April 21, 2014.
Exposed using a Nikon F3 with 50mm lens on Fuji Acros 100 black & white film; processed in HC110 (dilution B) for 4 minutes 45 seconds; negatives toned in selenium and scanned using an Epson Perfection V600 flatbed scanner.
We were heading for Ayer. We’d heard some non-descript chatter on the radio about Pan Am’s POED (Portland to East Deerfield). I had the MBTA schedules on my lap. The sun was shining brightly.
Bob Arnold was driving, Paul Goewey was riding shotgun, and I was in the back.
“There’s freight cars moving west!”
“It’s the POED, turn around”.
“The new SD40-2s are in the lead!”
These were the coolest engines in New England as this moment in time, and they’d handily presented themselves in nice light.
Our opportunity was narrow and before long we were saddled with waddler (a slow moving car that impeded our forward progress). However, the freight was only ambling up the grade, and we began to overtake it.
I rolled down my window, set my FujiFilm X-T1 to ‘turbo flutter’ (continuous high) with a 1/60th of a second shutter speed to ensure the effect of movement, and made bursts of images of the shinny blue engines on the move.
Art of the pace: Bob was driving so I leaned from the rear passenger window and exposed a series of images. By selecting a slower shutter speed I was able to convey motion. Here’s a secret: although the pacing action resulted in most of the ground blur, I was also panning back to keep the locomotives sharp and had my camera’s image stabilization ‘on’. This takes practice.Both the locomotives and the car are moving, yet at different speeds, so compensation is necessary or everything will turn into a sea of blur.
Despite the frustrations caused by our less than quick progress, we were soon ahead of the freight. At Shirley, Massachusetts the road and the old Boston & Maine are parallel. Bob asked “where should we stop.”
“Pull in short of the new signal bridge. . . Here, it’s open and clear.”
It was a fire drill as we bailed and assumed photographic stance trackside. POED was bearing down with its diesels roaring. We only a few moments.
I set my camera’s focus position, readjusted my shutter speed (to stop the action), set my zoom to a wide position to allow for more broadside on the engines, and looked to minimize poles, wires and extraneous brush. My shutter setting was still in ‘turbo flutter’.
I waited until the locomotives were close and exposed a prolonged burst of images, while aiming to position the lead locomotive nose at the upper left of the frame for maximum visual impact.
Nice clean locomotives work west on heavily ballasted track at Shirley, Massachusetts on November 18, 2015.I turned for a trailing view looking toward the new signal bridge. Word of advice, get the old searchlights before their gone. (That was our next project).
It is always a delight to stumble upon something relatively unusual and have the foresight and knowledge to make the most of the opportunity.
The old Boston, Barre & Gardner was among the railroads gobbled up by the growing Boston & Maine during the golden years of American railroads. The line primarily extended from Worcester to Gardner and beyond to Peterboro, New Hampshire.
Historically, the route crossed B&M’s Fitchburg line on a set of diamonds in front of the Gardner station. Back in 1880, three passenger trains a day served the 27 miles between Worcester and Gardner.
By the 1950s, one lonely train covered the run, and this made its final journey on March 7, 1953. Check out Robert Willoughby Jones’ book Boston & Maine: Forest, River and Mountain for photos.
These days, the line between Worcester and Gardner is operated by Providence & Worcester, and I’ve featured it on several occasions on Tracking the Light, while a short vestige of the north end of the route extends from a connection with Pan Am Southern in Gardner to a shipper a short distance away.
A vestige of the old Boston, Barre & Gardner makes for a little bit of living history.Pan Am Railway’s F1-1 is a local based out of Fitchburg and works this rarely used section of line as required.
Last week, Bob Arnold, Paul Goewey and I were photographing in Gardner when we noticed the flange ways were clear on this rarely used stub branch. ‘There’s got to be an engine up the line,’ I said, and we went to investigate.
We found our quarry, and waited for the locomotive to return.
A lone GP40 eases its way down the branch passed a furniture store.The locomotive crosses Main Street in Gardner, near the corner of Chestnut.The Furniture Center is among the buildings that feature in old photos of the branch crossing B&M’s Fitchburg Division mainline. This image required a bit of post processing contrast adjustment to retain detail in the deep shadows of the charcoal painted locomotive and the bright highlights of the building beyond.
As I explained to a friend later: this operation might happen every Monday, or only on odd number days following a full moon in months ending in the letter ‘R’, but in more than 30 years of photography in the area, none of us had ever seen it before.
Hooray for fortuity!
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RJED—Rotterdam Junction to East Deerfield, a good ol’ fashioned carload freight.
Yesterday (Monday November 16, 2015), I heard the train working at Hoosick Junction and set up at Hoosick Falls. After a bit of a wait, I was rewarded by the roar of diesels.
Pan Am Railways 507 leads symbol freight RJED working east from the CSX interchange at Rotterdam Junction, New York. Seen here on the old B&M at Hoosick Falls, New York, just before noon on November 16, 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
The 3rd locomotive in consist was one of the former Quebec, North Shore & Labrador SD40-2 in fresh Pan Am Railways blue.
A batch of these handsome locomotives arrived on the property just last week, so I was keen to catch one, even if trailing.
North Pownal, Vermont. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.The drama of modern railroading isn’t always front lit. Image adjusted for contrast in post processing using Lightroom.
The Boston & Maine west end is an old stomping ground, and I’m well-versed with locations and the chase route, so I made the most of a clear sunny afternoon. It helps to know where to go, where to park, when to zip ahead, and when to relax.
North Adams, Massachusetts. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.
Along the Deerfield River east of Soapstone, Massachusetts. FujiFIlm X-T1 photos.
Fresh Pan blue paint, that’s pretty cool; and a freight with all EMD 645 diesels, sounded great!
The other day, New England Central 611 was struggling. The train had departed Brattleboro, Vermont with a heavy consist. Complicating matters was that the locomotives weren’t cooperating and the rails were damp with lots of freshly fallen leaves.
While this made for a tough morning’s work for the 611 crew, it provided ample opportunities for me to make photographs (and gave good sound show too).
The sun was playing late-autumn hide and seek with the clouds, but at Leverett, Massachusetts I was rewarded by burst of sun.
Many years ago, before my time, there had been a grade crossing a Leverett. Today, Route 63 crosses on a modern concrete overpass fitted with narrow-mesh fences (no use for photography.)
I opted for a location below the bridge (near where the old grade crossing had been) in order to frame up the train in a tree that was still clinging to its rusty leaves.
This was one of burst of exposures I made with my FujiFilm X-T1 Digital camera.
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Sunday, November 8, 2015, I learned that an AEM-7 was working Amtrak train 163 from Boston to Washington DC.
A year ago this event wouldn’t have been noteworthy, but now it is. Amtrak’s AEM-7s are getting rare and engine 939 was the only one I saw working on that day. The last I heard there were just ten left in traffic.
Amtrak 939 leads train 163 on the former New Haven Railroad at Green’s Farms, Connecticut. Exposed using a FujiFilm X-T1 with 18-35mm zoom lens.
My philosophy is that every photo I make of an Amtrak AEM-7 on the move may be the last one.
Nothing lasts forever.
Amtrak 163 races into the evening sun at Green’s Farms, CT.
Last week I’d noted this locomotive at Cedar Hill Yard in New Haven, Connecticut as I was driving south on I-91.
‘What’s that?’ I wondered, having noticed the colorful paint livery, but not having the ability to inspect it.
As fortune would have it, I was able to inspect the locomotive a little while ago.
Yesterday, Tracking the Light follower and fellow photographer, Paul Goewey, alerted me to the fact that GMTX SD60 9000 had been interchanged by Providence & Worcester to New England Central at Willimantic, Connecticut.
Last night I was attending the photographic opening by Roger Ingraham at the Three Graces on Main Street in Stafford Springs, when New England Central freight 608 rolled north through town. Trailing was GMTX 9000.
Palmer, Massachusetts November 14, 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
This morning, I called into Palmer and made these photos. I expect, the locomotive will continue its northward journey on NECR 611, but that’s just an educated guess.
Palmer, Massachusetts November 14, 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.Palmer, Massachusetts November 14, 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.Palmer, Massachusetts November 14, 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.Palmer, Massachusetts November 14, 2015. Panasonic Lumix LX7 photo.
Metro-North and the State of Connecticut have received 405 M8 electric cars from Kawasaki. These now dominate commuter operations on the New Haven Line.
On Sunday November 8, 2015, I spent the day making photos underwire, and exposed many detailed digital photos of the new electrics using my FujiFilm X-T1.
These cars are unique to Metro-North’s electrified New Haven Line suburban trains. Yet, after a few hours, they can get a bit repetitive.
My challenge was remaining interested in the subject, while searching from new angles and new ways to portray the cars on the move.
Which of these photographs is your favorite?
Milford, Connecticut.M8s at Milford.Metro-North train 6524 from Grand Central at Westport, Connecticut.M8s crossing the Westport drawbridge.
M8s glint nicely.Metro-North Railroad logo.Third rail shoe for working to Grand Central.Faiveley pantographs for high-voltage AC overhead.Conductor gives train 6538 the highball at Green’s Farms.Sunset on a westward train heading for New York City. It will be dark by the time it reaches the Park Avenue tunnels.Panned photo at Norton Heights.
On August 10, 2015, David Hegarty and I visited Drogheda, where Irish Rail’s Navan Branch meets the Northern Line.
It was our second visit in two days.
In recent years, I’d been dismissive of the Northern Line as being bland. But, I’ve seen the error of my ways.
In just a couple hours we were treated to a steady parade of trains, and this offered just about the best variety of equipment as anyone can expect to see in modern day Ireland.
The highlight of the day was the arrival of the weed-spraying train, which needed to run around, and the propel back to access the branch.
Shortly after we arrived, a laden Tara mines train pulled into view at the end of the branch. The electric DART cars were at the depot for servicing.29000-series railcars take the switch for platform 3.Hooray! The weed-spraying train as arrived from Dundalk.Engine 074 has cutoff and will run around its train in preparation for a run to Navan on the branch.A Dublin-bound set of 29000 railcars in the new livery has just departed the station.The sun came out as the weed-spraying train reversed.Irish Rail 233 leads the down Enterprise toward Belfast. The weedsprayer waits to crossover.The chevrons on the front of 074 have been a trademark of the weedspraying train for decades.The sprayer is doing its thing as it heads toward Navan.Fresh bit of sun on the railcar depot.Eventually that Tara train will have to move.
Our vantage point was the lightly travel road bridge south of the railway station. During our visit there were more dogs across the bridge than cars.
Drogheda is nicely oriented for sun-lit photography through out most of the day. This is the location of a railcar depot (maintenance facility), so in addition to mainline moves, there was considerable activity at the depot, which include the washing of trains.
As with many busy places, the action seemed to come in waves.
Watching the railcars get washed provided a bit of entertainment.I like the new green livery. What do you think?More fresh green 29000s on the move.Finally! The sounds of an EMD 645 engine, and here’s the laden Tara mines train on the move. It carries zinc ore to Dublin port.Some NIR CAF-built 3001 series railcars are on their way back to Belfast.
This northern town is a port city on the Gulf of Bothnia where iron ore from mines north of the Arctic Circle is trans-loaded to ships. There’s a traditional passenger station that serves sleeping car trains that originate here for Stockholm and points south; a coach yard and sidings.
Markku Pulkkinen, Matti Mäntyvaara, Asko Räsänen and I arrived in early afternoon. We had lunch in the station restaurant and observed the action.
The combination of low-level platforms, ground-level switching activities to make up trains, and conventional locomotive hauled consists made for some proper old-school railroading! And that’s just the way we like it. Only the Kiruna-Narvik service appeared to be provided by a modern wedge-shaped electric multiple unit.
X-T1 panoramic composite of the second Stockholm sleeper at Luleå.X-T1 photo.Luleå is old school; traditional station building with restaurant, low level platforms, plus loco-hauled sleeping car trains with long consists of bogie carriages. All good. Long may it last.Lumix LX7 photo of a sleeping car.Since my visit in 2002, the local passenger service has been ‘improved’. (The improvement is the wedge-shaped EMU at left.)An empty iron train led by IORE electrics (the most powerful on the planet) rolls through the station on its way north.
The low northern sun provided some great light for photographs, and I made the most of our visit working with my FujiFilm X-T1 and Lumix LX7 to make digital photos.
I was bemused when a young British girl complained to her father when he went to make a photo of the Rc6 electric on a sleeping car train, ‘Daddy, don’t do that! Why do you make a photo of the train?’ Surely this child needs to be sent to camp for re-education! I blame the internet and/or television.
A track-level view of a Stockholm sleeper at Luleå. My FujiFilm X-T1’s flip down screen and heads-up display with level makes it easy to take low angle photos of trains.It’s a long way from Luleå to Stockholm by train.A second empty ore train rolls through Luleå. These big modern Bombardier-built electrics replaced the old Dm3 siderodders, but I’ll forgive them for that—they’re still pretty impressive!An Rc6 works the coach yard as the empty ore train heads northward to beyond the Arctic Circle.Modern high-capacity ore wagons are a contrast with the old six-wheel jennies from a century ago.One of the classics is on display near the station. Luleå respects its heritage.
Here’s a great concept that blends the conviviality of a pub with the rolling urban vistas provided by a streetcar.
Helsinki has a virtual maze of narrow-gauge tram tracks and the pub tram makes hourly circular tours. The car itself is one of the last non-articulated trams in regular service in the city and is painted a distinctive red.
Exposed in July 2015 with a Lumix LX7.
On an earlier visit to Helsinki in 2002, I photographed the car, but was unable to ride because it had been booked for a charter. In July 2015, Markku Pulkkinen and I took a spin on this unusual railway vehicle. I think it is the only city tram that I’ve ever seen with a loo.
The pub tram is great way to see Helsinki. Every city should have one!
