I kept the cameras busy yesterday. I’ve altered the way I process my files. Rather than work from camera-shaped Jpgs, instead I’ve presented camera RAW files. With a few I applied a bit of contrast/exposure adjustment, but the others have just been scaled for internet presentation.
I exposed more than 500 images and haven’t, as of yet, had adequate time to digest this photographically intense experience.
Do you have any favorites among these photos?
Uproad near Near Mosney.
Downroad near Mosney.Dundalk.Tea!
Down Enterprise at Drogheda.Loco needs water, son.Clock at Dundalk.
Today, Sunday 9 August 2015, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland in cooperation with Irish Rail operated a steam special from Dublin’s Connolly Station to Drogheda and Dundalk with locomotive number 4.
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1; RAW File exported as a Jpg using Adobe Lightroom.Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1; RAW File exported as a Jpg using Adobe Lightroom.
This was my first opportunity to photograph this classic locomotive in more than four years. Special thanks to everyone at the RPSI and Irish Rail who made today’s trips a success.
Stay tuned for more photos tomorrow!
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1; RAW File exported as a Jpg using Adobe Lightroom.
If you are viewing this on Facebook or another 3rd party source, you’ll really need to click the link to get the full effect.
Yesterday on Tracking the Light, I mentioned how on the morning of 31 July 2015, Markku Pulkkinen, Sakari K. Salo, and Juhani Katajisto provided me a tour of the new Helsinki Airport line by car.
Mr. Salo selected this location as being one of the best places to try to get a plane and train in the same photo.
While this didn’t line up the way we’d hoped, the location did allow me to make a variety of dramatic photos. My challenge was in capturing a high-contrast scene digitally.
The sky was dressed with some impressive clouds. So how to best work with such a scene?
I opted to gauge my exposure to retain detail in the sky, while allowing for underexposure of the train. I intentionally included the array of electrical wires to show the advantages and disadvantages of various digital treatments.
With the following four images, the first is the un-manipulated camera ‘RAW’ file. The next three show various types of post-processing adjustment using Adobe Lightroom.
This view is a Jpg converted from the camera RAW file without any manipulation in post processing. All of the detail in the subsequent views exists in the camera RAW file. The challenge with the unmodified RAW file is holding sufficient detail in the shadow areas without blowing out the highlights. Ultimately I’m aiming to achieve balance. However, as you can see, it is easy enough to exaggerate the conditions of the seen to make a more dramatic image.This is a simply modified version. All I did was adjust contrast using ‘highlights’ and ‘shadows’ sliders under the ‘develop’ section of Lightroom. Doing so provides better contrast that more closely resembles the way the scene appeared to my eye.To accentuate the effect of the sky and make for a more dramatic image, I’ve used the graduated neutral density effect. This applies the effect that digitally emulates the application of a two-stop gradated neutral density filter to the front of the camera. The effect is easily spotted by its treatment of the electrical pylons.In this fourth version, I’ve heavily manipulated contrast and exposure, and used both ‘Clarity’ and ‘Saturation’ sliders. To me, while the photograph has an impressive punch, it no longer resembles the scene as I saw it. Such manipulation is relatively easy, thus owing to it being commonly applied to images today. Incidentally, you can apply the same techniques to photographs exposed on film.
Back in the old days, I’d routinely make adjustments to contrast and exposure when I printed my black & white negatives. Often, I’d expose and process the film in anticipation of manipulation in the darkroom. (I’d also make prints from color slides using Cibachrome and Type R materials, but that’s a story for another day).
In effect, my digital manipulation of the RAW file is a modern interpretation of this traditional processing technique. I’ve not added anything to the original file, I’ve simply altered contrast, exposure, and color saturation using controls offered by the program.
Every so often a train stops in a photogenic location, which provides ample opportunity to make a variety of images.
Such was the case the other day, when Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, Markku Pulkkinen were providing me tour of greater Kontiomäki.
This pair of Finnish Sr2 electrics had brought a loaded iron ore train west from the Russian-border and were waiting for a path to continue toward Oulu at the junction with the electrified line at the west leg of the Kontiomäki triangle.
While the train was stopped, I used the moment to expose photographs with three cameras. These are a few angles made digitally with my FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less camera, and my pocket-size Lumix LX-7. The slides remain latent.
A very traditional three-quarter angle as exposed with my Lumix LX-7.A tighter three-quarter angle using my FujiFilm X-T1.Here I’ve featured a flower growing trackside. These purple flowers flourish in the Finnish countryside during the summer. Lumix LX-7 photo.How about an angle from the other side of the train? Lumix LX-7 photo.A study of Finnish Sr2 electrics nose-to-nose. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Since the lighting was relatively even, my goal was to obtain the most impressive angle that features the contours and colours on the Sr2s. VR is in a transition from the older white and red livery to a new white with bright green scheme.
Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, Markku Pulkkinen and I arrived at the Finnish—Russian border just a minute before a loaded iron ore train crossed with Russian diesels.
I have to admit that 10 days of continuous travel had caught up with me and I’d fallen asleep in the car. “Hey, wake up! The train is over the frontier.”
“What? Where?”
I managed a decent image of the train. But the best was yet to come. An ominous looking sign marked the border area.
We waited for an hour while the Russian diesels were position on an eastward empty train. A thunderstorm rumbled to the south. Finnish custom agents inspect the train. The Russian diesels idled. It began to rain.
Finally, the train began to ease forward. The driver must have liked the attention and once passed the starting signal, he notched up the locomotives. It reminded me of photographing old Alcos!
Russian diesels work east toward at the Finnish-Russian border. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1, modified in post processing for contrast and saturation.It was unwise to consider chasing east.
Back in olden times overnight sleeping car trains were common. Today, not so much. Yet, I’ve just boarded IC 274 for Helsinki. There was a mob on the platform at Oulu. To quote the old saying, ‘There’s no one riding trains any more, they are too crowded.’
Thankfully, I’m locked away in a berth.
Lumix LX-7 photo exposed at Oulu on 29 July 2015.Lumix LX-7 photo exposed at Oulu on 29 July 2015. 11:45pm.
Back in olden times overnight sleeping car trains didn’t have WiFi!
In railway photography timing is everything. In Finland, some of the mystery of when trains operate has been revealed through the miracle of a public service application for smart phones and mobile devices.
Thanks to the careful attention of my guides. Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, and Markku Pulkinen, we arrived at the timber loading terminal at the end of a lightly used VR branch just in time to catch the arrival of this VR empty timber train.
In the lead were a pair of venerable Dv12 diesel-hydraulic locomotives. These are the GP9s of Finland and have worked all types of traffic.
The overgrown branch line with very light rail is a total contrast with Finland’s mainlines, which feature excellent track and manicured infrastructure.
The number 750 represents the distance by rail from Helsinki in kilometers.An old Tk3 2-8-0 is on public display.Detail of the cylinder and valves on the Danish built class Tk3.
An old light 2-8-0 is positioned near the end of track as a display. Finland was still operating wood-fired steam in revenue service into the 1970s.
I felt like a Victorian explorer being led through forests by expert guides. Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, and Markku Pulkinen led me a long a disused track.
“There is a locomotive turntable here.”
Indeed! Masked by trees, hidden from view, and located off the end of a lightly used branch line at Ammansaari, Finland is the old turntable once used to spin light steam locomotives.
Few visitors are afforded the privilege of seeing this relic. It was like finding a Mayan pyramid in the rain forest.
I exposed these photos digitally using my FujiFilm X-T1. For effect, I set the camera to the preset that emulates black & white film with a red filter. For posterity, I also exposed a few color slides.
My old Contax with real black & white film would have served me well here.
At Oulu, Finland, the sun hangs in the northwestern sky until after 11pm. For a visitor from more southerly regions this late light is fascinating.
My host Markku Pulkkinen showed me this foot bridge over the main railway yard and I made a series of photographs with my FujiFilm XT-1. This image was tricky.
A Swiss-designed class Sr2 electric was preparing to head south with an overnight freight. I found an alignment to capture this train departing against the backdrop of the low sun. My difficulty was in selecting the right exposure.
If it was light enough to capture the details of the locomotive than the sky would have been blasted (over exposed), yet if I exposed to retain color and detail in the sky, than the railway yard and locomotive would have been virtually opaque.
Ultimately, I made several exposures using my camera’s histogram to guide me. I avoided clipping the highlights, while allowing the shadow regions to slip to the lower end of the graph.
After the fact, I used Lightroom (recently installed on my new MacBook) to adjust the highlight and shadow areas to hold detail, while pumping up the saturation a little.
VR Sr2 at Oulu, Finland after 11 pm on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. File adjusted for exposure, contrast, and saturation.
I’ll admit the end result looks a bit surreal. But then again, I found the whole setting surreal from the get go!
I processed the file and made my adjustments while riding on the upper level of a VR train heading toward Kontiomäki.
The other day, I was on Main Street in Palmer, Massachusetts near the Day and Night Diner (where I’d just finished breakfast), when I saw an eastward CSX intermodal train approaching the Palmer diamond.
Fuji X-T1 photo of Palmer’s Day and Night Diner on May 1st, 2015.
In the lead was a 4700-series SD70MAC. Since in recent times, CSX’s safety-cab General Electric locomotives have dominated the scene on the old Boston & Albany route, I was keen to make a photo of this comparatively unusual leader.
Now, I’d been away for a while, so for all I knew, the 4700s had been leading every day for the last month. Or, it may have been the first time over the line since I was here last. Hard to know, but why take a chance. Plus it was as good as excuse as I needed for a time-honored chase up the Quaboag River Valley.
But would I make it? Intermodal trains can be nimble and tend to have a high horsepower per ton rating. There’s a speed restriction across the diamond, and I thought, if I moved quickly, I might be able to zip east toward Warren for a photograph.
First I had to navigate three traffic lights in Palmer. The first two I made without problems, but the third stabbed me. Soon, I was heading out of town on Route 20, but reasons beyond my understanding, the car in front of me dawdled.
I was even with the locomotives and gaining quickly by the time I’d reached ‘Electric Light Hill’ (where the right of way of the projected Grand Trunk line to Providence was graded to cross the B&A—a point so known for the nearby electric substation opposite the tracks).
At this point, the engineer should have opened the throttle to ‘run-8’ and been charging for the grade up the valley. By rights, I would have lost the race at that stage, unless I was willing to ignore the posted limit.
As it turned out, there was no need to consider such transgression of highway safety. The eastward train had begun to slow down. I surmised that it might be stopping at CP79 for a meet with a westbound.
A pair of CSX GE’s lead a westward carload freight past CP79. The eastward intermodal train would have to wait. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 with 18-135mm lens set at 135mm.
Kudos to the dispatcher in Selkirk! It was a very tight meet. At the field near CP79 (where the long controlled siding that began at CP83 ends), I spotted a westward train and caught a photo of it from across the freshly greened fields. Yet, my primary subject never had to stop.
This meet gave me the extra couple of minutes I needed to reach Warren with ample time to park, adjust and set my camera and compose my images.
Eastbound at Warren. Just like back in the day when Bob Buck would photograph Boston & Albany’s Lima-built Berkshires working eastbound tonnage. Well sort of.
It’s a chase I’ve done many times over the last three decades. It helps to know the railroad. All was quiet in Warren that day, save for the roar of the train.
Catching the light in Ireland can be a fleeting experience. Even on a bright day, cloud often covers the sky. Yet, sometimes luck shines on me. Such was the case last week when I made this photograph of the down Dublin-Cork Mark4 passenger train led by Irish Rail 215.
A brief wink of sun graced the front of the engine just as it approached.
It was seventeen years ago that I caught my first glimpse of the multiple-arch Kilnap viaduct from the window of a scheduled Bus Éireann coach running from Limerick to Cork.
On various occasions since then, I’ve travelled across Kilnap on trains running between Dublin and Cork.
On April 20th, thanks to the expert guidance of Irish Rail’s Ken Fox, I finally visited this noteworthy bridge on the ground and made these photographs. It is just a few miles from Cork’s Kent Station on the double-track Dublin-Cork mainline.
Panoramic composite exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.Panasonic Lumix LX7 photo.Irish Rail 222 leads the down Dublin-Cork passenger train. Exposed with a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.
Irish Rail’s peak hour services on the Cork-Cobh and Cork-Midleton routes have a half hour frequency, which results in four trains an hour stopping at the Glounthaune Station.
The railway is scenically situated along an inlet and the station still features an open lattice metal footbridge, of the kind that was common all over Ireland until just a few years ago.
Fuji X-T1 photo.
Fuji X-T1 photo.
I made these images using my Fujifilm X-T1 and Lumix LX7 digital cameras. Thanks to Donncha Cronin and Irish Rail’s Ken Fox for their hospitality in Cork.
There are only a few places where the narrow gauge Bord na Mona crosses Irish Rail’s broad gauge lines.
If you ride from Dublin to Cork, you might catch a glimpse of the three-foot gauge tracks ducking under the mainline a ways west of the ‘Laoise Traincar Depot’ (where Irish Rail maintains its Intercity Railcar fleet).
Dublin bound Irish Rail ICR (Intercity Railcar) crosses the Bord na Mona 3-foot gauge near Portlaoise. Fuji X-T1 photo.Cork-bound train with a 201-class diesel crosses the Bord na Mona 3-foot gauge near Portlaoise. Fuji X-T1 photo.
Making successful photos of trains here is tricky. They sail along at 90mph and owing to the angle of the lines, there’s very little time to position the front of the train at the crossing point.
I set my Fuji X-T1 to ‘CH’ (continuous high), which automatically exposes a burst of images in rapid succession.
Owing to infrequent operations on the narrow gauge, it will be a challenge to try to score an ‘under-and-over’ image here. But at least that’s a goal for another day.
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!
Contrasts in transport: A CSX local ambles along a four-lane highway south of Benwood, West Virginia.
It was a bright clear morning on August 18, 2011 when Pat Yough and I followed this freight on the old Baltimore & Ohio to make a series of images including this one.
What does this photograph say about the road? The railroad?
Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D fitted with 28-135mm lens set to 38mm. ISO 200, f7.1 1/500th of a second.
In the gutter between the road and the tracks is some rubbish. Litter. I wish it weren’t there. Using Photoshop I can make it disappear. I haven’t.
For that matter, I can change the color of the locomotives, add clouds to the sky, or remove some cars from the road. I haven’t done that either.
My experience with the Brussels tram network spans nearly twenty years. This fascinating railway network involves a complex route structure with lots of track and several different types of trams.
Street photography has its fair share of challenges. Automobiles and pedestrians mingle with trams in ways that make it difficult to set up shots.
Further complicating matters is the sedate shades of silver and bronze now favoured by STIB (the transit operator), which I find difficult to photograph satisfactorily.
However, in addition to the regular tram livery are a large number of specially painted advertising trams and a handful of old PCCs in the earlier yellow livery, which certainly add a bit of colour to the fleet.
These photos were all exposed during one afternoon in late March 2015.
This year, I opted to take the DART to Bray and hike the cliff-walk around the head to make these views.
Despite clear skies and warm spring weather, wafting sea fog made for a challenging photographic conditions.
Irish Rail’s DART suburban service at Brandy Hole, Bray Head on Monday 6 April 2015. Fuji X-T1 digital photograph.
I made a point of photographing DART electric trains and Irish Rail’s intercity diesel railcars while in position for the steam special.
Shortly before locomotive 461 emerged from the tunnels near Brandy Hole, a cloud of fog rose to add a bit of atmosphere.
Sea fog made for atmospheric images.A DART electric skirts the cliffs at Bray Head. Fuji XT-1.Fog obscures the tunnels at Bray Head as the Easter Eggspress makes its way south toward Wicklow. Fuji X-T1 digital photograph.By the time engine 461 reached the optimal spot for photography it was in bright sun. Fuji XT-1 photograph. I exposed some wide-angle views on colour slide film from this spot that take in the whole scene. Steam, smoke and sea mist mark the passing of 461 at Bray Head.An Irish Rail ICR from Rosslare works toward Dublin.
In addition to these digital photographs, I exposed a series of 35mm colour slides on Provia 100F using my Canon EOS-3 with 40mm pancake lens. The mix of stunning scenery, wafting fog and bright sun made for a spectacular backdrop for the annual special.
The other day I posted a selection of images at Gent, Belgium. I made dozens of photos on my recent visit in late March 2015 and I thought I’d post a few more of the most interesting images.
Gent Lijn 24 PCC with castle. Lumix LX7 photo.Fuji X-T1 photo at Gent, Belgium.Lumix LX7 photo.View from the 22. Lumix LX7 photo.Brand new low-floor tram on the streets of Gent. Lumix LX7 photo.Lumix LX7 photo.
A rare sunny day in Dublin. So much for ‘April Showers’ and whatnot.
The telegraph comes to life: ‘The LWR appears ready to depart North Wall.’ Tea cup abandoned mid brew. A sprint to the usual spot.
ICR’s everywhere.
Finally Irish Rail 072 appears with the empty long welded rail train and is blocked at Islandbridge Junction.
Irish Rail ICRs (Intercity Railcars) are making their daily transfer from Connolly to Inchicore. Where’s the LWR? Did I miss it? Patience . . .Venerable Irish Rail 072 (an old General Motors diesel electric with many miles on it) leads the empty LWR (long welded rail train) at Islandbridge Junction near Heuston Station in Dublin.
Photos made, and I march down to Heuston Station, board a LUAS tram for Spencer Dock, and walk toward the road bridge at the North Wall. A 201 sounds its horn. I pick up my pace and arrive in time to catch Irish 218 pulling forward with the day’s IWT Liner (for Ballina).
As I walk briskly up the foot path I fish out my X-T1, thumbing the ‘on’ switch and removing the lens cap. When i get to the parapet of the bridge the IWT is already on the move. Not a minute wasted!The IWT liner pulls forward to Church Road Cabin (now closed).
In the interval, the telegraph relays to me that the freshly painted Irish Rail 087 is reported on the Tara Mines-Dublin zinc train. On the previous day, the Tara Mines arrived at the North Wall at 11:40 am.
I keep a sharp eye on the old Great Northern line in the distance. A procession of passenger trains roll up and down the line. Finally, the glimmer of a gray 071. It’s the Tara Mines.
Freshly painted 087 makes its appearance with the laden Tara Mines train from Navan.Freshly painted 087 with the laden Tara Mines train at Dublin’s North Wall yard.
Success!
All photos exposed with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera and scaled for internet presentation.
Every morning Tracking the Light posts new material.
After four years out of traffic, Irish Rail class 071 number 087 is back! A visit to Cherryville Junction resulted in these sunlit photographs of the classic locomotive leading the DFDS Liner (a container that runs from Waterford to Ballina).
I exposed this sequence of images using my Fuji Film X-T1. In addition, I made a colour slide using Fuji Provia 100F in my old Nikon F3 with 50mm.
Freshly painted Irish Rail 087 leads the container pocket wagons working as the DFDS Liner on April 3, 2015. The old signal cabin at Cherryville Junction is many years out of service.Trailing view at Cherryville Junction.The DFDS Liner with container pocket wagons represents one of the rarest revenue trains in Ireland.
At the end of March 2015, I furthered my exploration of Gent, Belgium, a small city that features a fascinating narrow-gauge tram network operated by Lijn.
This is an enchanting place to wander around and make photographs.
PCC viewed through castle gate. Exposed with a Fuji X-T1.PCC detail. Exposed with a Fuji X-T1.Exposed with a Fuji X-T1.
Trams operate on frequent intervals on several intertwined routes with sections of single track, numerous level crossings, and a seemingly endless back drop of classic architecture.
Trams serve the main railway station (Gent Sint Pieters) making possible an all rail journey from myriad points across Europe. I arrived from Brussels on an IC train.
Exposed on March 31, 2015 using a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.
This juxtaposition of a French high-speed TGV against Lego-block architecture fulfills a vision of 1980s modern style. After three decades how well does it hold up?
My title may seem strange but it is descriptive: On March 29th, 2015, I visited the NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) station at Bergen op Zoom.
Telephoto photo exposed at Zoom.
Working with my Fuji X-T1 fitted with an 18-135mm zoom lens (set to its maximum telephoto setting), I made this photo of an NS Verlengd InterRegio Materieel (VIRM) double-deck electric multiple unit arriving at the station.
Even on Sunday, NS provides a half-hour interval passenger service to Bergen op Zoom. The trains are clean, reliable and well patronized.
Both in the literal and the metaphorical: these photos depict my recent visit to one of Europe’s most elegant railway terminals.
Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.
On an evening last week, using my Lumix LX-7, I exposed this time exposure of Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges’s (Belgian National Railways or SNCB) Gare de La Hulpe.
This railway line is being transformed from double track mainline line to a quad track line to facilitate an improved suburban service akin to the Paris RER.
Exposed using a Panasonic Lumix LX7 set at ISO 80 at f1.7 for 5 seconds.
To make this image, I rested the camera on the bridge railing, exposed a pair of trial exposures to gauge the lighting conditions, then set the camera (shutter speed and aperture) manually to allow for sufficient exposure of the sky and shadow areas.
As previously mentioned on Tracking the Light, to make successful night photos it is important to give the scene sufficient exposure (usually 2/3s of a stop more than allocated by many built-in camera meter settings), while keep the camera steady for the duration of the exposure. Keeping flare to a minimum is also helpful.
A visit to the Netherlands this evening (29 March 2015) yielded this silhouette of an NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) train at sunset west of Bergen op Zoom.
Lumix LX7 view: Sunset on March 29, 2015 a few miles southwest of Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands. I made a similar image on Fujichrome using my Canon EOS 3 with 40mm lens.
Sunday Morning, March 22, 2015: I waited patiently at the Con Colbert Road near the top of the Gullet—the cutting west of Islandbridge Junction in Dublin.
In the distance I could see the smoke from the locomotive; it was blocked outside of Heuston Station waiting for a path.
Up and down regular passenger trains gave me an opportunity to check my focus and exposures.
The 10am Dublin-Cork passenger train was led by Irish Rail class 201 number 215. A perfect subject with which to check focus and exposure.A following Inter City Railcar gave me another test subject. I was mindful that the block front of steam locomotive 461 would result in different exposure considerations than the bright yellow front of the ICR.
Past experience photographing steam locomotives in contrasty light has taught me that auto focus systems can easily get confused by wafting steam and smoke. The last thing I need is for the camera to be ‘hunting for focus’ during the moment of peak drama.
I switched my Fuji X-T1 to manual focus and pre-selected a focus point. The beauty of a digital camera is the ability to inspect results on site.
If I planned this correctly, dappled light and direct backlighting would help illuminate the smoke.
Finally, the bark of the locomotive and a volcanic display of exhaust. The camera was set in ‘turbo flutter’ (continuous high) and as 461 worked its way up the Gullet I exposed several strategically timed bursts of images.
Finally, an impressive display of steam and smoke! Locomotive driver Ken Fox works engine 461 upgrade. Fuji X-T1 with 135mm lens.
This tighter view required a nominal focus adjustment at the last instant. Success!
Or, if you prefer: locomotives fore and aft on a ballast train in the cutting.
The three-track cutting extending from Islandbridge Junction up the grade toward Inchicore in Dublin is known as “the Gullet”.
Permanent way works (track maintenance) on Irish Rail’s Cork line on Saturday March 21, 2015, required operation of HOBS (high output ballast system) trains with locomotives at both ends.
While topped and tailed operations are quite common in some countries, these have been very unusual in Ireland in modern times.
I made several views of this train with an aim to emphasize the locomotives at both ends.
Fuji Film X-T1 digital image; contrast and exposure adjust in post processing.Looking west.
These images were exposed using my Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera. Among the features of this camera is an adjustable fold down rear-view display that allows me hold the camera at arms length over a wall. A built in level feature is especially useful in these circumstances.
Here we have a variation on a theme. Previously I published photos on Tracking the Light of Dublin’s LUAS specially painted Sky tram, and on a different day a panned image of a LUAS tram crossing Kings Bridge (Sean Heuston Bridge) near Heuston Station.
The other night on my way over to the Irish Railway Record Society premises (where I’m doing a bit of research in the library), I noted the one-of-a-kind Sky painted tram working outbound.
I dug my Fujifilm X-T1 out of my back pack and made a series of panned images in ‘flutter mode’ of the tram crossing the bridge at dusk.
Exposed digitally using a Fujifilm X-T1 at ISO 6400 at 1/8 of a second at f7.1, 32.5mm focal length with a 18-135mm lens.The Sky tram paused at Heuston Station. In just a few more minutes the last of the blue would fade from the evening sky.
Often, I build on past efforts, and this a good example of putting the pieces together. Visually, of course.
I’ve been keeping my Lumix busy making night photographs of Dublin on the run up to St. Patrick’s Day. In previous posts I’ve featured Irish Rail’s Heuston and Connolly Station bathed in green light. Today, I’m exhibiting some of the city’s other structures.
Clery’s on O’ Connell Street, Dublin. Lumix LX-7 photo.Dublin City Hall. Lumix LX-7 photo.Story Teller Bus with greened old bank, College Green, Dublin. Lumix LX-7 photo.Dublin Docklands. Lumix LX-7 photo.LUAS Green Line with Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin. Lumix LX-7 photo.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Royal College of Surgeons, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin.Bank of Ireland on College Green, Dublin. Lumix LX-7 photo.Trinity College on College Green, Dublin. Lumix LX-7 photo.Heuston Station, Dublin.
Here’s just a few from my Fuji X-T1. Notice the different colour profile.
Four Courts, Dublin, lit for St. Patrick’s Day. Fuji X-T1.Four Courts, Dublin, lit for St. Patrick’s Day. Fuji X-T1.Mellows Bridge, Dublin, lit for St. Patrick’s Day. Fuji X-T1.
Yesterday, I displayed an image of Dublin’s Heuston Station bathed in green light; today, I feature Connolly Station. These Dublin railway terminals are among the oldest big city stations in continuous use in the world.
Connolly Station features classic Italianate architecture typical of many large stations world-wide.
Exposed on Talbot Street with a Lumix LX-7 mounted on a mini Gitzo tripod with ball head; ISO 80 f2.0 at 1/3.2 seconds with daylight white balance. Pity about the refuse sacks on the footpath.Exposed with a Lumix LX-7 mounted on a mini Gitzo tripod with ball head; ISO 80 f2.0 at 1 second, daylight white balance. This was made at 7pm on March 13, 2015.
The greening of Connolly for St. Patrick’s Day is a more subtle treatment than on some of Dublin’s structures.
It’s become an annual tradition to bathe Dublin’s iconic buildings with green light on the run up to St. Patrick’s Day. I exposed this view of Heuston Station on March 12, 2015 using my Lumix LX-7.
Lumix LX-7 image; f1.8 1/3.2 seconds, ISO 80, auto white balance, Vivid color profile.
For me one of the most effective times to make night photographs is when there’s still a hint of daylight remaining.
Sometimes you have to walk the steps one at a time to get the best view.
Over the last few weeks, Irish Rail’s Relay train has made visits to the Dublin area en route from its base at Port Laoise to the Navan Branch (where it was involved in track maintenance) and back again.
The Relay train is one of those elusive trains operated by permanent way department, which makes it a special prize to catch on the move.
Irish 084 leads the Relay train up road near Clondalkin. Sister loco 074 is heading down road light engine as a ‘swap’ for the loco working a laden timber train to Waterford.Irish Rail 084 with Relay train up road near Clondalkin. Exposed with Fuji X-T1.Trailing view of the Relay train. This the gantries at the back are used in the relaying of track.
Keeping close tabs on the railway aids in finding these trains. But equally important is patience track side and sensing when and where to look.
Irish Rail 084 brought the train up road on February 27, 2015. Like the bullet fired skyward, what goes up must come down. But when?
On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, I took the LUAS down to Spencer Dock and walked to the road bridge that overlooks Irish Rail’s yard at Dublin’s North Wall. There I noted a gray 071 (loco 084) with the Relay train. When the guard came down and started the locomotive, then a few minutes later hung the tail lamps at the back of the train, I knew that it would soon be on the move.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015: Irish Rail 084 with the Relay train at Dublin’s North Wall. The engine has just been started. Any bets when it might depart? Exposed with Fuji X-T1.
But how quickly would it depart? That’s the million-dollar question (subject to the local exchange rate). Calls were made, transportation arranged, and weathermen consulted . . .
More than two hours later, I caught it on the quad-track section of Irish Rail’s Dublin-Cork mainline at Stacumny Bridge (near mp 8 ¾). As it turned out, the Relay train followed the down IWT liner.
An Irish Rail 22K Rotem-built Intercity Rail Car flies up road at milepost 8 3/4. Fuji X-T1 photo.Waiting at Stacumny Bridge near milepost 8 3/4, I was rewarded by the passage of the IWT Liner with locomotive 8209 wearing an unfinished version of the new Enterprise livery. Fuji X-T1 photo.Not long after the IWT liner worked down road, the Relay train came into view. Success! (And yes, I exposed a slide of this elusive train.) Waiting here for a month of Sunday’s wouldn’t reward you with this photo. (The Relay train tends to run on weekdays.)Irish Rail 084 with Relay train passes Islandbridge Junction on March 10, 2015. Fuji X-T1 photo.
These digital photos are the teasers: I used my EOS-3 loaded with Provia 100F (the real McCoy, not simulated) for some slides of the action.
During the last few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with my new Fujifilm X-T1digital camera by making photos on the streets of Dublin. I’ve presented a sampling of my results on Tracking the Light’s Dublin Page (CLICK HERE).
The camera can yield fantastic results, but successfully manipulating its various modes, colour profiles, features, switches, levers and other controls takes patience to master.
Compare the Fuji’s results with the myriad of images on my Dublin page exposed over the last two years.
More to come!
Wood Quay at sunset. March 4, 2015. Exposed using a Fujifilm X-T1 mirrorless digital camera fitted with an 18-135mm zoom lens.
Tracking the Light posts new material daily!
