Tag Archives: #EMD

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Quiet Night at Port Clinton

I made these night photos in the gloom of an autumn evening at Reading & Northern’s Port Clinton, Pa. yard.

The railroad’s fleet of vintage EMD diesels always make appealing subjects for me.

I’ve been mastering the art of existing light railroad night shots since the early 1980s. My early night photos were largely exposed with a Leica III loaded with Kodak Tri-X and mounted on my dad’s lightweight Linhof tripod. These days, I prefer my Nikon Zs, often mounted on a 3Pod tripod. In both instances, the tripod has been equipped with a ball head.

The digital Nikon’s allow for much greater shadow detail than I could have ever expected with Tri-X. Yet, in both instances the images require a degree of processing to obtain a satisfactory result.

Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set to 70mm; f4.5, 3 seconds, ISO 100. NEF RAW file Processed using Adobe Lightroom.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Nikkor zoom set to 70mm; f6.3, 2.5 seconds, ISO 100. NEF RAW file Processed using Adobe Lightroom.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Nikkor zoom set to 24mm; f6.3, 15 seconds, ISO 100. NEF RAW file Processed using Adobe Lightroom.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Nikkor zoom set to 34mm; f6.3, 8 seconds, ISO 100. NEF RAW file Processed using Adobe Lightroom.

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The ‘Classic Rock’ of Dieseldom

Over the last year, Kris and I have made a habit of stopping of at Tamaqua, Pa., on our drives to and from I-81.

There’s almost always something of interest parked at the north end of Reading & Northern’s yard.

On our most recent visit we found a nice selection of vintage EMDs. Although most have been modified in one way or another since leaving the factory at La Grange, Illinois, these largely retain their traditional appearances.

For me, the diesels of the 1960s and 1970s are like Classic Rock hits from the same period; they are old, yet familiar and always a a pleasure to catch up with again from time to time.

I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II.

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Mixed Assorted EMD Diesels.

Last week, evening light at Canaan, Connecticut made for some colorful photos of the assorted EMD diesels at the Housatonic Railroad shops south of town.

Lurking among the GP35s, GP15-1s, and other myriad products of Electro-Motive Division’s LaGrange, Illinois plant was a lone RS-3M, a locomotive with the body of an old Alco and the heart of an EMD.

I exposed these images digitally using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.

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Gray Day for a Black Switcher

A few weeks back, I was conducting my research at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

Before my appointment to review literature from railroads of the past, I wandered across the street where Strasburg Rail Road’s former New York Central SW8 8618 was switching out a passenger consist.

I have a fondness for black EMD switchers. When I was about five, my father bought me a Lionel NW-2 painted for Santa Fe—black with the railroad’s classic logo. That small engine, no 623, is presently beneath our Christmas Tree, where on command it leads a short consist on a figure 8.

I made these photos with my Nikon Z7-II.

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F7s on the Move!

Years ago I photographed Norfolk Southern’s executive F-units leading the company office car train on various occasions.

Last Saturday, Kris and I intercepted these famous streamliners working Reading & Northern’s Fall Foliage Excursion on its return run from Jim Thorpe to North Reading.

It was a gorgeous clear afternoon and the autumn leaves were beginning to pop. We investigated a variety of places to make photos and ultimately settled on Tippets Road near Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania.

I wanted to make the most of the autumn color, while featuring the F’s classic ‘bull-dog’ nose and car body style construction.

I made these photos while working with both of my Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras. Kris made photos with her FujiFilm X-T4 mirrorless camera. Seamus-the-Dog took it all in from the back seat of the car.

Once the train passed we zipped off after it to make more images in the late afternoon light!

I found it interesting that on the previous weekend we found fellow photographers at every bend to make photos of steam locomotive 2102, but on this day when photographing the F’s on exactly the same route, we only saw only other person making photos between Tippets Road and North Reading. This was especially remarkable considering the beautiful autumnal conditions!

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Conrail SD80MACs at Twin Ledges

May 24, 1997: Conrail had just two years remaining of independant Class-1 operations. The tug of war between CSX and Norfolk Southern to tear apart Big Blue had already begun.

This is among my favorite photos of Conrail SD80MACs. The 30 20-cylinder beasts built by EMD were only purchased new by Conrail. Many were assigned to the Boston Line.

I made this photo of Boston-Chicago intermodal train TV-9 approaching the famous ‘Twin Ledges’—dual rock cuttings on Washington Hill near Middlefield, Massachusetts.

Fuji had only recently introduced a new 100 ISO slide film called Astia. This had a warmer color temperature than either Provia or Sensia. This was among my first photographs with the new film. If this photo look familiar it is because I’ve had it published on several occasions in books and magazines.

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Pittston Junction—Haven of the Antique EMD

The other day day, Kris and I called into Pittston Junction.

This is my new favorite place:

Wide open for photography, deep in history, and a haven of old General Motors diesel-electric locomotives.

The GP39RNs were once GP30s, and they still look the part.

The wigwag grade crossing signals were an added bonus.

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Streamliners-8 Years Ago.

In May 2014, I spent several days photographing the Streamliners at Spencer event in North Carolina.

Photographer Pat Yough and I had traveled on Amtrak to the event

In addition to this being a significant gathering of historic locomotives, largely Electro-Motive E and F units, it was also a major gathering of railroad photographers and I had the opportunity to visit with many old friends.

Exposed this selection of digital photographs on May 29, 2014 using my Canon EOS 7D. These photos were adapted from the Canon RAW files using Adobe Lightroom, yet retain the classic Canon color profile for which Canon’s digital cameras are prized.

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Back End of an Odd Locomotive

Electro-Motive Division’s BL2 was one of the strangest looking diesels of the mid-20th century.

On my visit to Bangor & Aroostook’s Northern Maine Junction yard (near Bangor, Maine) in July 1983, I made a variety of photos of stored diesels.

At the time, most of Bangor & Aroostook’s BL2 and F3 fleet was out of service. I was fascinated by these antiques.

Working with my Leica 3A, I made this study of the rear-end of BL2 number 55 surrounded by other stored diesels.

Although bizarre in appearance, EMD’s BL2 was mechanically and electrically very similar to the model F3,

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My Interview on EMD

Yesterday, May 9, 2021, Richard Luckin of Luckin Productions traveled to North Conway, NH., to interview me about General Motors Electro-Motive Division diesels.

I gave him and his production crew a tour of the railroad’s facilities and spoke about our selection of EMD diesels, then answered a variety of questions about the role of EMD, the success of its locomotives, and other historical queries.

During the course of the interview, Conway Scenic’s Valley train was coming and going, led by locomotive 573—an EMD GP7 diesel.

I think it all worked out pretty well!

Photos exposed digitally using my FujiFilm XT1.

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