Tag Archives: Gallery

This features recent work and exceptional images for display and discussion.

photography

Maine Central GP38 255—Bangor, Maine.

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On August 26, 1986, Art Mitchell was giving photographer Brandon Delaney and me a tour of Maine railways.

We had perfect Kodachrome weather.

Among our stops was Maine Central’s Bangor Yard, where I made this view of GP38 255 working an eastward freight.

I was fascinated by the antique switch lamp in the foreground, which was still part of the railroad’s functioning equipment and not merely a decoration.

I had Kodachrome 64 loaded in my Leica 3A, and I exposed this color slide with a 65mm Leitz lens mounted using a Visoflex (a Rube Goldberg-inspired reflex view-finder attachment) on the screw-mount pre-war (WW2) 35mm camera.

This somewhat awkward camera arrangement was my standard means for exposing color slides at that time. I made careful notes of my exposure, which was f8 at 1/200th of a second. (My Leica 3A used some non-standard shutter speeds.)

Today, I find the GP38 interesting because its sister locomotive, number 252, is a fixture at the Conway Scenic Railroad (although at present it is out of traffic and awaiting repairs).

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West Springfield at Dusk.

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In July 1983, ,Bob Buck and I were attending a weekly summer gathering of the West Springfield Train Watchers, a semi-formal group consisting of mostly retired railroaders who assembled with permission of the railroad at the west end of Conrail’s West Springfield, Massachusetts yard.

I say ‘semi-formal’ because member Norvel Parker printed cards for all the members. Somewhere I still have mine.

Toward the end of the evening, I made this photo with my Leica 3A of a westward freight making a pick-up.

Adjusted photo.

In later years, I photographed some of the members, which was probably far more valuable as a record, than making photos of the trains.

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New York Central Transformed—Rochester, New York 1986.

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On the afternoon of September 12, 1986, I exposed this photograph of a westward Conrail double-stack container train on the former New York Central Waterlevel Route passing the Amtrak Station at Rochester, New York.

The old New York Central era tower was still standing, and the station platforms, complete with the old ‘Rochester’ signs dated from the New York Central era.

In the lead was a twenty-year old former New York Central GP40, and I was just short of my twentieth birthday.

Yet, this double stack train was unlike anything ever seen on the old New York Central. Among the big changes imposed under Conrail was a clearance improvement program that allowed for much taller trains.

Exposed on Kodak black & white film. Negative cropped for presentation here.

My book Conrail and its Predecessors is available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store.

See: https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/book/01309

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Tips and Technique

Classic Kodachrome—VIA Rail RDCs at Dorval, Quebec.

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In August 1984, I was on a big solo rail adventure. Among the places I visited by train was Montreal.

My friend Brandon Delaney had recommended Dorval as a place to watch trains. Here, double-track Canadian Pacific and Canadian National mainlines ran parallel to each other and there was a continuous parade of freight and passenger trains.

On August 14th, I traveled out on commuter train from Windsor Station and spent several hours soaking up the action.

Among the trains I photographed was this eastbound VIA RDC set on the CN heading for Central Station.

I’d positioned myself where the codelines crossed from the north-side to the south-side of CN’s line. This was my clever compositional trick that makes for a more interesting photograph by focusing the eye toward a secondary horizon.

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photography

RoadRailer at South Fork March 10, 2001

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Working with Fuji Provia 100F loaded in a Nikon F3, I exposed this photo of an eastward Norfolk Southern RoadRailer at South Fork, Pennsylvania on March 10, 2001.

I was traveling with fellow photographer Mike Gardner, while making photos for a book to be titled ‘Modern Diesel Locomotives,’ published by MBI.

I scanned the slide the other day using a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 digital slide scanner, driven with VueScan software.

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Tips and Technique

September 6th: Mountaineer on the Fill—Two variations.

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After Conway Scenic’s Mountaineer arrived at North Conway, New Hampshire on Sunday September 6, 2020, I picked a new spot in the golf course adjacent to the big fill (on approach to Conway Scenic’s yard) to catch the train as it was being stowed for the evening.

Working with my Lumix LX7, I exposed this view in RAW and then processed the file in Adobe Lightroom.

I made two variations of the processed image.

The top has lower contrast; the bottom features higher contrast and increased saturation (see the screen shot of the Lightroom work window below)

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Sunday Special Photographer’s Mountaineer—September 6, 2020.

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This past Sunday, September 6, 2020, I’d organized a special Mountaineer that operated on an extended schedule to allow for a few photo stops along the way.

I traveled on the head-end with engineer Gary McFarland to spot the train at key locations.

I carried two cameras; a Canon EOS3 with 40mm pancake lens loaded with Kodak E100 slide film and a Lumix LX7 digital camera. Below are few of the Lumix photos.

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Setting up the Photo Freights.

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Most of the year, Conway Scenic Railroad’s historic freight cars quietly reside in the railroad’s North Yard, although few cars, such as our ballast hoppers are assigned to maintenance service.

Today, Saturday September 5th, we plan to operate a pair of demonstration photo freights for our scheduled Railfan’s Day event.

In preparation, we needed to spot cars at key locations in order to make pick-ups, just like a traditional local freight. In conjunction with this work, we needed to position two flatcars used for our weekly work train, and I wanted to scope locations and remove brush.

Working with former Boston & Maine F7A 4266 and our GP35 216 we gathered cars and make our positioning moves.

Today’s photo freights should be led by 4266 plus former Maine Central GP7 573 which share the traditional EMD-inspired maroon and gold paint scheme.

These are among the photos I exposed using my FujiFilm XT1 (scaled for internet presentation). I also made a few color slides for posterity.

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Pup WOrks Holyoke—1985

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In August 1985, on a drive through Holyoke, Massachusetts on my way from collecting film from Frantek (a local photographic supplier in South Hadley), I stopped at the old Boston & Maine station, where I photographed Boston & Maine SW1 1124 working the north-end of the yard.

Holyoke, Massachusetts in August 1985.

Holyoke was a fascinating post-industrial setting, where vast empty brick mill buildings told of time long gone.

The station hadn’t seen a passenger train in years.

Even the EMD SW1 was a relic of former times.

These diminutive switchers, rated at just 600 hp, were known as ‘Pups’.

I exposed this view using a Leica 3A fitted with a Canon f1.8 50mm lens.

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Four Views from the New Haven Line—1980.

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When I was young, my brother and I would take the train from Springfield or Hartford to visit my grandparents in the Bronx. Starting in 1977, I’d always carry my vintage Leica 3A fitted with 50mm Summitar lens and loaded with Kodak black & white film.

We typically traveled on an Amtrak Budd RDC or SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar to New Haven, where we would change for a through train to either Rye, New York or Grand Central. My parents would buy us tickets and I’d usually take care of the travel logistics.

I don’t recall the specifics of this trip. These images were on an isolated strip of negatives stored in a glassine negative envelop with only ‘1980, Amtrak/C-Dot New Haven Line’ to identify it.

C-dot train at Bridgeport, Connecticut.
New SPV-2000 on the Danbury Branch at South Norwalk, Connecticut.
New SPV-2000 on the Danbury Branch at South Norwalk, Connecticut.
Stamford, Connecticut

I doubt that I was photographing through the glass—If you know what I mean.

I would have processed the film in the sink at home in Massachusetts using Kodak Microdol-X developer.

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Tips and Technique

Walong, California July 30, 2016.

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On this day four years ago, I re-visited the former Southern Pacific crossing the Tehachapi mountains.

At Walong, popularly described as the ‘Tehachapi Loop’—where in the 1870s SP’s chief engineer William Hood applied this spiral arrangement to gain elevation while maintaining a steady gradient—I photographed this BNSF eastward intermodal train. (train direction is by timetable, not the compass.)

Working with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with an 18-135mm Fujinon zoom, I made this photograph with the lens set to 21.6mm in order to take in most of the helical track arrangement. Exposure was f8 at 1/500 of a second at 200 ISO.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Crawford by Starlight—night photo technique

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The other evening, Kris Sabbatino and I stopped at the old Maine Central station at Crawford, New Hampshire shortly after moonrise to make night photos of the station.

I mounted my Lumix LX7 on a heavy Bogan tripod and set the ISO to 200. Working in manual mode, I set the camera to between 40 and 80 seconds and tripped the shutter manually (without using the self timer).

Working with the RAW files in Lightroom, I made slight adjustments to highlights and shadows.

Catching the stars in the night sky has always been a favorite effect of mine. I first tried this back in 1977 in my back yard in Monson, Massachusetts.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Monochrome on the Redstone Branch.

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On July 3, 2020, Conway Scenic sent engine 216 out on the Redstone Branch to collect a Boston & Maine boxcar I’d been using for advertising.

I documented the move with digital photos, as previously presented, and also on film.

For these images, I worked with a Nikon F3 with f2.5 Nikkor 105mm lens and Fomapan Classic 100 black & white film. I first sampled Fomapan on a trip to the Czech Republic in 2016.

Operating 216 was Adam, a Conway Scenic engineer trainee.

I processed the film using customized split-development that begins with a very dilute solution of HC110 with PhotoFlo as a presoak followed by primary development with Ilford ID11. After processing, I scanned the negatives using an Epson V600 flatbed scanner then imported the scans into Lightroom for final adjustment and scaling for presentation.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Botched 1996 Olympic Pan

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On September 10, 1996, I was driving east from Denver to Council Bluffs. Near Kearney, Nebraska, I was following the Union Pacific main line on a secondary road, where I made this panned photo of a westward UP freight train led by SD40-2 1996 specially painted for the 1996 Olympic games.

Working with my Nikon F2 fitted with a 200mm lens and loaded with Kodachrome 200, I panned the unusually painted locomotive to capture the sense of motion.

I’ve always found this photograph unfortunate because: 1) the doors were open on the side of the engine thus spoiling my view of the special paint livery. 2) the distant hill makes for a visually disruptive intersection near the front of the engine just over the top of the short hood.

In retrospect, I’m happy to have the photo, I just wish my execution had been better.

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July 24, 2015: WAITING AT A Grade Crossing at Niskaniitty—Two PHOTOS.

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On the afternoon of July 24, 2015, my Finnish friends, Markku, Petri, Pietu and I waited at this rural grade crossing east of Kontiomaki, Finland for a diesel powered long distance local freight.

It was warm and quiet. For me it had an edge of the world quality.

Finally after a while we could hear the diesel approaching.

This was a VR  Class Dr16 leading symbol freight T4077 from Joensuu in south eastern Finland.

I exposed these photos using my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera. I had been playing with the camera’s presets, and made an image of the grade crossing using a monochrome setting. Although I was exposing some Fuji Provia 100F, I didn’t use any black & white film at this location.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Unexpected Surprise.

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The other day I was scanning some vintage Guilford photos from my 1980s and 1990s file.

This photo came up in the rotation.

Photographer Mike Gardner and I had spent a productive May 1997 day photographing Guilford trains on former Boston & Maine lines.

Toward the end of the day, we caught EDLA (East Deerfield to Lawrence, Massachusetts) working eastbound upgrade near Farley, Massachusetts (east of Millers Falls).

I was working with my N90S fitted with an 80-200 Nikon zoom.

I remember the day well! But when I scanned the slide, I had an unexpected surprise.

Initially, when I saw the lead locomotive, I thought it was Guilford’s 352, a GP40 that has often worked out of East Deerfield Yard. It was only on second inspection that I notice what this engine’s true identity . . .

It was 252! Former Maine Central 252. In other words, Conway Scenic’s locomotive which I see everyday and have hundreds of photos working in New Hampshire.

Wow, that’s kind of cool, to suddenly find a vintage photo I made of this now familiar GP38, back when it was a common freight hauler and not a darling of the tourist trade.

June 27, 2020 at North Conway.

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Five Years Ago-July 22.

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On this day in 2015, I was visiting my friend Markku Pulkkinen in Oulu, Finland.

Oulu is far north, and in July it never gets completely dark.

Working with my then new FujiFilm XT-1, I made these evening photos late in the day near the VR locomotive sheds at the north end of Oulu’s expansive yards.

Finland is one of my favorite places to photograph, and I hope to return someday when travel returns to normal.

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North Conway Station after March Snow

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Last March on my way to work I exposed a series of black & white photos of North Conway, New Hampshire. Fresh snow blanketed the ground, with a clear blue sky above.

Such a contrast with July . . .

I made this photo using Kodak Tri-X exposed with a Nikon F3 with 105mm Nikkor Lens.

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Gorham Monochrome

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Back on April 3, 2020, I exposed a handful of photographs on Kodak Tri-X (ISO 400) at the old Grand Trunk Railway station in Gorham, New Hampshire.

This was on a photo adventure in the White Mountains with Kris Sabbatino.

Last month I processed the film using specially tailored split development by first soaking the film in a very dilute HC110 solution, then using a more active solution of ID11. After stop, and dual fixing baths, I washed the film, rinsed in permawash, and washed for a full ten minutes before toning the still wet negatives in a selenium solution for 7 minutes. After rewashing, and drying, I cut the negatives and stored them in archival polypropylene sleeves.

Yesterday, I scanned them using an Epson V600 flatbed scanner powered by Epson software.

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Empty Oil at Tapa

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On a trip to Estonia in July 2002, I’d organized a cab ride on a freight from Tallinn to Tapa, where I spent the evening.

The following morning, I exposed this view near the station with my Nikon N90S and 135mm f2.0 lens of an empty oil train led by a 2M62 diesel heading toward the Russian frontier.

This was a very busy junction with a lot of freight, mostly oil trains, passing through.

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Class Lamp Up Close—Maine Central 252

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Yesterday I took a spin on the train to Conway. I made this view with my Lumix LX7 as I boarded the locomotive on the return trip.

Former Maine Central GP38 252 has been working Conway Scenic’s Valley Trains between North Conway and Conway, and to Bartlett for the last couple of weeks.

Historically classification lamps were used as part of the system of timetable and train order rules, where lights of different colors were part of a hierarchy that defined the superiority of trains.

Conway scenic still uses these rules, with extra trains flying white flags by day and displaying white lamps by night.

At the moment all of our trains are operated under timetable and train order rules as ‘extras’.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Corry, PA at Sunrise.

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In October 2009, I photographed Western New York & Pennsylvania’s westbound HNME (Hornell to Meadville) freight crossing the diamond at Corry, Pennsylvania.

Historically this was where the Erie Railroad mainline crossed Pennsylvania Railroad’s route to Erie, Pennsylvania.

Working with a Canon EOS3 with f2.8 200mm prime telephoto, I exposed this photo on Fujichrome Velvia100F.

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Storm Light at North Conway

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Yesterday evening a series of thunderstorms swept over the White Mountains making for a show of lightening and dramatic clouds.

Near the end of daylight, I made this photograph of the North Conway, New Hampshire yard. I was with Kris Sabbatino on the way to collect my car.

I was working with my Lumix LX7. This is a JPG file scaled without manipulation from the in-camera jpg. In other words I made no changes to exposure, contrast, color balance, focus or sharpness.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Charlemont in the Snow!

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Guilford GP40 353 was leading an eastward at Charlemont, Massachusetts in this December 2000 photograph.

I exposed this image on Fujichrome using a Nikon with 180mm Nikkor prime telephoto.

Diffused winter sun made for soft colors.

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Snow on the Tracks, Lincoln, Maine.

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In the heat of Summer, I thought it would be a cool to look at a wintery scene.

I made this view looking timetable east on Guilford’s Maine Central at Lincoln, Maine on a trip with photographer George S. Pitarys in January 1997.

For this image, I was working with a Nikon F2 fitted with a Nikon 80-200mm AF zoom lens, and loaded with Fuji Provia 100F.

My photography spans nearly 50 years, more than 30 nations, hundreds of cities and thousands of towns, while focusing on rails, transport, nature, urbanity, and friends (among other subjects).

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Maine Central 252 on the Valley.

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During the last week, Maine Central GP38 252 has been working Conway Scenic Railroad’s Valley trains that run daily from North Conway railroad east to Conway and North Conway railroad west to Bartlett.

While 252 is more than capable of working these trains, it is typically been assigned to the run to Crawford Notch.

I took the opportunity to make photos of 252 working the 1910-1920s-era heavy steel cars that comprise our Valley train set.

These photos were made using a FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens.

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Guilford Tv96 at Worcester.

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On May 16, 1997, photographer Mike Gardner and I were in Worcester, Massachusetts, where we caught Guilford Rail System’s TV96, a short-lived intermodal service that GRS forwarded from Conrail.

Working with my Nikon F3T and 80-200mm zoom lens, I made this view standing in the Amtrak parking lot below Interstate-290.

After making this photo we chased the train up to the Wachusett Reservoir.

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July THunderstorm at North Conway, NH.

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Yesterday evening (July 8, 2020), Tom Carver said to me, ‘get some shots in this cool light’.

It was sunny when I left the North Conway, NH station and cloudy by the time I’d walked the length of the platform. A thunderstorm was rapidly descending.

Working with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with 18-135mm lens, I made these images of the approaching storm.

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photography, Rail transit marathon

Leipzig tram and Hbf.

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An afternoon rain in June 2001 had made for a bright gloss at the Leipzig, Germany Hauptbahnhof.

Working with my N90S, I’d exposed this Fujichrome view of a tram in front of the impressive façade of what was once Europe’s largest railway station.

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photography, Rail transit marathon

Valley Transportation Authority-May 2008.

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California Dreamin’—Working with Fujichrome late in the day on a Sunday afternoon in May 2008, I exposed this long telephoto view of a Valley Transportation Authority light rail train.

VTA Light Rail is the operator of the San Jose, California-area light rail system.

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Conway Extra—Monday June 15, 2020.

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Yesterday, we ran an extra train to Conway.

‘Extra’ in the traditional sense:


Since this was not a scheduled train; its authority was granted using train orders and thus operated as a ‘extra’, which must display white flags.

I organized small banners on the short hood of the locomotive to advise observers of our opening date.

On Saturday, June 20th Conway Scenic will commence its Summer 2020 operating season.

Trains will board for Conway at 930am and 3pm; and for Bartlett at 1230pm.

Trains depart 30 minutes after boarding.

I exposed this photo with my Lumix LX7. To compensate for midday light I adjusted contrast, shadows, highlights and saturation using Lightroom.

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Monochrome Millie—Four Photos

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Conway Scenic Railroad’s Budd Company RDC-1 is named ‘Millie’.

A month ago, I organized a training exercise and publicity trip with this single-unit self propelled car.

In addition to digital photos and video, I exposed a few black & white photos of the car in the yard at North Conway.

For these images I used Fomapan 100 Classic loaded in a Nikon F3 with f1.8 50mm lens.

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photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Sunday’s Surprise.

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I needed a topic for today’s Tracking the Light, so I reached in to a sorting file of un-scanned slides and found this photo: Surprise!

On October 13, 2004, photographer Mike Gardner and I chased New England Central Railroad’s 608 south from Palmer, through my hometown of Monson, Massachusetts.

This is a chase I’ve done countless times over the last 40 years, but just because you’ve done something before, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to find a new angle on it.

At Robbins Road in Monson, I made this dramatic trailing view of the train’s locomotives. Here we have a selection of NECR GP38s roaring away in ‘Run-8’—maximum throttle on the tooth of the grade.

The train was moving 10-12 mph, producing a rush of engine exhaust along with traction motors blowers blowing to keep the motors cool. (And prevent them from over heating) These blasts of hot air, combined with the wind from the train’s approach and passage, plus and sand from the sanders to maintain adhesion all helped stir up the ballast and fallen leaves. 

It was a good chase and I wish I was there now!

I scanned the photo using a Nikon Super Coolscan5000 and VueScan software. My initial scan produced a 4000 dpi TIF file, which I then imported to Lightroom in order to scale it for presentation here.

June 2020 Trains Magazine features my 8-page article on New England Central.

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Irish Rail Weedspraying Train at Limerick Check.

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Between 2000 and 2007, I made more than 1,000 images of the Irish Rail weedspraying train on its annual campaign around the system.

In my early days focusing on this one of kind train (there have been many weed spraying trains, but this one was unique!), I aimed to catch it in unusual places.

On this day in April 2000, I was traveling with intrepid photographer Mark Hodge, and we drove cross-country from Tipperary to County Limerick to intercept the train on the then rarely-traveled Foynes Branch.

Later in the morning, I caught the train coming off the branch at Limerick Check.

The day was wet and dark, but I’m very glad I exposed these photos, despite the fact that over the coming years I made numerous sunny day views of the train.

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