Tag Archives: Gallery

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

photography, Rail transit marathon

Dublin & Kingstown Revisited

In mid-October, I traveled the length of the old Dublin and Kingstown route to meet with my friends in Dun Laoghaire.

The Dublin and Kingstown Railway was opened in 1834 between Westland Row (today Pearse Station) and the harbour in Kingstown (now called Dun Laoghaire).

It was the first railway in Ireland and often claimed as the world’s first suburban railway.

Today, this route is operated as a portion of Irish Rail’s Dublin Area Rapid Transit electric service and hosts InterCity services to/from Rosslare Europort.

I had excellent autumn sun for my spin to Dun Laoghaire and stopped off at a couple of stations to make photos using my Nikon Z6 digital camera.

Approaching Seapoint.
Seapoint station stop.
DART interior.
Dun Laoghaire .
Dun Laoghaire .

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Blue SD60—Palmer, Mass.

Seven years ago—November 14, 2015—I made these photos of a colorfully decorated SD60 spotted at the New England Central yard at Palmer, Massachusetts.

Back in Central Vermont days, six-motor diesels were a very rarely operated to the Palmer yard. These days they are common.

Photos exposed using my first Fuji XT1 with an 18-135mm kit lens set to 18.5mm.

GMTX 9000 is an unusual example of EMD’s SD60 that features the 1990s-era Radial Truck.

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photography

Czech it Out!

It was a glorious clear September day when Denis Mc Cabe and I paid a brief visit to Ceske Budejovice on a rail trip around the Czech Republic in 2008.

We changed trains at the main railway station. I spent a couple of hours photographing the historic city, which is famous for its architecture and beer.

At the time I was entertaining a publisher with the idea of writing a book on the cities of the Hapsburg Empire. Although the book never came to pass, I accumulated hundreds of photos of cities from Innsbruck, Austria to Chernivtsi, Ukraine.

I made these photos on Fujichrome using a Canon EOS 3.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Sugarbeet on the Roll—November 8, 2005.

It was Irish Rail’s final sugarbeet season, although no one knew it at the time.

We set up at Charleville Junction on the Dublin-Cork line on the Cork-side of Limerick Junction to catch V250, a laden train led by locomotive 081.

I made this view on Fujichrome. It sat in a closet in Dublin for nearly 15 years and I only recently retrieved it from storage.

Last night I scanned the slide using a Nikon LS-5000 slide scanner and then adjusted the hi-res TIF file using Adobe Lightroom to correct color temperature and color balance while making minor contrast and exposure corrections.

Below is the file before adjustment and after. In both images presented here, I scaled the files as JPGs.

Scan prior to color and exposure adjustment.
Scan after the first round of corrections.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Frankenstein Van Wrap

To help promote Conway Scenic Railroad’s culinary services, I arranged to have the company culinary van wrapped with photos of the railroad.

For the sides of the van, I opted for a photo of the Mountaineer at Frankenstein Bridge that I exposed in September 2020. This image appears in many of the railroad’s billboard, print and digital ads and has become a marketing icon.

JPG of the original photo used in the van wrap and other Conway Scenic Railroad advertising.

The back of the van is decorated with a classic view of the North Conway, New Hampshire railroad station that also appears in print ads.

Silverline Graphics assisted with the basic design concept, and SignSmith LLC of Gorham, Maine performed final design and applied the wrap to the van.

I made these photos of the van in the railroad’s North Conway yard.

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photography

Polish Glint

In August 2006, Denis McCabe and I made an epic tour of Poland by road. Over the course of about two weeks we drove across the country in a rented Opel Astra.

On the evening of 22 August, we photographed this PKP (Polish Railways) SU45 diesel accelerating away from the station at Zwierzyn.

I made this view on Fujichrome with a Nikon F3 with 180mm f2.8 lens.

The glint of the evening sun illuminated the train and the sunflowers in the foreground.

This was among hundreds of my Polish slides that had been stored in Ireland.

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photography, Tips and Technique

DB at Bad Grönenbach, Bavaria

Among the thousands of slides that I recently retrieved from storage in Ireland, was this image that I’d exposed on Fujichrome in Bavaria, Germany on January 20, 2008.

Denis McCabe and I were on a week-long photographic exploration of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This location on a Deutsche Bahn (DB) single track line at Bad Grönenbach featured traditional German mechanical signaling.

This slide was in a box labled ‘Bavaria, Extras’. (My code to indicate that I’d already culled the preferred images and filed them elsewhere.)

Last night, I scanned the slide using a Nikon LS-5000 Super CoolScan slide scanner powered by VueScan 9.7.08 software.

I selected ‘Ektachrome’ with a ‘White Balance’ color profile and scanned as a TIF at 4000 dpi. Then I imported the scan to Adobe Lightroom and made several JPG variation. The first is scaled without correction. The others display various minor adjustments aimed at improving the image.

Scaled scan, but otherwise unmodified.
Scaled with first round of color and contrast corrections
Scaled with second round of color corrections, contrast adjustment and minor sharpening.
Image with final crop to minimize sky and foreground.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Magic 105 at Frankenstein

I’m speaking about my Nikkor f2.5 105mm and the famous trestle, and not about a radio station and a monster.

After returning from Ireland, I made a trip to inspect the former Maine Central Mountain Division to check out photo locations for the 470 Club Trip.

Here, I’d hiked into the Frankenstein bridge to see when the sun dipped behind the ridge shadowing the tracks. Owing to the high ridge line the bridge will shadow very quickly on a late fall afternoon.

The eastward Mountaineer was just minutes away when I arrived.

I fitted my old AI Nikkor 105mm to my Nikon Z6 digital camera. This is a magic combination for railroad photography which produced exceptionally sharp photos.

Yesterday, I posted a modified version of this image to Conway Scenic Railroad’s Facebook page and assigned it as the cover photo. It will also be used in late season advertising for the Mountaineer.

Conway Scenic Railroad’s Mountaineer is eastbound on Frakenstein Bridge. New Hampshire’s famed Mount Washington is seen in the distance to the right of bridge.
This is a cropped and much enlarged section of the above image to demonstrate the sharpness of my old 105mm.

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Tips and Technique

Athenry at Dusk

It’s been more than 23 years since my first visit to Athenry, County Galway.

On that day, my objective was to see an Irish Rail cement train (traffic long gone), and visit the signal cabin (which was then an active block post and interlocking. I was there the day it closed in May 2003.)

Last month, on our way back from Maam Cross, Kris and I were delivered by road to Irish Rail’s Athenry station. It was wet and windy. We had a half hour to wait for the evening Galway-Dublin train to arrive.

During the interval, an Irish Rail 2800-series railcar on its way from Galway to Limerick arrived to make its station stop before changing directions to head down the Western Rail Corridor.

I made this selection of action photos using my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera set at high ISO (between 8000 and 12000).

This two-piece 2800-series railcar had just arrived from Galway.
The Galway-Limerick railcar has the ‘feather’ to take the switch for the Western Rail Corridor toward Ennis and Limerick.
The evening Galway-Dublin train approaches Athenry.

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Eastwood Station on the 501

Friday, the musical duo Eastwood Station visited North Conway where they performed live for Conway Scenic Railroad’s guests, made live appearances on the radio, and recorded scenes for video featuring a song about Maine Central steam locomotive 505.

505 was famously destroyed in a boiler explosion 95 years ago.

I arranged for Eastwood Station to record on locomotive 501, a surviving sister to the ill-fated 505, which presently resides inside the North Conway Roundhouse.

A glint of sun illuminated the cab for a few minutes making this photo possible.

Exposed digitally using a Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera fitted with a 24-70mm Z-series zoom.

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Tips and Technique

In the Shadows of Crawford Notch

Must all great rail photos be bathed in sunlight?

I’ve asked this question before. While it is nice to have bright sun, often I find the best photos are in the shadows where light and dark contrast to produce a moody image that tugs at something deeper.

Last week after arranging the photo runbys at the famed Willey Brook Bridge, I walked to the headend of the train while the passengers were reboarding. Here the 470 Club’s freshly painted F7A diesels were deep in shadow with the mass of Mount Willard looming above them.

I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens and adjusted highlight and shadow areas in post processing.

For me these were among of the best photos of the day. They capture the rugged scenery of Crawford Notch from perspectives rarely pictured.

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photography

Adventure to Maam Cross

Two weeks ago, Kris and I made a trip to Maam Cross, Co. Galway.

Taking Irish Rail from Dublin to Galway was the first leg of our journey.

My friends working on the Midland Great Western restoration project at Maam Cross, invited and encouraged us to make this bold trip.

From Galway we caught a bus that traveled across the Connemara to the windswept crossroads at Maam Cross, where we set out on foot to reach one of Ireland’s most interesting preserved railways.

LX7 photo at the Maam Cross bus stop.

There we were greeted by the lads working to transform a portion of the old Clifden Branch into Ireland’s most scenic railway excursion.

Shortly after arrived we were greeted by wind, rain, hail, sun and a brilliant rainbow.

We visited the new signal cabin, were given a private train ride, and were able to inspect the progress on this ambitious new preserved railway.

I made these photos with my Lumix LX7 and Nikon Z6.

Noel Enright gives us the signal to depart!
Kris gets a lesson in interlocking operations

https://www.connemararailway.ie https://www.facebook.com/connemararailwayman/

More to come soon!

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photography

Willey Brook Bridge

One of the photographic highlights of last Saturday’s 470 Club trip was the stop at the famous Willey Brook Bridge in Crawford Notch.

To accommodate the train’s passengers, I helped organize two photo runbys at this iconic location.

Since several passengers asked to photograph from the ‘sunnyside’ of the bridge, I walked them across the tracks and called the train into position for the second runby.

I made this selection using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens, and also exposed several color slides using a Nikon F3 film camera.

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Wind & Rain at Galway Station.

Kris and I arrived at Irish Rail’s Ceannt Station in Galway shortly before the rain.

And boy did it rain!

After a walk around the town (taking time to purchase an umbrella) we returned to the station to shelter from sudden and rather violent shower.

I made these three photos with my Lumix LX7.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Boston & Maine F7s at Hussey’s Field

The first official photo stop on 470 Club’s Autumn 2022 trip (operated by Conway Scenic Railroad on Saturday October 22, 2022) was a photo runby on the Conway Branch at Hussey’s Field in Conway, NH. [I was responsible for the train schedule and assisting with organizing the photo stops.]

I chose this location for the first photo stop because it offered ample space for all the train’s passengers to spread out; provided good lighting for an eastward (northward) morning train; and was largely free from shadows, and distracting background elements.

This was the only photo stop on the former Boston & Maine Conway Branch. The other arranged photo locations were all on the former Maine Central Mountain Division

I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.

More photos from the 470 Club trip to follow in the coming days.

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470 Club Annual Trip—F7s at North Conway

Saturday, October 22, 2022, Conway Scenic Railroad operated the annual 470 Club autumn charter.

This year the train was assigned the club’s pair of former Boston & Maine F7A diesels Nos. 4266 and 4268, which are painted in the classic General Motors designed maroon and harvest gold livery.

I was asked to draft the trip schedule and assist with arranging photo stops for the train on its journey.

I made this group of photos of the F’s and the special train at North Conway using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens

During the course of the day, the special ran to Conway over the former Boston & Maine Conway Branch, and then west over Crawford Notch to Fabyan, New Hampshire on the former Maine Central.

The weather was outstanding with ‘wall to wall’ sunshine from dawn to dusk.

More photos to follow over the coming days.

View from the cab of 4266.
f22 1/60 sec at ISO 200, lens set to 24mm. The small aperture allows for the sunburst effect.

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Enterprise at 75-Belfast to Dublin! Seven photos.

Kris and I traveled from Belfast to Dublin a week ago Wednesday (12 October 2022).

This was our third of three Enterprise journeys on our Irish travels.

Since 2022 marks the Enterprise‘s 75th year, I though it was appropriate to include some of celebratory signage at Belfast Lanyon Place and Dublin Connolly Station.

Photos exposed using my Lumix LX7.

First class seating on the Enterprise.

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Great Victoria Street Station

Kris and I walked around the corner from the Europa Hotel in Belfast to make these views looking down from Durham Street on to the NI Railways platforms at Great Victoria Street Station.

This shows the station in transition. The new Belfast Transportation Hub is under construction in the background. See:

https://www.translink.co.uk/Better%20Connected/Belfast%20Transport%20Hub

Exposed with a 24-70mm Nikkor zoom lens set at 70mm.
Exposed with a 24-70mm Nikkor zoom lens.
For this photo I used an adpater to attach my vintage manual focus, Nikkor f2.5 105mm prime lens to my Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera. This classic lens offers a lightweight telephoot travel option. It can be used on both my film and digital Nikons.
Although focusing manually takes practice, the lens is extremely sharp and works well on the Z6 body.

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Titanic Belfast

Last week Kris and I visited Titanic Belfast. This museum tells the story of Belfast, its role in ship building, and the most famous ship built there—the ill-fated Titanic.

The musuem is housed in an unusual-shaped purpose-built building.

I made a variety of photos of the building and its stories.

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photography

NI Railways to Titanic Quarter

A week ago, Kris and I traveled from Belfast Great Victoria Street to the Titanic Quarter Station in order to visit the Belfast Titanic museum, located on the waterfront near the the famous Harland & Wolff cranes.

I made these digital photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens. I also made a few Ektachrome colour slides with a Nikon F3.

During our month-long visit to Ireland, I’ve been exposing both digital and film photos as part of the record of our honeymoon, and as a continuation of the photography of Ireland and its railways that I began back in 1998. 

Great Victoria Street Station, Belfast.

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Dublin-Belfast Enterprise

Last week Kris and I made three journeys on the joint Irish Rail-NIR Enterprise service that connects Dublin and Belfast.

The first was from Dublin Connolly to Drogheda. The second from Drogheda to Belfast Lanyon Place, and the third was our return from Belfast to Dublin.

These six photos were made during our northbound journeys.

This year the Enterprise marked its 75th year of service.

First Class seating on the Enterprise. Lumix LX7 photo.
There I am! Lumix LX7 photo by Kris Sabbatino.
Tea on the Enterprise. Lumix LX7 photo.
201-class locomotive 207 River Boyne approaches its Drogheda stop leading the Belfast-bound Enterprise. Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens. Nikon NEF file was cropped and adjusted using Lightroom, then converted to JPG for presentation. And, yes, it was about to rain at Drogheda.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.
Generator van on the Enterprise at Belfast Lanyon Place (formerly Belfast Central). Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.

I made my first trip on the Enterprise back in February 1998.

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Up ICR; to Dublin and Beyond!

Last weekend, Kris and I traveled from Cork to Drogheda via Dublin on Irish Rail.

The first leg of our journey was on an Irish Rail InterCity Railcar from Kent Station to Dublin Heuston.

I made most of these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series zoom lens.

For better internet presentation, I made adjustments to shadow and highlight detail, while refining color balance, color temperature and overall contrast.

f2.5 105mm lens with Nikon Z6 digital camera.
Irish Rail ICR Kent Station, Cork. Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens.
View of Irish Rail 215 from an ICR.
Irish Rail ICR Kent Station, Cork. Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens.
Irish Rail ICR Kent Station, Cork. Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens.
Irish Rail ICR Kent Station, Cork. Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens.

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Tips and Technique

Irish Rail Mark 4 in the Evening.

Last week we paid an evening visit to Kent Station, Cork, to witness the departure of Irish Rail’s Mark IV to Dublin.

The lighting was mixed. My white balance on my Nikon Z6 was set to ‘auto’ which provided a good starting point. I didn’t want the balance to appear too neutral and negate the mood of evening.

I made a variety of small adjustments to the Nikon’s NEF RAW files in Adobe Lightroom to preserve the character of the light, while retaining highlight and shadow detail in what was a very constrasty situation.

Irish Rail class 201 number 221 works at the back of the train.

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Taking a Spin to old Queenstown (Cobh).

Last week, Kris and I traveled from Cork Kent Station on Irish Rail’s 2600-series railcars to Cobh—the town formerly called ‘Queenstown’—a place well-known for its role in Transatlantic transportation.

Among other things, Queenstown was the last port of call for the ill-fated Titanic, which sunk 110 years ago.

The old railway station building now houses the Cobh Heritage Centre.

I made my views with my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera. Kris made the photo of me at Cobh station with her Fujifilm XT4.

Nikon Z6 with Z-series 24-70mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with Z-series 24-70mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with Z-series 24-70mm lens.
Exposed using a FujiFilm XT4 digital camera.
Doodles in training at Cobh. Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm.
Cobh Heritage Centre. Nikon Z6 with AI f2.5 105mm lens.
Cobh Heritage Centre.
Cobh Harbour. Nikon Z6 with AI f2.5 105mm lens. Exposed for highlights.
Nikon Z6 with AI f2.5 105mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with AI f2.5 105mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with AI f2.5 105mm lens.

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photography, Rail transit marathon

Evening on the Cobh Branch.

Thanks to our friends in Cork, the other evening Kris and I made a few photos of Irish Rail’s Cobh Branch near Cork’s Kent Station.

It had rained (and rather hard at that) before the clouds cleared for some intense evening sun. These were great conditions for photos.

Irish Rail’s 2600-series diesel railcars have been working the Cork-Cobh run since my first visit in 1998, but now these are on borrowed time.

I made these digital photos using my Nikon Z6. I’m curious to see how my Kodak Ektachrome 100 slides will turn out.

It was beginning to rain when I made this photo of 2600-series railcars arriving on Plaform 1 in Cork. Within the hour the skies had cleared.
Less than an hour after the above photo, I made this view of an arriving train from Cobh.
Good ol’ 2616 at Kent Station, Cork.
Cork-bound train from an overhead bridge.

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Kent Station, Cork—10 photos

Our visit to Cork, included a tour of Kent Station, conducted over the course of serveral days.

Over the years, I’ve often featured this Victorian-era gem on Tracking the Light. It is unusual for its sharply curved train shed.

I was impressed by the frequency of passenger trains serving the station. There is a steady procession of trains to and through the station with regular departures for Dublin, Cobh, Mallow, Middleton, and Tralee.

I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.

Our visit to Cork, included a tour of Kent Station, conducted over the course of serveral days.
Our visit to Cork, included a tour of Kent Station, conducted over the course of serveral days.

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Tips and Technique

Mallow at Dusk

Kris and I took a spin out to Mallow, Co. Cork. Upon arrival we had a chat with some friends and I made a few photos in the twillight glow of evening.

Back in 2005, I spent several evenings at Mallow documenting Irish Rail’s movement of sugar beet.

For these photos, I worked with my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series zoom lens, white balance set to ‘auto’.

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Spin to Howth

Sunday evening Kris and I took a spin to Howth and back on Irish Rail’s DART from Connolly Station.

I made my first trip to Howth on the DART back in March 1998. On that visit I made photos with a Nikon F3T loaded with Fujichrome Velvia.

For Sunday’s visit, I worked with my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm zoom, while Kris made photos with her Fuji XT4.

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Irish Rail’s Connolly Station

Yesterday, I made this photo of an Irish Rail ICR (InterCity railcar) paused at Platform 4 at Dublin Connolly Station.

It was a comparatively quiet Sunday afternoon and dull outside, but the soft lighting made for a perfect time to portray the modern diesel railcar in the Victorian-era railway station.

Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series Nikkor zoom.

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Rail transit marathon

Ad Trams in the Dublin City Centre.

Over my many visits to Dublin since the start of LUAS tram services in 2004, I’ve made many photos of the various specially decorated LUAS advertising trams that grace the system.

Over the last few days wandering the streets of Dublin, I’ve continued my LUAS photography and focused on a few of the Ad trams that add to the color of the City Centre.

I made these views of Sky television wrapped trams using my Lumix LX7.

Southward Green Line tram crossing the Rosie Hackett bridge over the Liffey
Closer view at the Rosie Hackett bridge.
Eastward Red Line Tram on Abbey Street near O’Connell Street.
Eastward Red Line Tram crossing O’Connell Street.
Westward Red Line Tram on Abbey Street at the Jervis stop.

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Frankenstein-Two Years Ago Today.

Step back to September 28, 2020. I had just bought my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera. The foliage was turning, and I hiked up to the famed Frankenstein Trestle to catch the Mountaineer on its ascent of Crawford Notch.

This photo is among my favorites from 2020. I have used it extensively to promote Conway Scenic Railroad. It has appeared in various magazines and newspapers. The railroad sells refrigerator magnets featuring this image in the North Conway Brass Whistle Gift Shop, and we had monochromatic hoodies made up as well.

Saturday, September 17, 2022, Conway Daily Sun featured the photo on the cover of the newspaper.

The photo was exposed with my Z-series 24-70mm zoom set at 26mm, aperture at f4; camera shutter speed to 1/1000th of a second. I made adjustments to shadows, highlights and color temperature and saturation using Adobe Lightroom.

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May 1978-Amtrak 448 Passes Palmer.

In May 1978, my father drove us to Palmer, Massachusetts to watch the passage of the eastward Lake Shore Limited (train 448). I made a series of photos using my pre-war Leica IIIA rangefinder on Kodacolor II color negative film.

This trailing view looks east toward the old South Main Street Bridge and Conrail’s Palmer yard. It looks like something nasty happened to the westward signal (at right). A pair of E8s led the train.

Despite their age, these old color negatives have held up reasonably well. I scanned them in 2016 using an Epson V600 flatbed scanner.

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photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

High Contrast Trams

Yesterday evening (September 22, 2022), I made a few photos of Dublin’s LUAS trams using my Nikon Z6.

It had been raining much of the day but about 6pm the sun came out, making for some interesting but high contrast scenes.

Back in the old days I’d have worked with black & white film to make the most of this type of lighting, and controlled the contrast chemically. Now, I’m applying contrast controls digitally to my Nikon’s NEF (RAW) files using Adobe Lightroom.

Do these photos work?

If they don’t, I’ll take more later.

LUAS tram on Parnell Street in Dublin. JPG from the unaltered NEF file (No changes to color, contrast, exposure etc).
LUAS tram on Parnell Street in Dublin. This is my adjusted version of the same NEF file. I’ve paid special attention to the sky using Adobe Lightroom’s built in ‘select sky’ mask.
Abbey Street in Dublin. JPG from the unaltered NEF file (No changes to color, contrast, exposure etc).
Abbey Street in Dublin. JPG from the adjusted NEF file.

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HO Camels in Coal Country

The wee Reading Company has had some new arrivals!

Thanks to my long-time friend and expert model railroader, Rich Reed, my model railroad now has a variety of new equipment.

Rich painted a Reading class I-8 2-8-0 camelback for me. This is an interim paint job while we search for the appropriate Reading Company decals. He also supplied as wedding gifts; a Reading I-10sa 2-8-0 (with conventional cab arrangement); a tiny Reading Company camelback 0-4-0 similar to the class A-4b No. 1187 that used to live at the Strasburg Rail Road, a selection of Reading Co. freight cars and some buildings and other small structures.

I made these photos the other night using my Lumix LX7 to feature some of the additions to my interpretation of coal country.

In the ‘real world,’ Penn Central and Reading Company camelback 2-8-0s missed each other by more than 20 years.
Look through the trees! That’s a camelback 0-4-0 coming down grade.
West Cressona Yard has a few new additions thanks to Rich Reed!
This Penn Central RS-3 and caboose was a gift to me from Ken Buck that predated my wee Reading Company by almost a decade. The models had been his father’s. Look above the caboose and you’ll see the sign that Rich made for me that advertised Bob Buck’s Tucker’s Hobbies of Warren, Massachusetts.

My RDCs now have a wee station to serve at Minersville.
Schuylkillhaven now has a movie theatre!

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