Tag Archives: #GP40s

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GP40s in the Lead!

July 30, 1987 was a good day.

I’ve previously posted to Tracking the Light some of my favorite photos exposed on this day on the former Pennsylvania Railroad at Bennington Curve.

In this view, exposed in the early morning light, a set of GP40s lead an uphill train. The roar of the 16-645E3 diesels was intense and it made for memorable drama.

Conrail was really busy railroad in those days. In addition to parades of eastbound and westbound freights, there were light helper moves and a few Amtrak trains.

In 1987 my choice film was Kodak T-Max 400, then a relative new emulsion. After more a year of work with T-max, I returned to using older emulsions such as Kodak Tri-X, which I felt produced better results. However, modern scanning techniques have allowed for pleasing interpretations of this almost 40 year-old negative.

Tracking the Light looks back on Conrail!

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Pan Am’s SAPPI-3 Part 1

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Last Sunday, Kris Sabbatino and I drove along the old Maine Central Hinkley Branch north from Waterville, Maine to photograph Pan Am Railway’s SAPPI-3 local freight.

This was on the advice of New Hampshire rail photographer Andrew Dale, who suggest the trip and the train timings, and who joined us along with Connor Welch later in the morning.

The day was clear and bright with a deep sky.

Working with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with 28mm pancake lens, I made these photos as the freight departed SAPPI’s Somerset Mill. The train carried mostly 50-foot boxcars of paper product.

These two photos feature slight variations in composition and exposure. The top photo is slightly lighter than the bottom. Both are camera JPGs exposed with the Velvia color profile.

The pair of GP40s and old style boxcars is a real throwback to railroading of decades gone by. It was also the first real revenue freight that I’d photographed in daylight in months!

More photos to follow soon!

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