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photography

Delaware-Lackawanna PT98/PT97

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Sometimes finding the train is more than half the challenge. On Saturday October 17, 2015, Pat Yough and I had been following the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western mainline with an awareness that Genesee Valley Transportation’s Delaware-Lackawanna was operating its ‘Portland turn’ to interchange with Norfolk Southern.

Finally, we found the train as it was arriving at Slateford Junction.

The attraction of D-L’s freights is that they operate with antique Alco diesels. Alco exited the American locomotive business more than 46 years ago, so finding these old machines hard at work remains a real treat.

Delaware Lackawanna Railroad's herald is patterned after the old Lehigh Valley logo.
Delaware Lackawanna Railroad’s herald is patterned after the old Lehigh Valley logo.
Alco's Century-636 (C-636) was among the last models produced. This locomotive served Penn-Central and Conrail, and still works for D-L.
Alco’s Century-636 (C-636) was among the last models produced. This locomotive served Penn-Central and Conrail, and still works for D-L.
DL-PT98 arrives at Slateford Junction. It is passing below the remnants of the old Lackawanna Cut-off bridge over the Delaware River.
DL-PT98 arrives at Slateford Junction. It is passing below the remnants of the old Lackawanna Cut-off bridge over the Delaware River.

While D-L’s portion of the freight movement tends to be well documented in recent years as a function of the Alcos, the Norfolk Southern connection is often ignored. As an historian this bothers me.

I have to admit that I too have been guilty of this photographic censorship. While I’ve photographed the Portland turn on several occasions, I haven’t made much of an effort to seek out the NS portion of this run. That is, until last Saturday.

Pat and I agreed, that if the D-L’s connection with NS were to be moved, photos of the NS at Portland would be a rare commodity indeed. So, while we made a point of catching the Alcos at work, we also went after NS H-76, which featured a nice collection of vintage EMD diesels.

Norfolk Southern local H76 delivers interchange to the D-L at Portland on October 17, 2015. Like the D-L this operates on former Lackawanna Railroad trackage.
Norfolk Southern local H76 delivers interchange to the D-L at Portland on October 17, 2015. Like the D-L this operates on former Lackawanna Railroad trackage.
At Portland, the D-L and Norfolk Southern interchange freight.
At Portland, the D-L and Norfolk Southern interchange freight.
1970s EMD's meet 1960s Alcos at Portland, PA.
1970s EMD’s meet 1960s Alcos at Portland, PA.
D-L's Alco/MLW diesels represent a local attraction at Portland.
D-L’s Alco/MLW diesels represent a local attraction at Portland.
Norfolk Southern SD40-2 3575 is framed by the old DL&W station at Portland.
Norfolk Southern SD40-2 3575 is framed by the old DL&W station at Portland.
Working westward, D-L PT97 charges below a road bridge at East Shroudsburg, Pennsylvania. This is the only regular move on this section of the old Lackawanna mainline. It made an impressive show!
Working westward, D-L PT97 charges below a road bridge at East Shroudsburg, Pennsylvania. This is the only regular move on this section of the old Lackawanna mainline. It made an impressive show!

All around it was a successful afternoon. It was also the first time that I’ve photographed the D-L using digital cameras. A fair few years had passed since my last visit!

 

 

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DAILY POST: Lehigh Valley 211 at Lincoln Park, Rochester, New York

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Free Film, a Borrowed Camera and a Bit of Luck!

In November 1986, Kodak supplied me with a free roll of TMax 100 black & white film as part of a ‘care package’ of new products for students in the Photographic Illustration programs at the Rochester Institute of Technology .

Alco RS-3M at Rochester, New York
The combination of Kodak’s recently released T-Max 100 ‘T’ grain black & white film and a Canon 50mm lens allowed for a very sharp image with exceptionally fine grain and broad tonality. I scanned this 35mm negative with my Epson V500 scanner.
Incidentally, at the left of the image is General Railway Signal’s Rochester plant.

The T-Max black & white films were brand new at the time. They were significant because they used a new ‘T’ grain that featured flat silver halide grains that were supposed to reduce the visual granularity in the film (and lower the film’s silver content).

On this bright sunny morning, I went trackside in Rochester to expose my free film. I had Kodachrome 25 in my Leica M2, so I borrowed my roommate’s Canon A1 for the film test.

I photographed a variety of Conrail trains on the former New York Central Water Level Route. I made this image of Rochester & Southern’s Belt Line local crossing the former Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh bridge over Water Level Route at Lincoln Park, west of downtown Rochester. (In 1986, Genesee & Wyoming’s Rochester & Southern assumed operation of the former BR&P 4th Sub-division from CSX’s Baltimore & Ohio.)

Leading R&S’s local was Alco RS-3m 211 leased from the recently formed Genesee Valley Transportation.

The locomotive has a long and colorful history. It featured both a large steam generator and dynamic brakes (thus the high short-hood) and was one of only five RS-3s were built this way:  four served Western Maryland, while this one went to the Pennsylvania Railroad but later was traded to the Lehigh Valley, becoming its 211. After 1976, Conrail replaced 211’s original Alco-244 diesel with a recycled 12-cylinder EMD 567 engine.

Since I made this image, the locomotive has been preserved and restored at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in Rush, New York.

This cropped detail gives a hint of the fine grain afforded by T-Max 100 film.
This cropped detail gives a hint of the exceptionally fine grain afforded by T-Max 100 film.

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photography

View From The Second Cab, Delaware Water Gap, October 13, 2005

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On Assignment, Eight Years Ago Today.

Delaware Water Gap
View from Delaware-Lackawanna’s westward PT97 at the Delaware Water Gap, west of Slateford Junction, Pennsylvania on October 14, 2005. Exposed on Fujichrome with a Nikon F3T and 24mm lens.

In October 2005, I arranged through official channels at Genesee Valley Transportation to ride Delaware-Lackawanna’s trains PT98/PT97, and interview railroaders about their work as part of research for my book Working on the Railroad (published by Voyageur Press in 2006).

On the morning of October 13, 2005, I joined the crew in Scranton for their run to Slateford Junction near Portland, Pennsylvania. After a bit of switching we were on the road. The weather started out dark and damp, and didn’t improve any throughout the day.

The primary emphasis of my trip was the crew and many of my photographs from the day depict engineer Rich Janesko and conductor Shawn Palermo at work. These were featured in the book.

On the return run, I opted to ride in the second locomotive for a little while to make images of the train climbing west through the Delaware Water Gap on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western mainline. It was on this section that my father had photographed Erie-Lackawanna’s Phoebe Snow more than 40 years earlier.

We departed Slateford Junction in early evening. I exposed this image from the fireman’s side of former Lehigh Valley Alco C-420 number 405. Leading is a former Erie-Lackawanna C-425 (running back on home rails thanks to GVT’s policy of Alco acquisition).

I used my Nikon F3T with an f2.8 24mm lens mounted firmly on a tripod in the cab and set the shutter speed at between ¼ and 1/8th of a second to allow the trees and ground to blur.

I was trying to emulate the effect that Richard Steinheimer achieved on his famous cab ride photos at night in a Milwaukee Road ‘Little Joe’ electric.

View from Delaware-Lackawanna’s westward PT97 at the Delaware Water Gap, west of Slateford Junction, Pennsylvania on October 13, 2005. Exposed on Fujichrome with a Nikon F3T and 24mm lens.

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