Tag Archives: Intermodal freight

photography

Day and Night at CP83 in Palmer, Massachusetts.

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All to often I find myself in Palmer, Massachusetts.

It’s probably not what you think though.

Yes, I make railway photos there.

By often I arrive at CP83 only because I’m passing through. I might be on the way to the bank, or to get a haircut, or maybe do a bit of shopping.

In the daylight instance pictured I was about to cross the South Main Street Bridge with a financial transaction in mind, when I spotted a railway enthusiast poised with camera in hand.

I had my Lumix LX7 with me, so made a quick diversion. It was nearly 11am, and about the time that CSX’s Q022 often rolls east. Stepping out of the car, I immediately sensed that my guess was correct. I could hear the freight approaching the home signal for the Palmer diamond at CP83. Need I describe what happened next?

Lumix LX7 view of CSX’s Q022 passing CP83 in Palmer, Massachusetts. (CP83 is the railroad location-name  for the interlocking in Palmer, which is just over 83 miles west of Boston South Station.)
Less than 12 hours after the daylight view I made this photo of the signals at CP83 illuminated by the headlight of westward intermodal freight Q007.
It helps to have a tripod.
CSX Q007 rolls westward at CP83 in Palmer; at the right is the popular Steaming Tender restaurant.

Some hours later, I’d met Rich and Joyce Reed for dinner in Palmer, and as per a long standing Friday night tradition we reconvened after the meal at CP83. How different this place looks at night!

After a little while the signals cleared and CSX’s Q007 came into view. I made these time exposures of the westward Q007 passing the signals at CP83.

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photography

CSX Intermodal catches the First Rays of Sunshine—Middlefield, Massachusetts.

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Last May (2016), I made this view of an eastward CSX stack train descending the old Boston & Albany grade over Washington Hill.

I was just east of the old Middlefield Station (long defunct), where my late friend Bob Buck had exposed some classic images of B&A’s A1 Berkshires.

A hill behind me blocks the rising sun, until after 6:30am in May. I could hear the train descending as the first rays of sun tickled the iron. Morning clouds waft across the sky making for inky shadows.

Exposed using a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.
Exposed using a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera.

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photography

The Lovely Trees; Norfolk Southern/Pan Am Southern Intermodal Train at Shirley.

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If I captioned this post, ‘23K passes Shirley’, would you have looked any way?

The other day when Paul Goewey, Bob Arnold and I were photographing trains at Shirley, Massachusetts, I exposed these views of the daily westward intermodal train symbol 23K that originates a few miles to the east at Ayer.

The Lovely Trees: These two massive trunks have fascinated me for years, and make for an excellent means to frame up a photo. Here, in the first view the intermodal train is almost incidental to the scene.

Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens.

Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Tuoit lens.

Which of these views of Norfolk Southern/Pan Am Southern’s 23K do you prefer?

A closer view made moments after the first. In this image I've emphasized the train.
A closer view made moments after the first. In this image I’ve emphasized the train.
This is an 'enhanced' version of the above. Working from the RAW file, I've made a variety of subtle changes to contrast, exposure, saturation and clarity in Lightroom as a means of making a more pleasing image.
This is an ‘enhanced’ version of the above. Working from the RAW file, I’ve made a variety of subtle changes to contrast, exposure, saturation and clarity in Lightroom as a means of making a more pleasing image.

Tracking the Light posts daily!

 

 

photography

BNSF Eastbound Along The Mississippi River at Savannah, Illinois.

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BNSF Eastbound Along The Mississippi River at Savannah, Illinois.

 A Commanding View of the Mississippi River.

On June 25, 2010, I used my Lumix LX-3 to expose this backlit image of an eastward BNSF intermodal train hugging the east bank of the Mississippi River near Savannah, Illinois. My vantage point is a limestone outcropping atop the bluffs in Illinois’ Mississippi Palisades State Park

This former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy double-track line is part of BNSF’s raceway between Chicago and the Twin Cities.

A BNSF intermodal train along the Mississippi River on June 25, 2010.
General Electric DASH9 locomotives lead a BNSF intermodal train along the Mississippi River on June 25, 2010.

I exposed the image in manual mode, using the camera meter to gauge exposure for the river to avoid blowing out the highlights in the water. I turned all the automatic features, (including the auto focus) ‘off’, thus giving me a virtually instantaneous shutter release that allowed me to neatly fill the frame.

One of the difficulties with many small cameras is a ‘shutter lag’—an undesirable delay from the time the shutter button is released and the actual moment the shutter opens. This unfortunate problem handicaps a photographer’s ability to capture the decisive moment and greatly limits the potential for railway action photography. For me one of great advantages of the Lumix LX-3 is the ability to disable automatic functions and thus obviate the problems associated with a delay. The other camera’s other great advantage is its Leica Vario-Summicron  lens, noted for remarkable sharpness and clarity.

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