Irish steam | Tracking the Light

This is the cover of the new Southern Steam calendar featuring Irish stream locomotives working in Munster. — This is the cover of the new Southern Steam calendar that features Irish stream locomotives working in Munster. Photo by George Norman©2015

I’m honored to have been included in the new Southern Steam 2016 Calendar put together by Ken Fox and Kevin Meany. My photo is August 2016. Buy the calendar and check it out (proceeds for charity).

Rather than spoil it for you, I’ve posted one of my outakes, an image I made in 2006 at Farranfore, Co. Kerry, rather than show you the image used in the calendar.

I exposed this view of locomotive 186 at Farranfore back in May 2006. Some of you may know of my personal connection with Farranfore. This is not the image in the calendar, but rather one made on the same trip a little later in the day. Buy the calendar, support the charity, check it out. Exposed using my Nikon F3 on Fujichrome. — I exposed this view of locomotive 186 at Farranfore back in May 2006. Some of you may know of my personal connection with Farranfore. This is **not** my image used in the calendar, but rather one made on the same trip a little later in the day. Buy the calendar, support the charity, check it out. Exposed using my Nikon F3 on Fujichrome.

Passengers enjoying the spin behind steam. Canon EOS 7D photo.

Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s “The Marble City.”

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 locomotive 461 hauled a well-patronized Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s excursion from Dublin’s Connolly Station to Kilkenny via Cherryville Junction.

As is often the case this time of year in Ireland, it was a largely gray day. Steam locomotives present a difficult subject on warm dull days. As a result, I opted to travel on the train, rather than stake out a spot in the countryside to try for the one ‘master shot’.

This gave me ample opportunity to make close-ups of the locomotive, its crew, and friends traveling with the train. As well as pictures from the window.

I’d intended to bring my trusty old Nikon F3 to make a few color slides, but on the previous evening, I’d been making time exposures of Dublin and the trusty old battery in the F3 gave up the ghost. Failing to follow my own advice, I didn’t have a spare. (Although I have plenty of spare cameras).

As a result all of my images of “The Marble City” trip were exposed digitally. Some with my Lumix LX3, others with my Canon EOS 7D with 28-135 zoom. Check Tracking the Light over the next few days to view some of my results.