Tag Archives: #Iron ore

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Russian Ore Train in a Finnish Forest

July 23, 2015 was a whirlwind day of railway photography in central Finland

My host Markku Pulkinnen arranged for local photographers Petri and Pietu Tuovinen to guide us, while exploring lines between Kontiomäki and the Russian frontier zone.

Kontiomäki is a minor regional hub in north central Finland surrounded by lakes and forests.

At Purnu, we set up near an automated defect detector to catch an eastward train carrying Russian iron ore. This was a heavy train by European standards and led by a pair of Swiss-designed Sr2 electrics.

It was one of many trains we caught that day, which sticks in my mind as one of my greatest railway adventures in northern Europe. In summer the long days and textured skies permit many hours of productive photography!

Photos exposed using my FujiFilm XT-1 with an 18-135mm Fujinon X-series-zoom, adjusted in post processing using Adobe Lightroom.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

photography, Tips and Technique

The Curse of Wires!

Leave a comment

Sometimes electrical wires are placed in inconvenient positions.

In this photograph from a highway overpass near Port Cartier, Quebec, road-side electrical cables resulted in an unfortunate visual obstruction to what would otherwise be an ideal vantage point looking toward the Gulf of the St. Lawrence.

I made this image on my photography adventure to the Cartier Railway with George Pitarys and Bill Linley in July 1997.

A loaded iron ore train was headed from the mines toward the port for trans-loading on to ships. Low evening light accentuated the hues of the water in the distance. The distant searchlights and ship on the water provide added interest.

Although imperfect, I exposed the slide anyway.

Tracking the Light posts new material everyday!

photography

Big Alcos in northern Quebec.

1 Comment

The other day, Adam Bartley and I were discussing railway operations and locomotives in Canada, which reminded me of an epic trip I took with George Pitarys and Bill Linley back in 1997.

We drove to Port Cartier, Quebec, a port on the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, and spent several days photographing the isolated Cartier Railway, which moved exceptionally heavy iron ore trains using vintage six-motor Alco and MLW diesels.

Tracks traversed a Canadian National park and this was as close to true wilderness as I’d been up to that time. Other than the railroad and a dirt road that ran parallel, there was virtually no other human activity. No houses, no towns, no restaurants, stores, or anything.

This view of a southward loaded train was exposed on Kodachrome 25 at milepost 21 (as measured from the port). At the time I was using a Nikon N90S with an f2.8 80-200mm Nikon zoom lens.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!