Tag Archives: #Laytown

photography, Tips and Technique

Great Northern Railway Compound at Laytown Viaduct.

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Saturday, 26 October 2019, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland ran a series of trips using Great Northern Railway (Ireland) compound 4-4-0 number 85. on old home rails.

This presented ideal opportunities for photography.

Too often steam locomotives are operated mid-day in high light, which present poor conditions for photography. Saturday’s trips benefitted from low late October sun and cool conditions.

I set up at Laytown where late afternoon sun illuminated the viaduct over an Irish Sea estuary.

The clouds were a nuisance, with dark shadows covering the scene until moments before the locomotive charged northward across the bridge toward Drogheda.

I exposed this view using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.

Thanks to everyone at Irish Rail and RPSI for making Saturday’s steam trips a success!

See: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

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photography, Tips and Technique

RPSI Driver Training Special at Laytown.

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A rare sunny Sunday in Ireland. It was clear from dawn to dusk.

Making it extra special was Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s driver training special using tank engine No. 4 and the preserved Cravens carriages.

This worked the Northern line between Connolly Station in Dublin and Drogheda.

I was traveling with William Malone and Honer Travers.

We decided to visit the viaduct at Laytown, which offers a good place to catch a steam locomotive at work.

I made this view using my Lumix LX7, but also exposed a sequence of Fujichrome colour slides with my Nikon N90S and 35mm lens. We’ll have to wait to see those.

My Lumix LX7 is a nifty tool for making action photos of train. Although a small camera, it has the ability to produce both RAW and JPG files and features a remarkably sharp lens.

I find that engine number 4 photographs best from a broadside angle. It looks awkward viewed head-on.

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