Tag Archives: May 10

photography, Tips and Technique

May 10, 2007 was the Big Day for the Railroad Never Sleeps

2 Comments


On May 10, 2007, I coordinated a team of 37 photographers to document a full day’s worth of North American railway activity from Nova Scotia to southern California and from the Pacific Northwest to southern Florida in what became a book titled The Railroad Never Sleeps published by Voyageur Press. (The book is now out of print and may be collectible).

I’d selected May 10thbecause of the historic significance of the day. Not only was America’s First Transcontinental Railroad completed on this day in 1869, but several over significant railroads events occurred on this day, including the famous speed run of New York Central 999 west of Batavia, New York in 1892.

On May 10, 2007, I played an active role in making photographs and coordinated with Genesee Valley Transportation to ride a locomotive on their former New York Central Falls Road (now Falls Road Railroad) and boarded the train at Lockport, New York.

My aim was to make photos of the crew to capture the feeling of an active short line railroad. Hal Reiser shadowed the train making photos from the ground, and at one point collected me so I could also make trackside views.


Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!

Photo exposed on Fujichrome using a Rolleiflex Model T. Middleport, New York on the Falls Road.

photography

Southern Pacific on Donner Pass.

2 Comments

Today, May 10, 2018 represents the 149thanniversary of the completion of America’s first Transcontinental railroad.

To commemorate the day, I’m posting a Kodachrome view that I made of a Southern Pacific freight on Donner Pass in 1993.

SP’s former Central Pacific route over Donner was a key portion of the original Transcontinental Line.

In the 1990s, I made hundreds of Kodachrome views of the Donner Pass crossing.

An SP westward freight ascends the east slope of Donner Pass near Shed 47 above Donner Lake west of Truckee, California. Kodachrome 25 slide.

 

Tracking the Light is Daily!

 

photography

Union Pacific near Portola, California May 10, 2008.

Leave a comment

Seven years ago today, I exposed this photograph on Fujichrome slide film while working on my book Railroads of California (Voyageur Press, 2009).

Union Pacific on the old Western Pacific seen May 10, 2008.
Union Pacific on the old Western Pacific seen May 10, 2008.

This appears on page 58. My original photo caption read:

Union Pacific SD70M 4772) works east on the old Western Pacific on 10 May 2008. Railroad enthusiasts have long praised the WP’s Sierra crossing because of its easy access to parallel Highway 70. This view was made from a pull off on Highway 70 east of Portola, California. Alternative angles on the same spot are available from the old highway below.

As it turned out my final caption as published in the book was more elaborate.

Related to this image, although not specified in the caption is  today’s date: May 10th.  

This is a significant day for American railroading. On this day in 1869, the famous golden spike ceremony marked the joining of Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads at Promontory, Utah, an event signifying the linking of east and west.

Also on this day in 1893, New York Central & Hudson River Railroad engine 999 made its legendary sprint across New York state where west of Batavia, New York it was reported to have hit 112.5 mph, a figure that was often claimed as a world speed record.

Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.

Please spread the word and share Tracking the Light with anyone who may enjoy seeing it!

http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/