Tag Archives: Montrealer

photography, Tips and Technique

Amtrak Special at the Bellows Falls Tunnel.

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The benefits of familiarity; knowing your locations.

Take the Bellows Falls Tunnel on the Connecticut River line. Back in 1988, I’d photographed a southward Boston & Maine (Guilford) freight in the afternoon and noted that late in the day, when the south portal was in shadow, a shaft of light illuminates the train on the north side of the tunnel.

The location and effect were filed away for future reference.

A couple of week ago, on June 18, 2016, Pat Yough and I were following Amtrak’s Exhibition Train on its way south from Claremont, New Hampshire. At Bellows Falls, Vermont the train paused to refuel, and this resulted in the leading locomotive, Amtrak F40PH 406, pulling past the grade crossing near the station.

I noticed it had gone just far enough to bask in the window of sun near the north portal of the tunnel.

This opened up opportunity for photography.

Below are a examples angles exposed from the south portal, a location reached by a narrow street from the center of town. I like the relative abstraction of tracks and engine appearing to float in a sea of darkness.

The classic Vermont setting of the Bellows Falls Tunnel fascinates photographers and model railroaders.
The classic Vermont setting of the Bellows Falls Tunnel fascinates photographers and model railroaders.
A 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit gingerly takes the turn on the road that leads to the tunnel portal. Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera.
A 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit gingerly takes the turn on to the road that leads to the tunnel portal. Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 digital camera.
This could almost pass for an early 1990s view of Amtrak's Montrealer. (Except that the train was scheduled to come through Bellows Falls in the middle of the night). I like the inky darkness. Exposed manually using a FujiFilm XT1. Careful metering and examination of the histogram will aid in correct exposure of scene such as this one. Most automatic metering systems will ten to try to compensate for the dark tunnel portal which negates the intended effect. Focusing can be tricky too.
This could almost pass for an early 1990s view of Amtrak’s Montrealer. (Except that the train was scheduled to come through Bellows Falls in the middle of the night). I like the inky darkness. Exposed manually using a FujiFilm XT1. Careful metering and examination of the histogram will aid in correct exposure of scene such as this one. Most automatic metering systems will tend to try to compensate for the dark tunnel portal which negates the intended effect. Focusing can be tricky too.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Amtrak’s Montrealer at South Norwalk, Connecticut—30 years ago today.

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On June 25, 1986 at 7:18 am, a trio of Amtrak AEM-7s lead the Southward Montrealer (Montreal, Quebec to Washington D.C.) over Metro-North at South Norwalk.

My pal, T.S.H. and I were trackside from 6:50 am. Our primary objective was to catch the venerable former New Haven Railroad FL9s on the move.

Three AEM-7 electrics lead Amtrak's Montrealer. All pantographs are up. Now, how cool is that?
Three AEM-7 electrics lead Amtrak’s Montrealer. All pantographs are up. Now, how cool is that?
Exposed on June 25th 1986 using a Rolleiflex Model T with Zeiss 75mm Tessar lens, loaded with Kodak 6043 (120 size Tri-X); f5.6-f8 (f6.3) 1/500th of a second. Processed in D76.
Exposed on June 25th 1986 using a Rolleiflex Model T with Zeiss 75mm Tessar lens, loaded with Kodak 6043 (120 size Tri-X); f5.6-f8 (f6.3) 1/500th of a second. Processed in D76.
The Budd-built Heritage Fleet always looked nice behind the AEM-7s.
The Budd-built Heritage Fleet always looked nice behind the AEM-7s.

The late running Montrealer was an added bonus. We knew this as ‘The Bootlegger’—a prohibition-era term relating to the train’s cross-border activities.

Today, this photograph seems doubly appropriate because Amtrak’s AEM-7s made their farewell trip just a week ago.

 

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photography, Tips and Technique

Amtrak Montrealer Hours Late—An Example of a Captioned Photograph.

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Not my finest print, but it was the best I capable of at the time. Today, what I find interesting is the effort I made at captioning the old print, which has preserved the spirit of the day and the relative significance of the image. Information distinguishes the train pictured from a generic move to a specific train on a specific day and highlights the relative importance of the image.
Not my finest print, but it was the best I capable of at the time. Today, what I find interesting is the effort I made at captioning the  print, which has preserved the spirit of the day and the relative significance of the image. Information distinguishes the train pictured from that of a generic move to a specific train on a specific day and highlights the relative importance of the image.

Here’s an old print. I exposed this years ago. It shows an Amtrak train in the snow someplace. If I had to guess, I say it was made somewhere in New England in the mid-1980s/early 1990s based on the equipment.

Except I don’t need to guess. I know that it was exposed on the morning of January 16, 1984 and shows Amtrak’s late-running Washington D.C. to Montreal Montrealer passing South Deerfield, Massachusetts.

I chose this photograph because it has a decent caption on the back. My language skills weren’t fantastic, but all I was trying to do was convey the vital information relating to the photograph. I typed this up on label using an IBM Selectric typewriter (which imprinted letters with a rapidly rotating ball) and pasted that to the back of the print.

I chose to display this photograph because it has a decent caption on the back. My language skills weren’t fantastic, but all I was trying to do was convey the vital information that related to the photograph. I typed my caption up on label using an IBM Selectric typewriter (which imprinted letters with a rapidly rotating ball) and pasted it to the back of the print.

In the caption I was trying to do was convey the vital information.  At the time, I’d hope to send this to a magazine. Catching the Montrealer in daylight was a real coup! (Or so I thought at the time.).

I find this photograph interesting for other reasons too. As regular viewers of Tracking the Light may be aware, I’ve made several recent views of Amtrak’s Vermonter at this same highway crossing (North Hillside Road) and so this makes for an interesting comparison view.

The primary reason I’ve posted this today is to provide an example of how a simple caption can solve many mysteries. Instead of a generic image of an Amtrak train kicking up snow, we instead know many of the crucial details; what, when where and why.

These details make the photo more relevant, and potentially more valuable as a record.

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