Friday, I exposed these views of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington as viewed from the old station location at Intervale on the former Maine Central Mountain Division.
The top view was before passage of Conway Scenic’s plow extra.
The bottom was exposed several minutes later and shows the plow after it passed. Locomotive 255 was shoving the plow west toward Attitash.
Both images exposed using a Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera with a 70-200mm lens.
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Tracking the Light wishes you a Happy New Year!
I’m including two photos to usher in 2023. The first is one of the last photos that I made in 2022: a telephoto image of Mount Washington that I made from the viewing area off Route 302 near Bretton Woods yesterday afternoon when Kris and I were returning from Littleton, New Hampshire.
The second image is from a scan that I made yesterday evening of a vintage Kodachrome 25 color slide . I’d exposed this view of Conrail’s PASE (Palmer to Selkirk) on the afternoon of June 1, 1989. This is among my classic chromes and shows Conrail’s 6611, one of ten distinctive GE-built C32-8s that regularly operated over the Boston Line (former Boston & Albany main line) beginning in 1984. My slide had remained in the yellow Kodachrome box from the time it was processed until yesterday.
The BIG event for me on New Year’s Eve was the arrival of my latest camera! I hope to feature photos from this picture making machine over the coming weeks. I’ll reveal details about this new camera in upcoming posts during 2023! Stay tuned . . . .
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The other day, I caught a returning Snow Train at Intervale, New Hampshire with the great mass of Mount Washington looming 18 miles to the North.
In the lead was former Maine Central Railroad GP38 252. A locomotive delivered in November 1966.
Fresh snow and bright sun help make the photo. This same location isn’t as impressive on a dull day when clouds obscure the mountain.
Exposed with my Nikon Z6 fitted with a Z-series f2.8 70-200mm zoom.
It is rarely recognized, however on a clear winter day you can see Mount Washington from the platform of the North Conway Station.
Yesterday, I made these photos of the arriving Snow Train as I perched atop a snow mound adjacent to the platform.
I lined up the mountain, station and train using my Nikon Z6 with Z-series 70-200mm zoom.
To soften contrast, I lightened the shadows in post processing, while slighly boosting the color saturation.
I imagine that back in 1874, when the station opened, there was an unobstructed view of Mount Washington. Today, trees, buildings, and wires make for a cluttered scene.
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At the end of December 2020, Kris Sabbatino and I, paid a brief visit to the Mount Washington Cog Railway, where I made this photo of a pair of bio-diesel powered excursion trains near the base station.
The Mount Washington Cog was the worlds first cog railway. Although uncommon in North America, mountainous cog railways are relatively common in the Alps where there are numerous examples in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
In 2002, I traveled on a cog line at Strba, Slovakia, but that’s a photo for another day.
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Sun and clouds made for dramatic lighting near Fabyan, New Hampshire last weekend. Photographer Kris Sabbatino and I had been circumnavigating the mountain.
In these views of the Mount Washington Hotel, its famous namesake peak looms in the sunshine beyond.
This obviates the description: ‘in the shadow of Mount Washington’.
I’d hoped for a shaft of sun to illuminate the famous early 20th Century hotel, but the fading light wasn’t cooperating. Maybe next time . . .
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Friday, January 17, 2020, I joined the Conway Scenic train crew of a light engine sent west on the old Mountain Division to inspect the line and clear snow and as far as Rogers Crossing east of Bartlett, New Hampshire.
It was clear, cold afternoon, which made for some magnificent views along the Saco River and looking toward Mount Washington.
My primary intent was to document the move and gather some video footage of the railroad operating in the snow.
using my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens, I made these views at milepost 62 west of Intervale.
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For viewers on Facebook, you’ll need to click the link to Tracking the Light to get the view of the mountain.
Last night in the fading glow of a summer’s evening, Conway Scenic’s Adam Bartley and I made video and still of photos of the railroad’s Dinner train that was out on a demonstration run.
Adam worked the company video camera, while I used my Lumix, Fuji, Canon and Nikon cameras to make film and digital photographs.
Our final set for the evening was looking west at Intervale, where we caught the returning train led by former Maine Central 252, a classic GP38 and veteran locomotive on the line. I set my photograph to capture Mount Washington, New England’s tallest peak, looming large above the train.
These images were exposed using my Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens. RAW files were adjusted for contrast, exposure, color balance and color saturation in post processing using Lightroom.
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Last Saturday’s excursion atop Mount Washington lent to some precipitous views of the line.
Over its 150 years, I imagine that every inch of this short but steep railway has been photographed.
Not withstanding that, I’ve added my FujiFilm XT1 photos to the mix. Here’s a selection as we rode up on the train. Special thanks to our brakemen on the way up who allowed me to make a few photos from the door at the end of the car.
Tracking the Light Rode the Mt. Washington Cog Railway!
Many many years ago.
In the dusts of time.
Before I carried a camera!
I traveled on the Mount Washington Cog Railway.
I was very young and it was bitterly cold at the summit, so the charms of the railway were lost on me.
Last Saturday, my friends and I revisited this world famous attraction.
The Mount Washington Cog is 150 years old this year and the oldest cog railway in the world. It is built almost entirely upon a wooden pile trestle with an average gradient of 25 percent (1 in 4).
The views get more impressive as you gain in elevation.
Although largely operated with ‘bio diesels’, there are still some steam locomotives.
I made these photographs from the base station as we were getting ready to board. I largely focused on the diesels, as the steam was only being prepped and not working the mountain.
More soon!
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