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Palmer Diamond—Ten Years Ago

On May 1, 2015, I exposed this photo of a New England Central freight crossing CSX’s Boston Line on the Palmer, Massachusetts diamond.

Some 28 years earlier, I’d exposed images of Canadian National Railways GP40-2Ls working at this same location. I’d have to find the photos and compare the rosters, since it is possible that the lead locomotive in this photo was one of those engines.

At the time I made this image in 2015, there were relatively few New England Central locomotives in Genesee & Wyoming paint, which had made this image a novelty because of NECR GP40-L 3015.

Yet, now when I look at it the photo, it is the bird in the sky that catches my interest.

FujiFilm RAF Raw file converted using DxO PureRaw to a PNG file and then adjusted for color, contrast and exposure in Lightroom.

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White River Junction: Six Photos-Four Locomotives

We paused at White River Junction, Vermont, on our way back toward Pennsylvania with Boomer-the-Dog

Boomer stretched his legs. I wandered and made photos of the locomotives and the old station buildings

I like the view of Boston & Maine 4-4-0 No. 494 with a GATX leased engine in the distance.

I wonder what it was like when the common 4-4-0 ‘American’ ruled White River Junction? It was a different world then.

Nikon Z7 photo.
There’s nothing like a puddle to improve a photo! Nikon Z7 photo.

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Lost Slides from Halloween 1997

The other day I was going through a carton of slide boxes from the mid-1990s. I found a roll from a day out with photographer Mike Gardner to capture New England Central in Connecticut.

On Halloween day 1997, we followed southward freight 608 to New London, photographed a few Amtrak trains on the Shore Line, then followed 608 on its northward return trip to Palmer, Massachusetts.

At South Windham, Connecticut, I made a view on the old Fuji Provia 100 (RDP) using my first Nikon N90S with f2.8 80-200mm Nikon zoom lens.

The soft afternoon sun resulted in a somewhat under exposed slide that never made my final cut, and so remained in the green Fuji box for more than 25 years.

I scanned it with a Nikon LS-5000 slide scanner powered by VueScan 9.7.95 (recently updated from the earlier version of VueScan that I’d been using for a few years), and then imported the high-res TIF file (scanned at 4000 dpi in ‘Fine’ mode) into Adobe Lightroom for adjustment and scaling.

Below are JPGs from the unaltered scan and from my adjusted scan to improve the overall visual appeal of the time. Adjustments included warming the color temperature, adjusting sky denisty, lightening the overall exposure, and contrast control.

I’ve also included a photo of Mike, who is a regular Tracking the Light reader.

Scan of my Fujichrome Provia 100 slide without adjustments. The slide is darker and cooler than I’d like, but captures the train in late autumn foliage.
This is the same scan following myriad adjustements to improve the appearance of the image.
Adobe Lightroom work window showing the relative positions of slider controls that implemented adjustments to my original scan.
Mike Gardner catches the action on Halloween day 1997.

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Blue SD60—Palmer, Mass.

Seven years ago—November 14, 2015—I made these photos of a colorfully decorated SD60 spotted at the New England Central yard at Palmer, Massachusetts.

Back in Central Vermont days, six-motor diesels were a very rarely operated to the Palmer yard. These days they are common.

Photos exposed using my first Fuji XT1 with an 18-135mm kit lens set to 18.5mm.

GMTX 9000 is an unusual example of EMD’s SD60 that features the 1990s-era Radial Truck.

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Empty Yard at Palmer

Deep blue sky, fluffy white clouds, Spring-green trees, three locomotives and not a car in the yard nor a wheel turning on the New England Central at Palmer, Massachusetts.

That was the scene when we passed through last Thursday, May 12, 2022.

Exposed digitally using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70 Z-series Nikkor lens.

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White River Junction

On the way home from Christmas, Kris & I stopped in at White River Junction, Vermont.

I made these photos of New England Central GP38 3857 using my Lumix LX7.

This locomotive is now among the last in the railroad’s classic navy and gold paint scheme that debuted with the railroad at its start-up in 1995.

I made some nominal adjustments to contrast and color saturation using Adobe Lightroom.

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The End for an Old GP?

Yesterday I learned through social media that New England Central 3850 suffered a main generator fire while climbing State Line Hill (located in my hometown of Monson, Massachusetts.)

Over the last 26 years, I’ve made countless photos of this antique EMD diesel-electric at work and at rest.

While I cannot predict the future, I know that often with older diesels, a main generator failure may represent the kiss of the scrapper.

When it came to New England Central in 1995, 3850 carried the number 9531, which is how I picture it in the December 1996 view below.

I made this photo at Palmer, Massachusetts using a mix of artificial lighting, including electronic strobe for fill flash, and my original Fujichrome slide is strongly tinted.

I scanned this slide using an Epson V600 flatbed scanner driven by Epson Scan 2 software. Working from a high-resolution TIF file, I initially scaled the photo without corrections.

Then, working with slider controls in Adobe Lightroom, I implemented a variety of color corrections, plus contrast and exposure adjustements to overcome flaws with color balance and exposure. Below are both results for point of comparison.

This is a scaled JPG of the uncorrected scan which reflects how the original slide appears to the eye. Compare this with a partially color corrected version below.
Above is my first color-corrected scan aimed at better representing the colors of the locomotive as they would have appeared to my eye at night. Although imperfect, it is an improvement over the original slide.
Here’s an alternative version aimed at further reducing the green tint from the mercury vapor light and reducing overall contrast. This is closer to the way the scene would have looked.

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NECR-No Logo

I don’t think this what author Naomi Klein had in mind!

In May 1997, New England Central’s southward 559 was led by GP38 9549—a noteworthy engine at the time because it lacked the company logo on its short hood.

Without the classic New England Central logo on the engine, this image represents a generic North American freight train.

Twenty Four years later, a few of NECR’s GP38s are still working in the railroad’s classic blue and gold paint.

New England Central 559 approaches Plains Road in Tolland, Connecticut in May 1997. The Route 32 bridge over the tracks is visable in the distance.

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New England Central on a Frosty morning.

I made this Fujichrome slide of the New England Central yard at Palmer, Massachusetts in January 1998—just a few weeks before embarking on my first trip to Ireland

The subtle duo-chromic hues and stark winter landscape make for a simple frame for what I find a visually complicated image.

Carefully observe the unorthodox use of selective focus.

Where a common solution for a focus point might have been on the nose of the locomotive, instead I aimed at the distant truss bridge at the south-end of the yard, while leaving the tracks in the foreground slightly blurred.

The use of lighting selective provides silhouettes.

Texture in the tracks, trees and sky, add complexity.

What is the subject? The locomotive? The tracks? Or the truss bridge and poles in the distance?

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Telephoto Ektachrome at East Northfield

In 1990, I’d bought a second-hand F4 Nikkor ‘prime’ 200mm telephoto. For several years I made great use of this lens to photograph trains across the West.

Through the 1990s, my photography was telephoto heavy.

These days, I’ve shifted my focal length wide.

Most of my digital photos are made with focal lengths between 16-70mm (super wide to short telephoto).

But, when I tend toward the longer telephoto range, I still reach for my film cameras.

Partially because I have several excellent long telephotos for my Canons, but also because when I think ‘long’, I think film.

So when Kris Sabbatino and I visited the Junction at ‘East Northfield,’ Massachusetts on March 8th (2021), I made this long view on Ektachrome using my old Canon EOS-3 with f2.8 200mm lens. This winning camera-lens combo has served me well for nearly 15 years.

Perhaps, it helps that I’m photographing a classic train with 1960s-1970s vintage EMD diesels bracketed by searchlight signals.

New England Central southward 611 approaches the junction at East Northfield, Massachusetts on March 8, 2021. Ektachrome 100 slide film.

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New ENgland Central —Palmer, Mass.

Years gone by, I would have made a pass through Palmer on my way out of town to get the lay of the land on the railroad.

We went through this exercise a few weeks back when visiting from New Hampshire.

On our way through Palmer, Massachusetts, Kris Sabbatino & I checked the signals on CSX’s former Boston & Albany route at CP83. Then we inspected New England Central’s former Central Vermont yard.

For old time sake, and to record the scene for posterity, I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm zoom lens.

The ‘Simpsons Sky’ was an added bonus. (In reference to the opening sequence of the popular animated television program)

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December 10, 2018—New England Central at Stafford Springs

On this day two years ago, I photographed New England Central GP38s in the classic blue & gold paint leading the southward 608 at Stafford Springs, Connecticut (Stafford on the railroad).

Working with the FujiFilm RAW file from my XT1, I first converted the photo to a DNG file using Iridient X-Transformer, then imported that file into Adobe Lightroom for adjustment.

To make for a more pleasing image, I reduced contrast, lightened shadows, and lowered the intensity of the highlights.

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New England Central with ‘Drop Under’ light at Brattleboro, Vermont.

In October 2015, I made this photograph of New England Central train 611 arriving at Brattleboro having returned from Palmer, Mass.

The setting sun was illuminating clouds from below, making for that colorful event known as ‘drop under’.

I was working with a Lumix LX7, that allows the photographer to work in JPG and RAW simultaneously.

Below are two versions of the same photo. The top image is the camera-generated JPG, the second is heavily adjusted image that I created by working with the camera RAW file.

There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ when it comes to adjusting color, however there are some basic guidelines and guiding theory.

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Contrasty Kodachrome

Often I consider my Kodachrome slides among my finest photographs.

By not always.

In the mid-1990s, Kodachrome went through an unsettled phase and the film didn’t perform as well as it had in the late 1980s early 1990s. The reasons for these changes may be a discussion for another day.

On April 11, 1997, I joined photographers Mike Gardner and George Pitarys on a productive chase of New England Central’s southward freight, number 608.

At Willimantic, Connecticut, I made this photo along the river by some old thread mills (some since demolished).

April light can be challenging. Harsh contrast combined with a yellowish tint from air pollution makes for a raw ‘brassy’ quality that Kodachrome didn’t reproduce well.

Scaled scan, otherwise unadjusted for color, contrast, sharpness etc.

I scanned this slide a little while ago and then imported the TIFF file into Adobe Lightroom, which I used to soften the contrast, lighten the shadows and correct the harsh color rendition. See adjusted version below

It isn’t perfect, but then again the lighting on the day wasn’t ideal.

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Sunday’s Surprise.

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I needed a topic for today’s Tracking the Light, so I reached in to a sorting file of un-scanned slides and found this photo: Surprise!

On October 13, 2004, photographer Mike Gardner and I chased New England Central Railroad’s 608 south from Palmer, through my hometown of Monson, Massachusetts.

This is a chase I’ve done countless times over the last 40 years, but just because you’ve done something before, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to find a new angle on it.

At Robbins Road in Monson, I made this dramatic trailing view of the train’s locomotives. Here we have a selection of NECR GP38s roaring away in ‘Run-8’—maximum throttle on the tooth of the grade.

The train was moving 10-12 mph, producing a rush of engine exhaust along with traction motors blowers blowing to keep the motors cool. (And prevent them from over heating) These blasts of hot air, combined with the wind from the train’s approach and passage, plus and sand from the sanders to maintain adhesion all helped stir up the ballast and fallen leaves. 

It was a good chase and I wish I was there now!

I scanned the photo using a Nikon Super Coolscan5000 and VueScan software. My initial scan produced a 4000 dpi TIF file, which I then imported to Lightroom in order to scale it for presentation here.

June 2020 Trains Magazine features my 8-page article on New England Central.

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New England Central 611 at Three Rivers—Four Photos

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It was nice to see some freight on the move!

Here we have New England Central’s 611 Job northbound at Three Rivers in Palmer, Massachusetts.

My eight page feature on the New England Central appears in the June 2020 Trains Magazine.

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