The other day I traveled on the head-end of Conway Scenic Railroad’s Mountaineer in order to take notes on running times to help revise the schedule, and to make photos for publicity, marketing and the company files.
This is a selection of the images I exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 with 16-55mm Fujinon zoom lens.
Bartlett, NH.Bartlett Roundhouse.3rd Iron.Near milepost 81 on the ascent to Crawford Notch.WIlley Brook Bridge.Crawford Notch near mp 84.
Working with the camera’s RAW files, prior to post processing, I converted the files to DNG format using Iridient software and then for final presentation adjusted the DNG files using adobe Lightroom .
Last December, we brought GP7 573 out on the Redstone Branch to clear the line of snow. It was the furthest east that I’d traveled on the line as we went all the way to the East Conway Road crossing.
The effective end of track for Conway Scenic is the Saco River Bridge east of East Conway Road.
Working with my Canon EOS 3 fitted with a 40mm pancake lens, I made these images on Kodak Ektachrome E100 color slide film.
The great dynamic range of color slide film, combined with its broad tonal range and delicate colors still makes it a perfect choice for making photos in circumstances like these.
In October 2005, I traveled with Delaware-Lackawanna’s PT98 that operated from Scranton to Slateford Junction, Pennsylvania.
At Tobyhanna the eastward freight stopped to switch, and I made a few photos on Fujichrome using a Nikon F3. It was pouring rain, so I made the best of it.
I scanned this image using a Nikon Coolscan 5000, and adjusted the TIF raw file in Adobe Lightroom to correct the color temperature and color balance while adjusting contrast and shadow detail.
Yesterday morning was glorious and sunny in North Conway, NH.
Members of the 470 Club (a group that has preserved and owns several pieces of historic railroad equipment based at the Conway Scenic Railroad) were repairing former Boston & Maine F7A 4266 at the North Conway roundhouse..
On October 8, 1992, I made this Kodachrome 25 slide of the old Boston & Maine station building at Woodsville, NH.
Although a relatively subtle quality, notice that the verticals are parallel with the sides of the photo. This was made possible by working with a Nikkor 35mm PC (Perspective Control) lens. This had an adjustible front element used to keep vertical lines from visually falling away from the film plane (when the camera was kept level).
I miss my old PC lens, which I sold in 1997.
The line in front of the Woodsville Station was lifted in the mid-1990s.
Last night Conway Scenic Railroad operated its annual Firecracker Expresses to carry spectators from Conway to North Conway for a patriotic fireworks display.
Although it had been raining all afternoon, the sky cleared off at sunset, and the fireworks went ahead as scheduled, beginning just after 930pm.
As part of of my role as Conway Scenic’s Manager of Marketing & Events, I helped organize our special trains and their promotion. Several hundred people rode the trains which operated as advertised.
My Fiancé Kris Sabbatino and I traveled on the Firecracker Express to North Conway and made photos of the railroad’s iconic station and the explosive displays.
It was an excellent event.
Working with my Nikon Z6 Mirrorless digital camera mounted on my antique Bogen tripod, I made a variety of time-exposures.
Years ago I’d photographed fireworks using color slide film. I realized that I hadn’t done this in a long time and this was my first serious effort to capture a fireworks display digitally. I was a bit rusty at getting my timing right, but after missing a few of the loud bangs in the sky, I managed to refine my technique.
Working with the camera at ISO 200, my exposure times ranged from 4 seconds to 30 seconds, while I varied my f-stop between 4.0 and f11.
In general, I found I obtained my most satisfactory results at about 10 seconds at approximately f8.
After exposure, I imported the camera’s RAW NEF files into Adobe Lightroom for contrast and color adjustment. Through this technique I was able to improve the sky detail and balance the appearance of the images to reflect the scene more closely as I saw it. The benefit of the Nikon Z6 is its sensor’s exceptional dynamic range.
Here’s another of my photos at dusk from our pursuit of St. Lawrence & Atlantic’s westward freight 393 last week. Kris and I were positioned along the south shore of the Reflection Pond near Gorham, NH.
My tripod was occupied holding my Canon EOS-3 during a 30 second time exposure. This film photo remains latent at this writing.
While the Canon was exposing film, I made a few hand held photos with my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss 12mm Touit with the ISO set at 5,000.
These are two of the 1/2 second exposures that night.
I adjusted the Fuji RAW files using Adobe Lightroom.
The long days of summer offer a rare opportunity to catch Genesee & Wyoming’s St. Lawrence & Atlantic through freights in daylight.
Last Friday, 25 June 2021, my fiancé Kris Sabbatino and I drove to Locke Miles, Maine, east of Bethel, where we set up along South Pond to wait for the westward freight, job 393.
The light was fading when we finally heard a distant whistle.
Our friend Andrew Dale had been keeping us updated as to the trains’s westward progress.
I made this image of the leading locomotives reflecting in South Pond using my Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera. I set the ISO to 800, the aperture to f4.0 (my widest setting), and the shutter speed to 1/100th of a second.
After the train passed we pursued it West into the night.
24-70mm Nikkor zoom set at 53mm. Full frame sensor
On Thursday, June 24, 2021, I was live on the radio at North Conway during a simulcast for New Hampshire’s Lakes region radio stations FM 101.5 and FM 104.9.
This was a promotion for Conway Scenic Railroad as part of greater exploration of tourism in the White Mountains and Lakes regions.
I worked with the radio hosts to give listeners a greater appreciation for the railroad, its history and its excursions.
Using my Lumix LX7, I made these photos during broadcast and between interviews.
Last Saturday, June 19th, Kris & I met the first Conway Scenic Railroad Mountaineer of the 2021 season at Crawford Notch, NH on the former Maine Central Mountain Division.
We spoke with the crew and arranged to make photos from the sunny side of the tracks.
A few days later, I posted some of these to the Conway Scenic Facebook page, which is among my jobs as Manager of Marketing & Events for the railroad.
File converted from Lumix RAW file.Color adjusted and saturation increased working with the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom. I was trying to minimize the placement of automobiles parked along Rt 302 adjacent to the tracks., while featuring the textured sky.
I made these photos with a Lumix LX7 compact mirrorless digital camera fitted with external view finder.
Among the CP Rail freights we caught on the move on the Moosehead Sub, was this westbound rolling across the Kennebec East Outlet Bridge just after sunset.
Working with my Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera, I made this trailing view with the camera set at ISO 1600, shutter speed 1/50, aperture at f4.0, and the 24-70mm zoom adjusted to its widest (24mm) position.
Soon after the locomotives passed we were in hot pursuit of the train for nocturnal photos. More soon!
Eight Years ago today, June 5, 2013, Rich Reed and I photographed an MBTA equipment transfer at Ayer that had come up from Worcester, Massachusetts via Pan Am’s Boston & Maine Worcester-Ayer line.
Among the items of interest was MBTA 3249, one of two MBTA GenSet diesel-electric locomotives.
I made this photo using my Lumix LX3 from the Main Street Bridge east of downtown Ayer.
During the course of last weekend’s special Railfan Photo Freight hosted by the Conway Scenic Railroad, I made several hundred images of the train and its preparation.
Today, I’m just getting through the editing of these images.
Today, I offer this selection, all exposed using my FujiFilm XT1 with 16-55mm lens.
Conway, NH.View from the head end working west near Bartlett, NH.Run by at Second Iron, west of Bartlett, NH.Looking west near Cobb Farm Road.
I converted my Fuji RAW files using Iridient X-Transformer and made adjustments to color and contrast using Adobe Lightroom. When I make contrast adjustments, I generally use the ‘highlights’, ‘shadows’, and ‘contrast’ slider controls.
Two years ago I made my first trip to Crawford Notch by road in 20 years.
I was on my way to the Conway Scenic Railroad at North Conway to write an article for Trains Magazine.
One thing led to another, and two years later Crawford is now a regular place on my visit list! I was up there again yesterday in HyRail truck TC-205 as part of a bridge inspection with Wayne Duffett of TEC Associates .
This photo was exposed on May 29, 2019 using my FujiFilm XT1 with a Zeiss 12mm Touit. I’ve posted two versions, one more saturated than the other.
This is my second installment of photo covering the private speeder trip on Conway Scenic Railroad over Crawford Notch. I acted as pilot on this rare opportunity to travel on the railroad using vintage Fairmont rail motorcars.
I was traveling in the lead car as part of a group of 15 vehicles.
We proceeded from the State Yard at Kearsarge on the Redstone Branch in North Conway, NH to Mountain Junction in Intervale, then continued west on the Mountain Division through Bartlett and up the mountain over Crawford Notch.
I made these images using my FujiFilm XT1 with 16-55mm lens. Camera RAW files converted to DNG format using Iridient X-Transformer and the adjusted for color, contrast, exposure and saturation using Adobe Lightroom.
Bartlett, NH.Near Frankenstein bridge.Mp 83 looking west toward Mount Willard.Site of the Mount Willard Section House.Site of the Mount Willard Section House.Milepost 84 at Crawford Notch.
On Friday, May 21, 2021, I served as the pilot for a private speeder trip over the Conway Scenic Railroad.
The speeders were largely from a Pennsylvania-based group that consisted largely of various privately owned Fairmont cars.
I traveled in the lead car and made photographs of the trip as it progressed westward over Crawford Notch. This first batch features Conway Scenic’s Redstone Branch from the State Yard at Kearsarge to Mountain Junction in Intervale.
These photos are scaled JPGs from larger JPG files exposed with my FujiFilm XT1 using the Velvia color profile.
It was a beautiful, if unseasonably warm Spring day for a run over the former Maine Central Mountain Division.
The most adventurous was inspection of Conway Scenic’s Willey Brook Bridge in Crawford Notch (NH)—From below track level—by climbing through the girders with ropes, and abseiling the central support.
All activities in accordance with proper procedure.
I’ve accompanied bridge inspector Wayne Duffett of TEC Associates on several of Conway Scenic’s bridge inspections, but this one was by far the most memorable.
I made my photos using a Lumix LX7.
There’s a time an a place for a big camera, and times and places for small ones. A 4×5 studio camera would not have been well suited for this day’s photography.
Supplemental photography was supplied by Wayne’s pocket Nikon AW130 digital camera (a water proof model).
And there I am among the girders.Not a place to visit if you have a fear of falling.I don’t fear heights, but that first step is a doozie!
On Saturday, May 22, 2021, Conway Scenic Railroad will operate its annual Railfan’s Photo Freight. This will board its passengers at 9am and wander up and down the line in the tradition of a mixed local freight from the 1950s and 1960s.
Yesterday, May 19, 2021, our train crew assembled the train in the North Yard using locomotive 573.
I made these photos using my FujiFilm XT1 for use in company publicity and advertising. To obtain superior digital output, I converted the files from Fuji RAW to DNG format using Iridient X-Transformer then made adjustments in Adobe Lightroom.
In July 2015, I accompanied my friend Markku Pulkkinnen on tour of Finnish railways that included a visit to greater Helsinki.
At Tikkurila in suburban Helsinki, I made this photograph of a VR Group Pendolino on its way north toward Oulu.
Finland is one of my favorite European nations and a wonderful place to watch trains.
Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1.
It is among the countries that I will feature today at 1pm in my Zoom presentation to the Virginia Rail Policy Institute titled “Optimizing shared-use rail corridors in Europe: How do rail freight and passenger operations co-exist”
It was a bright afternoon at Arth Goldau, Switzerland on April 24, 2017, when I made this photo of an FS (Italian State Railway) Pendolino on its run from Milan to Zürich over the Gotthard Pass.
I was on a week-long tour of Switzerland with fellow photographer Denis McCabe to make images and gather information for my guide book on European railways.
Tomorrow (Tuesday May 18, 2021) at 1pm, I’m giving a Zoom presentation to the Virginia Rail Policy Institute titled “Optimizing shared-use rail corridors in Europe: How do rail freight and passenger operations co-exist“
We had beautiful clear skies with fluffy fair weather clouds. It was warm with a slight wind, and the trees were just beginning to leaf out.
I traveled on the train, primarily riding in the caboose, and made photographs when it stopped to perform maintenance along the line.
I made these digital photos with my FujiFilm XT-1 with 16-55mm zoom lens. All of the images were processed in Adobe Lightroom, to adjust contrast, color temperature and saturation.
It was a lazy late-summer evening in September 1990, when I hiked up to the tunnels at Cape Horn, east of Colfax, California on Southern Pacific’s Donner Pass crossing.
East and westward freights were converging upon me, and I wondered which would reach me first. Listening to my scanner, I knew the down hill train was close, when I hear the eastward freight roaring through Colfax below me, on its approach to Long Ravine.
In this telephoto view, I’m focused on the rear-end helper on the uphill eastward freight.
Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Nikon F3T with f4.0 200mm Nikkor lens.
Last week, I accompanied bridge inspector Wayne Duffett of TEC Associates on the second leg of his annual Conway Scenic bridge inspection.
Our first stop was the East Branch truss near Glen, NH.
I made these photos using my FujiFilm XT1 with 16-55mm lens. Images were converted from camera RAW to DNG format by Iridient X-Transformer then adjusted for internet presentation in Adobe Lightroom.
May 1, 1971, Amtrak was born—Fifty years ago today.
I wrote about Amtrak’s 50th anniversary in my May 2021 Trains column.
To commemorate this half-century mark on Tracking the Light, I’m posting this scan of a color slide I that I exposed back in October 2000 of Amtrak P42 No. 1 crossing the Quaboag River at West Warren, Massachusetts.
At the time, I was working to fulfill a assignment for Mark Hemphill, then editor of Trains. Ultimately, Trains used a similar view of this same locomotive on this same bridge that I made a few days later. That photo showed P42 No. 1 panned using a slow shutter speed to convey speed.
Exposed on Fujichrome using a Nikon N90S. Amtrak train No. 449 the Lake Shore Limited, westbound at West Warren, MA.
Recently, Mass Coastal/Cape Cod Central has installed an expanded and impressive new grade crossing where Route 28 intersects the north end of the Hyannis, Massachusetts yard.
Check out the row of crossing flashers!
Work was still on going last week when I made this image at dusk.
As part of my responsibilities as Manager of Marketing and Events at Conway Scenic Railroad, I organize the creation of our billboards in the Conway-area.
For this season’s billboard, I opted to feature our Mountaineer crossing the Frankenstein trestle on the former Maine Central Mountain Division. The Billboard design was the work of Silverline Graphics; printing and installation was performed by Gemini Sign and Design.
I exposed the billboard photo last autumn using my FujiFilm XT1. And using the same camera, I photographed the billboard itself where our Conway Branch crosses Rt302/Rt16 near White Mountain Oil in North Conway.
Also, I adjusted the photo file that appears on the billboard using Adobe Lightroom using the same MacBook Pro that I use to prepare Tracking the Light.
Friday, April 9, 2021, Conway Scenic Railroad operated a Work Extra on its Conway Branch. The sky was clear and blue and the sun bright. This was a perfect opportunity to experiment with my Nikon Z6 digital camera.
Although I purchased this image making machine six months ago, I haven’t come close to mastering it.
The Z6 has an amazing ability to capture and store visual information.
However, to best translate the Nikon RAW (NEF) file requires a bit of study and interpretation, and it is in the interpretation that I am still learning.
Below are two images of the Work Extra, and two interpretations of each. The top in each sequence represents the camera-JPG output with built-in Vivid color profile (scaled but otherwise unadjusted in post processing). The bottom of each sequence is my interpretation of the NEF file using Lightroom, where I’ve made nominal changes to color temperature, shadow and highlights, and overall contrast.
Camera JPEG with built in Vivid color profile. No changes to exposure, color temperature or contrast in post processing.NEF (Camera RAW) file adjusted using Adobe Lightroom to correct for color temperature, contrast, and shadow/highlight exposure.Camera JPEG with built in Vivid color profile. No changes to exposure, color temperature or contrast in post processing.NEF (Camera RAW) file adjusted using Adobe Lightroom to correct for color temperature, contrast, and shadow/highlight exposure.
It was the earliest that Conway Scenic had cleared the line over Crawford Notch in a number of years. I couldn’t tell you how many.
The rock cutting a the Gateway on the final approach to the summit still had a good amount of snow.
However, considering that trains have been snow-bound at this rugged location, the mounds of soft and partially melted snow, represented only a nominal impediment to our westward progress.
I made still and video images of Conway Scenic GP7 573 breaking through the snow filled cut.
This photo was exposed digitally using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.
The Gateway at Crawford Notch on March 31, 2021. File adjusted for exposure and color temperature using Adobe Lightroom.
On March 31, 2021, I joined Conway Scenic’s ‘Work Extra 573’ that departed North Conway, NH in the morning to open the Mountain Division over Crawford Notch.
This was the first train over Crawford Notch since last November.
In this view west of the siding at Sawyers, the train has stopped for the crew to remove fallen branches that had fouled the gauge.
I exposed the above photo using my FujiFilm XT-1 with 16-55mm Fujinon zoom, and converted the RAW file to DNG format using Iridient X-transformer. I then adjusted this file with Adobe Lightroom to bring in sky detail, lighten shadows, reduce contrast, and improve color saturation.
Over the course of the day-long trip, I exposed more than 300 individual photos using two cameras, while recording more than an hour of video for the company archives.
I’ll be introducing a new format for Tracking the Light. This will be an ALL-RETRO format. Only black & white film photos will be displayed. These will only be exposed with traditional cameras using hand-ground glass and mechanical shutters.
Instead of scanning, latent (exposed and unprocessed negatives) will be sent directly to subscribers along with the correct chemistry for processing on-site. I will supply detailed instructions on how to process the film and make your own prints.
Instead of the post office, I will use the Railway Express Agency, so you will need to collect your ‘Tracking the Light’ post at your nearest REA office. I will supply a list of offices via telegram.
Owing to the added complexity of distributing Tracking the Light using all-retro means, I will only post annually with shipments carefully timed to arrive on April 1st!
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light is a rail-photo blog.
Today, I’m offering a view of a northward train from the same over bridge.
I made this when following the train with Kris Sabbatino earlier this month.
Although looking toward the sun, I was happy to catch a train from this view point. Since VRS only operates 2-3 northward trains per week, I’m not in a position to be overly choosy about the light.
Exposed using a Nikon Z6 digital camera with 24-70mm lens, image processed using Adobe Lightroom.
