Tag Archives: Pacific RailNews

Tips and Technique

Union Pacific Coal Train—Ten Years to the Day.

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Silhouette at Sunset.

West of Rochelle, Illinois, June 15, 2004: the sky was aflame with the evening glow. As the setting sun illuminated prairie-dust and low cloud that had blown in from the west.

I was parked near the Global III intermodal yard south of Union Pacific’s former Chicago & North Western mainline. This is a busy stretch of railroad.

A Union Pacific coal train works east near Rochelle, Illinois. Exposed with a Nikon F3 on Fujichrome slide film. Notice the ditch-lights; I’ve given just enough of an angle so there’s the faint twinkle at the front of the locomotive.
A Union Pacific coal train works east near Rochelle, Illinois. Exposed with a Nikon F3 on Fujichrome slide film. Notice the ditch-lights; I’ve given just enough of an angle so there’s the faint twinkle at the front of the locomotive.

Central Illinois is flat open country which is prefect for making sunset silhouettes: using the big sky as back drop for a train.

Here I’ve taken nearly a broadside position, exposed for the sky while keeping the train in the lower quarter of the frame.

When I worked at Pacific RailNews in the mid-1990s, we favored silhouetted views with lots of sky to use for opening spreads. It was the style to lay headlines and text in the sky.

I’ve always like the simplicity of silhouettes; raw and dramatic with details largely left to the imagination.Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.

Please share Tracking the Light with everyone who may enjoy it!

http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/

 

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photography, Tips and Technique

Daily Post: Power Shot, Wisconsin Central SD45s

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Byron, Wisconsin, March 23, 1996.

It had been a busy morning at Byron. This southward freight had made a meet and was just coming out of the siding, so I had ample time to make images of these SD45s.

Wisconsin Central SD45 loom large as the lead a southward freight out of the siding at Byron, Wisconsin on March 23, 1996.
Wisconsin Central SD45 loom large as the lead a southward freight out of the siding at Byron, Wisconsin on March 23, 1996.

As the train grew close, I made a couple of final images on Kodachrome with my Nikormat FT3 and 28mm Nikkor Lens. I took this low view with a wide-angle to get a dynamic photograph.

I was Editor of Pacific RailNews, and we often had a need for photographs with lots of sky to use as opening spreads. It was a style of times to run headlines, credits and sometimes text across the top of the image. I had that thought in my mind when I made this particular angle.

I was also trying to minimize the ballast and drainage ditch that I found visually unappealing, while making the most of the clear blue dome and allowing for a dramatic position for the locomotives relative to the horizon.

Variations of this image have appeared in print over the years.

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

Tomorrow: ‘Oh No! I left the SD recording card in my Computer!’

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NEW YEAR’S POST: Happy 2014!

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CSX Searchlights at Depew.

CSX stack train with signals
Canon EOS 7D with 100-400mm image stabilized zoom lens, set at 250mm.

I exposed this image on the evening of August 20, 2010 of a westward CSX stack train at CP431 in Depew, New York. What makes this photo interesting to me is the former New York Central signal bridge and searchlight signals.

Since I made this photograph, CSX has replaced many of the searchlights on the Water Level Route with modern color light hardware. While I’m sorry to see the old signals go, I’m not surprised.

Back in the 1990s, I wrote an editorial in Pacific RailNews (when I was editor of that magazine) warning enthusiasts that searchlights were on their way out, and explained why. At the time, searchlights were very common.

The photo is timely. This year I’ll be authoring a book tentatively titled Classic Railroad Signals to be published by Voyageur Press. It will be a follow up to Railroad Signaling, that I wrote several years ago, and will feature a variety of classic American signal hardware:

Semaphores, Searchlights, Positional Lights and Towers, of all varieties.

This will be a great book. I’ve been researching and photographing the subject for many years!

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/

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California Northern, Petaluma, California April 9, 1994.

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California Northern locomotive.
A former Chicago & North Western GP15-1 at the old Northwestern Pacific station in Petaluma on April 9, 1994. Exposed with a Nikon F3T with 28mm lens on Kodachrome 25 slide film.

19 Years ago Today.

On April 9, 1994, I made this image of a freshly painted California Northern GP15-1 in front of the former Northwestern Pacific station at Petaluma, California. In the foreground are some poppies—California’s state flower.

California Northern had only recently assumed operation of several former Southern Pacific lines, including the lower portion of the NWP route via Petaluma. As it turned out, California Northern only operated the NWP segment for a few years, making this a relatively rare image. It was published in Pacific RailNews in the mid-1990s.

 

 

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