During my class last week at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Museum Director Patrick Morrison offered to open up some of the locomotives. I asked if we could visit former Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric 4935.
I made these fireman’s side views with my Lumix LX7.
It was pretty neat to explore the steam-era streamlined electric locomotive. While at the museum I bought my dad a GG1 4935 T-shirt which I delivered to him in Massachusetts a couple of days later.
On January 1, 1980, Pop, my brother Sean and I photographed this classic machine together at New Haven, Connecticut.
Tuesday at 10am, my second class in the Railroad Photography 101 series convened at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
I delivered my 30 minute slide show, then brought participants into the main hall, where I used portable LED lights to provide illumination of locomotives that normallyl languish in shadow.
Afterwards, I answered questions, offered suggestions, discussed the value of post processing and discussed photography.
During the session, I worked with two cameras. These views were made using my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Carl Zeiss 12mm Touit. This allowed me to make photos of equipment in comparatively tight places, All these images were exposed with camera firmly mounted on a 3Pod tripod.
Next Tuesday, May 13, 2025, I’m giving the second class of my Railroad Photography 101. This will largely emulate the program of my first class. I hope to impart skills, perspectives, techniques to participants, while offering a better understanding of railroad photography.
This will be held on Tuesday, May 13 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and will emphasize technique and the approach to indoor light.
If you are interested in attending, see: RRMuseumPA.org .
The cover of the April 2025 Milepost—a magazine published by and for the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania—features my photograph of Pennsylvania Railroad 4-4-0 class D16sb 1223.
I made this image using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens during my Railroad Photography 101 class in February. The museum will be hosting more of my classes, with one scheduled for May and another in June.
The museum is promoting the classes:
“Session two will be held on Tuesday, May 13 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and will emphasize technique and the approach to indoor light. Session three will take place on Tuesday, June 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and will focus on composition and the approach to outdoor light, weather permitting. ” See: RRMuseumPA.org
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania will be hosting me on Saturday, February 25, 2025 from 10 to noon. Advanced booking is required. The Museum’s promotion reads:
“Here’s your chance to learn some great tips and techniques for photographing your favorite locomotives and railroad cars, in a class led by noted railroad photographer and author Brian Solomon.
Bring your smart phone, digital camera or film camera and get ready to take some memorable photos of the Museum’s historic equipment, like the Virginia & Truckee Railroad Tahoe, the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 No. 4935 and the Conrail GP30 No. 2233
The Railroad Photography 101 class will be held on Tuesday, February 25, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The cost is only $25.00 per person. The class size is limited to 15 individuals and is designed for beginning photographers ages 18 and over. The inclement weather is date Tuesday, March 4.
Brian Solomon earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photographic Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He produces a daily blog about railroad photography and his articles and photography have appeared in many railway magazines including Trains Magazine, Railway Age, Railroad Explorer, Railfan & Railroad, National Railroad Historical Society Bulletin, Germany’s Modelleisenbahner, the Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society and the UK’s Rail Magazine. Brian was presented with the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society’s prestigious Fred A.& Jane R. Stindt Photography Award in 2022 for his lifetime achievements in railroad photography. “
During our visit to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Kris lent me her FujiFilm XT4 with 16-55mm Fujinon Lens.
I had with me my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Nikon Z-series zoom
I made a series of unfair comparisons of similar subjects using both cameras.
Since the Fuji had a crop-sensor and the Nikon a full-frame sensor, the two lenses provided equivalent focal length ranges. However, while I tried to make similar photos, I didn’t make perfect matches for angle and compositions so there might be slight variations that have little to do with the cameras. The may be minor differences in metering as well.
Why are they unfair? To obtain the maximum data, each of the cameras have different ways of exposing. The Nikon tends to make Jpgs that seem too dark (under exposed) but these can me easily lightened in post processing for a visually appealing image. By contrast (pun intended), the Fuji makes wonderful JPGs right out of the camera.
However, I’ve opted to show scaled versions of both camera’s RAW files.
For this unfair comparison, I have not implemented subtantive changes to adjust the appearance of either cameras files.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.FujiFilm XT4 with 16-55mm Fujinon lens.Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.FujiFilm XT4 with 16-55mm Fujinon lens.Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.FujiFilm XT4 with 16-55mm Fujinon lens.Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.FujiFilm XT4 with 16-55mm Fujinon lens.Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.FujiFilm XT4 with 16-55mm Fujinon lens.
Two weeks ago, Kris and I accompanied Wayne Duffett of TEC Associates on a detailed tour of railroad equipment, artifacts and models displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg.
This is just a great place. I’m never bored amoung the beautifully restored and displayed engines and cars. Everytime I visit, I find something I’d never seen before. and I can never tire of seeing a magnificent GG1 electric dressed in the classic Loewy stripes. (And recall the New Year’s morning 43 years ago, when my dad, brother and I inspected this very same GG1 on the ready tracks at New Haven, Connecticut.)
We spend several hours gazing in awe at all the great relics of railroading past.
The airbrake training car was a real treat. I never knew that this restored in fully operational condition!
Somehow, I made more than 300 photos, working with my Nikon Z6 and Kris’s Fujifilm XT4.
I made a bunch of side by side comparisons between the Nikon and Fuji cameras, but I’ll display those images in a future post.
Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Fujifilm XT4 photo by Kris Sabbatino.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Fujifilm XT4 with Fujinon 16-55mm zoom lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 24-70mm lens.
On my visit to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania last month, I made this late afternoon view of a Baldwin switcher in the ‘Train Yard’ outside the museum’s ‘Rolling Stock Hall’.
Exposed using a Lumix LX7 digital camera.
For a dozen interior views exposed in the Rolling Stock Hall, take a look at this morning’s Tracking the Light post:
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is one of my favorite American railway museums both because of its great collection of Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading Company, Conrail and Amtrak equipment, and for its stunning interior presentation that makes railroad equipment compelling to look at.
I exposed these photos on a visit in mid-November 2017 with Pat Yough having spent the afternoon photographing the nearby Strasburg Railroad at work.
FujiFilm X-T1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens. Here’s a trick for making more effective museum photos in a dimly lit environment such as the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s main hall: over expose by about 1/2 a stop (let more light in). This avoids blocking up the shadow areas.
FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Lumix LX7 photo.
Among the fascinating aspects of the museum’s static collection are the numerous vintage freight cars that span a century of service. Too often the common freight car—the backbone of American railroad freight transport—is overshadowed in preservation by more glamorous equipment.
