Last month while traveling on Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s Cobh Rambler, I exposed two rolls of Kodak Tri-X using a Nikon F3.
This week I processed and scanned the film. Black & white film suited the gloomy dark and very wet weather.
Among my favorite images from the day were photos I made of my friends and railway staff on the trip.
Thanks to everyone at RPSI and Irish Rail who made this trip a rewarding experience and a photographic success!
Tracking the light Posts Daily!
Before Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s The Cobh Rambler departed Mallow on Saturday evening (5 October 2019) for Dublin, I was given an important task.
A group portrait was hastily organized for me to expose.
Sometimes gathering railwaymen for a portrait is like herding cats, but there’s a long tradition in posing them in front of locomotives.
Smiling alongside locomotive 232 leading The Cobh Rambler are some the RPSI members and Irish Rail employees that made our excursion a roaring success.
For this photo I used my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm zoom lens.
Special thanks to everyone that made The Cobh Rambler a great day out!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Here’s the transfer last night from Dublin’s Inchicore Works to Heuston Station for today’s RPSI diesel tour to Cork and Kerry, titled the ‘Cobh Rambler.’
Sometimes the best photo opportunities happen when everyone else is at dinner.
Last Friday I had an errand on the station platform at Killarney, County Kerry that kept me there late.
For a few minutes the sun colored the sky in shades of yellow, orange and magenta.
I made these views using my Lumix LX7. They were the best photos of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s train that I got all day!
Tracking the Light Catches the Sunset! (But not every day).
One of the pleasures of traveling on an historic train is the ability to make photos of the line and passing scenery.
Modern cameras with rear-displays make this much easier since it isn’t necessary to have your eye to the camera to compose photos, while built-in line levels aid in composition.
Adjustable ISO ratings allow selection of more appropriate shutter speeds for action images.
This is a selection of photos I made from Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s The West Awake excursion on 13 April 2019.
Working with a Nikon F3 with f1.4 50mm lens loaded with Fomapan 100 Classic, I exposed these portraits of some of the men working Railway Preservation Society’s 18 March 2019 trips from Dublin Connolly Station to Maynooth.
I processed the film in a non-standard way to obtain a period look while giving photos optimal tonality in a contrasty situations.
First: I pre-soaked film it in a very dilute bath of Kodak HC110 (measured 3 parts per 1000 with water, plus wetting agent) for about 7 minutes at 72 F;
Second: primary developer consisted of Ilford ID-11 1 to 1 with water at 69 F for 6 minutes;
Third: following stop bath, two fixer baths, and a thorough 10 minute rinse, I toned the negatives in a 1-9 selenium solution (outdoors to avoid breathing toxic fumes) for 8 minutes. This was followed by several rinse cycles and a final rinse in distilled water.
Negatives were scanned in colour to retain the selenium tint.
Tracking the Light Posts Everyday!
During the course of yesterday’s Railway Preservation Society of Ireland The West Awakerail tour to County Mayo I exposed dozens of portraits of the crew, passengers and observers, along with views of the train from many angles.
This selection was exposed using my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera.
Thanks to Irish Rail and the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland for a well-planned rail excursion!
For more about the RPSI click the link below:
https://www.steamtrainsireland.com
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Yesterday, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland operated its The West Awake rail-tour in conjunction with Irish Rail.
A special feature of the tour was the unusual multiple-unit operation using a pair of General Motors-built 071 diesels that hauled RPSI’s Cravens to County Mayo.
At Claremorris the pair of 071s were replaced with locomotive number 071 (class leader) in retro orange for further excursions to Ballina and Westport.
For more about the RPSI click the link below:
https://www.steamtrainsireland.com
During the trip I made numerous digital photos using my Lumix LX7.
Below are a dozen of my finest Lumix LX7 views. I’ll post more photos soon! The best are yet to come!
Special thanks to everyone at RPSI and Irish Rail for an excellent excursion to the west of Ireland!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Here are some more digital photographs from Monday’s (18 March 2019) Railway Preservation Society of Ireland steam trips behind Great Northern Railway 85.
Runs were scheduled to depart Dublin Connolly Station at 1100 and 1505 and operated between Irish Rail’s regularly scheduled trains.
RPSI’s trips were very well patronized.
Special thanks to everyone at RPSI and Irish Rail for a great railway experience!
Check out RPSI’s site for details about mainline steam and diesel trips in Ireland: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/programme-of-public-trains
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On Monday, 18 March 2019, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland operated its annual The Midlanderexcursions from Connolly Station along the Midland route following the Royal Canal to Maynooth.
This resulted in an uncommon visit by Great Northern Railway (of Ireland) engine number 85 to the historic Midland Great Western route.
The trains were well patronized and reportedly sold out.
I both traveled and made photos line-side as two trips were operated; the first departing Connolly at 11am, the second just after 3pm.
See the RPSI’s site for details about mainline steam and diesel trips in Ireland: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com/programme-of-public-trains
More photos coming soon!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
As a follow-up to my black & white posts: On Sunday, 18 March 2018, I also worked with my two digital cameras to expose a few choice photographs of Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s The Midlander on its run from Connolly Station Dublin to Maynooth.
Also see: https://wp.me/p2BVuC-5nz
My new book ‘Brian Solomon’s Railway Guide to Europe features RPSI trains in its section on Ireland.
This is due out in May 2018 and may be pre-ordered from Kalmbach Books: https://kalmbachhobbystore.com
For details on RPSI and passenger excursions see: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com
It was cold and snowy at Dublin’s Connolly Station last Sunday.
While snow complicated Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s planned trips to Maynooth, it made for ideal conditions to expose black & white photos.
Using my Nikon F3 with 35mm and 135mm lens, I made these images on platform 3.
My new book ‘Brian Solomon’s Railway Guide to Europe features RPSI trains in its section on Ireland.
It is due out in May 2018 and may pre-order the book from Kalmbach Books: https://kalmbachhobbystore.com
For details on RPSI and passenger excursions see: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com
All were exposed using Kodak Tri-X black & white film, which I processed in Ilford ID-11 (1-1 at 68 degrees F for 7 minutes 45 seconds, plus extended presoak with very dilute HC110 to pre-activate development.)
I scanned the negatives using an Epson V500 flatbed scanner.
More snowy steam images images to follow!
On this day in 1998, I photographed a Railway Preservation Society of Ireland excursion rounding Bray Head, County Wicklow.
The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland is naturally historically minded, obviously. But in this situation I’ve used a vintage 1930s Leica IIIa with period Nikkor 35mm lens to expose traditional black & white film.
All of these photos were made on RPSI’s diesel tour to Galway and Kilkenny on 8 April 2017.
For some images I used Kodak Tri-X processed in Iford ID11 and toned with selenium, for others I worked with Ilford FP4 (ISO 125) which I processed in Agfa Rodinal Special.
You’ll spot subtle differences in tonality.
