Tag Archives: #Retro

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Ghost of the Erie Railroad

December 9, 1984: I photographed an eastward freight on Guilford’s Boston & Maine at Cheapside in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

It had been almost 25 years since the Erie Railroad merged with the Delaware, Lackwanna & Western, and more than nine years since Erie Lackawanna’s operations were melded into Conrail.

I was astonished to see this 50ft boxcar built in 1956 rolling along, complete with catwalks, still lettered for the old Erie! This antique seemed improbable even then, and I’m sure there a story behind this car.

These photos were exposed on Ilford FP4 black & white film and processed in Kodak D-76. I scanned the negatives last week.

For an aesthetic comparion, I’m also including a photo I made last month of a Conrail hopper rolling though Peachbottom, PA., more than 26 years after Conrail’s operations were divided between CSX and Norfolk Southern. I exposed this view digitally and converted the image to black & white using DxO FilmPack7 software which gives me an Ilford FP4 profile. The purpose of this is allow the modern digital image to resemble my efforts from the mid-1980s.

DxO has offered a discount to Tracking the Light readers. If you are interested in buying DxO Film Pack 7 or other DxO programs, the discount code “TRACKINGTHELIGHT” will work for 15% off for any new customer at shop.dxo.com. 

Digital NEF RAW image converted to black & white using DxO FilmPack7 software using an Ilford FP4 film profile to provide an authentic looking retro appearance.

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Tracking the All-Retro

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.

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Amtrak Keystone—Retro Style.

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More experiments with Foma (Czech film producer) so-called  Retropan ISO 320 black & white film. See previous posts:

Retropan 320—First Experiment.

Retropan on the Rails; Experiments with My second Roll of Foma’s 320 ISO Black & White film.

Unexpected Results: My Third Experiment with Retropan.

Working with my Nikon F3 fitted with a vintage Nikkor f1.4 50mm lens, I made these views at Strafford, Pennsylvania along the old Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line west of Philadelphia.

It was a dull Sunday afternoon in January and my hope was to make iconic views using traditional materials that might work more effectively than modern digital color photographs (although I exposed some digital images as well.)

For this batch of Foma Retropan, I returned to hand processing in Paterson tanks. I used Retro Special Developer stock solution (diluted 1:1 with water) with a 4 minutes development time. Prior to introducing the primary developer, I pre-soaked in a water bath with a drop of Retro Special Developer stock for 1 minute.

My aim was to retain the broad tonality achieved with earlier experiments while keeping the grain size relatively fine.

Shallow depth of field and classic graininess make for a photo that looks like film. Because it was made with film. I like that concept. Not sure about the results however. I think this one needs refinement.

Amtrak train number 670, a Keystone service from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania blitzes Strafford on the old Main Line. Exposed using a Nikon F3 with 50mm lens; f2.2 1/250th of a second.

You know it’s not very bright when the streetlights are lit. This was a pretty low contrast scene. I scanned the negatives but did not manipulate the end result.

Honestly, I’m not sure that these photographs work for me. But the lighting was pretty tough. (Flat, dull, and lacking in character and direction).

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