Here’s another set of photos of the bridges at Safe Harbor; this time with a sunset glow and the moon.
Norfolk Southern’s unit coal train 594 was on the roll with 200 plus loaded coal cars and a two-unit DPU.
These were exposed using my Nikon Z7-2 with 70-200mm lens. Files processed using Dx) PureRaw5 and adjusted for contrast using DxO PhotoLab9.
Tracking the Light Explores Railway Photography!
After photographing the head end of Norfolk Southern 36A at Washington Boro, Pa., we drove to Safe Harbor, where I made a speedy walk into the darkness. The massive girders of the trestle, built for Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atglen & Susquehanna Branch, loomed above me.
Although night had fallen, a hint of sunset remained in the western sky. I had an angle in mind that I hoped would capture the scale of the enormous viaduct.
Using my iPhone as a flashlight, I set up my 3Pod tripod just as the headlights of the eastward freight began to illuminate the tracks below.
I made several photos of the passing train, of which these two are my favorites.
Although these were exposed using a 50mm lens, next time I’d like to try a telephoto view.
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light Explores Railroad Photography!
There was only the faintest hint of blue in the evening sky.
I could hear Norfolk Southern’s 36A approaching as I walked back along the road to the Safe Harbor Bridge— itself an old railroad alignment.
For these images, I preset and locked my focus on the tall trestle and dialed in a +1/3 exposure compensation to boost the amount of light reaching the sensor. Working in aperture-priority (A) mode with the lens set to its widest opening (f/1.4), my Nikon Z6-III automatically set the shutter speed: 1/8 second for the first image and 1/10 second for the second.
I panned the head end of the freight as it rolled across the lower bridge.
What you see here has considerably more detail and appears much brighter than what I saw with my naked eye at the time of exposure.
Tracking the Light has explored railroad photography for 14 years!
One night shy of a full moon, I made this silhouette of the enormous curved viaduct at Safe Harbor that once carried the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atglen & Susquehanna Low Grade Line.
I had visions of boxcab electrics gliding beneath the 11 kV catenary on this humid summer night.
Photographed using my Nikon Z6 III with a 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. Exposure: 1/125 second at f/1.4, ISO 2500. The NEF RAW file was processed using DxO PureRAW 5 with DeepPRIME 3 for demosaicing, noise reduction, and lens corrections, then finished with cosmetic adjustments in Adobe Lightroom.
Tracking by the Moon Light!
Another night, another unit coal train.
This one had quite a roll on when we caught up with it at Columbia, Pa., on Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch
“There’s the head-end!”
“That’s the mid-train DPU. . . “
“Oh. . . “
I knew with a bit of driving we would still beat it to Safe Harbor.
We arrived in near total darkness, and I thought I’d try a different angle, so I set up for broadside view on the NS bridge, while featuring the lowest bridge in the foreground, and the old Enola Low Grade Bridge up above.
At one time all three carried tracks.
We didn’t wait long before the chug of GE’s shattered the evening quiet.
For the headend, I had my Nikon Z6-III on a tripod, but for the coal cars and DPU photos, I panned the train hand-held.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily About Railroad Photography!
As regular TTL readers may recognize, I’ve been working on this location for a while now.
A few weeks back, we picked up a southward Norfolk Southern coal train rolling along the Port Road Branch and followed it to the bridges at Safe Harbor.
We arrived with a few minutes to spare, so in the darkness I aimed to improve my angle on the tracks. Previous nocturnal views had unfortunately featured a wire, and this annoyed me, so I located a tighter view without the wire.
The Safe Harbor Dam is out of sight on the far side of the bridges, but the dam’s lighting provides a halo that helps to illuminate the train on the bridge while enabling a silhouette, which I like. While the evening mist along the Susquehanna enables the ‘laser-beam’ headlight effect. Too much backlight and the laser effect would be lost.
Exposed using my Nikon Z6-III mirrorless digital camera with f1.8 50mm lens. Exposure f1.8 at 1/100th ISO 40,000, processed with DxO PureRaw5.
Tracking the Light Explores Night Photography!
Persistence. Patience. Planning. (And an understanding wife!)
For more than two years, I’ve been trying to photograph an eastward train on the Port Road Secondary from the Enola Low Grade Trail at Safe Harbor.
I’ve made at least 30 visits to Safe Harbor. I’ve climbed the steps to the trail no less than a dozen times.
While I’ve caught a westward train from a perch on the old Low Grade; and I’ve made a nocturnal sequence of a coal train from below the Low Grade trestle, my vision of catching a eastward train had from the bridge had thus far remained elusive.
My friend Dan Cupper had shown me his version of a Norfolk Southern train here, and in scouring the archives at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania I found Kodachrome views of PRR electrics by the late James P. Schuman, which inspired my persistence.
My-wife-Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I live just 15 minutes from the bridge.
The other evening, Kris and I were on our evening drive. My thoughts of exploring Marietta were foiled by a serious automobile accident at the intersection of PA Routes 772 and 441 that detoured us eastward. So instead we drove to Columbia, and continued on toward Washington Boro, as we have done countless times in darkness.
At Washington Boro the signals displayed ‘clear’ for an eastward movement. There was still an hour’s daylight in the sky.
“This is my best shot at Safe Harbor.”
Patience paid off.
Tracking the Light makes its own Luck!
The cold evening air was thick with particulates which made for a rosy red sunset.
Kris, Seamus & I drove west toward Safe Harbor, since I thought there might be some opporunties to silhouette the former Pennsylvania Railroad trestles against the raspberry sky. On the way we passed some deer by the side of the road.
I was in luck and the sky was lit with shades of magenta and violet when we arrived. To make the most of the light, I set my white balance to ‘daylight’ rather than ‘auto’, since the latter has the tendency to neutralize the reddish tones of sunset, which would have countered the effect I was trying to capture.
In addition to a selection of digital photos, I also exposed a few Ektachrome slides.
I kept wondering what it would have been like to catch a pair of PRR P5 electrics grinding across the bridge in silhouette with a heavy freight. Perhaps, someone, somewhere had the same idea as me, but back in the day when P5s ruled the line!
Tracking the Light chases Sunsets!
I didn’t think we could do it, but we did!
In recent months, we often rolled by nocturnal freights at Columbia or Washington Boro, Pa. Likewise, I’ve made numerous trips to the bridges at Safe Harbor, but rarely caught a train on the move.
If only we could just chase a train and beat it to the bridges.
After I made my exposures of Norfolk Southern unit coal train 632, we decided to follow it. It had a good roll-on and was making a steady 30 mph. By the park in Washington Boro, we were even with the locomotives, and with a clear road ahead of us, I zipped southward to Safe Harbor.
We arrived in time for me to set up my tripod, expose a few test photos and set my camera to catch NS 632 framed up beneath the enormous trestle that once carried Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atgen & Susquehanna Branch—a busy double track freight route in its heyday.
To stop the train, I set my Z6-III to ISO 64000, and adjusted my ‘Fast Fifty’ to its widest aperature (f1.4).
Afterwards, I processed the NEF Raw using PureRaw to minimize image noise. For point of comparison, I’ve displayed both the unprocessed NEF RAW file (with detail enlargement) and the post processed image (with enlargement).
I’m 89 percent satisfied with my results, but will need to try this again!
My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb 4 from 5 pm to 7 pm EST. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt
Tracking the Light works by night!
Rain was predicted last Sunday.
I awoke early to find the sun shining.
So I drove the short distance to Safe Harbor with hopes of catching wheels turning on former PRR rails.
I hiked up to the large bridge on the old Low Grade. I walked the trail and inspected the views.
A bird spotter came along and told me stories about eagles and falcons.
I noted dark clouds rolling in from the West.
“Looks like rain.”
Before I reached the car drops were falling.
No trains passed during my visit. Not this time.
Tracking the Light Posts thoughts on railroad photography.
Kris and I paid another visit to the former Pennsylvania Railroad bridges along the Susquehanna River at Safe Harbor, PA.
We have stopped here a couple of times before, but on this visit I wanted to take a look at the upper level bridge which now hosts the Enola Low Grade Trail.
A connecting trail has been built here to reach the high level trestle.
My challenge will be returning here at an appropriate time to catch a Norfolk Southern freight. Owing to a curfew on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor with which the NS line connects, most of its freight moves through here during the hours of darkness.
The bridges are very impressive and offer a great view of the Susquehanna and the Safe Harbor Dam. See the link below the photos for information the Low Grade Trail
Photos exposed using my Nikon Z7-II.
To learn more about the trail, click on the link below.
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Over the last few days, Kris and I visited several famous bridges and impressive viaducts in Pennsylvania.
Here are a few views of the former Pennsylvania Railroad bridges over Conestoga Creek at Safe Harbor along the Susquehanna River.
I exposed these using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.
The top bridge once hosted PRR’s Enola Low Grade freight cutoff, but no longer carries tracks and is now a trail.
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