Too often railway images lack depth owning to a tendency to place all the elements of the scene near or at infinity (from the perspective of camera focus).
Consider including closer elements to add a bit depth.
Here the fences, which would often be viewed as obstructions, have been used to make for a more interesting image, which, by the way, tells a story about the location.
Tracking the Light is on autopilot while Brian is traveling by train.
Here’s a variation on a theme: another view of Irish Rail’s IWT liner at Stacumny Bridge near Hazelhatch.
Brian is Traveling for St. Patrick’s Weekend. New Material Daily!
This quiet overhead crossing of the quad-track is just past the 8 ¾ milepost from Dublin’s Heuston Station.
It offers an open view of the line with a favorable angle for down (traveling away from Dublin) trains mid-morning.
It takes a tuned interest in Irish Rail’s operations and a bit of luck. to time a visit to coincide with passage of the weekday IWT Liner (International Warehousing & Transport container train between Dublin and Ballina) and the more elusive HOBS (high output ballast system).
Getting the clouds to cooperate is trickier yet again.
A couple of weeks ago Colm O’Callaghan and I spent a strategic 45 minutes at Stucumny Bridge.
Even if you fail at catching the freight on the move, there’s always a steady parade of passenger trains.
Looking back at a Place Transformed.
During my fifteen years in Ireland, few railway locations have changed as much as the area around Hazelhatch. I made this photo of a single 121 leading the empty gypsum train (destined for Kingscourt) on June 17, 2000 from Stucumny bridge.
It was my first visit to Stucumny. I was there with Colm O’Callaghan and Mark Hodge, who were well familiar with the spot. It was a Saturday afternoon and there was an air show going on at the nearby Baldonnel Aerodrome. While waiting for the up gypsum we watched the airborne acrobatics.
Compare this photo with those exposed at the same location last week. (see yesterday’s post: Irish Rail, September 27, 2013)
The gypsum traffic left the rails in 2001. Locomotive 128 was cut up in early 2003. During the late 2000s, Irish Rail added two tracks to the Cork line between Cherry Orchard and Hazelhatch.
Cues that link this image with modern ones include the old barn/castle to the right of the tracks and the high voltage electric lines in the distance.
I exposed this image with my Nikon F3T on Fujichrome Sensia 100.
Sun, Freight and the PWD.
Every so often the sun shines in Ireland. When it does, it helps to be in position to make photographs. As it happened, on Friday September 27, 2013, Colm O’Callaghan and I were at Stacumny Bridge, near Hazelhatch in suburban Dublin.
Our aim was to photograph the down IWT (International Warehousing and Transport) liner which had an 071 class diesel leading. Stacumny Bridge is a favorite location to catch down-road trains mid-morning because of the broad open view of the tracks and favorable sun angle. I’ve post photos from this location on previous occasions.
While waiting for the liner, we got word of an up road wagon transfer. And caught that a few minutes before the liner came down. Then we heard that there was a permanent way department (PWD or ‘Per way’) ballast train coming up road as well. This was one of the elusive high output ballast trains (HOBS) I’ve mentioned in other posts.
Although an annoying small cloud softened the light at Stacumny when the HOBS roared up road. We pursued the train up to Dublin and caught it again reversing into the old Guinness sidings at Heuston Station.
For the all hours scouring the countryside for photos on dull days, it’s rewarding to catch a clattering of interesting action in just over an hour on a bright day. This is down to watching the weather, combined with patience and persistence and a good bit of luck.
Tomorrow: Tracking the Light looks back 13 years at Stacumny Bridge. What a change!
Tracking the Light posts new material on a daily basis.
This morning (Monday 5 November 2012) was unusually colourful for Irish Rail; on a railway primarily populated by Rotem-built 22000-series Intercity City Railcars and Class 201 (General Motors model JT42HCW) diesels with Mark IV trains, the course of just a few minutes saw passage of Railway Preservation Society Ireland’s historic 2-6-0 461 (on trial from Inchicore) followed by the weekday IWT intermodal liner (Dublin North Wall to Ballina, County Mayo) led by class 071 number 083 (General Motors model JT22CW). While it was a mostly sunny, a thin band of cloud managed to dull the light for 461, but bright sun prevailed for the liner. Stacumny is just a short jaunt for me (thanks to a lift from a friend). By noon I was home in Dublin, where I spent the afternoon processing B&W film. By constrast this morning’s efforts were made with my Canon 7D with 200mm lens. I also exposed some Provia 100F, but that will be in the camera for a while yet.
Brian Solomon will be giving an illustrated talk titled: “Ireland from an American Perspective 1998-2003” at the Irish Railway Record Society’s Heuston Station premises in Dublin at 7:30pm on Thursday November 8, 2012. Admission free.
