A railroad station offers countless opportunities for photography.
As Kris and I waited to board the 10am Summer of Steam excursion, I made these photos from the platform of the former Cheasapeake & Ohio station in Staunton, Virginia.
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Having arrived on the shuttle bus more than an hour ahead of departure, we were in position on the Staunton station platform in time for Virginia Scenic Railway’s Summer of Steam deadhead move.
Buckingham Branch diesels led the excursion consist on its westward positioning trip. The train rolled through the station before returning eastward for a grand entrance.
Here’s a hint: the deadhead was the digi-photo op.
These photos were exposed using my Nikon Z6-III. [I reserved the proper entrance for film.]
Tracking the Light examines railroad photography!
I grew up with my dad’s photographs of the Norfolk & Western’s streamlined steam, both J’s and K’s.
Although No. 611 was first restored to service while I was in high school, it wasn’t until the summer of 1994 that I finally saw it in action. John Gruber and I drove to northern Indiana, where we intercepted the locomotive charging along the former Nickel Plate Road at speed.
In 2002, I visited 611 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. Having seen the locomotive under steam, it was strange to encounter it as a cold museum exhibit.
A dozen years later, I caught up with the engine again at North Carolina Transportation Museum during the Streamliners at Spencer event. Then, in 2015, Pat Yough and I made the trek to Manassas to photograph 611 on mainline excursions.
When Kris and I moved to Pennsylvania in 2023, 611 was on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Later, it operated excursion trains on the Strasburg Rail Road, where we made action photographs—albeit at relatively slow speeds.
Last week, we had tickets to travel on a Virginia Scenic Railway’s Summer of Steam excursion from Staunton. We drove to Virginia the day before and enjoyed a quiet interlude along Goose Creek Road as 611 worked an eastbound excursion over the former Chesapeake and Ohio.
It was a pleasure to have the locomotive all to ourselves.
Tracking the Light explores railroad photography!
