Yesterday, a tornado hit Columbia, Pa., tearing the roof off a building and causing other damage.
Just two days earlier, Kris, Seamus, and I waited trackside in town, listening not for a warning siren, but for the scanner’s crackle: “Clear Cola eastbound.”
When we heard that, I drove into position near my pre-selected location near milepost 37 on the Port Road Branch. I’d posted a photo from this location a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to try the location again, this time with a telephoto lens and from a slightly different vantage point.
My goal was to better feature the Veterans Memorial Bridge, which carries Route 462 over the Susquehanna River and can be seen to the left of the locomotive in the latter images of this sequence.
Not long after parking, we could hear Norfolk Southern unit coal train 594 rolling along.
I made these photos with my Nikon Z7-II fitted with an f/2.8 Nikkor 70-200mm lens.
To make the most of the evening light, I processed the NEF RAW files using DxO PureRaw 5 with DeepPRIME 3 corrections, followed by adjustments in PhotoLab 9.
Norfolk Southern 4371 leads unit coal train symbol 594 destined for Baltimore. It was just after 8pm on Tuesday when I made this sequence of Norfolk Southern 594.Of the five frame sequence, this is my favorite. I’ve altered the image using PhotoLab9 to improve contrast, exposure and color palate.
Tracking the Light Explores Railroad Photography and wishes Columbia a speedy recovery!
Hot weather last week made for sauna-like conditions along the Susquehanna River.
We pulled into Port Deposit, where a riverside park offers views of the four long-span bridges that cross the river between Perryville and Havre de Grace, Maryland.
I made this photograph using my Nikon Z7-II with a 70–200mm lens, then cropped the image to better feature an Amtrak Regional train crossing the most distant bridge. The train was powered by ACS-64 electric locomotives at each end.
Last night Kris suggested we drive around to find a train on the move, so we went over to Washington Boro, Pa., on Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch to check the signals.
We were in luck! And as soon as I saw that these had been cleared for an eastward move, I set up my 3Pod tripod.
Manipulating the camera in the inky darkness is easier said than done. As the train whistle announced its approach, I struggled to find my desired setting. I couldn’t see the dial and I was fighting with the camera to get the shutter speed, ISO, and lens settings where I wanted them.
Ultimately, I selected a default setting where the camera automatically set the ISO to 25,600 and allowed me to adjust the aperature.
All very well, but unable to see what I was doing led me to select some ‘random’ mode in the darkness that only exposed photos as JPG, rather than my usual setting that exposes both JPG and NEF (RAW) files simultaneously.
As the coal cars rolled by at speed on continuous welded rail, I finally got the camera into ‘M’ (manual mode), which enabled me to set the ISO to 200, the shutter speed to 90 seconds, and the aperture to f4. Unfortunately the White Balance was set to a daylight setting rather than an automatic, so I needed to fix the White Balance in post-processing.
It was pretty cool to finally catch a train here in darkness.
Auto ISO at 25,600-in camera JPG scaled for internet presentation.Auto ISO at 25,600-in camera JPG scaled for internet presentation.Auto ISO at 25,600-in camera JPG scaled for internet presentation.Auto ISO at 25,600-in camera JPG scaled for internet presentation.Final frame; ISO 200 in Manual Mode. 90 sec exposure at f4.0. White balance corrected in Lightroom.
A couple of weeks ago, Kris and I brought Seamus for a walk at the Fort Hunter Mansion State Park on the east bank of the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pa.
This offers some stunning views of the magnificent Rockville Bridge.
After a little bit of wait, I heard a Norfolk Southern train call the signal at Rockville heading west. This was an empty unit coal train. I’d preselected a view across the river where I could frame up the bridge with a tree in the park. I made these views using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.
Soft evening mid-summer light nicely illuminates the northside of the bridge.
I was surprised to hear a whistle to the west, when we were exploring the Shikellamy State Park along the Susquehanna River near Sunbury, Pa.
Then when the train came into view on the far side of the river, I had vivid sense of Conrail-blue deja vu.
The last time, I’d visited this bridge, photographer Mike Gardner and I had caught the eastward Norfolk Southern freight symbol 13W led by a former Conrail GE C40-8 still in the classic Conrail paint, and then a little while later, we photographed the westward NS 41T with Canadian National locomotives. But that was back in November 2001!
From my slide archives: Norfolk Southern 13W led by a former Conrail DASH8-40C. November 2, 2001.From my slide archives: A photo from my earlier visit to the Shikellamy State Park back on November 2, 2001 (Exposed on Fujichrome film). NS 41T with CN diesels.
From my slide archives: A photo from my earlier visit to the Shikellamy State Park back on November 2, 2001 (Exposed on Fujichrome film). NS 41T with CN diesels.
From my slide archives: A photo from my earlier visit to the Shikellamy State Park back on November 2, 2001 (Exposed on Fujichrome film). NS 41T with CN diesels.
Fast forward: Conrail’s days as an independant Class I carrier are now a quarter century behind us, so what was this modern GE in blue paint Kris and I saw last week?
As the unit coal train (NS 632) rolled across the multiple-span truss bridge, I realized what I was looking at:
Norfolk Southern’s specially painted Conrail heritage locomotive! This is a General Electric ES44AC, engine number 8098, an Evolution-series 4,400 hp low-emissions diesel-electric.
Conrail never owned anything quite so advanced.
I made my photos and then Kris and I decided to follow the train back down NS’s Buffalo Line. This was a rare find! It was our lucky day! Lucky!
I had a couple of prime locations in mind, if we could only stay ahead of the train!
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom. Look what’s trailing! Another EMD diesel number 1127.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom. Look what’s trailing! Another EMD diesel number 1127.
Norfolk Southern 632 crossing the Susquehanna River between Northumberland and Sunbury, PA—February, 2024. Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom. Look what’s trailing! Another EMD diesel number 1127.
In late October, Kris & I drove down the east bank of the Susquehanna to Port Deposit, Maryland. This historic town offers some magnificent views of the river.
The four bridges in the picture from closest to furthest are: Interstate 95, CSX’s former Baltimore & Ohio, US Highway 40, and Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad bridge that runs between Perryville on the east bank to Havre de Grace on the west bank.
I made this photo with my Nikon Z6 and 70-200mm Z-series zoom set at 200mm. I wonder what I could do here with an even longer telephoto lens?
