It’s hard for me to believe these photos are nearly 30 years old!

Bob Buck and I were at Springfield Union Station on December 30, 1985, watching trains, as we often did back then.

Conrail TV5 pulled up and stopped. I used this opportunity to make a few black & white photos using my father’s Rollei Model T and Metz hand-held electronic flash.

I’d worked out a technique of blending existing light with electronic flash that retained the essential lighting of the scene.

TV5 was a rarely photographed train that carried intermodal trailers from Boston to St. Louis. It was one of several piggyback trains that rolled over the B&A route in darkness.

At the time, these seemingly mysterious night-time piggy back trains fascinated me, and I was very pleased to have captured this one on film

I made two exposures. The first is pretty good. The second suffered from a knock to the camera or tripod. Today, I’d have the opportunity to check my exposure and focus on site, back then all I could do was hope for the best.

I processed the film by hand.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!