Tag Archives: #twilight

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Parkesburg at Twilight

Amtrak’s Parkesburg, Pa., station facilities are a curious anomaly.

The train service is very good, but the platforms are short and shelter is minimal, both representing surviving vestiges of another era.

But, in addition to its role as a passenger station, Parkesburg was once an important interlocking where Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atgen & Susquehanna Low Grade route connected with and the mainline. Portions of the junction remain as a hint at of something greater.

The other evening we paused at Parkesburg so I could document the atmosphere of this place in twilight.

I wonder what will become of these old station facilities? What will it look like in years to come?

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Tips and Technique

Steam Twilight—7470 on the Three Percent.

Last night (December 30, 2021) Conway Scenic Railroad took 0-6-0 number 7470 for a test run.

The locomotive with crew and mechanics operated within the North Conway yard limits to the ‘Bottom of the Hill’ and returned up the three percent grade to North Conway station.

This was the first run of the steam locomotive since its repairs, and the first time it has been under steam since January (2021).

I was making a video sequence using my Nikon Z6. The camera allows for medium-resolution Jpg still photographs to be captured simultaneously with video.

This 1 MB image was exposed early in my extended video sequence. Minor adjustments to exposure and contrast were implemented in post processing.

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photography

Crawford Notch at Dusk—January 1, 2020.

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I arrived at the old Maine Central station at Crawfords (New Hampshire) in the ‘blue hour’—that last hint of daylight before night.

It was snowing lightly.

The railroad was quiet. No trains are expected for months to come!

The scene was serene.

To make this photo, I had my FujiFilm XT1 with 28mm pancake lens mounted on a Bogen tripod. I set the meter for 2/3s of stop over exposure in ‘A’ mode at the widest aperture. The camera selected the shutter speed at 25 seconds.

Over the course of several minutes, I made several exposures ranging from 20 to 30 seconds each.

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