Tag Archives: #Westfield

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A Cool Old Photo for a Hot Day

Sometimes the once-common makes for the most interesting images.

On a chilly morning in February 1985, I photographed this eastward Conrail freight at the former New Haven Railroad crossing in Westfield, Mass.

My old Leica IIIa was loaded with Ilford FP4 black-and-white film. Although it was officially rated at ISO 125, I always exposed it as though it were ISO 100.

I processed the film in straight D-76 developer. I may have made a small proof print of the image, but for forty years the negative sat in a common envelope until I located it for scanning just after Christmas last year.

Conrail’s 6550-series C30-7As were favorites of mine back in the 1980s. These unusual six-motor GE diesels were common on the Boston Line, the former Boston & Albany route.

I still recall the sound of the long freight as it wound through the curves west of Westfield before No. 6592 came into view.

Tracking the Light stays cool.

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Happy Birthday Conrail!

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Conrail began operations on April 1, 1976.

On May 14, 1985, I photographed this Conrail GP10 with a former Pennsylvania Railroad caboose working as a local freight toward its interchanged with Pioneer Valley Railroad at Westfield, Massachusetts.

The location is just west of milepost 107 in Westfield. At the right is my father’s 1978 Ford Grenada, which was the car I drove a lot before getting my own set of wheels in 1986.

At the time of this photograph, Conrail rarely assigned GP10s to its New England Division locals, which makes this a relatively unusual photo in my collection.

My new book Conrail and its Predecessors published by Kalmbach Books will be available soon!

https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/book/01309

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ALCO RS-3 Westfield, MASSACHUSETTS.

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On May 14, 1985, I exposed this photo of Pioneer Valley Railroad’s stored RS-3 203 at the railroad’s Westfield, Massachusetts yard.

PVRR was one of the Pinsley-owned railroads.

In 1985, my photographic efforts were supported by a shoe-string budget. I’d buy bulk 100-foot rolls of 35mm black & white film to roll my own cassettes. At the time I was working with a 1938-vintage Leica 3A with a screw-mount Cannon f1.8 50mm lens.

I’d process the film at college using Kodak D76.

Three decades later I’d scan the negatives. I have hundreds of rolls from that era picturing thousands of scenes, most of which can never be repeated.

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