{"id":3476,"date":"2013-08-09T06:26:10","date_gmt":"2013-08-09T10:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=3476"},"modified":"2013-08-07T05:35:57","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T09:35:57","slug":"susquehannas-general-electric-dash8-40b-4002-at-west-middlebury-new-york-march-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/susquehannas-general-electric-dash8-40b-4002-at-west-middlebury-new-york-march-1989\/","title":{"rendered":"Susquehanna’s General Electric DASH8-40B 4002 at West Middlebury, New York, March 1989"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experiment with Medium Format Kodachrome.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>
In 1989, New York, Susquehanna & Western served as the court appointed operator of Delaware & Hudson. By virtue of the 1976 Conrail merger, D&H had been granted trackage rights on the former Erie Railroad route from Binghamton to Buffalo, New York<\/a>. On this March morning, a new NYS&W General Electric led an eastward double stack train on the old Erie near West Middlebury, New York, 384 miles from Jersey City.Exposed on 120 Kodachrome transparency film with a Hasselblad<\/a> 500C with 80mm Zeiss Planar lens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In March 1989, I was halfway through my final term at the Rochester Institute of Technology<\/a>. My course load was light enough to allow me several days off a week to pursue my own work.<\/p>\n

On this day, my flat mate Bob lent me his Hasselblad, which I loaded with 120 Kodachrome 64. Wow, was this ever a winning combination! It offered brilliant color with exceptional sharpness on a large transparency.<\/p>\n

While I took advantage of Bob\u2019s Hasselblad and 120 Kodachrome on several occasions, the relatively high cost of this format precluded my frequent use of it. At the time I was living on about $30 a week and a single roll of 120 Kodachrome processed was beyond my budget. (Also, Bob occasionally needed his camera).<\/p>\n

Once I completed my degree, the high cost of Hasselblad cameras put them well out of reach for years. Other considerations were related to practicality. I found the Hasselblad awkward to use for my style of photography, and I had very limited applications for 120 transparencies.<\/p>\n

Realistically, the 35mm slide format was not only better suited for most of my color needs, but also far more affordable.<\/p>\n

Yet images like this one continue to nag me.\u00a0From time to time, I have continued to experiment with 120-color transparency film, often with very good results. I\u2019ve never been satisfied with my reluctance to make the plunge. Tough choice.<\/p>\n

A week after I exposed this photo, I made an 11x14in Cibachrome print of it. (Thanks to my dad who fronted me the cash for 50 sheets of Ciba paper). Incidentally, the scan of the original image fills nearly 280 MB on my hard drive. If I\u2019d scanned it at the maximum capabilities of my Epson, it would probably reach a GB. That\u2019s a lot of information in one photograph. The image could fill a wall.<\/p>\n

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