Author of more than 70 books on railways, photography, and Ireland, Brian lives with his wife, Kris, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Brian holds a BFA in Photographic Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2022, he was presented with the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society’s prestigious Fred A.& Jane R. Stindt Photography Award for his lifetime achievements in railroad photography.
As Amtrak Keystone 667 glided through Gap, I made a series of night photos aiming to stop the action and capture the pouring rain.
To do this, I used my Nikon Z6-III with ‘Fast Fifty’ and the ISO sensitivity racked up to 64,000. This resulted in a very noisy NEF RAW file. I imported the NEF file into PureRaw and processed the image to reduce noise and correct for other lens defects before converting the image into DNG file for final cosmetic adjustment using Lightroom.
The sequence below shows the series of changes during this transformation, including the final processed image.
This is scaled image was made directly from the original NEF RAW file without noise reduction or cosmetic processing. Computer screen shot of the PureRaw review window; the original NEF RAW image is at the left, the PureRaw conversion is at the right.Full frame image following PureRaw corrections and noise reduction before cosmetic adjustments.Lightroom work window showing correction sliders affecting contrast and exposure.Final scaled image following PureRaw and Lightroom adjustments. Notice that the noise in the sky has been minimized while retaining the effect of the falling raindrops.
Tracking the Light Shares Night Photography Technique!
From LED headlights to distant twinkling starlight, there’s a lot of contrast in this sequence of Amtrak’s westward Keystone train 651 passing Bird-in-Hand, Pa.,
I’ve been pushing the envelope of still photography at this location for several months. My goal has been to ‘stop’ the action of a relatively fast train using only existing light (no flash).
This goal has been aided recently by a very fast camera sensor (in my Nikon Z6-III), a ‘fast-fifty’ lens (Nikkor Z-series f1.4 50mm), and modern PureRaw image post processing that uses AI technology to make the most of photos exposed with very high ISO.
For this sequence, I mounted the camera on my 3Pod tripod (with legs carefully tightened to avoid any unexpected sudden downward movement). I used all manual settings.
Several minutes before the train came into view, I focused on the rails roughly parallel in the film plane to the front of the old freight house (on right).
As the train passed through the scene, I made subtle adjustments in exposure. After the lead engine passed me, I dropped the shutter speed from 1/320th of second to 1/200th to allow more light to reach the sensor.
Following conversion to DNG files using PureRaw, I made a host of selective cosmetic adjustments in Lightroom.
Tracking the Light Posts about railroad night photography.
The other night an unusually high dew point made for some interesting effects including a fine ground mist.
We had paused near Shelley Drive to watch Amtrak’s westward Keystone pass. This was in the common configuration with a former Metroliner cab control car at the leading end and an ACS-64 electric propelling the train from the rear.
The engine rolled by, its pantograph wire-contact resulted in a series of zaps (sparks) caused by electrical arcing.
Kris said, ‘Wow did you catch the sparks?’
Upon review, I saw that one of my images had recorded the flash as the engine trailed by.
In this photo you can see the arcing from the pantograph. Notice the reflection of the flash on the top of the locomotive.
Norfolk Southern’s H23 was approaching at the pace of a casual jogger.
I’d arrived at Greystone Road in Manheim, Pa., a couple of minutes ahead of the train.
I made a test photo of the old mill by the tracks in bright sunlight. Clouds rolled quickly across the azure sky. The chiaroscuro effect of sun and clouds made for a lottery of light.
As the train neared, the clouds obscured direct sunlight. But as the local began whistling for the crossing, the clouds thinned and in the distance the sun was out again.
Then as the lead engine nearly filled my frame, the clouds parted completely, bathing the train in brilliant sunlight!
Hooray!
In the middle of this slow-motion digital sequence, I also made a photo on Ektachrome with my father’s old Leica M4—you know, for the record.
On this December afternoon, Tracking the Light does just that!
In April 2017, I spent a night and a morning photographing trams in Milan, Italy, as I was researching for my guide on European rail travel.
On this trip I carried only two cameras; a Nikon F3 loaded with Fujichrome or black & white negative film (for the ‘serious images’), and my wee Lumix (LX-7).
These digital photos were made with the Lumix. Last week, I re-processed the Lumix RAW files using DxO PureRaw. I was delighted with the results!
I was aiming to make another photo of Amtrak at Hoover Road in Gap.
We were ahead of the train, but not by much.
I had just a few moments to get set up, and set up my 3Pod tripod. Complicating matters, based on the results of my earlier evening attempt at this location, I wanted to try my f2.0 135mm Nikkor lens that offers a slightly telephoto view.
I quickly took my Nikon Z6-III out of the bag and in near total darkness I began to change lenses. Unfortunately, the tripod plate for the 3Pod head blocked me from attaching the 135mm lens because of the lens’s protruding tripod foot. So, I needed to remove the plate from the camera, attach the lens, then attach and tighten the tripod plate to the foot on the 135mm. By this time there was an audible ‘grouch!’
Then, I started to attach the camera to the tripod, but I saw the bluish glare of the headlights of the rapidly approaching train, so I decided to abandon my tripod, and attempt to make the photo handheld. My ISO was set to 400! I needed 64000, so I quickly dialed in the higher sensitivity. However, I still needed to set the lens aperature ring to f16 in order to control the lens aperture using the camera controls. My shutter speed was too slow, and my aperture was set to f5.6, worse, I still needed to focus manually. The train was nearly full frame!
I focused, and released the shutter. The resulting exposure was too hot. I’d run out of time. . . damn . . .my shot was ruined! And then the tripod collapsed!
In my haste, I failed to properly tighten the legs. Fortunately, the camera wasn’t on the tripod, it was around my neck. I was saved by my haste to make the photo!
Below are versions of the failed image, showing it with and without PureRaw processing.
Over-exposed NEF RAW file without processing; ISO 64000.Over-exposed NEF RAW file following Lightroom corrections, but without PureRaw processing to reduce noise and correct lens defects.Over-exposed NEF RAW file following PureRaw processing to reduce noise and correct lens defects and Lightroom adjustments to exposure and contrast.
Kris suggested we take an evening drive to see if we could find a freight on the move.
In recent months, we’ve explored Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch, and based on the times we’ve caught eastward trains on the move, I thought Peach Bottom, Pa., might offer a good place to roll a train by.
The moon was nearly full and relatively high in the sky when we arrived. I parked near the public boat launch near the Susquehanna River, shut the car off, and listened . . .
“Do you hear that? We have a freight coming!”
What luck!
I set up my 3Pod tripod and attached my Nikon Z6-III with 1.4 50mm and made a few test photos as the distant roar became louder and more pronounced.
Test photo: Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch as seen by moonlight along the eastern shore of the Susquehanna River at Peachbottom. Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, ISO 100.
After a few minutes, we saw the headlight of the approaching train.
My camera was set at f1.4, at 1/60th of second with ISO64000, and I made some trailing views. This appeared to be one of the Consol Energy unit coal trains and featured a mid-train DPU.
I focused on the grade crossing to make a photo of a former Conrail coal hopper. I think that it’s pretty neat that after all these years, Conrail-painted hoppers survive in service.
When I got home, I processed the NEF RAW files with DxO PureRaw to remove noise and correct lens defects.
Norfolk Southern unit coal train on Port Road Branch by the light of the moon; Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, 1/60th of a second, ISO 64,000, NEF Raw file processed using PureRaw.Norfolk Southern unit coal train on Port Road Branch by the light of the moon; Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, 4 seconds, ISO 400, NEF Raw file processed using PureRaw.Norfolk Southern unit coal train passing Peachbottom on the Port Road Branch; Nikon Z6-III with 50mm f1.4 lens, 1/80th of a second, ISO 64,000, NEF Raw file processed using PureRaw.
Tracking the Light explores railroad night photography!
In the dark of a winter’s evening, I worked with my Nikon Z6-III fitted to a 3pod tripod to compose a scene near Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line—the former PRR electrified route connecting Philadelphia with the state capital.
Amtrak Keystone 645 had departed Parkesburg, Pa., and was only minutes away.
My challenge was trying to focus the camera in the inky blackness. I don’t trust the camera’s autofocus system in extremely low light, because I’ve found it has a tendency to ‘hunt’ if the the light changes suddenly, which can result in a photo that is completely out of focus.
Luckily, one of the features of the Nikon Z cameras is the ability to enlarge the scene in the view finder which makes it easier to focus manually.
By the time the headlights of the westward train began to illuminate the scene I was all set. As the train approach and passed me, I made this sequence of trailing images (the train was moving away from me) with the camera set to ISO 64000. I processed the NEF RAW files with DxO PureRaw to eliminate noise and correct for lens imperfections.
Tracking the Light explores railroad photography at night!
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?
Over the last couple of years I’ve paid a few brief visits to Lancaster Junction. This was once a significant divergence on Reading Company’s Reading & Columbia route.
Last week, after departing Manheim having photographed Norfolk Southern’s H23 local freight, I droved directly to Lancaster Junction ahead of the train.
Track speed on NS’s Lititz Branch is a little fast than a jog, so I arrived a solid five minutes ahead of the train. While waiting I met a local historian who showed me where the old station had once stood and other vestiges of this once fascinating place.
I’m thinking that Lancaster Junction might be a neat place to put on my reincarnated ‘Wee Reading Company’ which hopefully will begin to take shape in our basement.
Below are a few historical USGS topo maps the show the Junction at various times (1904 and 1990s).
Lancaster Junction, Pa, from a 1904 USGS topo map. Note the small yard on the leg of the wye heading toward Lancaster.This 1990s era map shows the now-abandoned alignment of the Reading & Columbia line toward Columbia, Pa. This section is now a rail-trail. The location of my photos below were taken from the area represented by the red-cross and circle on this late-era map. It is a place well suited to early afternoon early winter sunlight. Today there are no switches or sidings remaining at the junction and the station building are but a memory.
When the H23 began to sound its horn for the Auction Road crossing, I was all set with my Nikon Z6 and my father’s old M4 loaded with Ektachrome 100. A puffy cloud was threatening to darken the scene, but this cleared off by the time the locomotives loomed into view. With the digital camera, I made photos that capture the scene as much as the train itself, while the lone color slide was more about the locomotives.
I made this sequence of photos, gave the locomotive engineer a friendly wave, parted company with my new friend, and then plotted my course for the next place to roll by H23. The Ektachrome slide will have to wait for another day, as it will need processing.
As the train approached a puffy cloud was tickling the sun, but it cleared off by the time the locomotives walked by me.
As 2025 was nearing its end, I had a couple hours in the afternoon where the sun graced the sky.
With hopes of finding Norfolk Southern’s H23 local on the Lititz Secondary, I drove to the branch’s modern-day namesake, only to find that the train had gone.
Following the line of the old Reading & Columbia, I overtook the slowly moving freight near Manheim, and drove to intercept it passing the former Reading Company station, now preserved by the local historical society. Among other things, they display a PRR position light signal and a former New York Central System boxcar.
I arrived in just enough time to expose these images using my Nikon Z6.
The chase was on! More fodder for the recasting of the Wee Reading Company, or just photos of a passing freight? It is too soon to say.
I’ve been continuing my survey of former Reading Company lines east of the Susquehanna. This is more than merely a passive photographic exercise as I’m actively searching for scenes to incorporate in my next Wee Reading Company adventure.
Regularly Tracking the Light readers may remember the last run of the original Wee Reading Company in May 2023. That railroad now exists only in photos, although I saved all of the locomotives, rollingstock and structures, as well as salvaging as much of the track and timber as practicable for use in the new incarnation of the Reading in HO Scale.
In late Autumn, Kris and I paused at Reinholds Station on the East Penn part of the former Reading & Columbia route. This picturesque line has great modeling potential.
I exposed these views with my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens. The NEF RAW files were processed by Pure Raw and adjusted using Adobe Lightroom.
Tracking the Light explores vestiges of the old Reading Company!
New Haven Railroad FL9 2007 is seen working a westward passenger express through Stamford, Connecticut on June 28, 1958.
My father was on the platform to record the scene with his Kodak Retina 3C loaded with Kodachrome film. FL9 2007 was still a relatively new machine back in 1958.
On a visit to Cape Cod last year, Kris and I traveled behind 2007, (now Cape Cod Central 2026—dressed in retro New Haven Railroad paint),
I doubt that Pop could have imagined back in 1958 that 67 years later that same locomotive would still be hauling passengers on former New Haven trackage. Just think, 67 years earlier you could have witnessed a fast New Haven 4-4-0 steam locomomotive whisking an express train from Boston through Stamford. Not much chance of seeing that today.
However, the last time I saw an FL9 work under wire was in 2007.
After a whopper of year thanks to 2025, I am looking forward to a happy new year!
To celebrate, I’m posting this numerically appropriate Kodachrome slide that I exposed with my father’s Leica M3 rangefinder in Lowell, Massachusetts a long time ago.
Among the hundreds of 120 black & white negatives I exposed during my autumn 2003 visit to San Francisco was this view from a cable car.
San Francisco’s cable cars are world renowned, yet today’s modest network of cable-hauled streetcars represent just a small fraction of a once extensive network. In the 1950s and again in the 1980s, San Francisco came alarmingly close to abandoning the last vestiges of the network. Today, it is treasured and among the most popular rail-based attractions in the Bay Area.
I exposed this view using the field-finder on my Rolleiflex Model T; this pop-up viewer is simply a little metal square that allows the photographer to approximate the field of view.
Honestly, I’m a little disappointed in the imprecise placement of the leading cable car in the window.
Tracking the Light examines the details of railway photography!
On my Autumn 2003 visit to California, I spent many days traveling on and documenting the San Francisco Municipal Railway.
Of special interest was the ever-popular F-Line that runs between Castro Street and Fisherman’s Wharf using a collection of historic streetcars, many of which are owned and maintained by the Market Street Railway.
On a pleasant October afternoon, I made a series of black & white photos of an F-Line PCC taking the dogleg from Market Street to the Embarcedero.
Soft Mediterranean sun made for perfect conditions for Kodak Tri-X, which I exposed using a 1950s-vintage Rolleiflex Model T. A roll of 120-size Tri-X would allow for just 12 square frames, so I’d compose each image carefully.
The Rollei’s square format enables distinctive images. While some photographers might shoot square and crop rectangular, I prefer to work with the square frame to make the most of the shape and present the images full-frame (without cropping).
The other day I began scanning a batch of black & white negatives that I exposed on an extended visit to California in autumn 2003.
Among these was a 120-size roll of Kodak Tri-X from a trip to the Sierra with John Gruber. On the morning of November 11, 2003, we chased a westward BNSF freight operating via trackage rights on Union Pacific’s former Western Pacific line.
We had found this freight near Reno Junction in the morning and followed it on California Highway 70.
At the famed ‘Keddie Wye,’ I made a portrait of John with his famous Nikon F, as we waited for the train to roll west.
Today, the photo of John means a lot more to me than the pictures of the freight.
BNSF westward freight on the former Western Pacific at Spring Garden, California on November 11, 2003. Exposed on Kodak Tri-X using a Rolleiflex Model T with Zeiss Tessar.John Gruber at the ‘Keddie Wye.’ Exposed on Kodak Tri-X using a Rolleiflex Model T with Zeiss Tessar.Exposed on Kodak Tri-X using a Rolleiflex Model T with Zeiss Tessar.
On Christmas Day I decided to make a few photos of Seamus-the-dog with my old Canon EOS-7D. I’d bought this digital camera back in June 2010, and for nearly five years it was my primary digital image making tool.
When, I went to download the camera, I found a variety of older files that I’d ‘locked’ onto the camera’s CF card.
Although these images have been preserved elsewhere on hard drives, I thought it was fascinating that after more than 10 years, these old digital files had survived on the original card. So, I downloaded a few of them for advanced digital processing.
I’d always prized my Canon for its exceptional ability to reproduce color.
I imported a select few of the Canon RAW IMG files, and then converted these to DNG format using DxO PureRaw, which corrected lens defects, minimized noise, and improved overall appearance.
These photos were among a selection that I’d exposed at North Carolina’s Spencer Shops ‘Streamliners at Spencer’ event in May/June 2014, and feature Soo Line FP7 2500, a General Motors classic preserved by the Lake Superior Transportation Museum.
Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon f2.8 200mm lens s et at: f3.5 1/500th second, 200 ISO; Canon IMG files converted into a DNG file.Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with a Canon 20mm lens s et at: f4.5 1/500th second, 200 ISO; Canon IMG files converted into a DNG file
Tracking the Light examines digital photography almost daily!
Back when Seamus was just a wee pup, Kris and I had brought him over to Christiana to roll by Amtrak’s Keystone. I made a photo of him watching the train race past.
Seamus is now a full grown dog, so yesterday—Christmas Day—I thought it would be nice to make some follow-up photos from the same location.
Over the last year and half, Seamus has become in tune with passing trains and waited with Kris in expectation.
Much to our delight, Amtrak 670 blitzed by on schedule .
May 2024; Kris and Seamus roll by Amtrak at Christiana, Pa.Seamus was just a wee pup back then.Fast forward to Christmas Day 2025; Kris points out Amtrak 670 approaching Christiana.And there it goes. ‘Hey Seamus, did you catch the number of the engine?’
Tracking the Light explores railway photography daily!
On this day 43 years ago, my father brought my brother and I to Warren, Massachusetts to roll-by Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited—Train 448—working its way east to Boston on Conrail’s former Boston & Albany main line.
Back then, there were no cell phones, no internet, and certainly no asm.transitdocs train tracker app with up to the minute train information. Instead, it was it a matter of consulting the timetable and waiting patiently trackside.
It was Christmas Day, so Tucker’s Hobbies—located up the hill to the right—wasn’t open for business. We stood patiently on the Rt 67 bridge over the tracks, where my friend Robert A. Buck—Tucker’s proprietor—had over the years made many photos of Boston & Albany and New York Central trains.
In 1982, the railroad was still double track (would remain so for another four years). Before Amtrak passed, a set of Conrail light-engines (engines without a train behind) rolled west on the No. 1 main.
Finally, we could hear the train as it came into view at the curve near the old Warren freight house. Using my Leica IIIA with f2.0 50mm Summitar loased with Kodachrome 64 film, I marked the passage of our Christmas train. This featured F40PH 208 in the lead, wearing its as-delivered ‘Phase II’ paint (although the modern-day ‘phase’ description was decades in the future.)
As I wound my camera, the train roared below us, its shadow chasing it up the valley.
On Christmas Day 2025, my old Leica sits on a shelf in my office where I can glance at it as I work. Its presence brings back memories of photographic adventures 40 years gone-by.
Long-time readers of Tracking the Light will remember that I posted this photo previously—thirteen years ago!
Last Saturday, Kris, Seamus-the-dog and I caught up with our friend and fellow photographer Pat Yough at Esbenshade Road in Strasburg to watch and photograph the railroad’s Santa Paradise Express trains.
Seamus enjoyed watching the trains pass from the safety of our car as we made photographs.
Clear winter sun and brisk conditions made for stunning displays of steam and smoke. I exposed these photos with my Nikon Z7-II, but also made images with my Z6-III and my dad’s old Leica M4 (loaded with Kodak Ektachrome). Kris worked with her FujiFilm X-T4 digital camera.
After a little while we moved on to another location to make productive use of the light and intensive railroad action.
Tracking the Light explores the joy of railway photography!
On a September 2008 evening in Plzen, Czech Republic (Czechia) , I made this pan photo of a tram advertising the city’s most famous beer, Pilsner Urquell.
I was working with a Canon EOS 3 fitted with a 100mm f2.0 lens and loaded with Fujichrome. I scanned the photo the other day using a Nikon LS5000 slide scanner and processed the TIF file in Lightroom.
I like this image because it conveys motion, shows passengers inside the tram, and combines three of my favorite things in one image.
I like Pilsner Urquell, but my preferred Czech pilsner is Gambrinus, (brewed at Pilsner Urquell’s Plzen brewery).
What better way to preserve a locomotive painted in a heritage scheme than to photograph it on film?
Last October, AmtrakP42DC number 130 was assigned to the Pennsylvanian (New York-Pittsburgh, Trains 42 and 43). This is one of several GE Genesis-series diesels that have been painted in heritage schemes that represent Amtrak’s myriad periods since it began operations in 1971. This particular paint scheme is considered to be “Phase II” and was introduced with the GE E60CH/E60CP electrics fifty years ago.
I was at Gap, Pa., with a Nikon F3 loaded with Velvia to catch the westward Pennsylvanian and was fortunate to find 130 in the lead. A week or so later, I made another Velvia slide of the same locomotive, this time traveling eastward with train 42, as view from Amos Herr Park in Landisville, Pa.
Notice the way Velvia handles the blue sky and clouds.
Both slides were scanned using a Nikon LS-5000 slide scanner.
Tracking the Light works with both film and digital media.
On December 21, 2015, I exposed this photo of Amtrak’s Christmas Tree at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station using my Lumix LX7.
I processed the original Lumix RAW file using PureRaw. This shows the entire image capture, which owing to the pecularities of the lens design produces an oddly shape field of view.
I imported the PureRaw conversion into LightRoom and cropped it to produce a classic rectangle.
Do you wonder what someone in the future might think of the uncropped RAW image? It might be difficult comprehend that at the time of exposure, I never saw the wildly distorted image as captured in the RAW file.
Lumix RAW file after conversion into PureRaw and before input into Lghtroom.This is the same image as above, following cropping and cosmetic adjustment to shadow areas and color balance.
Tracking the Light Posts about railroad photography!
Christmas decor at the preserved former Pennsylvania Railroad station in Christiana offered a suitable seasonal opportunity to test out an unusual nocturnal camera lens combination.
My 1990s-vintage Nikkor f2.0 135mm ‘defocus’ lens is a heavy piece of glass. I’ve used this occasionally with my Z6 mirrorless camera to make digital images, and this lens offers a distinctive quality that allows for classic railroad telephoto views.
Coupling the traditional lens to the Z-body requires a Nikon FTZ adaptor.
I’ve been waiting to try the fast 135mm lens with the new Z6-III to see how it works with the more advanced sensor and see if it is sufficiently sharp.
I set up the Z6-III on my 3Pod tripod and exposed several images. This one was made at f2.0 (wide open) at 1/13th second at ISO 400. Upon inspection, I found the photo is sharp. More to the point, if I were to set the ISO to 6400, I could use a 1/250th of second shutter speed, which is fast enough to stop a moving train . Focusing will be a challenge.
That will be a test for another night! Stay tuned . . .
NEF RAW file scaled to JPG for internet presentation without cosmetic alteration. (No adjustments for exposure, contrast, color balance or color temperature).Greatly Enlarged portion of the above image.
On this day in 2010, I composed this photo of the steam crew for the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s Santa Special. They were reading about the pervious weekend’s adventures in the Sunday Independent.
Exposed using a Canon EOS-7D.
Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland, December 19, 2010.
The third class in the autumn series of my Railroad Photo 101 class was focused on making images of holiday trains.
I had a great group of students and my presentation was well-received. Before the serious part of my talk, Museum Director Pat Morrison opened the hall for us and allowed myself an the students inside some of the trains on display.
I used this opportunity to make detailed photos of the equipment inside and out, while aiming to capture the museum’s holiday decorations.
Today, Tracking the Light expores holiday rail photography!
Last year for Christmas, my father sent me an Amazon gift card to buy some film. With this I ordered a single roll of Velvia 50—which can be a difficult commodity to find these days.
Sometime in January, a package arrived from Japan with my one roll of film.
I saved this for just the right time and exposed it in October, making 36 carefully composed photos using a Nikon F3, mostly with my f2.0 35mm AF Nikkor lens.
At Molino, Pa., on October 18th, I made these three photos of Reading & Northern’s RDCs on their way from Pottsville to Jim Thorpe. I scanned the slides with a Nikon Coolscan LS5000. I’ve presented the uncropped scans below.
There’s a lot more to it than that, but let’s just say I’m happy I made these images, and sorry that I can’t share them with Pop.
Tracking the Light shares railroad photography almost daily!
I was searching through my hard drives for some photos when I came across a large batch of unidentified images from a trip to Austria in October 2016.
This was a very productive adventure, but I never properly sorted my photos.
I made these on a rainy night using my Fuji X-T1 with 28mm pancake lens with the camera set to 1600 ISO—which was just about as fast as I’d push the camera.
I imported the original RAF Raw file into PureRaw to denoise the photo and correct for lens imperfections. I was extremely impressed with the results, which are so much better than I could have anticipated at the time I exposed the photos. For presentation here, I made a variety of color and contrast corrections to the final image using Adobe Lightroom.
For me these images nicely translate the nocturnal urban environment of the cosmopolitan Austrian capital.
A few years ago, Amtrak introduced its ‘Phase VII’ paint scheme that features two-tone blue/navy body with a bold red, white and navy nose section. As applied to the common P42 Genesis diesels this represents a pleasant and colorful contrast to the old ‘Phase V’ scheme that had predominated for the last two-decades.
In recent months, several of these repainted locomotives have made an appearance on Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian (New York-Pittsburgh) which have made for photographic opportunity.
Toward the end of October, I caught Train 42 (eastward Pennsylvania) winding through the curves at Gap, Pa., with engine 112 in the lead.
I find it fascinating to see these relatively old locomotives dressed in a modern scheme. It is approaching 33 years since the Genesis body style came on the scene with the 800-call P40, and many of the P42s are now approaching 30 years years of service.
Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm lens set at 200mm.Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm lens set at 200mm.
We paused at New Freedom, Pa., to inspect the historic railroad equipment and take Seamus for a walk.
I used this opportunity to make some photos my NikonZ cameras.
During our brief visit, the Northern Central Railway was boarding its midday Santa Express for its run up the valley of Codurus Creek toward Railroad, Pa.
What better place to explore railroad heritage than in this historic area?
The former Pennsylvania Railroad Northern Central route passes Railroad Park in the appropriately named borough of Railroad, Pa.
Kris, Seamus-the-Dog & I, revisited this iconic location last weekend to withness the passing of Northern Central Railway’s Santa Express holiday train.
This was powered by a former Pennsylvania Railroad GP9, one of only a few to survive into the modern era.
Tracking the Light Post explores the peculiarities of railroad photography!
Keeping the sun’s rays from hitting the front element of the lens is a key to making successful back-lit digital photos.
For this pair of images, I was working with my Nikon Z7-II at Port Clinton, Pa. I liked the SD40-2 ‘snoot’ (with the extended nose section built for 1970s-era solid-state radio control equipment—nearly 3 feet longer than the nose on a conventional SD40-2).
Below are two versions. The top shows sun flare. For the bottom photo, I manually shaded the front element to minimize flare. One of the advantages of digital photography is being able to immediately examine the results for imperfections and compositional snags.
Reading & Northern SD40-2 3058 is former Union Pacific 3246. I wonder if I’ve crossed paths with this machine in my travels across the West?Controling flare and adjusting contrast and level made for a superior image of Reading & Northern 3058. Exposed in late autumn sunshine using a Nikon Z7-II.
Tracking the Light Posts thoughts and techniques on railroad photography!
