Hi folks. I've finally gotten around to one of the many things I intended to do as a retiree. And that is to whip some of my train pix into shape, and post them were folks can see them.
Please excuse the fact that by railfan standards, my caption info is fairly pathetic, and truth be told, even I don't know where some of them were taken. So, like, please don't give me any grief about this. When I was working, I had so much record-keeping, captioning and keywording to do, that when it came to my photography for fun (which almost all of this was), I basically went on strike in the clerical department. Sorry.
As a nod to my brief time as a railroader in Georgia, I am using the moniker KudzuTraveler. I hope you enjoy the photos, here. Click on a pic to see a big one.
I will slowly be adding more, seven at a time (per website rules). At some point when I've added 7,14, 21, etc. more, I'll let you know.
Still in training.
I guess I'll be changing my "cover photo" on the railroad gallery, because I see now that on a phone it's cropped to a square. That 1218 shot doesn't work as a square. But you can still see the whole photo in the gallery.
BTW, I will be adding more caption info to some pix.
This is some really nice work; great use of motion blur and lighting in dark conditions.
Thanks, man.
Great work L-O!
And I like the way you caught the crop-duster in shot one!
Nice pictures!
I really like the E (or F) diesel at the station. That is some superelevated track.
York1 John
Thanks, guys!
Many years ago, I showed my portfolio to the legendary Director of Photography at National Geographic, Robert Gilka. He really liked that shot with the Conrail freight, sunset and cropduster; and he said to me, "In a year or two, bring me back a tray of 50 slides where each shot is as good as this one." That's when I realized I probably wasn't ever going to shoot for Nat Geo. (But I did get a few assigments for their children's magazine.)
York, that's an FL9, on the Metro North's Hudson River line. That engine can be diesel, or, in the metro NYC area, switch over to a third-rail electric. Really, that's the most banked track I've ever seen, and at a station, no less.
Some unique perspectives there, and I mean that in the best possible way. Nice!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Thanks, Larry. I appreciate it.
I added more caption info today.
York1 That is some superelevated track.
Some of these curves persisted into the '70s; I don't remember the precise fraction but more than 10 degrees peak superelevation. Stopped at a couple of stations (I wish I could remember which ones!) it was physically uncomfortable to sit in the coach seats!
Love the one with the airplane in the background.
Thanks, guys.
Over the course of my career, I mostly used Nikon cameras. Many of the pix were originally slides (which I've recently scanned) and most were shot with a Nikon F3. Most of the originally-digital shots were done with a Nikon D2X or D3X. Having said that, I should add that unless you are shooting for printed media reproduction in a large size, or wish to make very big prints, you really don't need super high resolution. Those images, being for the web, are pretty low res, the biggest only 1500 pixels wide. The master .psd images are much higher res (as much as 16x bigger), and these shots were generated from masters. So many, many cameras will do a good job. The three shots at the Strasburg RR were shot with my iPhone. I wouldn't get too hung up on camera brand or type. However, fast telephoto lenses, although quite expensive, are a godsend. Many of my RR shots were done with a 200mm f2.8 or 300mm F2.8. IIRC, the shot with the crop duster was shot with a 500mm mirror lens.
I do quite a bit of Photoshop work on almost all of my photos. That's a significant factor in what you're seeing. The shot with the plane was done on Kodachrome 64, which was the universal workhorse back then. The digital version looks pretty much the same. Other images have gotten more "help."
Thanks
Thanks Lithonia, your photographs are excellent. I thank you for posting them. I believe you have put some great effort & thought in what you have shot and how you composed it. Where and when did you get the N&W's steam shots? Looking forward to the additional postings.
Beautiful work, L.O. I especially liked the shot of 1218 and the reactions of the three boys.
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Yes, Paul, I love the way the one kid is covering his ears.
Electroliner, my notes say September 30, 1990. I know it was in Virginia. I might be able to get more info by looking at more slides of that chase. Somewhere I'll probably find a road sign or some other kind of clue. Stay tuned. What I loved was that the engine really ran fast. That's the only articulated I've ever seen run, and she put on quite a show. It was awe-inspiring. My wife was very impressed!
Back before N&W dieselized, while I was working on the PRR, I saw A's pull manifest freight trains into Clare Yard (Cincinnati) and drop their train, turn and depart back to Portsmouth in about three hours. I had heard, but never saw it, that they were used occasionally on passenger trains. On a fan trip from Cinciinati to Portsmouth, saw one in the "Lubritorium" that the N&W used to service them. It was like a Jiffy Lube for locomotives. A brick and glass block building with a pit and all the lube hoses hanging from the ceiling. The J's would run from Roanoke to Cincinnati, then run through all the way to Norfolk VA. Then take a train back to Roanoke. Great utilization.
Electroliner 1935 The J's would run from Roanoke to Cincinnati, then run through all the way to Norfolk VA. Then take a train back to Roanoke. Great utilization. To add they were rotated at Roanoke for Norton, Bristol, Lynchburg ( Monroe SOU RR ) and for a while Winston Salem. Ks woud fill in if necessary and very occasionall the "As". Only once know of an A to Bristol with a canteen..
The J's would run from Roanoke to Cincinnati, then run through all the way to Norfolk VA. Then take a train back to Roanoke. Great utilization.
I wish I had taken notes of the numbers on the J's I saw in Bristol. It is possible that over the four years or so that when I occasionally went into town after the evening meal I did see all of them. I did see one K--coming in with the local from Roanoke; it, too, had the streamlined casing. I never had the opportunity to see an A.
Johnny
Johnny, were the NW tracks on the VA or TN side of town? Maybe both
Johnny, were the NW tracks on the VA or TN side of town? Maybe both?
My wife is from Kingsport TN. Once I went to Bristol TN for the NASCAR race.
I always thought N&W formally ended to the northeast, at the interstate border, with Southern in Tennessee.
Overmod I always thought N&W formally ended to the northeast, at the interstate border, with Southern in Tennessee.
Downtown, the state line runs down the middle of State Street. There are markers (many now are covered with new pavement surface) in the middle of the street. East and west of downtown, the street curves to the south. Not far from downtown, there is a cemetery on the north side of the street in which no one living in Virginia may be buried.
I bit on that last statement when I was a freshman in college. Remember, it is not good policy to bury living people.
Deggesty Overmod I always thought N&W formally ended to the northeast, at the interstate border, with Southern in Tennessee. You have the right idea. The station was on the north side of State Street--and the track at the station was Southern (formerly the East Tennessee and Virginia). I do not know how far north the Southern property extended--perhaps at least to the connection with the line to Appalachia. Downtown, the state line runs down the middle of State Street. There are markers (many now are covered with new pavement surface) in the middle of the street. East and west of downtown, the street curves to the south. Not far from downtown, there is a cemetery on the north side of the street in which no one living in Virginia may be buried. I bit on that last statement when I was a freshman in college. Remember, it is not good policy to bury living people.
You have the right idea. The station was on the north side of State Street--and the track at the station was Southern (formerly the East Tennessee and Virginia). I do not know how far north the Southern property extended--perhaps at least to the connection with the line to Appalachia.
Johnny is correct. Growing up I was misinformed that each RR's tracks changed at the middle of state street. The first correction clue came when SOU RR installed CWR from Piney Flats to Bristol. The CWR installation continued to just past the switch ( switch previously removed ) that led to the Appalachia division track. Previously East Tennessee and Virginia RR. N&W track went north of that point.
Was able to confirm that by checking a tax map. Another clue ignored was that when the crossing gates were still manual the crossing guards were always SOU RR employees.
What gets even more interesting was that there was a southbound switch just south of the Appalacha switch leading to the next station track to the east that was also SOU property to the state line. The second station track was also N&W north of the switch that tied that lead.
The next 4 tracks were N&W all the way to the state line. The 5th and 6th tracks that did not cross State street were for use of the N&W joint freight house but labeled N&W.
Trivia. It was decided add air power switches and signals for the 2 passenger station tracks and tracks leading north bound. A N&W position light was placed just north of State street controlling the north bound main station track. So all the SOU RR fans cannot say SOU never had a position light signal. Maybe there were others this poster does not know of ?
The Stub track that ended just north of the station going north bound do not know whose ownership. How ever was used for the N&W local mail and passenger train that left at about 1300.
I may be wrong, but I believe that N&W crews did all the switching on 41, 42, 45, and 46. As I recall, 17 and 18 were not switched; the other trains had Pullmans and headend cars taken off or added. I never counted the tracks across State, but four does seem to be the right number. Oh, do not stop a friend who is drkiving across the tracks just for conversation--the man in the tower would start ringing his bell and lowering the gates.
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