Post your Train shots!

Fred Kingston_RIP

Senior Member
train1.jpg
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Fred, your neat photo reminded me of classic black and white publicity pictures created by the Florida East Coast and Seaboard in the golden era of train travel. Except those photographers had the advantage of an assistant to hold a palm branch in an upper corner to enhance composition.:)
 

crashton

Senior Member
Thanks, I have that app on my phone. The heritage units always seem to be where I was & not where I'll be or where I am. I'll catch one when the stars align just right.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Caught NS 1068 this evening on grain train 51D, the Erie heritage unit. It was heavily overcast and the rush hour traffic was impossible, so I abandoned my plan to intercept it further north and settled for this roadside grab shot. Gotta love digital photography -- 3200 ISO! I know that sounds like nothing, but for a guy raised on Plus-X and Kodachrome, it still amazes me.

2022-03-08 Blythewood SC - for TrainBoard Upload.jpg
 

crashton

Senior Member
Caught NS 1068 this evening on grain train 51D, the Erie heritage unit. It was heavily overcast and the rush hour traffic was impossible, so I abandoned my plan to intercept it further north and settled for this roadside grab shot. Gotta love digital photography -- 3200 ISO! I know that sounds like nothing, but for a guy raised on Plus-X and Kodachrome, it still amazes me.

View attachment 372150

Wow!!! What a catch you got there Sandpatch. Color me just a wee bit jealous. :playful: Remember the days when you pushed film & you struggled to use up that whole roll at ASA 1600. I was never brave enough to push past 1600. These days I set auto ISO to 6400 & don't worry about it.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I never had the nerve to push film, but I should have tried it. You had to tell the film lab, right?

I used to carry Kodachrome 64 and 200 in my bag, using both as might be needed, carefully rewinding so as to leave the tab out (I'd put my ear to the back of the camera and listen for it to come off the spool) and writing down the number of frames that had been used. Not much fun and fraught with disaster if anything went wrong. K-200 was a great film in overcast, a lifesaver. I'd go to Ektachrome 400 only in the worst weather.

Remember when SLRs could finally auto recognize film ASA? I think there was some kind of universal barcode on the film canister and maybe the film; I can't remember anymore.
 

crashton

Senior Member
I didn't shoot much color print film. Color I did shoot was on Ectachrome 160 or 400. I used to process it myself using E6 developing kits from Kodak. I did push some of the 400 to 800 with not so stellar results. I did some printing with Cibachrome. They were lovely prints, but too expensive to make a habit of doing it.

Most of the film I pushed was TRI-X rolled into cassettes from 100' rolls. I got reasonably good at pushing to 800 & 1600. People would ask why I had my camera to my ear as I wound it back. I'd write down what frame number I was at so I could pop that roll back in when I needed the high speed again. Screw ups did happen. At the time I was not happy, but now I look back at that & smile. :)

I remember DX coding that came out. Pretty sure the first camera I had with that was the N2000. What I remember most was it had auto rewind, no leaving the leader hanging out. :(
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Amtrak's northbound Silver Star (now combined with the Silver Meteor) is running 8-1/2 hours late today. I caught up with it at Lugoff, SC at the only spot I could think of where trees wouldn't block a view of the entire train. Before the trains were combined a few months ago, the Star had one locomotive and a short train. The new "Super Star" as fans nicknamed it, is an impressive sight.

I welcomed the cloudy overcast, as without it, I'd have been shooting toward the sun and couldn't have got this picture.:) By the way, the milepost references the distance from Richmond, VA, once the northernmost terminal on the Seaboard railroad.

2022-03-12B Lugoff SC - for upload.jpg
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
From 07/25/1975 at Elgin, IL, a very short "dinky" led by an EMD F-40C operated by the Northwest Suburban Mass Transit District. Built in April 1974, the unit is just over a year old, one of 15 built. Milwaukee Road crews called their commuter trains "dinkies" and Chicago & North Western crews called theirs "scoots".

Shot with Plus-X using a Nikkorrmat FTn.

1975-07-25 003 Elgin IL - for upload.jpg
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Excellent captures Sandpatch. Nice spot in front of the station. :encouragement:

Thank you. I suppose the ultimate station shot would include CSX and NS in the same frame, but I doubt it happens very often. :) They're building a new pedestrian/highway bridge over the tracks near the station and if they don't mess it up with a chain link fence, it should be a terrific perch for pictures.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Caught Norfolk Southern's train 12R yesterday with the Penn Central heritage unit leading. Given its black paint, NS wouldn't have to reach too deep in the paint cabinet to touch up the 1073.

This is the second time I've seen the PC and both times it's been in heavy overcast.
:rolleyes:

2022-03-24a NS 1073 [PC HU] Simpson SC - for upload.jpg
 

crashton

Senior Member
Nice catch Sandpatch. That locomotive looks too pristine to be a PC unit. The ones I remember were in much worse shape. Given enough time it will have the proper patina.
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
Nice catch Sandpatch. That locomotive looks too pristine to be a PC unit. The ones I remember were in much worse shape. Given enough time it will have the proper patina.

:D True! Maybe the painters formulated the paint to rapidly degrade. I was young when PC ruled and started taking train pictures late in its life. One of the few PC shots I have is this one of a former NYC Geep switching at Union Station in Chicago, March 1975.

1975-03 007 Chicago IL.jpg
 
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Sandpatch

Senior Member
Caught this one not far form the Amtrak/NS station at Tuscaloosa Al. Just sitting idling.

That's a nice catch Needa! I've never seen that one. The 5642 heads NS's Safety Train which tours their system with stops at various cities to train First Responders in handling hazmat situations and Shippers in proper preparation of loads and empties before movement.
 
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