Since we’re in the middle of a heatwave here in the mid-atlantic region, I thought I’d share one from winter’s past. This one was taken on a private photo charter on the Durango & Silverton back in February 2011. Enjoy and try to stay cool out there!
This past February I attended a photo charter at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad hosted by Lerro Productions. The charter included a full day of photography on the railroad plus a night session at Cumberland Station. With 734 almost out of operating days before a required major rebuild, the charter sold out quickly as many photographers wanted to spend one more day with one of their favorite locomotives. As it turns out, due to a landslide on the line a couple of weeks after the charter, this would be the last time 734 ran all the way to Frostburg.
After lunch the clouds rolled in, so rather than shoot in poor lighting, a couple of us elected to head back to the caboose and ride with the brakeman for the rest of the afternoon. This turned into a portrait shoot since this particular crew member takes great pride in accurately dressing the part for these photo shoots.
Finally, 734 was parked in front Cumberland Station for one last night session before her rebuild. What made this on unusual is that she was turned facing East when most night sessions had her facing West to take advantage of the water spout at the other end of the station.
It will be a few years before 734 is running again since the railroad is focusing on restoring C&O 1309. Current reports indicate that the WMSR’s “new” steam locomotive will be running next year. As always in the world of steam preservation, “it’ll be done when it’s ready.”
734 simmering at Cumberland Station while waiting for permission to proceed down the line – or more accurately, 734 is parked at the station for a night session during a photo charter hosted by Lerro Productions this past February. Stop back next Tuesday for the trip report.
This weekend is the traditional weekend for Railfan Weekend at the Cass Scenic Railroad. With MSR&LHA opting to host a Members Weekend in June instead, I thought today would be an appropriate day to share one of my favorite photos. From last year’s Railfan Weekend.
With potentially rainy weather on the horizon and a desire to make the 5 hour drive home in relatively dry conditions, I almost made the turn east instead of west to Durbin on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully I decided to swing by Durbin because those of us who stuck around were treated to a great show.
As I mentioned last week, Lerro Productions hosted a two day photo charter in February on the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern featuring their steam locomotive, Reading & Northern 425. This was the railroad’s first real photo charter and by all accounts, it was a very successful trip. The first day featured snowy weather and took us from Port Clinton to the Lehigh Gorge and then back to Jim Thorpe for a night session. The second day started in Lehigh Gorge and then back to Port Clinton. While it rained almost the entire second day, the rain hitting the snow created an awesome ground fog which made for some interesting photos. Here’s a few of my favorites:
Glen Onoko Rock Cut
Independence Bridge
Tamaqua Tunnel
Independence Signals
Jim Thorpe Station
Hunter Street Tunnel
King Coal
As always, the Lerro Productions crew put on a great event and the railroad put on a great show. Hopefully this is the first of many charters on the Reading & Northern.
While killing time before the night session on the Reading & Northern photo charter I attended in February, my friend Matthew challenged me with a photography lesson. His instructions were to “take an interesting blurry photo.” After struggling for a bit I came up with this – an out of focus train with snow flow streaks in focus. Both parts blurry but in a different way. I think it works pretty well. Thanks again for the lesson, Matthew!
Stop by Tuesday for the Reading & Northern trip report.
Here’s another one from my railroad photography trip this past February. This time we’re at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad for a Lerro Productions photo charter, the last one with Locomotive 734 to go all the way to Frostburg due to a recent landslide on the line. Hopefully scenes like this will be possible again soon.
Last week, I attended a two day photo charter on the Reading & Northern Railroad hosted by Lerro Productions. The weather was an interesting mix of cold and snowing on Monday and slightly warmer and rain on Tuesday creating opportunities for shots with great atmosphere. Above is one of my favorites from the event. Look for a more detailed trip report in a couple of weeks.
Here’s a favorite of mine from a winter photo charter a few years back at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. The weekend started with cloudy weather which turned to heavy snow later in the day. Sunday morning brought clear skies and some amazing light, especially for this shot of 734 in the Narrows early in the morning. With 3 days of photo charters on two railroads next week, I’m hoping for similar conditions and hopefully some good images.
Last fall, I attended the Cass Photography Workshops, hosted by Walter Scriptunas II and Clayton Spangler at the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. Walter and Clayton put on a great workshop filled with many different types of photographic opportunities ranging from details to human interest to trains, plus some classroom instruction on photo editing. As usual it was a fun event and one I’m looking forward to attending again.
Saturday started with the traditional three train race and triple header runbys:
Later in the day we did some human interest shots on one of the company house porches and in the jail:
Saturday evening ended with a night shoot at the water tank featuring both broad scenes of the locomotive and tighter human interest shots:
Sunday started with a trip up the mountain in the fog. The Pocahontas Supply Company truck made an appearance at Back Mountain Road crossing and a hunter and his hound posed for us at Gum Road crossing.
Since I was heading to the Great Smoky Mountains Monday morning, I stayed in Cass Sunday night allowing time to catch the Whittaker train at the second bridge:
Clear skies Sunday night created opportunities for the Milky Way shots around the Mill Ruins that had alluded the group on Saturday night:
Thanks again to Walter and Clayton for putting on a great workshop and to the folks at the Cass Scenic Railroad and The Cass Scenic Railroad State Park for hosting us.