One Train a Day

Nicholson, Pennsylvania is a tiny town pretty much in the middle of nowhwere, in the mountains in the central part of that state. Not noteworthy for anything, except this massive concrete bridge, the Tunkhannock Viaduct. It was constructed in the early part of the twentieth century by the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railway. It was part of their effort to rebuild their main line between New York City and Buffalo. The many million dollar expenditure (billions in today's dollars) turned a slow, winding, old timey railroad into a first class, fast, doubletracked expressway. A lot of earth was moved and a lot of concrete poured to make this 1900 era "super railroad" that cut straight across country, bridging the many valleys with soaring concrete arched viaducts such as this. And, it was all funded by the railroad out of earnings - the Lackawanna was rich hauling mountains of coal.

Fast forwarding in time to the 1980s, the railroads were in bad shape. The Lackawanna died in bankruptcy in 1976. Conrail was formed to consolidate the many redundant rail lines (all bankrupt) and rationalize the route structure into something more suited for the times. This line was determined to be surplus, as it was one of the dozen or so routes between the same places - Buffalo and New York City - and unneeded. The one northeastern railroad not bankrupt, the Delaware and Hudson, took over the line. But, the D&H didn't have much traffic either, running only one or two trains a day over this route.

In 1985 Steamtown National Park was created in Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Lackawanna Railroad maintenance shops. The park is tasked with  preserving the industrial heritage of the northeast, and is a working railroad facility with steam locomotives. The park ran daily steam powered excursion trains out of Scranton on what was left of the Lackawanna mainline. It was the one train a day we knew would cross the viaduct in daylight.

Waiting for the 9:55

Not every rail photo I take has a train in it. Sometimes the image is even better without.  Case in point is this shot from Fresno, California in 2009.

My friend Matt has a condo there, and I go down to visit him periodically. Since we're both interested in trains and photography, one of our "must go to" places in town is the Amtrak station. Fresno is on the busy San Joaquin route between Bakersfield and the bay area, and has 12 passenger trains a day stopping in town. The station is classic Santa Fe Railroad, California Mission style with stucco and arches and a tile roof. It has has been beautifully restored. It is well patronized, every time I've been there there has been a good sized crowd coming and going.

This particular shot was taken one night as we were waiting for the last southbound train of the day, due at 9:55 PM. It is just about train time by the clock, and the green signal on the left indicates the train is very near. If you look closely you can see Matt taking a picture of the signal. I've set my camera on the ground, to get the low angle perspective with the station lights reflecting off the shiny, well worn rails. Had to shoot from across the street to get everything I wanted in the picture. It took awhile to actually get the shot, as I had to wait for a break in the street traffic. You'd be surprised at the amount of vehicular traffic in downtown Fresno at that time of night.

It's Sometimes Sunny in Springfield

Close to home, a southbound freight passes through downtown Springfield. This shot is unusual for a couple of reasons. First, our skies are not usually clear and sunny in early January, when this shot was taken. Second, this was shot from the parking lot of an office complex in south Springfield. Everytime before (and since) Ive gone past the place, the lot has been behind a locked gate. This Sunday morning it was wide open! I took advantage of my lucky find.

This is one of the few locations where it is possible to get a panoramic view of downtown. From the left you can see the Fifth Street rail crossing, with the two story Emerald Art Museum behind it. Farther back and to the right is the spire of the United Methodist church, the most impressive of Springfield's church structures. Continuing to the right, you can see the roof line of City Hall (behind the trees) and the Springfield Museum, the three story brick building with the flagpole. Until  very recently this was the tallest building in town. Between the train and those buildings are various low rise commercial buildings. The Coburg Hills rise behind town and overlook all.

I'm Dreaming of a White Heather

Heather, Oregon is  about 50 rail miles uphill from Springfield, on the way to Willamette Pass. Driving highway 58 you cross under the high railroad trestle that is just beyond the south end of this siding. The north end is accessible off a dirt road that you would miss, if you don't know to look for it. It  is high enough in elevation that if it is raining in Springfield, it is snowing in Heather.

The day after Thanksgiving 2005, the guys - Dan, Matt, Anthony and myself - decided to head up to snow country, to try for some winter scenes. As I recall, we did pretty good, as the railroad cooperated by running trains, and Mother Nature by providing the white stuff. There was enough snow to look like winter, but not enough to make the roads impassible. We covered the line from Oakridge (town itself was dry, but the surrounding mountains were white) all the way to Cascade Summit where there was a heavy white blanket.

 This shot, near the north end of Heather, is my favorite from that day.

Canadian Summer

When I lived back east, I was only about a three hour drive from Canada. There was a lot of interesting railroading up there. Until the early 1990s, much of the equipment was leftover from the 1950s, so in a way it was a trip back in time.

One of the big draws is that our border crossing brought us to the mainline between Montreal and Toronto. That meant lots of trains, both passenger and freight. Except for a few towns between the metro areas, the line went through rural countryside. Much of the line is straight and flat which meant fast running. Passenger trains were allowed 90MPH, freights 80.

This shot is taken at a place called Yonge Centre, Ontario. One of my favored locations. It is basically a wide spot in the road, with a church and graveyard being the only things there besides the railroad. They predate the railroad, as the tracks go through the middle of the cemetery, graves on either side dating to the early 1800s. It was a great place to spend a nice afternoon, lazing in the grass besides the headstones, watching and photographing the trains as they flew by.

O Winston Fingerhood

This is my most successful attempt to pay homage to O Winston Link. Link was a well known commercial photographer who documented the last days of steam railroading in the 1950s. He is famous for his nighttime action shots, images that moved railroad photography into the mainstream of the art world. His work was an inspiration to me, and influenced my photographic journey.

This particular scene is on the Arcade and Attica Railroad, a tourist hauling shortline in upstate New York. We had been in contact with the railroad beforehand, and they gave us run of the property, even moving equipment around to be where we wanted it posed, such as on this bridge. The town even helped out, turning off streetlights for us. This shot became a family affair, as the two daughters of one of our group waded into the river (at my suggestion) to give the shot more human interest - definitely a Link touch.

I actually met Link once, at a railroad show, selling and autographing prints of his work. He was quite old at that point, in his 80s. I began in awe in the presence of this famous person who had inspired me, but that quickly turned to dislike, the more I talked with him.  Perhaps it was his age, perhaps the setting, but he struck me as rather unpleasant, both unfriendly and arrogant.
 http://www.linkmuseum.org/collection.html

Oakridge

The town of Oakridge is about 45 miles east of Springfield, on the climb towards Willamette Pass. It dates from the early 20th century, when the railroad built the line east over the Cascades. It is a place that has definitely seen better days. The railroad and multiple lumber mills all used to provide substantial employment, but those days are long gone. The trains still pass through, but rarely do they stop, and only a few maintenance workers still live in town. Even up to a few years ago there were several railroad buildings still in use, but those are now gone, too.

Still, it is a good place to see trains. What few there are on the line all pass through, and one can usually find various pieces of maintenance and snow fighting equipment parked in the yard. Occasionally a locomotive, too. The town is a good place to stop for food and fuel on the way to the pass. And of course, once there a detour off the highway to see what's in the yard is always on the agenda. You never know what might be there.

Donna DID Like this Shot

Another shot from my trip to the McCloud River Railroad in 2002. Before I got the Cruiser dirty, we hung out at the yard waiting for the train to depart. The railroad put on a fine show, with lots of smoke, steam, and whistle action. That's Mt Shasta towering on the right. Not it's usual white cone. This late in the season, most of the past winter's snow has melted.

Donna Didn't Like this Shot

In October 2002 I captured the McCloud River Railroad pulling an excursion train near Bartle Tank, California. We had gone with friends Dan and Michelle to ride the Mt Shasta Dinner Train, and stay in the caboose motel at Dunsmuir. We drove the Cruiser, which we had only owned for a few weeks.

After a delicious dinner on the train Saturday night, and the adventure of overnighting in a caboose, on Sunday morning we split up for awhile. Donna and Michelle went shopping, while Dan and I headed back to McCloud to get some shots of the steam train. Before the train departed we got some great shots in the McCloud yard, with the steamer underneath Mt. Shasta. Dan and I decided to head out down the line, and get some action shots. The line east of McCloud runs through mostly forested country, with few openings where we could see the train. Those openings were where intersecting roads crossed the tracks, and offered little of photographic interest. We ultimately picked one such crossing to "make our stand" and get our pictures. Seeing that a dirt road  was immediately adjacent to the tracks at this spot, it occurred to me that I could add interest by putting the Cruiser in the shot. A retro looking car with a steam locomotive sounded like a winning combo to me. Of course driving on the dirt road got the car dirty, and probably picked up a few rocks, too. Donna wasn't too happy with me for that.

She really does like the shot though.

The Best Place to Watch Trains

Of all the places I've been to on my photographic journeys, perhaps the best place for trainwatching would be Chicago. Specifically the triple track mainline that heads due west from downtown. This line sees a phenomenal number of trains, well over 100 per day, perhaps the busiest rail line in the country. It is the BNSF Railway's main freight route to the west, and also sees passenger service from Amtrak, and Metra the Chicago area commuter rail agency. In rush hour it was impossible to not have a train in view coming or going, no matter which direction one looked down the tracks. Oftentimes two, three, or even more would be visible at once! Because it is in the commute zone, stations were frequent and closely spaced, and most featured services  for the convenience of commuters. Food, ice cream, groceries, book store, banking, etc. Most were also nicely landscaped with shade trees and benches. I spent many a pleasurable afternoon sitting on those benches, in the shade, eating an ice cream (or burger or ?) watching and photographing the passing rail action. What could be better?

Traintime at Eugene

Eugene anchors the south end of the Cascade Corridor, one of the designated high speed passenger rail routes in the US. These corridors feature multiple trips in each direction, "high" speed running, and in the case of the Cascades, custom equipment. We get to experience the comfort and speed of the Spanish designed Talgo trainsets.

The south end of the corridor, Eugene to Portland, features two round trips daily. The trains are Portland bound in the morning, returning to Eugene in the evening. This is in addition to the long distance Coast Starlight that travels between Los Angeles and Seattle, stopping in Eugene mid day.

I took this shot in May of 2008. It was one of those days where it had rained and stormed all day, but as dusk approached the skies began to clear. I went down to the Amtrak station to catch the early evening arrival, and see what I could shoot. Because of train times, physical layout of the tracks and station, and position of the sun (or lack thereof) it can be difficult to get good shots of Amtrak in Eugene. I think this one overcame those limitations.

Horse and Iron Horse

One of the things about photography that fascinates me the most is the ability, with the proper subject and location, to create an image from an earlier age. This photo, taken in Sugar Creek Ohio in 1993, is a perfect example.

The Ohio Central Railroad is a shortline that serves the north central part of that state. In the1990s they hauled tourists behind their steam locomotive #1551 out of  Sugar Creek. The area surrounding the town is populated by a large number of Amish. While wandering around taking my photos of the railroad, I noticed the numerous horse and buggy teams traveling into town  I knew that sooner or later if I were in the right place, I'd get a shot of both horse, and iron horse. The grade crossing downtown seemed to be that place. A few things to happen simultaneously to make the shot. The train needed to not move out of the scene, and a buggy, but no cars, needed to cross the tracks. My patience was ultimately rewarded with this image.

A Long Way Down

This is one of the most unusual train pictures I've ever taken. The subject is an eastbound Southern Pacific freight train on the "hanging bridge" in the Royal Gorge of Colorado's Arkansas River. There isn't really much unusual about that, except for the fact that trains were few and far between on this line. This is the line over 10,000 foot Tennessee Pass, which was the highest mainline railroad in the US. It was part of the original 1880s Rio Grande line west of Denver through the Rocky Mountains. By the time I took this shot, 1995, most of the traffic had been diverted to other lines, and this route was in its last year of operation.

The real odd feature of this shot is where it was taken. I was in the middle of the Royal Gorge suspension bridge, looking straight down into the canyon from 1000 feet up! This bridge is the highest suspension bridge in the world, and well worth a visit if you are in the area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Gorge

"The Largest Railroad Crane in the World"

I railfanned pretty much alone until I moved to upstate New York in 1980. There, I made the acquaintance of some hard core "train nuts" and my serious photographic efforts really started while hanging out with them. That summer six of us decided to load up into one guy's van, and do a road trip west to Chicago. It was my first experience with "organized" train chasing. We planned where, when, and how to get a sampling of rail activity we didn't see at home. We wrote to various railroad head offices asking for permission to enter the property for photographic purposes. We had generally positive responses, even getting guided tours of several of the major facilities in Chicago. Of course a couple of lines warned us that "if you set foot upon our property, you will be immediately arrested!" One such line was the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad. The DT&I hauled coal, iron, and steel for the auto industry in Detroit. They had a colorful paint scheme, and some unique locomotives that we wanted to see and photograph. We weren't about to pass them up.
So, on our way home we ended up just south of Detroit, at the main yard used by the DT&I. Taking the written warning to heart, we were very careful to setup our tripods on public right of way, absolutely off of railroad property. It wasn''t too long after we arrived that a railroad police car drove up across the tracks from us and parked. After a few minutes of observation, the officer got out of the the vehicle and came over to us. We were fully prepared to be harassed, and to point out that we were off railroad and on public property. As he closed in on us, the first words out of his mouth were, "you boys taking pictures?". Remember, the six of us were festooned with railroad hats, vests, t shirts, cameras, setup tripods, etc. Fortunately our "leader" opened his mouth before any of the rest of us provided a smart ass answer, and inquired "Is there a problem officer?" The officer's next words were "how would you like see the world's largest railroad crane?" "Climb in your vehicle and follow me!" We were dumbfounded as we followed his black and white into the inner reaches of this busy and officially off limits railyard. After a bit he stopped, got out, and pointed to this rig . "The biggest railroad crane in the world" he said rather proudly. "Take all the pictures you want, just don't climb on anything" were his parting words as he climbed into his cruiser and left us, surprised and happy.
Now, thirty years later, none of the pictures of the DT&I that I took are anything special. Just more locomotives and cars. Except for my photo of "the largest railroad crane in the world".

Midnight at Brunswick

Brunswick, Maryland is the western limit of the commuter rail line into Washington DC. Trains carrying homeward bound commuters from the nation's capitol would end their run here, be serviced, turned, and readied for the next days inbound commute rush. Since I would generally leave on my railfanning expeditions after working all day, Brunswick would be about the right distance away to stop for the night. Having a large railyard there made it all the better.

In those days - the mid 1980s - we could generally go take our pictures, and as long as we weren't climbing on the equipment or acting unsafely, no one would bother us. Not the case this night, though. We setup our tripods, broke out the flashbulbs, and started lighting up the night. It didn't take long for the railroad police to drive out and tell us to leave the property. At least we got a couple of good shots.

Riders from the Storm

In May of 1996 I was able to take a couple of days to chase trains while visiting my family in southern California. I headed out to the high desert and found brilliant sun, blue skies and the desert floor carpeted in yellow poppies. On my second day out ominous storm clouds began to form over the Tehachapis, and by afternoon a full blown thunderstorm with thunder, lightning, hail, and rain was descending upon the town of Mojave. Once again I lucked out, finding a Southern Pacific coal train highballing out of town, into the sun just ahead of the storm.

I've been Working on the Railroad....

Back in the pre 9/11 days, back before insurance companies started charging excessively high liability premiums, railroads weren't so paranoid about having people on their property. Usually a letter to HQ, or asking in person at the yard office for permission was enough to secure admission, with the admonition "be careful". Short lines could even be quite friendly, as evidenced in this picture taken on the Lowville and Beaver River RR, in upstate New York.

The owner of the railroad was a railfan, and allowed us the run of the place for our photography. He willingly moved equipment, left doors unlocked, turned on or off lights as we requested, etc, etc, so that we could get some nice images.

This shot is a setup. We had the owner move the locomotive onto the turntable, and turn out all the yard lights, so that we could get the proper effect with our flashbulbs. A couple of us (myself included) had overalls and flannel shirts, which made us ideal subjects to add some human interest to the shot. When the two of us were in postion, the rest of the guys set off our cameras, and went around firing the bulbs. I think it makes a great scene.

The scrawny guy on the ground pushing the locomotive around the "armstrong" human powered turntable is me. The guy climbing onto the locomotive outsized me by 100 pounds and six or eight inches. It didn't occur to me until later that HE should have been the one exerting the effort, and me having the cushy job on the locomotive!

East Broad Top

The East Broad Top Railroad is a narrow gauge (36" between the rails, normal is 56.5") line that runs from nowhere to nowhere, in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. Up until the 1950s it was a working line, hauling coal from the mines of Applachia to the connection with the Pennyslvania Railroad and the outside world. As demand for coal disappeared after WWII, the line shut down. And shut down it did - everyone just walked out the door at the end of the day. Tools were left on benches, all cars left where they were, I bet the icebox even held a few lunches! A scrapper had bought the line with the intention of ripping up the rails to be sold as scrap, to be recycled into razor blades and Toyotas. A strange thing happened, in that the scrapper became intrigued by the whole railroad, and instead of tearing up the rails, he kept it operating. Not hauling coal, but tourists.

Visting the East Broad Top was stepping back in time to the 1920s. The steam locomotives, the cars, the previously mentioned tools still on the benches. A couple or three times a year they would put on a real show, firing up four or five steam locomotives and running multiple trains every hour. A person could ride, photograph or both. It was a great place to railfan, just find a scenic spot, sit and wait for the trains to come to you. It was easy to imagine it was sixty years earlier than when I took this picture in 1985.

2 BC

A southbound BN train crosses the Crooked River Gorge, near Terrebonne, Oregon in 1995. My friend Matt and I had met in Portland, and were on a road trip back to southern California via the back roads. Even though this line doesn't see many trains, we happened upon a meet between northbound and southbound trains at Madras. We knew that gave us enough time to get ahead of the train and hike in to setup for this shot.

Why title it 2 BC? That's because it happened 2 years before I made the Big Change in my life. My 1995 trip was an exploratory one, knowing that the time to change my life was drawing nearer. In 1997 I started life over again, in Oregon. But, that's a story for another time and place.

A Cold One for a Hot Summer day

I have been contemplating this shot for a few days, thinking it would provide relief from the heat we've been experiencing. Of course, now that I publish it, our weather has turned cool and gray, even got drizzled on while walking the dogs this AM! Still, it's too good a picture not to post.

The location is North Weedsport, NY in late December 1987. The outside temperature is hovering barely above zero, with an arctic wind making it seem WAY below colder. The kind of day where in the few seconds it takes to get out of the car and snap the picture your fingers and face freeze, and it is painful to even breathe. The snow squalls have been blowing in off nearby Lake Ontario on and off all day. I lucked out in that the train, and a temporary break in the squalls with some sun, arrived at just the same time! This is probably the coldest day I've ever been out railfanning, with the exception of the night my tripod shattered from the cold. But that's a picture and story for another day.

Seattle's Worst

We lucked into this train. The guys and I had gone to Arlington, Oregon to find some photogenic locations. We discovered this train sitting, shut down with no one around, on the siding. Usually this means they are there semi-permanently. We had no idea if and when something might happen with it. Since Arlington is on the mainline, has some photo possibilities, and sees a lot more trains than the Cascade Line at home, we decided to hang out and catch the mainline action.

After awhile we were surprised to see a railroad truck pull up and unload a couple of crewmen. Shortly thereafter the diesels were fired up, the headlights came on, and the train started to move. We decided to follow it, since it was headed up a branchline, which meant an easy chase for us - we'd be able to get multiple shots at various locations. Good decision! The high, dry, desert country has it's own beauty.

Why the title "Seattle's Worst"? That's because this train is hauling garbage, from that city to one of the largest landfills in the US, which is located just south of Arlington.

Westbound in the Gorge

July 10, 2010.

Here we are on the Washington side of the Columbia River, just west of Dallesport. The wind is blowing so hard that I can barely stand upright! Good thing, since if it weren't, it would be quite hot. I'm out with my buddies Dan, Matt, and Anthony, getting in a little railfanning while camping in the gorge with Donna and the dogs. A fun time was had by all.

Welcome to Bruce's Train a Day

Hi.

Since I have so many train photos -thousands - I have decided to showcase them in a blog. By limiting myself to one a day, I'll have the opportunity to tell the story of the picture and how it came to be. Enjoy!

Bruce