Archive for March, 2008

In many regards the 1960s were different than today but unfortunately in some regards they were not.   Despite how much people think highly of the current era or romanticize about history people make mistakes in judgement today just like in the past. 

Take this photograph of a grade crossing accident in Toppenish, WA taken sometime before 1963.  While the true story of this incident is not easily found, it appears from the photo someone did not heed the clearly marked crossing and ended up with their automobile draped across the bulldog nose of a Northern Pacific F unit (NP 5407A if you are keeping score). 

What distracted this driver?  Probably the same sorts of things that would distract a driver today…the radio (hey, maybe Kennedy was on the radio?), traffic, food, a passenger, or maybe they were just in a hurry.  Most likely, just like today, it was not a situation where getting to the other side of the tracks was something that couldn’t wait a few minutes.

We have learned a lot since this photograph was taken.   We have come to know that the refined oils and fuels we use to keep our cars moving are hazardous to the environment and treat spills with the utmost care (23-19!, 23-19! for Monsters Inc. fans).  So today it is highly unlikely to find someone simply hosing the spilled lube oil, anti-freeze, and fuel from the pavement!  We also understand more about the factors that cause pedestrians and drivers to not recognize a train is approaching and through improved technology, improved visibility at the crossing, and improved visibility of the approaching train we’ve made crossings safer.  On top of that railroads and local agencies have made a tremendous effort to close as many crossings as they can even though the alternative is expensive.

We haven’t learned a lot since this photograph was taken.  Not all drivers have gotten the basic message and unfortunately as long as grade crossings exists the basic fact is these accidents still occur  So Look and Listen and lead your friends and family to do the same!

As I’ve mentioned before I really like Lightroom.  As a software package it provides most of what I need to organize and edit my photos.   For those things that LR wasn’t designed to do naively Adobe provided a method for developers to construct their own export plug-ins to fill in the gaps.  LR was also constructed so develop module edits can be saved as a preset and web and slideshow outputs can be customized using templates.  I believe this flexibility will be one of the key factors to LR’s long term success (and potentially some smart developers )

I’ve started using a couple of presets and plug-ins that I’ve found useful.  With presets the field is long and wide since they are easily created out of Lightroom (click the + next to presets and choose the develop options to save) and quite a few photographers have published their presets on their websites.  Do a Google search on ‘Lightroom Presets’ and you’ll see what I mean.  Just because the field is so large doesn’t diminish the fact that this is fabulous ability it just shows that photographers want to share their skills.

Plug-ins and templates are a bit more challenging because they require external development work and testing so the field is a bit more limited.  Despite this barrier the two plug-ins I use most LR/Mogrify (export tools) and LR/Enfuse (HDR) are quite powerful and really add a lot to the basic export features of LR.   Web and slideshow templates are an area I haven’t delved into too much yet though I’m carefully watching some very intriguing web gallery and slideshow tools.  I’m hoping to take advantage of these for my gallery sometime in the future.

This photograph of a northbound BNSF Manifest at Steilacoom was made with LR/Enfuse.  The first photo was edited to maximize the exposure on the mid and foreground.  The second photo was edited to maximize the expose on the sky and background.  LR/Enfuse then combined the two to increase the dynamic range of the image to provide a better appearance in the highlight areas which weren’t the main focus of the original exposure.

Railroading isn’t the easiest job.  You have to interact with large, heavy equipment and you must be mentally alert at all times.  Despite these obstacles a dedicated group of railroaders works everyday to execute their job safely.  Sunday provided several opportunities for me to capture these folks carrying out their duties.

All Lined Back South End of the NP Pass

Two Cars Herder

Roger, All Clear On Bags

I just thought I’d say hello…graphically…

The nice thing about the section of the Trunk between Dike and Nena is the access.  You can easily pick up a train south of Dike and then give chase south towards Maupin.  Train speeds vary from 25-35 mph and with all the bends in the river the road often takes a shorter route.  In that stretch there is 17 miles of gravel road that is in generally good shape plus another 10 miles that is paved.  I did that with the UP 5423 south which I caught at Sinamox, the bridges and Sherar, and finally at a river access near Maupin.  The road south of Maupin is not in very good shape and 15 to 20 mph is about the max so chasing is out of the question.  The UP 5423 ran away from me on that stretch though I nearly caught when it went into a 10 mph restriction north of Nena.  With good planning though you can get a shot north of Maupin and then muddle along the road south and get one more.

The Deschutes is a popular fishing river.  Since it was a beautiful day there were several fisherman and a couple of drift boaters on the river.  I’m sure most of the time the fisherman don’t pay any attention to the trains but this one actually gave it a glance.

The Z-BRLC crosses the White River north of Maupin.  This spot is in good light all day from sun up to sun set.

Clear block!  BNSF 4171 North illuminates the rock wall at MP 45.1.

Wow, so far, in two days, I’ve seen 3 Acelas, 8 New Jersey Transit LRTs, 6 Air Trains, 13 New Jersey Commuter Trains, 6 PATH Trains, 4 Metro Subway Trains, and 4 Regional Amtrak Trains.  All that and only 2 Freight trains!

Yes, you might have guessed I’m over here in the North East Corridor riding around aimlessly.  I’ve also remembered, unlike the last several trips, to actually bring the camera!  So far I have a few pictures that have come out fairly decent.  So below you’ll find those, until again, happy train hunting.

Oh yeah, and if anybody thought that trains ran on time over here, they don’t.  Almost every train I’ve been on has been 5-15 minutes late.  Not bad by the standards of the rest of the country, but by no means upholding the mythic timeliness that I’ve heard of.

With UP’s Cascade line shut down due to the massive slide at Frazier I took an opportunity to head over to the Oregon Trunk to photograph some of the regular and detour trains.  Other than a couple of random photos at Moody and a 4449 excursion to Bend I’ve never spent much time exploring the details of the “Trunk”.  Since driving between various points can be time and gas consuming I chose to concentrate Saturday’s exploration to the segment between Dike and Nena (approximately).  This section has a public road all along it and is pretty ‘easy’ to photograph since everything is right out in the open. 

For the day I saw 7 trains!  Here’s the breakdown…

North:
2 UP
1 BNSF

South:
2 UP
2 BNSF

Over the next week or so I’ll post some of the photos as I have time to post process them.  For now here’s a couple that really reflect on the area.

Just after sunrise in the canyon, UP’s Z-LCBR winds its way north at the confluence of the White River and the Deschutes.
Mt. Hood looms above.

The Oregon Trunk between OT Jct. and Gateway traverses canyons formed by the Deschutes, Trout Creek, and Mud Springs Creek.  These rivers have cut their way though the rock giving the railroad a pre-made path from the Columbia to Central Oregon.  UP’s Q-PWRV takes advantage of this as it winds along the Deschutes 3 miles north of Sherar.

Lately my photographic interests have often led me away from the rails, but they’re always nearby and a part of my life. Last weekend I participated in a photowalk around Portland led by photographer Thomas Hawk. As we neared the end of our walk we happened to be on the Broadway Bridge as a set of light power came south out of Albina. I shot it moving along the bank of the Willamette River:

Once crossing a river was daunting.  Today rivers don’t stand in the way of the fast trains of Amtrak Cascades.

 Cascades train 501

Comfortable travel