by Steve Eshom on February 1, 2012
Sunday evening a Google+ photo walk, organized by three local photographers, was held in Portland. Aaron and I joined in the festivities though railroad photographs were not the primary focus of this walk. The walkers were made up of a variety of photographers from around the area including some from north of Everett. The walk started at Union Station and proceeded towards the river, the Eastbank Esplanade, and eventually the Hair of the Dog Brewery on the east side. Hey, photographers of all sorts love beer, not just railfans!
Sunday the weather grew increasingly wetter and by the time the walk started around 4:30pm the rain was steady. Despite the dampness quite a crowd showed up and impressed the organizers who thought many would not attended. I had a couple of rail related images I wanted to capture and right out of the gate I set up for a couple of them. As we moved along it grew dark and the wet streets started to reflect light from various street lights, headlights, signs, and buildings. There was a lot of shiny goodness going on!
When I arrived at the Skidmore Fountain MAX stop I saw a wonderful photo brewing. Street lights lit the area brightly and the reflections from the cobblestone textured streets were spectacular. I set up my tripod and waited for a MAX train to arrive. The result? This colorful image of a westbound blue line train departing Skidmore Fountain. As we walked we talked about how if any of us got 1 or 2 really good shots from the walk, we’d be happy. After I saw this shot on the computer, I was happy.
If you are interested in other’s results from the walk you can view everyone’s contributed images from the photowalk, including mine and Aaron’s here.
by Aaron Hockley on May 22, 2011
A couple weeks ago was National Train Day and while I was photographing the event at Portland Union Station I was looking for unique angles and photos that were a bit different that the standard shots of the equipment amongst the crowds. We had gray and intermittently-stormy skies which let to things being wet. At one point I created an image looking down between a Superliner and SP Daylight observation car that were on display. The gray skies, wet pavement, and smooth reflective cars made for an interesting photo.
For those curious about technical details, this is a three-shot HDR image, tonemapped in Photomatix followed by some localized color correction in Photoshop and then a bit of clarity/sharpening in Lightroom.
by Aaron Hockley on May 5, 2011
This Saturday, May 7th is National Train Day. Coordinated by Amtrak through a network of local events, National Tray Day celebrates our railroad heritage with exhibits and information about trains of the past, present, and future.
I’ll be at the event in Portland, Oregon, where the SP 4449 will join other equipment and displays for railfans of all ages. If you’re in the area, come on down to Union Station between 10am and 4pm and check out the scene. Look for me wandering around with my camera.
Find a National Tray Day event near you.
by Steve Eshom on March 7, 2011
I’m not sure why I don’t visit the Gorge more frequently since it is literally in my front yard. For some reason I don’t run out there all the time though I’m working on making up for my lack of judgement. Not only am I going to visit more frequently but since my daughter enjoys going on walks I plan to explore places that I previously had to visit only with my vehicle.
Manifest train M-NPPT (North Platte to Portland Terminal) is on its way to Portland as shown in this photograph taken from the overlook at Bridal Veil Falls State Park. This was the first of 4 westbound UP trains on Sunday morning. Unfortunately it literally took them all morning to get from Meno west due to eastbound traffic and a rash of dead crews.
by Steve Eshom on January 30, 2011
As the Oregon Zoo‘s popularity has grown its parking lot hasn’t kept pace. The result is Tammy doesn’t like driving to the zoo so we end up riding Max. That doesn’t bother me any as I always get a kick out of riding the trains in and around the city. Add in some of the more interesting features like the Vanport bridge, Steel bridge, and the Robertson tunnel and a ride on Max can be quite entertaining.
Our ride took us to downtown on a Yellow Line train from the Vanport station to downtown. At Pioneer Square we left the Yellow and walked a block to catch a Blue or Red Line train west to the Zoo. As is normal Portland was full of Saturday visitors on their way to and from their activities.
For those of you that got a chuckle out of the shower cap from my Max trip in December, take a look at what 304 is sporting. Yep, a shower cap!
On the Red/Blue Line, which leaves Portland westbound, the Washington Park station is quite the unique transit station. It is one of the three deepest transit stations in the world and lives near the center of the 3.1 mile long Robertson Tunnel. Getting to and from the zoo requires a ride in elevators which make up the 260 feet in a mere 25 seconds. Speedy. If you have time for only one short Max ride I recommend a ride out to the Washington Park station just to see this engineering feat. Remember, don’t trespass!
Passengers await the arrival of an eastbound Blue Line train. After several hours at the zoo we descended the elevators down to the station and joined a standing room only Blue Line train for our trip back downtown. Once the train enters the tunnel a fresh breeze blows down the tunnel to let you know your train is only minutes away. Oh, the reader board on the back wall of the station helps too!
TriMet is into art. According to their art page “The TriMet Public Art Program promotes transit use and community pride by integrating permanent and temporary art works into the public transit system—celebrating the contributions of public transportation and recognizing the cultural richness in our region.” One of the more interesting pieces of art they installed were comets on the Vanport bridge. These comets, I think, took what could be a pretty boring looking industrial object and made it so people take notice. Whether you are passing by on N. Denver Avenue, I-5, or are riding the Yellow Line the comets get your attention and reminds you someone put a bit of thought into a run of the mill bridge.
Our Max ride over, we rejoined our automobile for the final few minutes back to our home in Vancouver.
