2024-04-23 10:48
Two weeks ago, I visited the preserved Power Directors Office located within the Harrisburg, Pa., station Read More
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Tracking The Light | Railway Photography By Brian Blog
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Expert essays on railway photography by published author/photographer Brian Solomon.
2024-04-22 10:20
Last Monday, I planned to catch a westward Amtrak Keystone passing a beautifully blossoming tree along Jefferson Drive Read More
2024-04-21 09:41
The Harrisburg area is a maze of trackage, which is alive with freight and passenger movements Read More
2024-04-20 10:34
Irish Rail's 071 class diesels are among the oldest railway vehicles in continuous service in Ireland Read More
2024-04-19 10:38
The former Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Harrisburg, Pa., is the western terminus of Amtrak’s Keystone service, and also served by the Pennsylvanian that continues on to Pittsburgh… Read More
2024-04-18 09:51
After dozens of visits to Ireland over a span of 26 years, I finally witnessed former Great Northern Railway 4-4-0 number 131 under steam on 24 March 2024 Read More
2024-04-17 09:59
I drove to Jefferson Drive, where the little pond by the tracks had been tidied-up over the winter, and which made for a nice place to picture the train as it came around a tight bend beneat… Read More
2024-04-16 10:32
The other day I described my techniques for photographing in the subdued light at the Ulster Transport Museum in Cultra Read More
2024-04-15 10:55
we caught former Canadian National 2-6-0 number 89 leading an afternoon excursion on its return from Leaman Place Read More
2024-04-14 10:06
The Ulster Transport Museum at Cultra (in Co. Down, Northern Ireland) has one of the finest displays of vintage railway equipment Read More
2024-04-13 10:39
The portion of the former Reading Company’s Lebanon Valley Branch/Crossline running between Reading and Harrisburg, PA is now operated by Norfolk Southern as the western end of its Har… Read More
2024-04-12 10:40
We thought about traveling to Derry, but it was a dreary day and we had evening plans, so instead I suggested we take the train toward Bangor Read More
2024-04-11 10:09
Although it isn't pretty, I thought it was wise to document the old station arrangement, including in the Durham Street overpass, before progress sweeps this into history Read More
2024-04-10 10:32
Sunday afternoon, Kris & I went for a wee drive. This was neatly planned to coincide with the passing of a westward Amtrak Keystone at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster Read More
2024-04-09 10:14
The following photos of the solar eclipse were made on our back patio in Lancaster, Pennsylvania using my Nikon Z7-II mirrorless digital camera fitted with a standard f2.8 70-200mm Z-series… Read More
2024-04-08 19:31
I made this photo without the aid of complicated equipment, just my standard Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm lens Read More
2024-04-08 10:31
NI Railways operates an hourly service between Belfast and Derry, and one of our objectives was to capture views of these trains running along the coast. For my money, some of the finest vie… Read More
2024-04-07 10:49
The disused Irish railway that runs from Claremorris, Co. Mayo via Kiltimagh and Charlestown to Colloney, Co. Sligo is known as the 'Burma Road.' Read More
2024-04-06 13:30
I can't help but wonder if the old Donegal narrow gauge railways had survived, today they would be Irish national treasures worthy of world attention and admiration Read More
2024-04-05 14:58
On the advice of an old friend at Irish Rail, Kris and I paid our second visit to Manulla Junction on a rainy Monday March morning. After passage of the morning Dublin-Westport passenger tra… Read More
2024-04-04 10:19
Clifden is located on the western periphery of County Galway. Between 1895 and 1935, it was served by a lightly traveled branch of the old Midland Great Western route Read More
2024-04-03 11:51
Among the magazines waiting in our post box upon our arrival back in Lancaster, PA, was the May 2024 Trains Magazine Read More
2024-04-02 10:41
Irish Rail's station at Manulla Junction exists to serve as a remote transfer point for passengers to/from the Ballina Branch Read More
2024-04-01 10:17
What caught my attention at Ballina was the 1990s-era Irish Rail sign Read More
2024-03-31 09:18
On our visit to Westport earlier this month, we made a brief visit to the old station where I found an Irish Rail ICR waiting to head up to Dublin Read More
2024-03-30 09:41
Yesterday, I made this view from the window on an American Airlines' Boeing 787 Dreamliner Read More
2024-03-29 11:02
I'm making this post out of sequence as a symbolic allusion to the journey that Kris and I are making today Read More
2024-03-28 10:26
During our explorations in the west of Ireland earlier this month, Kris and I re-visted the bridge at MP 47 1/4 in order to photograph a revenue train passing the old castle. We were please… Read More
2024-03-27 09:44
Following a trip across the Shannon Estuary on the Tarbert ferry, we paused for a few minutes at Moyasta, County Clare, which is home to the preserved West Clare Railway Read More
2024-03-26 10:11
Earlier this month we traveled by train from Killarney to Mallow Read More
2024-03-25 09:46
Kris and I stayed at the Great Southern for several nights during our visit to Co. Kerry earlier this month. We availed of the proximity of the railway station to take a few short train jour… Read More
2024-03-24 09:51
As the train approached Killarney, a young man on the platform, who was speaking with a friend on his mobile phone, exclaimed 'Like, there's this really old train. One of the square ones.' Read More
2024-03-23 10:06
Among Ireland's legendary wild & wonderful railways was the Timoleague and Courtmacsherry portion of the West Cork Railway Read More
2024-03-22 10:57
Working with my Nikon mirrorless Z7-II, I made this 200mm telephoto view of a two-piece Irish Rail 2600-series Railcar departing platform 1 at Kent Station Read More
2024-03-21 09:43
It has been more than six decades since the last train crossed the old Chetwynd, Viaduct in County Cork Read More
2024-03-20 10:17
Working with my Nikon NZ-II mounted on a compact Gitzo tripod, I made a variety of photos around Cork City. The tripod allowed me use a lower ISO, which required a slower shutter speed but c… Read More
2024-03-19 10:03
I made this pair of photographs at MBTA's North Station—the old Boston & Maine terminal that served trains to Fitchburg, Lowell, Haverhill, Ipswitch and Rockport Read More
2024-03-18 10:24
Among the many short railway trips Kris and I have experienced over the last month was a journey on Irish Rail's Cork Suburban service from Kent Station in Cork to Fota Island, and then to t… Read More
2024-03-17 11:05
Happy St Patrick's Day from Ireland! Read More
2024-03-17 09:49
Compare these photos from 17 May 2005 and 18 February 2024 Read More
2024-03-16 10:25
The magnificent curved train shed at Cork's Kent Station makes for a classic environment to photograph modern trains Read More
2024-03-15 10:20
This was one of several photos exposed on the down platform using my Nikon Z7-II mounted on my old mini-Gitzo tripod during our brief visit to Glounthaune a couple of weeks ago Read More
2024-03-14 10:06
Since my last vist to this suburban railway station, Irish Rail has erected a huge modern footbridge over the tracks at Little Island. This was not yet open to the public, so we made our pho… Read More
2024-03-13 10:35
During our week-long visit to County Cork, we took many photos and became re-acquainted with the area’s railways. I made these views at Woodhill on the Cobh Branch of Irish Rail’… Read More
2024-03-12 10:15
After a week in London, Kris and I returned to Dublin. Upon arrival at Dublin Airport we took the 782 bus directly to Heuston Station and bought tickets for the first through train to Cork Read More
2024-03-11 09:57
I made these views of the famous square using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom. I set the ISO to 5000, the aperture to f4.0, and allowed the camera to select the shutter speed. I ad… Read More
2024-03-10 09:47
South Kensington is a busy station on the District and Circle Lines of the London Underground. These are among the oldest routes of the Underground network and were built using cut and cover… Read More
2024-03-09 10:35
Enter the exhibit 'Making the Modern World' and you will find some gems of 19th century railway technology Read More
2024-03-08 09:42
On our visit to Britain's Spa Valley Railway last month, we laid over at the intermediate station of Groombridge, and made photos of the excursion train returning from Eridge Read More
2024-03-07 10:07
We took a Southeastern Trains electric multiple unit from Charing Cross to the Network Rail station at Tunbridge Wells, then walked for about 15 minutes to Tunbridge Wells West, where the Sp… Read More
2024-03-06 11:17
We spent nearly a week at the Clermont Hotel that is physically part of London's historic Charing Cross Station Read More
2024-03-05 12:13
Paddington is one of the most impressive London stations, built by Victorian master engineer Isambard K. Brunel for his broad gauge Great Western Railway Read More
2024-03-04 11:20
We made a brief visit to the famous university town of Oxford on 24 February 2024 Read More
2024-03-03 09:54
I made these photos of the English country-side with my Nikon Z7-II from the window of our train on the way to and from Oxford Read More
2024-03-02 10:31
Using my Lumix LX7, I made these photos at Embankment in the heart of central London Read More
2024-03-01 11:07
I've enjoyed the run over I.K. Brunel's famed Great Western route on many occasions, but this was my first traveling on a Class 800 Read More
2024-02-29 18:06
I'm taking a leap forward in this extra post for 29 February 2024 Read More
2024-02-29 11:17
We took a brief journey on the Elizabeth Line, London's newest suburban service, which made its debut less than two years ago Read More
2024-02-28 10:45
London is a leader of World Class cities: It is distinctive, distinguished and visually striking Read More
2024-02-27 09:40
I made these photos at the Charing Cross Station on the Bakerloo Line, as Kris and I were making our way northbound to Paddington Read More
2024-02-26 10:41
A week ago, Kris and I traveled from Dublin to London on British Airways. From Heathrow Terminal 5, we traveled on the Heathrow Express to Paddington Read More
2024-02-25 10:27
At dusk, I made this panned view of an Irish Rail DART electric train crossing the River Liffey in Dublin on the infamous Loop Line bridge. The span caused a stir among purists in the 19th c… Read More
2024-02-24 11:21
Last Sunday we paid a visit to the Irish Rail station at Clara Read More
2024-02-23 10:07
Last week, Kris and I stayed in Dublin near Georges Dock, and we made several trips on the LUAS around the city Read More
2024-02-22 11:12
Kris and I traveled on the DART from Dublin Connolly Station to the northern extent of the DART service at Malahide where we spent the afternoon wandering around Read More
2024-02-21 12:09
Dublin Area Rapid Transit is an electrified suburban service focused on Dublin's Connolly Station. This shares routes with diesel powered trains and provides a regular interval passenger ser… Read More
2024-02-20 10:59
Last week, Kris and I traveled from Lancaster, Pa., to Dublin, Ireland for the first stage in an epic trip Read More
2024-02-19 11:03
My father drove me to the Central Vermont Railway yard in Palmer, Massachusetts. I exposed my roll of HP5 with my Leica 3A rangefinder, making a series of images of CV's Alco RS-11 number #3… Read More
2024-02-18 11:25
Wintery dusk settled over Reinholds Station, Pennsylvania Read More
2024-02-17 11:20
Parkesburg, Pennsylvania was once an important interlocking where the Enola Low Grade cutoff (Atglen & Susquehanna Branch) joined the Main Line (now Amtrak's Harrisburg Line) Read More
2024-02-16 11:32
While visiting Cape Cod last November, I finished the Ektachrome that had been in my Nikon for months and loaded up the lone roll of Fujichrome Provia Read More
2024-02-15 11:15
In November 2023, I dusted off the F3 and made two Ektachrome slides of Reading & Northern 2535 Read More
2024-02-14 11:03
Last week, I received several processed rolls back from the lab, which accounted for the majority of the film photos I made during 2023 Read More
2024-02-13 11:13
On August 18, 1988, I photographed Conrail C32-8 6616 leading MBSE (Middleboro to Selkirk, otherwise known as 'The Queen') across the former Boston & Albany bridge over the Connecticut R… Read More
2024-02-12 11:32
While I was surprised to catch a coal train on the move, and delighted to have stumbled into NS's one-of-a-kind Conrail heritage unit, I didn't realise how infrequently Clearfield-originated… Read More
2024-02-11 11:39
The tracks of the former Reading Company’s Lancaster & Columbia line through Lititz, Pa, were trimmed back a few blocks in recent months. The rails were lifted where they crossed N… Read More
2024-02-10 12:02
When the train came into view on the far side of the river, I had vivid sense of Conrail-blue deja vu Read More
2024-02-09 12:12
I made tens of thousands of photographs with my first Lumix LX3. It finally gave up the ghost in June 2014. I replaced it with my first Lumix LX7 Read More
2024-02-08 12:18
A few days ago, we had a rare sunny day, so Kris and I made an adventure of following the east bank of the Susquehanna River compass north toward Sunbury Read More
2024-02-07 11:22
On a visit to Searsport, I made this photo of the freight that ran four or five days a week from Northern Maine Junction (near Bangor) to Searsport. The locomotives were working trackage tha… Read More
2024-02-06 14:09
In these views, I composed photos to include the road Read More
2024-02-05 11:33
Over the last few months, I've exposed photographs of Pennsylvania's Strasburg Rail Road from a similar angle at Carpenters Cemetery near Blackhorse Road Read More
2024-02-04 11:33
B&P GP9 number 207 later was sold to the Finger Lakes Railroad, becoming its 1751 Read More
2024-02-03 11:50
Wayne Duffett of TEC Associates included my 2007 photo of Middletown & Hummelstown 2-6-0 number 91 crossing Swatara Creek on the cover of the railroad's 2023 Bridge Inspection Report Read More
2024-02-02 12:05
Last month, during the brief spell of frost and snow, Kris and I rolled by Amtrak Keystone 615 at Bird-in-Hand. It was so bright, it was hard to keep my eyes open. The train was running left… Read More
2024-02-01 11:58
Among my thousands of black & white negatives is a three-ring binder that is largely filled with film exposed for class projects and related photographic studies when I was a student at… Read More
2024-01-31 11:43
A ten minute drive will take me to the Creek Hill Road crossing of Norfolk Southern's New Holland Branch Read More
2024-01-30 12:11
There's such a contrast in the seasons, it's hard to fathom that this is same crossing where we made many photos during the summer months Read More
2024-01-29 12:09
My camera was loaded with Kodak Tri-X— film that I later processed in Kodak Microdol-X developer Read More
2024-01-28 11:44
On January 27, 1988, I made this black & white photo on 120 size Tri-X using a Rolleiflex Model-T Read More
2024-01-27 15:57
Over the last few days the WordPress platform has developed glitches. WordPress is the host platform for Tracking the Light and handles the email subscriptions among a great variety of other… Read More
2024-01-27 12:12
Where the Bohemian capital is famous for its beautiful and intricate classic architecture, cobble-stone streets and culture, Most was mostly concrete and heavy industry Read More
2024-01-26 21:51
Paradise Lane was being whipped by a razor's wind. Although the ambient temperature was 20F, with the windchill it felt much colder Read More
2024-01-25 12:21
The combination of a low ceiling, a bright moon and the blanket of snow covering the ground made for interesting evening light Read More
2024-01-24 12:48
We arrived in Austria the previous evening and we poised for a day of photography on ÖBB's famous Semmering Pass, which is one of the oldest mountain railways in the world Read More
2024-01-23 12:04
Bright snow, black locomotive and arctic cold. The contrast between light and dark was a challenge, but the largest difficulty was the fine snow blowing across the open landscape, which blur… Read More
2024-01-22 11:44
On January 22, 2009, I explored the Prague (Praha) suburban station at Praha-Rusyne located to the east of the city center Read More
2024-01-21 10:56
The magnificent bridges at Safeharbor make for great subjects. I’ve yet to see a train at this location. And much to my regret, in all likelihood, I will never see a train on the talle… Read More
2024-01-20 11:32
I was working with Ektachrome du Jour in my Leica M2. I think this was EPP (ISO 100), which was provided to me by Kodak as a sample when I was studying photography at the Rochester Institute… Read More
2024-01-19 14:51
Maine Central 505 was one of the first Guilford Rail System locomotives to be rebranded in Pan Am paint Read More
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