Railroad Pan Shots
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Santa Special without the Christmas Tree lights approaching Bewdley Tunnel on the Severn Valley Railway.
I love to capture motion in my still photography and one of my favorite ways is to just capture the wheel sets (trucks) of train cars as they pass. Suddenly, what was before a boring string of intermodal cars becomes opportunities to capture motion and railroading without looking at the whole train itself.
Nikkor 80-200mm AFS f/2.8 @ f/9
Built for the LNER in 1937, and the 100th Gresley Pacific built. Its Doncaster Works number was 1863. It was originally numbered 4498. It is a 4-6-2 locomotive to the same design by Sir Nigel Gresley as the more famous Mallard.
Sir Nigel Gresley is the holder of the postwar steam record speed of 112 miles per hour (180 km/h) gained on 23 May 1959 and carries a plaque to that effect. As with Mallard's record, this was descending southward from Stoke Bank, but unlike Mallard's run which was a special attempt, this was with a full train of passengers returning from an excursion to Doncaster Works. The excursion exceeded 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) on two other occasions on the same day. As the nominated member of the British Transport Commission's Eastern area board.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_4498_Sir_Nigel_Gresley
1H11 Glasgow Queen Street to Inverness. Class 43 Intercity HST power car in Scotrail Inter7citys livery heads north on the HML seen here between Tomatin and Moy. With RTT showing it was 43125 I decided to pan shot this power car as I quite like the power car number 125 matching the class of train 125. With withdrawal from Cross Country and GWR slimming there fleet even more the HSTs days are numbered but for just how long will Scotrail operate these short sets.
UP 6706, ex-CNW 8804 and still proudly wearing CNW livery with the exception of a few patches, races westbound into Blairstown, IA.
Under dark cloudy skies the NS 9293 moves at track speed on the CP River Sub near Kellogg Minnesota.
1M54 Edinburgh to Sheffield. Class 43 Intercity HST 125 power car in stunning Intercity Executive livery operated by Cross Country Trains heads south on the ECML seen here pushing on the rear. With lots of photos taken from the traditional angles it was my decision to go for the pan shot. With a set of ladders balanced on a stone dyke and myself stood backwards on ladder with 18mm focal length it wasn't going to be easy to pull this shot off at this location. I would normally like to be stood further back with a good length of clear track to pan the shot but with bushes and OHL stantions it was a challenge I accepted with great ambition that I feel has certainly paid off.
I got up out of bed, walked out of the SCL caboose I was staying in, and already hear my first train of the day. My camera in hand, I prepare my settings for a pan shot at 1/6 of a second. Here comes a speeding Q121 with an epic pair of YN2s. In the lead is an AC60 in YN2 paint, and one of the very few SD70MACs remaining in YN2 paint.
Burlington Northern 7825 races north with the Galesburg to Northtown train. Approaching Hillsdale, IL.
Photoshop edit of "Running in the 40s" (www.flickr.com/photos/jcnarup513/49219917697/in/dateposte...)
1Z21 Aviemore to Crewe. The Midland Pullman HST seen here with 43049 in stunning Intercity Swallow livery trails along on the rear. As Iam not keen on going away shots the pan shot was to be the composition of choice. with plenty open space and no sun it was typical HML settings.
Class 60 in GBRF livery heads west towards Birkhill working a service from Bo'ness to Manuel. With the rain pouring down it was plan B, pan shot as I didn't fancy setting up the pole equipment as my camera gear would have got soaked. This could have been a seen from anywhere with the driver and second man fully focused on the job.
Since May, I have wanted to learn to do a "pan" shot. I saw a photo on Flickr that blew me away and I knew I wanted to try it. Well, I studied up on it and tried and tried but the thing just never came together but this week, the Bean and I got away for his birthday and we went to Playa del Rey. We spent a glorious few hours photoggin' and we were on this bridge with all these riders going by, it was the perfect practice place! I just had to try. It was one of those giddy moments, let me tell you.
26 October 2025 - Malý Čepčín, Slovakia
Evening Run of the Noble Lady
On October 26, 2025, after the winter time change, dusk was falling early over central Slovakia. Between Malý Čepčín and Jazernica, on the line from Vrútky to Horná Štubňa, the preserved 475.196, of the 475.1 class nicknamed “Šlechtična” — Noble Lady — was heading north with a steam photo charter train coming from Kremnica. The passenger train (without passengers) was organized by enthusiasts with the help of Slovak railway staff, for photography and video runs. The last rays of the setting sun, from behind the photographer, still lit the engine’s flanks under the darkening sky.
© Jean-Marc Frybourg – 251026-1972
Drummond T9 racing through Swithland Sidings on the Great Central Railway. (Timeline Events Photo Charter)
2H82 Kyle Of Lochalsh to Inverness. Class 158 Express in Scotrail Saltire livery heads east towards Achanalt. Decided on a pan shot to show the DMU trundling along the jointed track in the vast wilderness of the Scottish Highlands.
CN’s Grand Trunk Western heritage engine hustles the hot Vancouver bound exports towards Joliet where they will make their turn for the north.
It wouldn't be too difficult to argue that the Milwaukee Road's Skytop cars were the most beautiful ever designed. Here we see Cedar Rapids, a 1948 parlor lounge, bringing up the tail of a deadhead move behind 261 between Chanhassen and Minneapolis, MN. Its companion, Super Dome 53, is nothing to sneeze at either; built in 1952, it and its 9 sisters were the heaviest passenger cars ever built.
A Conrail SD50 (in Conrail Quality livery) leads a mixed freight up the ruling grade on my garden railroad.
Nikon D850 & Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 @ f/5.6
CP 7015 races southbound with the Royal CP officer car special. This was the first run of 7015 after its activation the same day at St. Paul.
3001 chevaux : la puissante locomotive 07-111 de 3000 chevaux construite en Ukraine en 1972 fait la course avec un fier cheval né en Bulgarie à une date que nous ne connaissons pas
3001 horses: the powerful 07-111 locomotive of 3000 horsepower built in Ukraine in 1972 races a mighty horse born in Bulgaria at un unknown date
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• Date jj-mm-aaaa / Date dd-mm-yyyy / Datum / Fecha : 17-10-2022
• Pays / Country / Land / País : Bulgarie / Bulgaria
• Ville ou gare la plus proche / City or closest station / Stadt oder nächster Bahnhof / Ciudad o estación más cercana : Umarevtsi
• Ligne / Line / Bahnlinie / Línea : 224 Trojan - Levski
• Opérateur ferroviaire / Railway operator / Bahnbetreiber / Operador ferroviario : BDŽ Putnicheski Prevozi Ltd
• Type de locomotive / Locomotive type / Loktyp / Tipo de locomotora : CC diesel-électrique / Diesel-electric CC
• Série de locomotive / Locomotive series / Lok Baureihe / Serie de locomotoras : 07 « Ludmilla »
• Numéro d'engin / Road number / Loknummer / Número de la locomotora : 07.111
• Itinéraire ou orientation du train / Route or orientation of the train / Strecke oder Ausrichtung des Zuges / Itinerario u orientación del tren : Trojan - Levski / northbound passenger train Trojan - Levski
• Type de train / Train type / Zugkategorie / Categoría de tren : Train local / Local train
• Numéro du train / Train number / Zugnummer / Número de tren : 24224
On the rear of this steam train was this weathered DRGW caboose, trailing another fiend piece of rolling stock.
1Z21 Aviemore to Crewe. The Midland Pullman HST set powers south on the HML making light work of the climb up towards Dalwhinnie and Drumochter summit.