Railroad Photography Junction
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Weather turned quite storming in parts of Montana on the afternoon of July 8, 2022. My brother Tom, his son Charlie and I were waiting on Montana Rail Link’s Helena local to descend Winston Hill and head to Townsend to switch the lime plant there. We relocated to a different spot as lightning, thunder, wind and rain made the rural crossing at Whitehorse Road seem too open for comfort. As the storm passed, we again decided to go back to Whitehorse Road since the dark clouds would be receding in the background making for a nicer sky than we had closer to Townsend. It ended up being a good decision.
A short time after we arrived there, the sun poked out of a tiny hole in the clouds to the west and illuminated the scene, just as the eastbound local’s headlight could be seen to the northwest! MRL’s Helena local, powered by a vintage EMD GP9 No. 109 and EMD SD45 No. 355, sprinted downhill past our location in bright sunlight. We all got some nice shots, and when I was reviewing my photos in the quiet time after the local’s passing, it revealed something that I have never been lucky enough to capture in my forty plus years of railroad photography. In one of the frames, a lightning strike in the Big Belt Mountains appears in the background above the SD45 on the short four-car local! For the record, the train was moving at track speed, the photograph is 1/800 of a second, f8 and taken at 200 ISO—and was pure serendipity!
Eastbound Western Maryland Railway freight train at Helmstetter's Curve in Cumberland, Maryland, on March 23, 1975. Photograph by John F. Bjorklund, © 2016, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Bjorklund-92-07-04
Dv12 locos 2739 and 2750 hauling T 5280 from Iisalmi towards Ykspihlaja (Kokkola). Train is arriving in Pyhäsalmi to meet other train coming up on opposite direction.
Northbound Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad freight train in Delta, Ohio, on March 15, 1980. Photograph by John F. Bjorklund, © 2016, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Bjorklund-51-25-05
The Rochester and Southern CSX interchange train, symboled Z436 on CSX, crosses over High Falls on a summer's evening.
Today we celebrate the life and legacy of all of our friend, Jim Wrinn. It's tough to believe it's been a year since we lost him, but I know I took his advice to all of us to heart. Last year, I took the trip to the Arizona transcon I had always wanted to take since I was a little kid. One afternoon in Kingman canyon, as the monsoons were rolling in, the light on the vintage Santa Fe bridge was simply spectacular. I sat quietly hoping I'd get a westbound, or an eastbound with a DPU, in order to properly showcase this amazing scene. Sure enough, along came an eastbound with a correct facing DPU, allowing me to get this surreal shot literally minutes before the storms rolled in. Every morning the alarm goes off that I don't want to get out of bed, I remember his words, grab my coffee, and set out to partake in this wonderful hobby of railfanning and railroad photography. Get busy living: you're damn right.
Moved Forward
Honored and Humbled that this photo placed in the "Judges Also Liked" category of the 2014 John E. Gruber Creative Photography Awards Program of the Center For Railroad Photography & Art
Thanks to the Judges at the center for giving my photo consideration
www.railphoto-art.org/2014-awards/judges-also-liked/
A Canadian National Freeport Sub train hits a 3 foot snow drift at 50mph
I figured with this being upload number 1000 to my Flickr account, it should be a personal favourite.
This was my first shot of my first trip to Montana. I was solo and had a good old fashioned paper map and some print outs of other peoples shots from the web. After driving down from Saskatchewan and spending the night in East Glacier the next morning I awoke to a perfectly clear sky. Although this spot was just a few minutes from the motel, I wound up missing a perfectly lit eastbound by seconds. Instinctively I wanted to chase it, but that would have meant leaving this fabulous spot and who knows, maybe there would be another one right behind it.... Less than ten minutes later this grain empty popped into view and set against snow capped mountains, frosted evergreens, fall foliage and lifting morning fog I took my first and possibly favourite Montana photo.
I quite enjoy the little hub of railroad photography that has come to exist on Flickr and the daily dose of fresh photos it gives all of us. Maybe I'll start digging around for another favourite for upload 2000.
Rovaniemi - Helsinki IC 24 pushed by Sr3 3343 heading towards the south after departing a moment ago from Seinäjoki.
Northbound Delaware and Hudson Railway freight train with Lehigh Valley Railroad power passing under Starrucca Viaduct at Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1975. Photograph by John F. Bjorklund, © 2016, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Bjorklund-82-20-01
Does it get any better than this?
Two bought new GP40-2s and a second hand GP38-2 lead a 120N from Whittier headed to Anchorage seen crossing the 20 Mile River bridge at MP 64.7 on the ARR mainline a half mile north of the junction with the Whittier Branch. In the decade I spent in Alaska March was my favorite month for rail photography every year. Long days of nearly 12 hrs of light but still winter like conditions sans sub zero temps made for railroad photography nirvana as this image apty demonstrates!
Portage, Alaska
Sunday March 12, 2017
All is quiet in the small town of Cisco, IL except for the hum of the grain elevator dryer nearby. An old Illinois Central depot decorates the town’s historical scene and a grain elevator looms overhead. There hasn’t been a train into Cisco for a few months, a false sign from the loaded grain hoppers east of town.
The MRL "Day Gas" notches up as it passes the Eddy station sign with the usual pair of SD70ACe's in charge.
A pair of Buffalo & Pittsburgh SD60s work BPRR's Buffalo Creek yard after running up from Salamanca earlier in the day. A thick fog has rolled into the Buffalo area, and will persist until the crew finishes their switching and starts to return south to Salamanca.
Pendolino 57 from Helsinki to Vaasa was replaced with Sr1 3030 and IC consist due to technical difficulties.
A trio of UP GEs lead westbound stacks across the Canadian River canyon at Logan, NM, on the Golden State Route.
I've been trying to get an afternoon westbound at this location for years, and while the last time I visited one did manage to come through in the waning evening light, it had a dingy looking NS unit leading. Having not been out doing much railroad photography lately, I decided it was time for another 3 hour drive to sit and wait and hope. This time, Uncle Pete delivered not 10 minutes after I arrived, giving me little time to set up. I'm pretty pleased that it all finally came together here, though!
Dv12 2563 and 2625 hauling a short tanker train from Ykspihlaja (Kokkola) towards Iisalmi at midnight.
After completing a incredibly quick recrew at the grade crossing north of this shot, the fresh crew aboard the CN "Arch Job" takes the train the final few miles into Flat Rock yard southwest of Detriot.
Dv12 locos with empty cellulose train passing by lake Kalliojärvi on it's way from Oulu towards Uimaharju.
A pair of Wheeling and Lake Erie SD40-2s notch up their train as they cross the trestle spanning the town of Castle Shannon, PA in the fading evening light. This bridge is one of the more unique ones out of the numerous trestles on the ex P&WV, as many of the second track spans have been removed to allow for better clearance for the light rail that runs underneath.
After a day full of shooting NS, I got a heads up from my friend Charlie Wood that the Wheeling was still messing around in Rook yard over 2 hours after they went on duty. After making a quick pit stop at my apartment, I headed for this shot at Castle Shannon. When I arrived, Charlie let me know they were just finishing their brake test and about to leave. We were both hoping that they would be quick as the evening light on some of the larger trestles further south would be fantastic. Unfortunately, they weren't very fast from the yard to here, and they would arrive at most of the trestles in darkness. Or would they...
Sr1 3108 with freight train T 5022 starting a long journey from Kontiomäki towards Kotka on a partly cloudy autumn afternoon.
A trio of orange GEs work their way up Stevens Pass on a bare tables train, having just crossed the Wenatchee; we'd hoped we might be able to get in for a bridge shot, but there was an very healthy amount of snow on the ground.
I spent a few days in Seattle, mostly hanging out with longtime friend David Honan. We’d met through our shared love of railroad photography about 15 years ago, though neither of us have been foaming much lately. We spent a day shooting trains on Stevens Pass, and while the light wasn’t perfect, we had a great time.
There are certain locations in American railroading photography that have become iconic over the years. But a few of them, like the shot of Amtrak trains under the Cherry Blossoms leaving Union Station, take a little bit of extra luck. The peak bloom often only lasts a few days, and the weather is wildly unpredictable. However, conditions this past friday morning were near perfection to showcase the stunning beauty of the blossoms at full bloom, as a southbound Amtrak crossed over the Washington channel, bound for long bridge and a trip down the RF&P for a crew change in Richmond.
Southbound loads of iron ore pellets take the curve at Munger under the DWP Mainline as a storm sets in on the horizon.
Die 182 572 "Wir brennen für das was wir tun" mit dem DGS 59900 Regensburg Ost - Bremerhaven Imsumer Deich bei Kerschhofen gen Norden
The 182 572 "We are burning for that what we are doing" with the DGS 59900 Regensburg East - Bremerhaven Imsumer Deich near to Kerschhofen on the way to the north
I usually take at least a few days off every October to do Fall foliage railroad photography, but this year was the first time I ever took a full week off in October. The first few days I focused on photography, while the rest of the week into the weekend was all about time with the family. I thoroughly enjoyed it--especially the Fall fun with the family--and I will likely do it again if I'm able.
For Monday, October 10th, the weather forecast wasn't that great. However, I've had success on cloudy days in October shooting Vermont Railway's B&R Job between Rutland and North Bennington, so I headed up to Rutland in hopes of catching that. Unfortunately--despite all the recent repaints--a leaser led on the B&R. So, it was back to the drawing board...
On the drive up, however, I had heard that RDBD (Rutland to Burlington) had the VTR 201 leading, which I knew had been recently repainted. Furthermore, I thought, "Hey, wasn't that paired up with the VTR 209 (also a recent repaint) recently?" So, I headed north. I caught up to the train by New Haven where it was switching. Sure enough, 201 and 209 were the power for the train! Despite the weather, it was a nice little chase north, and an even better chase back south, including a miracle "sucker hole" at Middlebury.
This shot at New Haven was my first shot on the northbound chase. In this case, the overcast skies actually helped as this otherwise would have been harsh light.
VTR Train RDBD
New Haven, Vermont
October 10, 2022
I kidnapped my dad for an afternoon of railroad photography on Father's Day, 1986. We caught up with Amtrak's California Zephyr in Price Canyon, Utah, with a sparkling clean Rio Grande tunnel motor on the point. He proclaimed this to be a perfect gift for one of biggest Rio Grande fans on the planet. He still talks about it, even today.