A look inside the engineer’s cab of the Reading Railroad Switching Locomotive # 1251. The 1251 is one of nine remaining Reading Company engines. This engine was the last standard-gauge steam locomotive in daily operation on a class one railroad in the US. It was built by Philadelphia & Reading Co. in September 1918 from parts of a I-8 2-8-0 Consolidation and was retired from regular service on Feb. 9, 1963. It last ran on 1966. The 1251 is what is known as a “Tank Engine”, so called because it carries its water supply and fuel on board itself, rather than in an attached rail car called a tender. Such locomotives are often used as switchers in rail yards, and for relatively short runs. If you are familiar with the Children’s book and TV show series “Thomas The Tank Engine”, Thomas is modeled on this type of locomotive. Shot at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA back on 3-29-2009.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image.

When I was inside this boxcar I was taken by the way the exhibit lighting was hitting these milk cans and the way the wood grain was in great contrast to the metal of the milk cans. I sort of felt like a Hobo riding the rails if only for a few minutes. Shot at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site atwww.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image.

“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.” – Theodore Roosevelt

A look at a cart that was used during the unloading of freight from railroad cars in the 1800′s. Shot at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site atwww.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image before taking it into Photoshop CS5 and applying some effects with Topaz Adjust 4 to bring out the wood grain. I’m really happy with the way this one turned out.

A look inside a passenger car from the Pennsylvania Railroad. PRR class P70 built in 1928 by the Standard Steel Car Company. Those seats were not very comfortable. Shot at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site atwww.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image. It was a bit of a tight fit with the tripod in there.

Built in 1905 and weighing 141,000 pounds, this Pennsylvania Railroad 1223 Locomotive is one of three existing engines of the PRRD16sb Class. It has a 4-4-0 (2 B) wheel arrangement. In 1960, the 1223 was leased and transferred to the Strasburg Rail Road, a tourist line in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, where it was returned to operating condition. It operated tourist trains there until 1990, successively leased by the PRR, its successor Penn Central from 1968, and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania from 1979. While in operation, it had Strasburg Railroad lettering on both cab sides below the number. #1223 is now a restored static exhibit at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania across the street from the Strasburg Railroad where it operated for many years.

To see a video of the 1223 (along with Locomotive # 7002, click here.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site atwww.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image.

Pennsylvania Railroad No. 5901. PRR Class EP20. Purchased 12/1976 from Penn Central Corp. Restored by RMPA to late 1940s-early 1950s appearance. 1st psgr diesel on PRR. It has a fuel oil capacity 1200 gallons and weighs 315,000 lbs when fully loaded. More information on this locomotive can be found on this page.

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, PA.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image.

Pennsylvania Railroad passenger coach cars line up for “departure” in front of the rail station facade within the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The coach in the foreground is # 3556, a PF class, built in Altoona Pennsylvania in 1886. It is made of wood construction. You can see the summary engineering drawings for its construction here.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at 1/3rd stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image to create the final product.

Locomotive 7002 has a long and sorted history. The original 7002 engine was built as a class E2 in 1902 for the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway as engine #2 (renumbered to 7002). In 1905, on the maiden westbound run of the Pennsylvania Special (renamed the Broadway Limited in 1912), the train was clocked by the conductor’s stopwatch over a 3 mile run west of Crestview, Ohio, at a record speed (for a steam locomotive) of 127.1 MPH. This claim is disputed by many as being “unofficial”. PRR #7002 was rebuilt to a class E7sa in August 1916 and scrapped in December 1934. When the PRR was looking for an E7 class locomotive for preservation, they refurbished No. 8063 an E7s from PCC&StL and substituted 7002’s engine number and builder’s plate. The engine was donated to Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1979 and put into operating order by Strasburg Rail Road where it ran for a number of years, sometimes double-heading with PRR D16 #1223. It last operated on December 20, 1989.

You can see a video of this magnificent machine in operation on the Strasburg Railroad back in 1985 by clicking here.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames at .7 stop increments and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image before doing the black and white conversion with Silver FX Pro in Photoshop CS4.

The indoor station area at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.  Because of a very demanding work schedule, I haven’t picked up a camera in a month so I decided to go down to the Museum because it’s one of my favorite places to shoot and I wanted to try out some new techniques.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at <a href=”http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml” rel=”nofollow”>www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml</a>.

This self propelled diesel passenger rail car had a carrying capacity of 90 passengers. They were built by the Budd Company in Philadelphia between the years of 1949–1962. A total of 398 were built. The car features a stainless steel body, 85 feet in length, an air braking system and a hydraulic torque converter transmission. It was powered by twin GM 110 diesel engines manufactured by Detroit Diesel which was a subsidiary of General Motors. The cars were primarily adopted for passenger service in rural areas with low traffic density or in short-haul commuter service, and were less expensive to operate in this context than a traditional locomotive-drawn train. The Lehigh Valley Railroad owned two of these RDC-1 cars (#s 40 and 41).

More information on the Budd RDC-1 can be found on www.budd-rdc.org/.

Taken back on Saturday 8-22-2009 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, PA.

For more information on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image to create the final product.

One of the hazards of shooting multi bracketed shots like I do for HDR images is that any movement between each shot introduces the chance for ghostly apparitions, especially with people and cars. Knowing this, I actually shot these seven shots with the intention of seeing how ghostly I could make the other museum visitors appear. When you look at some of these old trains and imagine all the hundreds of thousands of passengers many of them transported during their hay day, it isn’t hard to image there may be a few ghostly passengers still hanging around.

The E44 was an electric, rectifier-equipped locomotive built by GE for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between 1960 and 1963. They survived through the PRR and its successors (Penn Central and Conrail) until Conrail abandoned its electric operations in the early 1980s. They were acquired by Amtrak and NJ Transit, where they lived short lives; all were retired by the mid-80s. Amtrak #502 (PRR & PC #4465) is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, restored to its PRR paint (Brunswick green with the PRR’s Keystone logo). The locomotive is 69 ft 6 in long, 10 feet wide and 15 feet tall. It weights in at 384,600 pounds. When it was in service it had a top speed of 70 MPH and had a power output capacity of 4,400 horsepower.

For more information on visiting the museum, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames then combined into an HDR and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro with some extra work done in Topaz Adjust.

Conrail locomotive No. 2233. PRR Class EF22 No. 2233. Gifted to the museum on 3/1998 of Julia Sanders. Serviceable. Restored 6/2002 by Norfolk Southern to 1976 Conrail appearance.

For more information on visiting the museum, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames then combined into an HDR and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro with some extra work done in Topaz Adjust.

Reading Railroad Diesel Locomotive # 903 was one of the first six FP7s ordered by the railroad in March 1950 to replace passenger steam locomotives. It and sister Reading 902 were completed on June the 1st of that year and delivered to the Reading via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The pair pulled their first train on June 6. In the following years, the two locomotives sometimes worked together, and sometimes were split, depending on the size of their trains.

SEPTA inherited the units in 1974, and they were renumbered by the new Consolidated Rail Corporation in 1976, the 903 becoming 4373. It was the first FP7 to receive SEPTA paint in February 1978. During the SEPTA years, the FP7s usually operated in push-pull. SEPTA ceased all diesel-operations in 1981, and the locomotives were retired.

Locomotive 903 was purchased by the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) in September 1983 and was stored at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania along with its sister, the 902, which was owned by the Lancaster Chapter of the NRHS. Restoration on the two began in 1986 and was completed in 1995.

This was my second trip to the outside restoration yard at the museum. The one locomotive I knew I definitely needed to re-shoot was the 903. The last time I shot her I didn’t feel I did anything with the composition so I wanted to try incorporating the tower from the Strasburg Railroad which is located across the street.

Taken on Saturday 8-22-2009 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, PA.

For more information on the museum, visit their web site at www.rrmuseumpa.org/index.shtml. For more information on the FP& diesel locmotives, visit this site.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image to create the final product.

These two railroad bridges stand over the Fishing Creek in Columbia County Pennsylvania and are located right next to Rupert’s Covered Bridge.

I shot this back on 5-16-2009 as five bracketed RAW frames and then combined them into an HDR with Photomatix Pro and finally, tone mapped that image to create the final product. Unfortunately there was some wind blowing the branches to the left around in between bracketed frames resulting in some motion blur there.

Railroad crossing sign at the old WK&S Train Station in the small village of Wanamaker, PA.

I shot this as seven bracketed RAW frames then combined them into an HDR and tone mapped them in Photomatix Pro.