Trains

This is a view of the insides of the roundhouse where the steam and diesel locomotives and tender cars are maintained for the rides given at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA. You can walk around a series of catwalks and watch the maintenance men work on the locomotives and get a real feel for the true size of these machines and what it takes to keep them in peak operating condition.

I shot this as a series of five bracketed Raw frames and combined them into a HDR (high dynamic range) image but this time I decided to use some new techniques from a training video by Matt Kloskowski available through KelbyTraining.com. Matt shows how to use Photomatix Pro to create HDR images with an emphasis on maintaining that realistic look instead of the overdone look of HDR that many folks, me included, fall so easily into using.

I highly recommend KelbyTraining.com for all sorts of training on Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, specific photography techniques like studio lighting and for all sorts of other topics. They even have Moose Peterson doing videos on location showing techniques for photographing birds and wildlife of all kinds. Neat stuff that you can watch at your own pace.

For more information on the Steamtown National Historic Site click here

Tagged as: HDR, Photos, Trains

Originally built by Baldwin as a 2-8-0 around 1923-1925. Rebuilt by the Reading Company, outshopped January 1947 as a 4-8-4, class T-l, Northern. This heavy freight engine pulled long trains of anthracite coal, the Reading’s main cargo. Used in the Reading Company’s “Reading Rambles” excursions. Purchased by Nelson Blount in 1963. One of nine remaining Reading Company locomotives. It weights 278,200 pounds.

From my trip to Steamtown in Scranton, PA on 4-25-2009. Shot as five bracketed Raw frames and combined with Photomatix Pro to create a single HDR (high dynamic range) image.

For more information on the Steamtown National Historic Site click here

Tagged as: HDR, Photos, Trains

This is Union Pacific Steam Locomotive # 4012 which resides on the grounds of the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA. It’s one of the “Big Boys”, a series of Locomotives that were designed for hauling large loads of freight (3600 ton train) over mountains passes in Colorado and Wyoming where the incline was often up to a 1.14% grade.

The 25 Big Boys were built in two groups. The first group, called “class 1″, were built starting in 1941. They were numbered 4000-4019. The second group, “class 2″, were built in 1944. They were numbered 4020-4024. The last revenue freight pulled by a Big Boy was in July of 1959. Most were retired in 1961. The last one was retired in July of 1962. As late as September, 1962, there were still four operational Big Boys at Green River, WY. Most of the Big Boys achieved over a million miles of service during their working life.

The overall length of this locomotive is 132 feet, 9-1/4 inches. It was retired by the Union Pacific in February 1962 after logging 1,029,507 miles. The locomotive cost the UP $265,000 when it was built in the 1940s. The train weighs 1,189,500 pounds and was designed to be operated at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour.

The one at Steamtown is not in operational order and could use some sanding and a good coat of rustoleum but she is still a beautiful machine. For many years, 4012 was displayed in the front of the Lackawanna Station Hotel in downtown Scranton. In 1993 after bridges between the Hotel and Steamtown were replaced, 4012 was moved into the yard at Steamtown.

For more information about Big Boy # 412 visit this page>/a>. For more information on the Steamtown National Historic Site, visit their web site.

Tagged as: HDR, Photos, Trains

Nickel Plate Road class S-2 “Berkshire”-type steam locomotive. Gift 12/1966 of Norfolk & Western Railroad. This was the first locomotive donated to Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA and can be found in the outdoor train yard, where trains await restoration. The locomotive weights 440,800 pounds and was built in 1944. Only five of the original thirty S-2 series that were built still survive, the rest were sold for scrap.

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

For more information on the nickel plate road class S-2 “Berkshire” Locomotives, visit this page

Processed from five bracketed frames using Photomatix Pro to create an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo.

Tagged as: HDR, Photos, Trains

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.

I had my first opportunity to visit the outside restoration yard at the museum and found a lot of great history waiting to be captured out there. There were trains from the Reading Railroad, Septa and a multitude of other rail lines.

Taken on Sunday 3-29-2009 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Strasburg, PA.

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

Processed from five bracketed frames using Photomatix Pro to create an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo.

Tagged as: HDR, Photos, Trains