A New York Central Christmas

All photos taken on this day can be found in Photo Lines here.

Grand Central Terminal; New York, New York; December 21, 2013

A couple of weeks ago we ventured into New York City to take a look at the Centennial Holiday Light Show at Grand Central Terminal in New York. With an unusually warm evening occurring on December 21, I headed back into Gotham for a walk around the exterior of Grand Central and a visit to the former New York Central Building (now the Helmsley Building) a couple of blocks north of GCT. First up was the beginning of the Holiday Light Show -- I had managed to get a slightly off composition of the beginning of the show last time when "GCT" was displayed in the windows, so that was remedied this time.

Grand Central Terminal; New York, New York; December 21, 2013

GCT; December 21, 2013

One the iconic images available in new York is the clock in the middle of the Terminal's concourse, and it drew some attention for a few shots before heading outdoors. All four faces of the clock are made from high-grade opal, and the clock is valued at somewhere between $10 and $20 million. If you need to meet someone in New York, meeting under the clock is probably the most famous place to do such a thing -- four generations have met here through the decades.

Helmsley Building

As I said, the evening was quite pleasant so I headed outside and walked north several blocks. The New York Central Railroad had offices next to Grand Central Terminal, and that building survives today, now known as the Helmsley Building. The impressive structure is lit throughout the year (as is Grand Central), but for the holidays it receives a red, green and blue treatment.

Grand Central was opened in 1913; the New York Central Building was built in 1929 as part of "Terminal City" and was designed by Warren & Wetmore (who also designed GCT). At 35 stories tall, the NYC Building dominated the skyline around the terminal until the construction of the Pan Am Building (now the MetLife Building, opened in 1963).

Helmsley Building; New York, New York; December 21, 2013

From there it was back to Grand Central for some exterior shots. At this point I'll wish you a Merry Christmas and leave you with a few scenes from outside Grand Central.

Grand Central Terminal; New York, New York; December 21, 2013

Grand Central Terminal; New York, New York; December 21, 2013

Grand Central Terminal; New York, New York; December 21, 2013

A Georgia Evening at Jesup

All the photos from this day can be found here.

CSX Transportation; Jesup, Ga.; December 15, 2013

In mid-December my mother needed a car delivered to her in Florida, so my brother Bruce and I drove to the Sunshine State with some photography along the way. We'll be bouncing around with different parts of this trip for a few posts, starting with what was actually the fourth day of the trip. The morning of December 15, 2013, was spent in Augusta, Ga., (more on that in a futire post), then we headed over to the CSX main line at Jesup, Ga., for the evening. We had ATCS Monitor running on a laptop, and as darkness fell we could see on the display that there would be a northbound and southbound train converging on Jesup shortly after sunset. The southbound was closer, so we set up for that, but it was held north of town for the northbound. This required us to figure out a good northbound shot given our lights were more oriented for a southbound. Soon the northbound appeared as the last glow in the sky was vanishing.

CSX Transportation; Jesup, Ga.; December 15, 2013

CSX; Jesup, Ga.

We set up near the railfanning platform just south of the station and shot the train going away (top photo in this post). The passing stack cars allowed us to test the lights for the southbound train, and produced some interesting images themselves. Once the northbound was out of the way, the southbound appeared and we got the shot we had originally set out to get (below).

CSX Transportation; Jesup, Ga.; December 15, 2013

Amtrak; Jesup, Ga.

We knew a northbound Amtrak train was in the picture, running about an hour late, so we relocated to the "Welcome to Jesup" arch just north of the station. Shortly after the freights cleared, Amtrak made its station stop. ATCS Monitor also indicated a freight was running north as well; once Amtrak had finished loading and was out of the way, we stuck around for the same composition with the arch.

The northbound could be heard blowing its horn for the crossing just south of the station. We manned our cameras, and as the locomotive came into the scene we clicked the shutter (below). We were a bit surprised to get an Amtrak train in the photo -- our "freight" turned out to be the northbound Amtrak Auto Train! With nothing else showing on the computer display, we tore down our equipment and headed into Florida.

Amtrak; Jesup, Ga.; December 15, 2013

Cool Chromes -- More Cabs

Cool Chromes is a semi-regular feature where we dig out some old slides and run them through the scanner.

Norfolk Southern; Vaughn, Va.; July 29, 1987

A few weeks ago in Cool Chromes we looked at "cab" units -- the streamlined four-axle F-units and six-axle E-units from the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (other locomotive manufacturers had their own versions of cab units). Today we'll look at a few more, starting with a trio of Southern Railway FP7s at Vaughn, Va., on July 29, 1987. FP7s took the four-axle concept, usually used on freight locomotives, and added features to make them more usable on passenger trains (primarily a steam generator for steam heat for the coaches) -- thus the "P" in FP7. The photo above shows the three Southern units (at this time employed by Southern successor Norfolk Southern) hauling a trip to the National Railway Historical Society convention in Roanoke. This trip departed Alexandria and headed across northern Virginia on the former Southern "B" Line between Manassas and Front Royal, where it  diverged onto the Norfolk & Western's Shenandoah Line down to Lynchburg. The position light signals give this away as being on the N&W.

Metro North; Roa Hook (Peekskill), N.Y.; August 22, 1992

Up next we have the oddball cab unit -- the five-axle FL9. Designed with two axles in the front and three in the back, it was originally intended for long-distance passenger service in the west where a large tank for water for steam heat would be needed. It was never used in that service, however, and instead found a home on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in short-distance passenger service. The New Haven made them dual mode locomotives, capable of operating as conventional diesels most of the time, but equally capable of operating as electric locomotives off of third rail for use into New York City's Grand Central Terminal. where diesel fumes were not wanted in the terminal or the long Park Avenue tunnel leading to it. The duo above is seen in service of New Haven successor Metro North on the former New York Central above Peekskill, N.Y., at a location known as Roa Hook. That's the Hudson River off to the right.

Canadian Pacific; Old Ottertail (Field), British Columbia; September 2000

Next we'll head north of the border to the Canadian Pacific. Here we have FP7s again, but this time we have an FP7A and an FP7B -- the "A" has a cab for the locomotive crew, while the "B" is a cabless booster unit (normally, the "A" is implied when referring to cab units and is often dropped from the model designations). This train is the Royal Canadian Pacific, a luxury train that carried about two dozen passengers who were pampered by about two dozen crew members as the train did a multi-day tour of the Rockies and Selkirks of western Canada. The RCP no longer runs, but the trainset is still used by CPR for business purposes. The train is seen here at a classic CPR location known as Old Ottertail near Field, British Columbia, in September 2000.

Erie 834; Hoboken, N.J.; June 1991

We finish off our look at cab units with a set that has appeared on this page before. We see "Erie 834" at Hoboken Terminal after pulling an excursion for the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey in June 1991. No. 834 is an E8, but it never worked for the Erie in real life (it actually worked for the New York Central); it was painted by the URHS in the Erie scheme as a tribute to a railroad that once served the Garden State. As such, it and sister 835 (actually a former Pennsylvania Railroad unit) were given the next highest numbers after the E8s that the Erie actually operated (833 was the highest).

Patience at Stony Beach

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool; Stony Beach, Sask.; August 26, 2013

Stony Beach, Sask.

There is no doubt that part of the allure of the Canadian prairies are the wooden grain elevators that appear on the horizon as you approach many towns. The number of the classic elevators has plummeted over the past two decades, with hundreds being torn down into the early 2000s. Over the past decade the carnage has slowed, as the surviving elevators have been purchased by towns or farmer co-ops for storage or to preserve the scales located inside.

The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool controlled hundreds of elevators in its namesake province, but about ten years ago began disposing of the few wooden elevators it still had, consolidating its operations at much larger high through-put (HTP) elevators. As the elevators were sold, the Pool painted over its logo, leaving just the words "Saskatchewan" and the town name (and in some rare cases, the Pool elevator number) on the building.

That brings us to Stony Beach, a small town (and calling it a "town" is being generous) on a Canadian National branch line located about halfway between Regina and Moose Jaw. The CN transcontinental route runs much farther to the north on its way to Saskatoon; the Canadian Pacific main line, however, is parallel to this branch just a few miles south. The elevator at Stony Beach is unusual for two reasons; first, it retains its Pool logo and, second, it's painted barn red and lacks the silver sheathing that most Pool elevators had.

Stony Beach, Sask,; August 26, 2013

On August 26, I arrived at Stony Beach at about 3:45 in the afternoon along with George Pitarys and my brother Bruce. We knew a local train worked the branch out of Regina in the afternoon, but beyond that we didn't know much more. With no one around, we set about photographing the elevator from a bunch of different angles; of all the elevators we had seen on the trip, this was about the best. The dirt grade crossing, despite our best efforts to tell, was inconclusive in determining if the train had come through or not. Just as we settled in to wait, a road grader pulled up and stopped. George quickly ran over to ask the operator if he had seen a train during the day. The reply did not make us happy; we had missed the train by about 15 minutes. Still, this was a stellar location and we still had a couple of days in the area; we would be back.

That chance came the next day. We had chased a Canadian Pacific train from Loreburn almost into Moose Jaw, with one of the highlights being another great Pool elevator, this one at Elbow. Unlike Stony Beach, Elbow was in the more traditional Pool silver; like Stony Beach, it retained its Pool logo. In fact this one was preserved as a museum.

Canadian Pacific; Elbow, Saskatchewan; August 27, 2013

Our chase ended at about 2:30 we were not far from Stony Beach and right in the window the train was due. Arriving at the elevator at about 3:30 we checked the dirt grade crossing; the flangeways were full of dirt and debris and we were 90 per cent sure the train had not run yet. With clear skies and great light on the elevator, we vowed to stay until the train came or the light gave out.

Dragon fly at Stony Beach

However, 3:30 became 4:30, then the clock moved to 5:30 and still no train. We amused ourselves by watching and photographing the numerous dragon flies that seemed to like our car's antenna. The sun was getting lower and lower, but there were no clouds; we'd have good light right down to the horizon. Finally at 6:30 the railroad radio had good news for us, as we heard our train leaving Regina 22 miles to the east. With a track speed of 25 m.p.h., it would take just about an hour for the train to get to us. And the sun was getting lower and lower. With the flat terrain and straight track we saw the headlight in about 30 minutes; still, the train was close to ten miles away still -- another half hour -- and the sun was getting lower and lower. But the headlight got closer, the sun stayed above the horizon, and at 7:30 the three of us stood at the grade crossing and pushed the shutters of our cameras -- pretty much simultaneously -- and got the shot we had waited four hours to get! Success!

Canadian National; Stony Beach, Saskatchewan; August 27, 2013

Into the setting sun at Stony Beach

This was really closer than we wanted it to be; the sun hit the horizon less than five minutes after the train's passage, and another two minutes after that the light had dimmed considerably. But what a way to finish the day! Our tradition for the trip was to pick "the shot of the day" at the conclusion of each day and "the shot of the trip" when everything wrapped up. We were hard-pressed to pick one for this day, however, as both the shots at Elbow and at Stony Beach were outstanding; in fact, they were hands down the two best shots of the trip. But there is no doubt the time spent at Stony Beach will make it the story we will continue to tell when the topic of this trip comes up. And the best part of any trip is the stories that we tell later.

Photos from the first day at Stony Beach and the rest of that day can be found here. Photos from the second day, including the chase on the CPR, can be found here.

Random Ramblings -- The Day I Ran a Conrail Train

Random Ramblings is a semi-regular feature mulling over an esoteric photo or two.

Conrail; Beesley's Point, N.J.; December 27, 1992

The holiday rush of 1992 was winding down, and I was beginning to get the urge to do some photography. The second day after Christmas, December 27, was bright and sunny and I headed over to Winslow Junction, N.J., to see what equipment the Southern Railway of New Jersey had sitting around.

At Winslow Junction there are three lines. The former Central Railroad of New Jersey is at ground level, making its way from Red Bank to Bridgeton. Two other lines, both former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, run perpendicular to the CNJ and parallel to each other on elevated routes a few hundred feet apart; both cross the CNJ on bridges. The southernmost bridge was being used by Conrail to access the coal-fired power plant in Beesley's Point near Ocean City. The northern bridge was (and still is) New Jersey Transit's line between Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

While photographing the dead power on the SRNJ, I heard a Conrail train blow for a nearby grade crossing. I quickly set up for an over-under shot of the train with SRNJ stuff beneath. I was surprised to see the trailing unit on the southbound coal train, however -- Conrail SD40-2 No. 6373, which had been painted in a commemorative scheme for the U.S. Cycling Federation Olympic Trials and National Championships held in Altoona, Penn., earlier that year (Altoona was home to Conrail's primary locomotive repair shop).

Knowing that the USCF unit would be leading the train back (and would look really good on the timber trestle near Petersburg, N.J., I decided to give chase. At the long storage track near Dorothy the crew dropped all the hopper cars and continued south with just the light engines. I kept the chase going, though, since I wanted to keep track of them for the return trip. At the last grade crossing before the power plant at Beesley's Point, however, the locomotives came to a stop and the conductor came over to me. "Give me a ride to Wawa," he said, "and we'll let you run the engines." Well, that was too good to turn down, so I took him to the nearby convenience store so he could get some coffee and food.

Back at the train, the crew told me about a dirt pullover along the tracks where I could leave my car. I met them there, and they promptly put me into the engineer's seat of the lead locomotive, SD40-2 No. 6461. I ran the two units into the power plant where the conductor jumped off to get some paperwork. While he was doing that, the engineer and I switched ends and switched locomotives -- I was now running the Conrail USCF unit! I ran it back to my car and got off, then the engineer changed ends again and ran back into the plant to get his conductor and the outbound train. After about an hour the train emerged from the plant (lead photo above) and the return chase was on.

I went directly to Petersburg and set up for the shot I wanted and nailed it (below). With teh sun rapidly setting into the December sky, I packed it in and headed home. Not only did I get to photograph the elusive USCF Conrail unit, though -- I got to run it.

Conrail; Petersburg, N.J.; December 27, 1992

Cool Chromes - Switching Around

Cool Chromes is a semi-regular feature where we look at slides that have recently passed through the scanner.

New York, Susquehanna & Western; Little Ferry, N.J.; August 1988

Today's edition of Cool Chromes celebrates the lowly switcher, the workhorse of the railroad. We'll start things off with an NW2 built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in June 1948 (above). This engine originally ran for the New York, Ontario & Western, which was abandoned in the late 1950s. The locomotive subsequently became the property of the New York, Susquehanna & Western, which painted in back into the NYO&W colors. It is seen here at the Susie-Q's now-gone engine facility at Little Ferry, N.J., in August 1988 during a night photo session for the convention of the National Railway Historical Society.

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Joliet, Ill.; October 1990

Next up is a pair of SW1200s, also products of EMD, working for the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. No. 322 was built in June 1964 for Kansas City Terminal while No. 300 was built in June 1960 for the EJ&E. We see them switching in front of the EJ&E shops in Joliet, Ill., in October 1990.

Harvest States; Superior, Wisc.; September 1991

Our third chrome features at least two SW1s (also from EMD) working the Harvest States mill along Lake Michigan in Superior, Wisc. No. 15 was built in December 1941 and began its life working down south for the Louisville & Nashville. In the background is No. 200, built im March 1953 for the Portland Railroad & Terminal Division in Oregon.

Potomac Electric; Alexandria, Va.; September 1979

We'll finish off with an unusual locomotive. Potomac Electric Company used a steam locomotive to switch its Alexandria, Va., facility until late 1979. No. 43 was built by Heilser in 1938 and is a "fireless cooker" -- it burns no fuel of its own, but instead would plug into the power plant's steam line for a charge of steam that would keep it running for a couple of hours. We see it here in September 1979 during a tour for the NRHS Convention. No. 43 would be retired shortly thereafter and now resides in the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore.

It's Christmastime In the City

All the photos from this trip can be found in Photo Lines here.

Grand Central Terminal; December 7, 2013

I've been traveling into Grand Central Terminal in New York a lot this year -- after all, this is the building's centennial year. I've been there to shoot exterior night shots, there for the centennial on February 1, back for the Parade of Trains in May, and probably another couple of trips. So it's only fitting as the year winds down I headed back into GCT for the final big event of the year -- the Centennial Holiday Light Show.

Naturally the best way to get into GCT is by train, and I picked a place to leave my car that was both convenient and provided a photo angle I had not tried before. So, after leaving my car on the fifth floor of the parking garage at White Plains, N.Y., I headed up to the eighth floor to shoot a northbound set of Metro North M3s in the low afternoon sun.

Metro North; White Plains, N.Y.; December 7, 2013

After shooting this I headed down to the platform to catch a southbound into the city. Despite the fact that this was a local train (which makes more stops and is much slower than the frequent express trains), the platform was fairly crowded with shoppers, sightseers and Santa's helpers heading in.

Metro North; White Plains, N.Y.; December 7, 2013

On board Metro North

Grand Central Terminal; Dec. 7, 2013

Arriving at Grand Central with a few minutes to spare before the start pf the light show, I toured the holiday sales area in Vanderbilt Hall which seemed to be a very crowded mall with really tiny stores. Then it was off to the east balcony to set up for the light show, which would be projected in the windows on the west side (top photo in this entry).

The half-hour show repeats continuously from 5:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m., so once it was underway I took advantage of a behind-the-scenes tour that was offered by a friend. In each of the windows in the arch there is a scrim with a light bar below it. These are in the walkways that go across the archways at each end of the terminal. The third floor passageway is seen in the photo above. In all, there are 350 window panes in each of the archways. As the lights change colors, they can make designs, rough pictures and even letters.

GCT; Dec. 7, 2013

Heading to the east archway, I had the chance to look out from the third floor on that side of GCT at the light show across the main concourse. With its ceiling of constellations, towering arched roof and massive pillars, this is one of the grandest (and perhaps most famous) rooms in all of railroading.

GCT; Dec 7, 2013

The light show is also visible from the outside of Grand Central along Vanderbilt Avenue. I set up a tripod on 43rd Street (tripods are not permitted in the building -- I used a railing to steady the camera for the lead photo in this story and a combination of low shutter speeds, high ISO's and a steady hand for the other interior shots) and captured the light show with the Chrysler Building overhead.

Finally, it was time to head back to White Plains. The light show, which is sponsored by Toshiba, runs through December 26. Naturally, once I got home and looked at the photos on my computer I noticed a lot of things I would do differently, so a return trip may be in order. Grand Central Terminal is always impressive -- you won't have to twist my arm very hard.

For a more detailed look at the light show itself check out this story here.

Garden State Pot Pourri

Black River & Western; Ringoes, N.J.; October 27, 2013

Norfolk Southern; Stanton Station, N.J.

During the late fall I got a chance to clean up on some odds and ends around my home state of New Jersey. One thing I hadn't had a chance to do was shoot Black River & Western 2-8-0 No. 60 since it returned to service (after a decade-long absence) last year. The forecast was good and No. 60 was finishing up its Halloween runs on October 27, so I headed to Hunterdon County in search of steam.

The foliage in central New Jersey has a tendency to change late in the autumn, and with time to kill before No. 60's first run I headed over to the Lehigh Line (the former Lehigh Valley Railway now operated by Norfolk Southern) to look for freights. I paused near Stanton Station where I found some colorful leaves and was rewarded with an eastbound (inset) followed by a westbound (below).

Norfolk Southern; Stanton Station, N.J.; October 27, 2013

Black River & Western; Ringoes, N.J.

From there it was over to the Black River & Western. I think the most intriguing place on the line (at least photographically) is the abandoned cement plant just outside Ringoes. One shot I really wanted was the train passing the plant from the private driveway nearby. The train and sun cooperated and I had my shot in the bag early (top photo on this page).

On the opposite end of the train was a former Lehigh Valley SW1 locomotive, used for the backup move from the pumpkin patch near Ringoes to Flemington (where the trips originated). One shot I hadn't counted on getting was of the diesel heavily backlit as it led the train back past the cement plant; the steam locomotive on the opposite end put out a white plume of smoke that allowed a real nice silhouette of the diesel and its crew (below). All the photos taken this day can be found here.

Black River & Western; Ringoes, N.J.; October 27, 2013

On November 7 I headed down to southern New Jersey after work and stopped in at the former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines station at Sewell. This line runs between Camden and Millville and is owned by Conrail Shared Assets (itself jointly owned by Norfolk Southern and CSX Transportation). I had tried night shots at the wood frame station before with very mixed results. One night the train didn't show up. Another night the train was right on time and one of my flashes didn't fire. This night was pretty good, though; the train showed up about an hour later than expected, but when it got into position everything worked (below).

CSX (on Conrail Shared Assets); Sewell, N.J.; November 7, 2013

Norfolk Southern; manville, N.J.

The last segment of this post covers another elusive target for me -- the Norfolk Southern business train. Powered by a set of streamlined F-units from the 1950s, the train has been all over the eastern U.S. for several years now, but I never encountered it. But with a timely tip that it would be running on the Lehigh Line from Manville to New Jersey's Chemical Coast, I headed to central Jersey on November 21 to nab it.

The train loaded its business dignitaries on board at Manville, but one group was late allowing an eastbound freight to pass (inset). In the meantime, full sun had given way to high clouds, but as the dealys wore on the day cleared off again. Finally, about an hour and a half late, the train made its way through Manville (below) on its way to show NS customers some new facility that NS would be serving. All the photos taken this day can be found here.

Norfolk Southern; Manville, N.J.; November 21, 2013

Cool Chromes -- Passenger Trains Canadian Style

Cool Chromes is a regular feature that looks at some recent slides that have passed through the scanner.

GO Transit and VIA Rail Canada; Toronto, Ontario; September 1986

In this edition of Cool Chromes we'll head to the Great White North for a look at some passenger trains in the Toronto-Montreal corridor. Our first stop is on the Bathurst Street bridge in Toronto (also a great place to watch streetcars) in September 1986 as two trains you won't see anymore head out of Union Station (both trains are going away in this shot). On the left is a GO Transit commuter train, complete with a de-motored F-unit as a cab car. On the right is a VIA Rail Canada train made up of Rail Diesel Cars. Today VIA only uses RDC's on some remote services.

Canadian National; Junction De L"Est, Montreal, Quebec; June 1989

Next we'll head over to Montreal. It's June 1989 and the ancient electric locomotives hauling passenger cars between Gare Central and Deux Montagnes are on short time. In just a few years the line would be upgraded and the locomotive-hauled trains that passed through the Mont Royal tunnel would be replaced by new multiple unit electric cars. I had thought I only shot these in bad weather, so it was indeed a pleasure to discover I actually spent a sunny day along the line.

VIA Rail Canada; Sainte Anne de Bellevue, Quebec; June 1989

From that same trip in 1989 we find a VIA Rail Canada train using the LRC equipment (Light Rapid Comfortable) built by the Montreal Locomotive Works for high speed service. The low-slung cars allowed for faster speeds on curves; indeed, long after the sleek locomotives were retired, the cars continued in service behind conventional passenger diesels and still retained their higher speed limits. Here we see a complete LRC trainset with locomotives at both ends racing along the Canadian National away from Montreal.

Societe de transport de Montreal; Dorion, Quebec; September 6, 1987

We finish off our quick visit to Canada just a few miles from and two years before the previous shot. Now we're at the layover yard for the commuter service provided by Societe de transport de Montreal between Dorion and Montreal. An annoying yard light was making this shot difficult (this was lit using old fashioned giant No. 2 flashbulbs) and a worker graciously turned off the light, leaving teh yard mostly dark for the flash work. Today the F-units are gone. As are the LRC's in the shot previous. As are the electrics before them. As are the RDC's and the F-unit cab car in the first photo. A lot has changed in the Canadian passenger scene in 25 years.