Steve Gentry spotted this WFRX GP15 March 9, 2021, it was sitting on the site of the old L&N station in Evansville. The old L&N station was located on Fulton Ave close to Ohio Street. It has a fresh coat of paint. The track it was sitting on services a couple of downtown Evansville locations. Apparently 560 is being assigned switching duties at Berry Plastics in Evansville.
The Oriental Limited is slowly easing by No. 5012, having just exited the original Great Northern Cascade Tunnel in Washington State. Cameras were poised to record the last westbound train over the old snowshed route. But, instead of a happy group of tourists on the back platform of the observation car there was a solitary passenger bundled up against the chill.
This unhappy circumstance was remedied by replacing the lone passenger (by photo retouching) with Wenatchee’s Apple Festival Queen and her Ladies in Waiting before release to the press. The next westbound Oriental Limited will pass through the newly completed 7.79 miles tunnel, several hundred feet below. That tunnel opened on January 12, 1929.
The Oriental Limited was the Great Northern’s premium passenger train prior to introducing the streamlined Empire Builder in 1947. And you thought photo-shopping and spin-control was something new…!
Submitted by Gary Ostlund. – Pix’s by Lee Pickett, Index, WA ., as seen in Charles & Dorothy Woods book: Great Northern Railway a Pictorial Study
My favorite toy! Year 2000, 100th Anniversary Lionel train set. Santa Fe, 11 cars: four engines and 7 passenger cars. O-Gauge, 0-31 minimum radius, set length 165” (13’, 9”). Longest train set Lionel had ever made at the time. – Bill Corum
Ricky Bivins shot all but one of these from his home in Mortons Gap, KY
President Keith Kittinger adds a helix to his HO scale model railroad. This route will lead to the new Morganfield Branch.
An employee of the L&N Railroad in Paducah, Roy was instrumental in fighting the abandonment of the L&N trackage between Paducah and Murray. In 1981, he incorporated the Western Kentucky Railroad Company in an attempt to purchase the line. Although negotiations were unsuccessful, his efforts delayed abandonment and gave time for Jack Dunigan to create the J&J Railroad from Hardin to Murray. – Submitted by Chris Dees
Have you ever imagined “what might have been” if certain proposed railroad lines had
been built, or if routes had been slightly altered to go to City A versus City B? On-line and inperson
research at libraries can shed some very interesting stories of would-be rail barons
that failed to reach their dreams of pushing steel rails into America’s new frontier during the
1800s and 1900s. Even as late as 1965, Illinois Central’s Kentucky Division Track Profile
contained a proposed line from Providence to Dawson Springs.
An 1891 map of Kentucky’s then current and proposed rail lines available through the
Library of Congress’ website shows another railroad closer to the Pennyrile Region. This line,
the proposed Henderson & State Line Railroad, was to run from Henderson southeast toward
Bowling Green and Scottsville via Hartford. Mr. S.K. Sneed of Henderson was the H&SL’s
president and tried to obtain funding through bond issuances in Henderson in 1899 to
construct his railroad “from the foot of the L&N’s Ohio River bridge”. Unfortunately, the H&SL
had some stiff competition with the LH&StL between Henderson and Owensboro, and the
O&N between Owensboro and Russellville.
A March 28, 1899 Owensboro Messenger news article clearly stated “if the success of
the Henderson & State Line depends on aid from Henderson, it will never be built.”
Two map segments showing proposed Henderson & State Line Railroad (H&SL).
The engineer has just opened the throttle to get underway. When an operating steam engine sits, unmoved for any period of time condensation builds in the cylinders. Steam and air can compress, water and vapor cannot. So, when the train is to be moved the engineer must open the cylinder cocks at the bottom of the piston chamber and let the movement of the piston drive out the moisture. Obviously, it is not a safe place to observe, note the seagull scrambling to exit the scene.
In the picture, the Great Northern mallet # 2050 is exiting Interbay Yard in Seattle, with a long freight. Snow in Seattle is not rare, rather, just an annoyance to be dealt with. Having snow and cold temps does enhance the drama of steam and smoke, however.
That’s Queen Anne hill in the background, with city center beyond. Soon this freight will cross Bridge #4, over the Lake Washington Ship Canal trekking north along Puget Sound. Its destination could be Stevens Pass and points east, or continue north to Bellingham or Vancouver, B.C.
Our two oldest kids learned how to count watching slow moving boxcars from this same vantage point. We lived in nearby Ballard in ’61 & 62. All diesel by then, darn.
Credits: Hall Will Collection, Museum of History & Science, Seattle
Submitted by Gary Ostlund
Shooting trains at night can be troublesome so I here’s a few tips on shooting at night using manual settings. You can also shoot on auto, but you’ll get better results if you use manual as the headlights from a train can “fool” your camera on auto. Also, many folks photograph trains at night using flash, but that’s another ball of wax and involves a lot more work and I won’t be covering that in this article.
First and foremost are two things. Use a tripod and turn off your VR on your camera or lens, otherwise when shooting it can cause blurry images when shooting on a tripod. If your gear doesn’t have it then you don’t need to worry. This applies if you’re using a tripod.
For best results use the fastest lens you have with the fastest shutter speed. if you are hand holding also use the highest ISO you can, but no higher than you must, and when hand holding use the VR if you have it. It’s also a good idea to brace yourself against something to help hold the camera steady when hand holding at night.
Shoot a test exposure based on what the camera tells you. If it’s too dark, increase the exposure, too light, decrease it.
Join other night photography groups on Facebook so you can see what other people are doing and how.
Use the self-timer when possible when shooting at tight. It helps eliminate camera shake from when you press the shutter. Better still, get an electronic cable release.
Learn to manually focus your camera. Auto focus at night can be troublesome.
If your camera has a setting for Locking the mirror up before taking your picture, then use it. When shooting at night, sometimes the slap of the mirror can cause camera shake.
Pop over to YouTube and watch videos on shooting at night. There’s a wealth of them available and free!
Here’s a few good ones.
Here’s some articles on the subject as well:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/railways-at-night-pictures/index.html
https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/when-steam-locomotion-ground-to-a-halt/
Night photography of trains and railroads can be very dramatic and enjoyable, but it can take time along with some trial and error till you get used to it, but very rewarding. When trackside at night or anytime always remember to be safe!!
I lucked out with a friend at Fortner Gas here in Madisonville. He let me know about the spur upgrade so I could get some shots. Just a few days after it was completed, I caught the local headed that way with some loaded tankers and got the switching action on camera. The cab shot in the trackmobile was a surprise bonus for me! Fortner has become a regional supplier of propane with this new transloading facility across from the Madisonville Industrial Park off Hwy 41A in Madisonville, Ky.
Notice the little touch of re-engineering on 4302’s panel door above! Yes, I got to couple up to the tank car and blow the horn! – Photos by Bill Thomas