Paradise 101 - Caribbean Blue

In 1993 I visited several Caribbean islands as I cruised aboard Carnival's Festivale. The ports of call included St. Thomas, Dominica, Martinique and Barbados. While there wasn't time to get to know any of these fascinating places, there were at least photo opportunities galore...

Magen's Bay - St. Thomas, USVI

Roseau, Dominica (It's not all sun and sand!)

Rainforest - Dominica

Crystal Bay Beach Club - Barbados

Crystal Bay - Barbados

This is how palm trees look when you're too comfortable to get up off your beach towel to photograph them. Martinique.

Festivale at sunset - Barbados.

Water Island - St. Thomas, USVI

Norfolk & Western Class J #611

I'm not going to say much about this gorgeous 4-8-4 streamlined locomotive built in N&W's Roanoke, VA shops in 1950, except that it is a special piece of machinery.** It blends speed, elegance, beauty and raw power like few other machines could ever hope to. I was fortunate enough to ride behind #611 on two Alexandria, VA to Front Royal, VA excursions - in 1992 and 1994, not long before she was retired to N&W's museum. The color shot above is from the 1994 trip, during the train's photo run-by west of Manassas, VA.

Okay, pretty much the same shot as the top one, but really - steam trains should always be photographed in black & white. This image captures the same photo run-by during the April, 1992 trip.

Say what you will about railfans and old fogeys giddily snapping pictures of trains, but I have it on good authority that getting the opportunity to work on one of these old steam engines was a very big deal for Norfolk Southern employees, young and old. Above, we see the engineer and fireman roll by in reverse as a couple hundred cameras clicked and camcorders buzzed in 1992.

Exciting? Yes. Loud? You bet. Safe? Not entirely. 10 out of 10 for style, though! (1992)

The two detail shots above are from the color batch taken in 1994, as #611 rested at Front Royal, VA. I had been riding in a coach about 16 cars back, so by the time I walked to the head end to have a look at the idling steamer close-up, there were throngs of people already there. Photos were taken from every imaginable angle, many people stood in line for a shot of the front of the engine, others waited for a chance to talk to and photograph the crew. #611 was a celebrity to these people and it was hard not to get a little caught up in it. If I could have gotten that engine to sign an autograph for me, I would have.

Finally, this shot from the 1992 run-by is one of my absolute favorite photographs. The small reproduction here doesn't quite do it justice. I just love the smoke and the steam - blasting out of relief valves onto the ballast and out of the whistle - clinging to the cab, the tender and the first couple of cars. The 210mm zoom compressed out most of the sense of velocity, but at this point the #611 had a legitimate head of steam and was probably approaching 45mph. The sound was something I will never forget.

** Well, I tried not to say much. I just couldn't stop myself. No apologies, though - I love that locomotive and I don't care who knows it!

Thanks for visiting! Next up, I head back to the islands...

Basic Training

I have been fascinated with trains since I was a child, but I didn't start making a semi-serious effort to photograph them until early 1991. I have approximately eleventy-five bazillion photos of trains now, so it's been a challenge to select favorites to post here. I've gathered a nearly-random sample of five shots from 1991-1992 below. All were shot along the Metropolitan Subdivision of CSXT's former Baltimore and Ohio line, between Kensington, MD and Brunswick, MD. The banner photo above is a tracks-eye view of what was left of Brunswick's yard in 1996.

Above: Westbound auto racks rumbling through the defect detector at Rock Creek, just west of Kensington, MD in 1991 - in one of my very first railfan shots. Yes, I'm pretty sure that headlight is out. No, I have no idea why.

Idling coal drags at Brunswick, MD in August 1991. The SD50 on the right and GP40 on the left, still sporting Chessie System colors, had yet to be repainted in the CSX blue and grey scheme.

For much of the early 1990s, MARC Rail employed CSX power on many of its commuter trains. Rolling past Brunswick station, this F7-A (former CRR, I think) is on the east end of a special Railroad Appreciation Days excursion from Brunswick, MD to Martinsburg, WV and back, in 1991.

Okay, the shot above is far from perfect. I've got motion blur, an overexposed nose and my focus is about halfway back on the lead engine, thanks to firing a quarter-second too late. I don't mind all that, because bright sunlight on a train (and trees!) with dark clouds in the background is one of my favorite settings. It was still 1991, and I was still learning to shoot these things. Empty coal trains (this one is coming off the Old Main Line past Point of Rocks, MD) can be awfully fast!

This 1992 photo of GP30 #4253 as the middle unit on the westbound (empty) "Rock Runner" crossing Randolph Road near Rockville, MD goes in the "lucky shots" file. My friend and railfan mentor and unofficial life coach had given me a heads-up that this engine was coming and that it was facing backwards, so I had pre-focused and composed the shot, but the train was absolutely flying, so getting it in the right spot was just luck. This engine, with its rare B&O "sunburst" paint scheme, has a story all its own for me and my buddy, but that's another post for another time.

Life's A Beach: Rehoboth Beach, That Is!

Before we start on the trains, I thought we'd hit one more beach. For about the first 30 years of my life, I spent annual vacations in Rehoboth Beach, DE. I spent more time playing than shooting photos, but over the years I managed to come home with a few agreeable shots. I could drone on and on about my affection for this little seaside town, but I'd better just let the pictures do the talking. Above, we have the Distinctive Family Umbrella, at dusk, in 1987.

This late-afternoon shot of the Oak Avenue dune crossing was taken in 1997.

The WWII military observation towers above, which are still standing, are seen here being battered by the high surf churned up by 1999's Floyd, several hundred miles offshore and at this point a weakening tropical storm.

Kites. What can I say? Pretty! September, 2001.

Our beloved Funland's old facade, as seen in 1985.

By 2001, Funland was a mixture of the old rides and games we'd known as children, and the big bad modern attractions required to keep the park in business. This long exposure actually captures some of each.

One ride will never be replaced - the carousel. This may not technically be the park's original, but it is still the centerpiece of the indoor portion of Funland. I chose to go time-lapse on this one to give the ride a bit more drama.

Another time-lapse exposure, also from 2001, shows Rehoboth's Boardwalk, looking north toward the famous Dolle's sign.

Coming Soon: I begin to learn the art of photographing trains...