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.
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.
Saw B&O "Sunburst" 4253 as the second unit on an eastbound autorack train in Germantown, MD in the middle of the night sometime in the early 1990's. He wads elephant style.Happy to see you got a shot of it in reverse.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Scott. I chased that old GP30 all over the Met and beyond, back then. Glad I did - it was a lot of fun.
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