Always In Training

All this writing about hoboes has me missing my trains. Or, missing the photographing of the trains, at least. Here's a sampling of shots from 2008 and 2009. Above, a westbound and empty coal train comes off the Old Main Line at Point of Rocks, MD in May, 2009.

Eastbound mixed freight splits the new signals at Barnesville, MD in May of 2008.

I miss the old B&O target signals. Change is bad, mmkay?

Another eastbound at Barnesville, later that same day.

Westbound Q400 rounds the big curve at Thomas Viaduct in Relay, near Baltimore. The tracks branching off to the left are the Old Main Line. This train will pass them again at their other end, in Point of Rocks.

Coal rumbles through Washington Grove, MD in the Spring of 2008.

Steam rises from the wet ties as the temperature quickly moves from the 50s to the 70s. Washington Grove, 2008.

I hate snow, but this morning at Washington Grove in January, 2009 was fun. Here comes the empty trash train, returning to the transfer station a mile or so away, to load up with more rubbish.

One spring morning in 2009, this old engine - the last un-rebuilt GP40 on the CSX - puttered by with a short work train. Just visible on the right, beyond the bridge, is a privately-owed old caboose, languishing in the sun.

At the west portal of the old Point of Rocks tunnel, empty auto-racks rattle westward, en route to Detroit to be reloaded with new cars.

Thanks for stopping by. More to come, as my hobo lifestyle permits...

Random Raily Stuff From PoR and Gaithersburg - 2009ish

Train break! Eastbound Q401, with elephant-style power on the lead.

A rare unit train of sulfur tankers, westbound passing Metropolitan Grove Road.

Old Main Line to Baltimore on the left, Metropolitan Branch to Washington on the Right and E. Francis Baldwin's gorgeous Point of Rocks station in-between.

It's a SIGN!

A tiny new tree grows among the bones of an unlucky deer near Point of Rocks.

Point of Rocks Tunnel - west portal. Boo!

Ghost trains and weird noises and shiny rails.

Then this little guy fluttered by.

Sometimes, I love my mistakes.

Rocks was the place to be on this Summer day, as storms and their awesome thunderheads were all over Frederick county all afternoon.

More later. A bit more fun with the baby panda, some funky time exposures in the dark . . . and Carolina Lighthouses. Eventually.

A Life Less Ordinary

The Dolles sign following the 1998 NorEaster in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Not the first time a storm absconded with that "D" - and certainly not the last.

"Bart's End." I shot this sad scene next to the railroad tracks at Point of Rocks, MD on a whim in 1996 and promptly forgot about it. Looking at it now, I think it has far more to say than a lot of my photos. Symbolism 101: What does it MEAN? Discuss.

It's wall-to-wall pandamonium at the National Zoo, ladies and gentlemen! (2008 photo)

Chickens in the street! It's not quite the composition I had wanted, as I only had a few seconds, but I love that there are wild chickens in Key West, sharing Greene Street with locals, tourists and the occasional Hemingway cat. (2000)

Who needs opposable thumbs? Here, my old pet corn snake, Bubba, has pushed his shoebox lid "house" over his water dish and (mostly) hidden beneath it, awaiting mice from the sky. Frederick, MD - 1995.

Retro McDonald's sign, found on US Rt. 1 near Jupiter Island, FL in 1999.

Molly the cat would sit in literally anything. Rockville, MD - 1996.

More symbolism: A school bus stop along US Rt. 50 in The Middle of Nowhere, WV in 1997. "Mama says we don't need to know nuthin' 'bout no book-learnin' - now get off the property!"

Seeya!

Trainless Railfan Days

It is possible to spend an entire day sitting by railroad tracks and not see a single train. That isn't always a bad thing, especially if you're willing to get dirty, climb trestles and shoot everything you find. Above: Looking west on the CSX bridge over the Monocacy River near Dickerson, MD in 1993.

Okay, so there is ONE train in this set, but it's far away and of little overall consequence to this composition. This is westbound CSX Q397 approaching the east end of the yard at Brunswick, MD in 1992.

Winchester Station in Winchester, VA - 1997.

Old B&O target signal at Barnsville, MD - 1995.

It's not always pretty. Grafton, WV is the second ugliest place I have ever seen. Sorry, midwestern city who shall not be named here - you're still number one. This shot includes CSX "D" Tower and the hulking old B&O Railroad Willard Hotel, both of which stand as symbols of the Great American Railroad, as well as its decline. The year was 1997.

"WB" Tower in Brunswick, MD in 1999. One of the last of its kind.

The iconic B&O station at Point of Rocks, MD in 1991. Its church-like appearance is no accident. It was designed by E. Francis Baldwin, a devout Catholic responsible for many of the B&O stations in Maryland, as well as several churches and seminary buildings.

The east portal of the Sykesville, MD tunnel on B&O's Old Main Line.

Silver rails and the old "HO" Tower at Hancock, MD - 2001.

Slightly less silver rails leading into the yard at Brunswick, MD in 1991.

Right. I think that'll do it for trains for a while. Miles to go before I get to my digital material...

Trains In Black And White

Trains look older when photographed in black & white. We railfans tend to like our trains old. Above: Idle Power at Brunswick, MD in 1993.

CSX GP40 #6223 emerging from the west portal of the Point of Rocks, MD Tunnel in 1999.

At the same location, but facing west, the eastbound Q216 is captured in 1997 with the C&O Canal tow path and the Potomac River in the background.

Q398 rumbles east through Dickerson, MD in 1993.

At Riverside Shops in Baltimore in 1993, this ex-Burlington Northern E-9 has received its new MARC identifiers and awaits a "67" number board.

In 1992, westbound Amtrak train #29 "Capitol Limited" rolls toward its first stop in Rockville, MD. It will be in downtown Chicago by lunchtime tomorrow.

Two shots of a CSX freight heading east out of Cumberland Yard and past Mexico Tower at North Branch, MD in 1992.

A train robbery reenactment at the old Western Maryland Station in Cumberland, MD in 1996.

Westbound Q217 approaching Cumberland Yard in 1992 and not making nearly enough noise.

Check back for more. So much more...

Look To The Sky

Clouds have always intrigued me as a photographic subject. From a technical perspective, they're usually not difficult to shoot. The trick is to compose an image with the right amount and complexity of cloud cover, and to put the clouds into an appealing context. Before the days of digital photography and at-home editing software, the composition challenge was far greater. It was still just as much fun, though. The frame above is a crop from one of my shots of a Barbados beach in 1993.

Sunbeams - Thurmont, MD - 1999 (Shot by [Maris] on an Olympus Stylus point-and-shoot 35mm camera. That little camera had an incredible piece of glass in it, and that little woman has a hell of an eye.)

Clouds Behaving Weirdly - Harpers Ferry, WV - 1999.

Old Cape Elizabeth Light - Cape Elizabeth, ME - 2004. After slogging through a wall of torrential rain from Brunswick down east to the cape, we were rewarded for our patience here and at Portland Head Light, which will be featured in a future post.

Weird Sky at Point of Rocks, MD - 1997. It was really that color - no filters or retouching!

Sunset over Germantown, MD - 1996.

And one over Burtonsville, MD - 1996.

Storm clouds lit by the sun setting behind the camera - Germantown, MD - 1997.

B&O Railroad Museum and Skyline, shot from Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD - September, 1993.

Thanks for stopping by!