Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Trains of New England
Okay gang - before we wrap up the 1998 trip to New England, here are a few parting shots to illustrate the fact that yes, there are trains and mountains here. The shot above is probably only remotely interesting to railfans - and even then, not very. This southbound Amtrak train, stopping at Kingston, RI station, is unremarkable. The diesel engines, however, would soon be replaced by electrics, as the infrastructure was nearly complete in the project that electrified the Northeast Corridor from Connecticut to Boston. Okay - even *I'm* bored...
The little rolling tourist trap above is the Old Colony Scenic RR in Newport, RI. Under-appreciated old equipment, but oh, the VIEWS...
A saddle-tank steamer, relegated to holding a paper company's PR office in place. Maine. The way life should be.
Yorkrail GP-9. I know it doesn't look like much to you non-railfans, but trust me - that machine is OLD. And that's cool. Think "'55 Chevy..."
Mt. Washington Cog Railway. Note the inclined boiler on the locomotive. Utterly unique. Best tourist trap east of the Mississippi.
... using the cogs in the center "rail" and a gear-like wheel - not unlike old wooden roller-coasters. It's hard to describe, really. Go there. Try it. Love it. Tell 'em Joe and [Maris] sent you. They'll say, "Who?" but that's okay.Saturday, January 16, 2010
More Fun In New England
Our first trip to New England (in 1998) resulted from a check of the national weather map the night before our week off. We were simply following the sun, but we ended up falling in love with the whole region - especially the rural and coastal areas. Above is Spring Point Ledge Light near Portland, Maine, shot with a hand-held 500mm mirror reflex lens at a range of about 3 miles.
Boston Harbor and Graves Lights, MA. This photo makes me crazy. It is fraught with technical problems, but I love the composition and the hazy softness. I will definitely re-shoot this, someday.
Whaleback Light, ME. Another one that will need to be re-shot, but just in case it's gone next time we get up that way - here you go!
Turning inland from the Portland, ME area and making a few wrong turns, we found ourselves deep in moose country. The moose we encountered were entirely too cranky to allow us to photograph them, so we settled for this moose crossing sign.Thursday, December 31, 2009
Lights of New England
I'M BACK!! I still have eleventy bazillion more negatives to scan, but for now, let's take a quick trip through New England. In 1998, we drove the coast from Connecticut to around York, Maine (skipping the Cape Cod area, which warrants its own trip), before turning inland. Here are some of the lighthouses we found along the way. Things were still pretty random, back then. Watch for later posts, in which the actual photography just gets better and better. Above: Jameston, RI proves that not all lighthouses are pretty (Beavertail Light).
New London, CT (guarded by police on horseback - they're afraid it will try to make a break for it).
Old Scituate Light - Scituate, CT. It has a cool story about little girls thwarting the British here, but we can't remember it right now.
Fort Pickering Light - Winter Island - Salem, MA. Gorgeous spot. Lighthouse and sailboat are just bonus.
Goat Island Light - Off Cape Porpoise, ME. This was shot, hand-held, through a 500mm mirror lens - no easy task. I'll just go ahead and say the "soft" focus was my idea. And [Maris] loves it.
Cape Neddick "Nubble" Light - Cape Neddick, ME. One of Maine's perfect lighthouses. More shots of this one are sure to come.
Portland Head Light, at Cape Elizabeth, is Maine's other perfect lighthouse. It's so over-photographed from the sides that I actually waited for a very cold hour for this people-free shot looking straight out to sea. That's Ram Island Ledge Light, off to the left. (More shots of these still to come - we went back in 2004.)Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Bottom-feeders - An Ode
Buzzards know carrion when they see it. The scavengers above know exactly what they're doing. Kent County, MD - 1998.Thursday, November 12, 2009
=OUT OF ORDER=
While we're waiting for the photo blog repairman, here's another dose of photographic whimsy. Above, a work train gondola, tagged by the legendary Cool Disco Dan (or some poser - it looks authentic to me, though), Brunswick, MD - 1991.
Skipping back. (I'm out of order? No, you're out of order. This whole COURT is out of order!) Alcatraz Island, as seen from Where Everybody Sees It - Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco, CA - 1987.
Jumping to March, 1993 - this is the aftermath of the wreck of CSX S-216 at Germantown, MD. Those are mushed new cars, retrieved from shredded auto-racks at the bottom of a 40-foot ravine.
Falling WAY back, to Spring of 1982, this is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO - shot on 126 cartridge film with my Instamatic. I kid you not.
Hurtling forward through space and time to 1998... this is the view looking northeast from the summit of Spruce Knob, West Virginia's highest point. That's yours truly's shadow at the lower left.
Zoom - it's 2004 and we're in Maine. Barely visible through the morning mist is a tiny harbor and a lobster house where they probably don't take American Express.
Six years prior, here's a 1998 shot of the Shenandoah Skyline. There was meteorological shenanigans afoot; that streak of white is a low-hanging cloud deck unto its own self.Okay -Now I have to get back to what I was supposed to be doing. OR.... find something else to do that isn't what I'm supposed to be doing! Hmmm...
Seeya!
Labels:
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Maine,
railfan,
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