Railfanning at Night

Virginian Railway Sep 12, 2012

  1. Eugen Haenseler

    Eugen Haenseler TrainBoard Member

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    Zurich looks familiar to Me!

    I have somme shots from over there

    Sunset in Bakersfield

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  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Great views. The lighting is excellent.
     
  3. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Gallup, New Mexico. Turned on the track lights on the observation car to see what was out there.
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  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Looks like you were possibly tied up for the night?
     
  5. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Just a station stop for Amtrak. You can see the brick platform on the right of the tracks. Probably put there long ago by the Santa Fe. I was trying to stay awake till Winslow, Arizona. I heard there was a girl in a flat bed Ford there, but gave up and went on to my compartment. ;)
    This shows what happens at track speed when you turn on the lights.
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  6. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Great shots everyone! Really enjoying this series.
     
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  7. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    A few more. This is one of my favorites from my albums.
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    No tripod here.
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    The old Texas Limited in Galveston.
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    An old Tex Mex Baldwin.
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  8. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Looking at Cody's excellent photos got me wondering about the lighted cab affecting the engineer's night vision. When driving a car at night, any light within the car, even a bright instrument panel, will give me night blindness and make the road difficult to see, especially the peripheral areas. Can any engineers offer comment?
     
  9. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    The locomotive that is in the hole in that one photo is really lit up inside. I don't see any crew inside. Maybe one is on the ground doing a run by inspection and the other is in the john. The cab of other loco may be illuminated by the headlights on the one in the hole. Aren't they supposed to dim their lights in such situations? (Photo by RDG 7600)
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  10. Hytec

    Hytec TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Russell, I now see that 9588 appears to have an unlighted cab. What appears to be a LCD display is clearly visible, while the remainder of the cab appears to be lit by the opposing headlight as you suggest. I assume you're correct about a stationary crew dimming the headlight.
     
  11. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    Been a while for this thread so I will revive it a little maybe. I took this in Kansas City at the Union Station. No tripod so set the timer and laid the camera on the platform pavement.
    DSCN0271.jpg
     
  12. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    No firmer tripod, Russ! Nice shot. Not everyone carries a tripod in their back pocket.

    MP 16.7 is dark, but an oncoming car far away lights the flanks of the signal apparatus. The Milky Way struggles to pierce the clouds:

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  13. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    During a World's Greatest Hobby show in Fort Worth many years ago, some of the locals dragged a mob of us "out-of-town" folks to an overlook of the UP hump yard there. Was getting dark but at least there was action to watch. Hand held cell phone shots here.
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  14. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    One more from the UP hump in Fort Worth. Flash really lights up the reflective tape.
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  15. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    When I was a teen, I tried a night time exposure on an L&N boxcar. I set the camera on a tripod, closed the lens to f/16 and popped off a handheld flash. It's a bit dark, but not too terrible for a first effort. This was taken in May of 1976.

    1976-05 L&N Bocxar 50 FT Barrington IL.jpg
     
  16. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    Took this tonight while the grandson was at Kung Fu practice in Roslindale Village, (part of Boston). I used a lamp post for stability. The Samson NX300 20.02.24 MBTA MP39 Shoving Inbound at  Roslindale Station Night 1850  SAM_2942.jpg on auto took the pic in 1/80 of a second.
    Side note: This pic is impossible from Spring through Fall due to the foliage on the trees.
     
  17. ddechamp71

    ddechamp71 TrainBoard Member

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    Dusk in St-Jerome, 20 miles north of Montreal, last february the 12th. Unfortunately colours are thus fading. Head-end unit, Q&G #2501, is interresting as it's still registered as a GP35, which was the first time I was seeing one of these units that has now become rather rare... ;) P2130240.JPG

    Dom
     
  18. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    In winter in North Dakota, it stays dark for a while, so railfanning in winter is frequently at night for me. I do still as well as time exposure photos at night.
    Here's an eastbound stacker at the very beginning of blue hour at Soo Tower:

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    The CP Holiday Train rests across Middle Des Lacs Lake at Kenmare, ND during a performance stop:

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    A CP westbound shatters the quiet near Soo Tower in a snow squall:

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  19. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    My night photos are more than just stills, and some of my favs are time exposures.

    At the place where US Highways 2 and 52 diverge ("The Split") west of Minot, ND, the CP Portal Sub main snakes along the Des Lacs River valley floor. Train 498 charges east towards Minot, Enderlin and Minneapolis at a very unholy hour:

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    I dabble in astrophotography as well. Control Point 10.6 is that many miles west of MP 0 at the Minot Amtrak station. Here, a westbound grain train grinds by as the Milky Way rises:

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    A few miles west, Amtrak 8 barrels past a hamlet known as Lonetree:

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    And in my all-time fav, an eastbound cracker stacker drifts over Gassman Coulee Trestle into Minot in an 11-minute time exposure:

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  20. ddechamp71

    ddechamp71 TrainBoard Member

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    What are the white strikes in the sky on the left of the picture ? Satellites ? Airplanes' landing lights ? :)

    Dom
     

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