So a guy with an RB 67 comes into my office ...

summicron1 · Apr 22, 2017

Alan Gales said:
Of course. Who doesn't like trains?

We have a museum of transportation here in St. Louis County. It's great with lots of trains to look at!

http://transportmuseumassociation.org/the-collection/rail/

Oh wow, a Big Boy. We would kill for one of those. They were built specifically to run from Rock Springs to Ogden.

Alan Gales · Apr 22, 2017

summicron1 said:
Oh wow, a Big Boy. We would kill for one of those. They were built specifically to run from Rock Springs to Ogden.

I've been there quite a few times. It's always fun to visit!

Photo Engineer · Apr 22, 2017

Love trains.

Two23 · Apr 22, 2017

lantau said:
Impressive photos! Are you warning those train drivers in advance, that they will have sudden encounters with nuclear powered flash devices in the darkness of night?

No. As long as I'm not too close to the tracks they don't care. I usually stand ~50 ft. or so off the tracks wearing a reflective vest, camera on tripod. They figure it out pretty fast. Keep in mind that outdoors even big flash get swallowed up by the dark pretty quickly.

Kent in SD

Two23 · Apr 22, 2017

spijker said:
[QUOTE="(I have ~10,000ws of flash power. )

Could you elaborate a bit on that. It does the trick for sure. The night shots are nice.[/QUOTE]

I have x8 White Lightning X3200 monolights (each with Vagabond battery pack + trigger) as my "large" lighting system, along with two sizes of reflectors. I use these to cover large objects such as grain elevators, large bridges, etc. I also have x8 Nikon SB-25 flash. These are actually quite powerful when either spread around or ganged up. Snow on the ground doubles the amount of light for exposure. This is one of the three reasons I shoot in winter a lot. Another is it gets dark earlier.

Night photography at 18F below zero:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/24285993691/in/dateposted-public/

Kent in SD

chassis · Apr 23, 2017

Kent great images and thanks for sharing the explanation of the lighting setup.

Arklatexian · Apr 24, 2017

Two23 said:
That engine moves very fast. I've never had good luck catching it with a camera whose top shutter speed is 1/500s. Stationary shots would work quite well, of course.

At night, I had the entire thing to myself.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/31163620912/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/96826069@N00/30562192662/in/dateposted-public/

Kent in SD

A friend of mine decided to shoot most of his locomotive pictures at night using 4x5 Ektachrome. For this he was constantly on the lookout for 3B flash bulbs. He used photoflood stands and reflectors and screwed the 3Bs into the sockets. The results were beautiful......Regards!

Arklatexian · Apr 24, 2017

summicron1 said:
Oh wow, a Big Boy. We would kill for one of those. They were built specifically to run from Rock Springs to Ogden.

it is my understanding that UP is restoring a "Big Boy". It is being converted to oil fired from coal and probably will take several more years to finish so I very much doubt I'll be in any condition to chase it.....Regards!

Two23 · Apr 24, 2017

Yes, the 4014 is being restored and is thought to be finished in 2018 or 2020. I have photos of both the 3985 and 844 running at night. I think I'm the only person who has done that.

Kent in SD

summicron1 · Apr 24, 2017

Two23 said:
Yes, the 4014 is being restored and is thought to be finished in 2018 or 2020. I have photos of both the 3985 and 844 running at night. I think I'm the only person who has done that.

Kent in SD

Yes, he 4014 came through Ogden two years ago. From what I have heard the restoration is going to take a while.

Garratt · Apr 27, 2017

Trains at night! I love both trains and pictures taken at night. So maybe that would make a great topic worth exploring with my new RB67 pro SD. Thanks for bringing that up! The photos are cool. And if I ever come to Ogden, I will surely come to the Railroad Museum.

Garratt · Apr 27, 2017

summicron1 said:
Yes, he 4014 came through Ogden two years ago. From what I have heard the restoration is going to take a while.

I visited 4014 back in 2003 when he/it was still in Pomona, LA. I would never have thought that this dream of mine would come true, Big Boy back on the tracks with lots of breathing and puffing like a dragon. I'll have to save a few bucks to book a flight to the US. Here in Germany we have a famous TV show about trains called "Eisenbahnromantik", I'm sure they will be there, along with thousands of train lovers, I'm sure.

Hatchetman · Apr 27, 2017

I'd give the guy a roll of Tri-X and tell him if it is sunny, set the camera to f11, 1/500. If it is cloudy, f5.6. It will turn out fine.

Vonder · Apr 27, 2017

I can't help but think the guy will think "nope, too much work" and if he comes to the event at all, it'll be with a digicam or cell phone. I've been shooting film all my life and the RB67 is the most unforgiving beast I've ever worked with. I get it, understand it, but there are sooo many ways to screw up with that camera.

On mine the interlocks are "more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules" and of course you have to be a pirate.

spijker · Apr 27, 2017

@Two23: Kent, that's an impressive lighting setup. No complaints from train drivers?

@Garrett: which Garrett is in your avatar? I saw these machines back in 1990 in Zimbabwe, they were impressive too. Wrt the Big Boy restoration, my brother in Germany and I have already agreed that we're going to make a little steam pilgrimage when the 4014 hits the tracks again. We'll see you there.

Garratt · Apr 27, 2017

spijker said:
@Two23: Kent, that's an impressive lighting setup. No complaints from train drivers?

@Garrett: which Garrett is in your avatar? I saw these machines back in 1990 in Zimbabwe, they were impressive too. Wrt the Big Boy restoration, my brother in Germany and I have already agreed that we're going to make a little steam pilgrimage when the 4014 hits the tracks again. We'll see you there.

@spijker My avatar is the Class 59 from EAR. I would have loved to go to Africa and find as many Garratts as possile, but back in 1990 I would have only been able to stare at them with big eyes, since I was a child then. But I think they have a 59 in the Railroad Museum in Nairobi.
Steam pilgrimage sounds awesome, probably I will have to do a very long pilgrimage, since there are many trains and places I want to see. For example the Tehachapi loop and the Williams Loop. We don't have train loops in Germany. The trains we have here are only toy trains compared to American ones.

Garratt · Apr 27, 2017

I have to correct myself: There are probably tunnels that go in a circle (almost), but the trains are too short and the engines aren't built to be used as helpers, so the trains hve to be shorter for technical reasons. That's why I love American trains.

spijker · Apr 27, 2017

Garratt, I don't think you're in such a bad spot. There are a lot of active steam enthusiast groups and active railway museums in Germany. Last summer I was in Triberg along the Schwarzwaldbahn. The 01 519 was pulling a passenger train through the turn tunnels every Sunday. I had figured it all out from home on Google maps. We could catch the train (with our cameras) leaving Triberg station, jump in the car and drive to a point nearby where we could catch it again coming out of a turn tunnel. That worked out well. Got a few scratches from the blackberry bushes along the track but it was all worth it. Then there's the (annual?) event at the Schiefe Ebene near Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg with helper loks (BR 95) giving an extra push. Haven't made it to this event (yet) but the photos I got from my brother and the youtube videos look good. Where I live there's no steam other than the tea kettle. Where in Germany are you? Check out https://www.drehscheibe-online.de/ds_redaktion/ds_termine.php.

I'll see if I can find my slides of the Garratts in Zimbabwe and post some here. We watched the overnight sleeper train leaving Victoria Falls for Bulawayo. Later on we made a stop at the Thomson Junction yard where some Garratts were stationed. People were pretty easy going and didn't mind us 3 youngsters taking pictures. Good memories.

summicron1 · Apr 28, 2017

Hatchetman said:
I'd give the guy a roll of Tri-X and tell him if it is sunny, set the camera to f11, 1/500. If it is cloudy, f5.6. It will turn out fine.

he said he had some 400 film he got with the camera, so that is precisely what I told him. Sure hope he came out ok.

charlie

ac12 · Apr 28, 2017

I hope he did not do what I did with my first roll in a Hasselblad.
I loaded the film BACKWARDS, like I was loading a TLR, so the PAPER was facing the lens, not the film

Alan Gales · Apr 28, 2017

ac12 said:
I hope he did not do what I did with my first roll in a Hasselblad.
I loaded the film BACKWARDS, like I was loading a TLR, so the PAPER was facing the lens, not the film

Fortunately, that is one of those mistakes that you only make once!

I recently bought a Mamiya C220 and was taking flash pictures in a house. I had accidentally bumped the flash lever from X to M. I ruined the whole roll. I found out later that it was quite common for wedding photographers to epoxy the lever into place.

Sirius Glass · Apr 28, 2017

ac12 said:
I hope he did not do what I did with my first roll in a Hasselblad.
I loaded the film BACKWARDS, like I was loading a TLR, so the PAPER was facing the lens, not the film

yes, that is a one time event.

bdial · Apr 28, 2017

Sirius Glass said:
yes, that is a one time event.

Some learning experiences are fun when they happen, sometimes the fun is only in the memory of them.

ac12 · Apr 29, 2017

The camera shop owner and I puzzled over the completely blank roll of film for a while, before we concluded that I must have loaded the film backwards.

Larry the sailor · Apr 29, 2017

I'd been shooting a TLR for almost a year before I got my RB67. Got as far as tucking the backing paper onto the take-up roll before I noticed what I was doing wrong.

So a guy with an RB 67 comes into my office ...

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