PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAIL AND FOOT A Car-Free Trip BY STEVE BARRY/PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
WHEN IT COMES TO A MAJOR TRIP FOR photography, being mobile is a must. Lugging camera gear, flash gear, and everything else needed to capture the perfect shot takes space. Thus, a trip in October 2012 presented me with a new challenge — I was heading from New Jersey to Missouri by train and all my photography would have to be done in places I could get to on foot or on rail. I was invited to be a speaker at a special travel writing and photography workshop sponsored by the American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation and held at the Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata, Mo. As part of the deal, I was offered an Amtrak trip from New York to La Plata with sleeping accommoda- tions each way. I opted to go out via the Lake Shore Limited from New York to Chicago and return via the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington, D.C. (and a Northeast Corridor train from D.C. back to New York). Travel between Chicago and La Plata would
34 DECEMBER 2012 •
RAILFAN.COM be on the Southwest Chief.
On Thursday, October 18, R&R’s ad- vertising director John Earley gave me a ride from home to Dover, N.J., to be- gin my train travel via New Jersey Transit’s Morris & Essex line to Penn Station in New York. I had sent most of my clothes out to Missouri ahead of me to keep what I was carrying to a mini- mum so I could do exploring between trains at various stops; all I had with me was a camera bag and computer bag. My exploring started right in Penn Station where I found a remnant of old Pennsylvania Station (which was de- molished by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1963 to make way for the present complex) — a door frame from the old station still remained in the Long Is- land Rail Road section of the new sta- tion. The doorway was located right next to a police kiosk, and I quickly ex- plained to the officer on duty what I was doing — shooting a doorway is not illegal, but might look a bit strange.
“Knock yourself out,” the officer
laughed. “It’s all good.” A little indus- trial archeological exploration to start the trip is not bad.
Train time found me settling into a roomette in a Viewliner sleeper. I had a room on the west side of the train for great views of the Hudson River at sun- set and enjoyed dinner in the diner in the final glimmer of light, seated with a gentleman heading to a National Asso- ciation of Rail Passengers meeting in Milwaukee. The meal was tasty, and the orange cheesecake was outstand- ing. The train paused at the Albany- Rensselaer station for just under an hour as the Boston section of the Lake Shore Limited was added to the train for the trip to Boston, which gave me some time to explore the station there. After departure the attendant made up my bed, and I was delighted to find that the bed was even with the window sill; no awkward propping up was nec- essary to watch the lights of the towns
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