A Model T Fordposes by the 1875 4-4-0 Eureka & Palisades No. 4 taking water at Hermosa, Colo., while visiting “Railfest” on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
doubleheader, or occasionally a tripleheader, with multiple locomotives coupled together at the front of the train, or with a locomotive pushing behind the caboose or mid-train. Another great photo opportunity is a ride in the caboose cupola. In the days when ca- booses were still part of freight trains, rear brakemen would ride in the cupola to watch the train ahead for any developing prob- lems, such as a smoking (locked) brake shoe or a wheel that may have derailed. From the cupola, you will have the same great view the brakemen had for photos of the train stretched out ahead. Space in the caboose is of course limited, so a caboose ride may be on a “first come” basis. More likely, you will have to pay an additional fee for the privi- lege of riding in the caboose.
Night Shoots Many charters now feature night open flash photo sessions on a night during the charter event. While the photographers hold their camera shutters open for a minute or more, one of the event organizers will walk around the locomotive firing repeated bursts from an electronic flash onto successive areas of the locomotive and tender, effectively “paint- ing” them with light. With your camera on a tripod and set to manual exposure and B (bulb), and with an aperture of around ƒ/8 (at an ISO setting of 100), using a cable or electronic shutter release simply hold open the shutter for the length of time the locomo- tive is flashed, then close the shutter. Other charter operators use fixed lighting, allow- ing photographers to choose their own an- gles and often resulting in each shooter tak- ing dozens of images.
The Chase Buying a ticket and riding the train allows you to participate in all the run-bys, night photo sessions and other special events. And you will be helping make the photo train a reality, for unless the trip organizer can cov- er the operating and insurance costs, a photo train event will have to be cancelled. But if the trip is sold out (a frequent oc- currence on some charters) before you can purchase a ticket, do not despair. Chasing is not possible for routes that take the train away from roads, but if there are any roads that come close to the tracks, it is possible to get vintage looking steam train photos by driving ahead of the train. You will have to pick your own locations where you might get a good photo with non-
modern looking backgrounds, as the photo runbys may be held in locations away from roads. A good technique for this is to drive the roads that offer a view of the tracks be- fore the photo train departs and pre-visual- ize selected locations. But you will usually have lots of company chasing the train, and if unfamiliar with the area, you can get good photos by following the crowd to the best roadside photo spots. On the very popular charters (they usually sell out well in ad- vance) on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic out of Chama, N.M., for example, the highway will be lined for a quarter mile at times with chasers.
One word of etiquette here: While chasing is quite common on charters offered directly by tourist railroads, chasing private char- ters is discouraged. Remember that the op- erator is not charging several hundred dol- lars for a train ride but is selling photo opportunities. A horde of chasers discour- ages those onboard who paid for the trip and makes selling future charters quite difficult. For private charters, it’s always best to buy a ticket.
Cass Scenic Railroad The annual “Rail Fan Weekend” on the Cass Scenic Railroad in Cass,
W.Va., held this year on May 16-18 and sponsored by the Mountain State Railroad & Logging Histor- ical Association, is a superlative steam pho- to freight event. The three day event fea- tures photographers’ steam log trains with photo run-bys in the mountains behind ear- ly 1900s Shay locomotives and a three loco- motive race.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic A “living history museum” of steam railroad- ing is the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic’s ex-Den- ver & Rio Grande Western’s 1880s rail yard in Chama, N.M. The railroad is the site of ex- tensive steam freight charters each year us- ing original D&RGW steam locomotives dat- ing back to 1925 and earlier with the tenders re-lettered in the
Grande” style. Most trains feature double- headed locomotives, and tripleheaders
“flying Rio at
times are run. Steam charters for 2014 start with the
May 17-19 “Work Extra 315” out of the C&TS’s eastern terminus in Antonito, Colo., featuring restored D&RG 1895 2-8-0 No. 315 with a demonstration of track work with MOW equipment, and a night photo shoot. On September 27-30 “Chama Steam Fall
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PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG MONROE
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