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PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS AND TECHNIQUES BY GREG MONROE Steam Dream Excursions MARCH 14, 2015
MASONIC CENTER • 33 WEST ALPINE AVE. STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA
PRESENTERS S.R. Bush, Kit Courter, John Harder,
John Kirchner, Scott Lothes, Randy Nelson, and the combined photographic works of Tom Gildersleeve, Gordon Glattenberg and Hank Mills.
TICKETS $35.00per person RAILROADIANA SHOW ONLY: $10.00/door
SEND YOUR TICKET REQUEST AND CHECK WITH SASE TO: Vic Neves-Winterail 2015
P.O. Box 944 • Albany, OR 97321 FOR MORE DETAILS AND ONLINE ORDERING:
WINTERAIL.COM
Susquehanna and Western
Before the era of container trains and big diesels, we take a fond look back at the old Susquehanna operations from Jersey City tidewater into the mountains and coalfields of eastern Pennsylvania. You’ll enjoy rare black and white views of Ten-Wheelers and Decapods, early Alco and EMD diesels, as well as streamlined motorcars and Budd RDCs.
SHORTLINE CLASSIC
$16.95
Plus shipping & handling Order Item #NYSW-CRS
(877) 787-2467
WHITERIVERPRODUCTIONS.COM P.O. BOX 48, BUCKLIN, MO 64631
54 MARCH 2015 •
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The “Fall Classic” event in October 2014 on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic featured a photo runby over the high Cascade trestle in the backcountry near Osier, Colo. This was a tripleheader climbing east to Cumbres Pass, but the return trip was run with one engine on the point and one moved to mid-train to provide more “looks” for the photographers. Note the open-ended gondolas inter- spaced by idler fl ats carrying gas pipe, recreating a scene from the 1950s. JERRY DAY PHOTO
A YEAR AGO THIS MONTH in CAMERA BAG I pre- sented steam photo charters. This month, I would like to follow up on that theme by con- centrating on photo charters that provide just about anything a steam railfan photographer might dream about photographing — the an- nual events on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic based in Chama, N.M. These charters are lit- erally the result of a dream, but more on that a bit later. What does a railfan photographer have to
look forward to with a C&TS steam photo charter that might not be available on most other charters? It’s the opportunity to photo- graph and relive the rich history of the Den- ver & Rio Grande narrow gauge, which has a wide fan following all across the country and the world. The railroad operates a large va- riety of photo freights (at times two or more a year), some with 20 or more cars fighting the stiff 4 percent grade climbing the west side of 10,015-foot Cumbres Pass. There are double- and tripleheaders, rear and mid-train helpers, work trains with plow flangers, pile drivers, Jordan spreaders and other MOW equipment, “Gramps” tank car trains (La- fayette “Gramps” Hughes named his oil field near Chama for the nickname his grand- children gave him), wooden stock cars, and recreations of the unusual combinations of open-ended gondolas and empty idler flats to accommodate shipments of oversized pipe for natural gas drilling and pipeline construction in the 1950s. Vintage water tanks, a coaling station, ash pit, high trestles, and other rail structures are often utilized for photography and night photo shoots, and there are always numerous runbys with lots of smoke, steam, and whistle. There are also multi-day events
that allow longer trips and photo ops at sun- set and sunrise. Access to the large 1880s Chama rail yard
is (so far) not restricted (but stay out of the engine house), allowing freedom to wander around and photograph the several locomo- tives being readied for the day’s use and the dozens of early 1900s freight, passenger, and maintenance cars. A portion of the original 1882 roundhouse (with “Denver & Rio Grande Railway 1882” coal stoves) is still in use, as are the vintage depot (built when the original two-story depot burned, along with much of the town and rail yard, in the big fire of 1899) and a rare two-spout 1897 water tank near the tall coaling tower. In addition to the ticket price, attending a
C&TS charter may require extensive travel time and air fare, car rental, and lodging ex- penses. But if you are a serious steam train photographer, attending one of these special C&TS events — always designed specifically with the railfan photographer in mind — will be well worth your effort. Steam charters in America go back at least
into the mid-1940s, an idea that no doubt gained traction when steam’s waning years were making fans eager to experience it be- fore it was gone. After World War II and up until September 1951, the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club out of Denver hosted several railfan excursions on the soon-to-be-gone Rio Grande Southern narrow gauge in southwest- ern Colorado; the Illini Railroad Club in Il- linois was noted for its steam excursions in the 1960s; and photo excursions hosted by the Rocky Club or the National Railway Histor- ical Society were held well into the 1980s in Wyoming and Colorado behind Union Pacif-
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