BY STEVE BARRY
a station on the Morris & Essex line at Mount Olive, N.J. This station, however, sees sporadic service on weekdays and no service on weekends; to get at least hourly service you need to go to Dover on the M&E or Gladstone on the Gladstone Branch, both about 40 minutes away.
One railroad, however, actually comes within seven miles of the office — a 15-minute drive — and I had never shot a train there, even on the warm summer evenings when I hear a train blowing for crossings. The line has all the hallmarks of a mainline railroad with welded rail, four-unit consists, and heavy freight. The only thing missing is volume. The line is the New York, Susquehanna & Western, and the location is Sparta Junction. The reason I’ve never shot there is timing, as there is only one train through there each direction, three times a week. The eastbound train goes through on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at around 3:00 a.m. The westbound train passes on the same days at around 7:00 p.m. In the winter the westbound passes in darkness, in summer the location is shadowed in from nearby trees. Darkness is no longer an issue, however, since I acquired a fleet of Alien Bees flash units about four years ago. Still, in
all that time I had never taken them over to Sparta Junction to get a train. Finally, on February 27, 2015, I made the shot a priority. I arrived around 6:10, allowing about 45 minutes to set up before the train would be through. Just as I got the flashes in place, and before I could do any test shots, the train showed up at 6:20 and I helplessly watched it go by without being able to shoot. Dang.... I did stick around afterwards, though, and experimented with flash placement. I would be back, and I would be ready. On Monday, March 2, I returned to the scene. This time I arrived at 5:20 and by 5:40 I was set (even thought it wasn’t quite dark yet). The clock ticked away — 6:20 when the train showed up on Friday, 7:00 when the train was usually through — and no train. Patience, however, is indeed a virtue. At 7:45, after being ready for two hours, the train showed up, I pushed the trigger that fired four strobes and captured the scene, and I had it. I finally took a photo at the closest railroad location to the R&R office.
It only took me 19 years to do it.
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