NEWS AND OTHER STUFF WE THOUGHT OF A Gift From Santa: Steam At Night
TOURIST RAILROADS ALL ACROSS the U.S. and Canada are benefiting from the commercialization of Christmas (okay, let’s not open all the negatives of that can of worms and focus on the positive) and that means Santa Claus trains or similar events are a huge part of a railroad’s annual income. And for the railroads that rely on steam, that means steam operations at night. And for the railroad photographer, that opens up a lot of photo possibilities (see, I told you we’d get to the positive). I had the chance to photograph three steam operations in three adjacent states — all on one weekend. The Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania operates one “Night Before Christmas” train each Friday evening in December. The Wilmington & Western in Delaware doesn’t run night steam-powered trains, but its locomotive is necessary to keep the steam-heated coaches on the daytime trains warm, and that means the locomotive is fired up over the weekend. And the Black River & Western runs several “North Pole Express” trains each Saturday and Sunday in December, including one departure each day after dark. Let the photography begin! The Strasburg Rail Road only operates one
train a night on one day a week, so that had to be a Friday night adventure. For the weekend of December 11-13, I had a three-railroad strategy all in place. Friday found me at the Strasburg for the prime shot on the railroad, the bridge over Pumpkinville Turnpike (actually a dirt farm lane) near Paradise. I checked in with the landowner during the day and got permission to be on his property, and began my set-up at about 6:30. The power was Strasburg’s ex-Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 pulling a monster 11-car train. The engine
62 FEBRUARY 2016 •
RAILFAN.COM
TOP: Strasburg Rail Road’s ex-Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 No. 475 crosses the Pumpkinville Turnpike near Paradise, Pa., with a “Night Before Christmas” train on December 11, 2015. ABOVE: Wilmington & Western No. 98, a 4-4-0 from the Mississippi Central, was the star of a night photo event at Marshallton, Del., on December 12. STEVE BARRY PHOTOS
runs tender-first on the outbound trip, which gave me a chance to test my flashes and set- up. On the return to Strasburg, No. 475 put on quite a show climbing the grade out of Paradise. As it crossed the bridge I fired the shot and had the first steam locomotive of the week in the bag.
Wilmington & Western’s ex-Mississippi
Central 4-4-0 No. 98 was next on the list, scheduled for Saturday night. The locomotive has a mechanical issue that keeps it from moving under its own power, but the railroad needs the steam it produces to charge the steam lines in the coaches for its daytime
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