Night Time Railway Photography by Gary Knapp

Click on each image for a closer look!
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Inspired by our recent night shoot at the Roundhouse Park, I decided to share here two night photographs by Gary Knapp. Gary carries on the tradition of shooting railway photographs at night using powerful flash equipment as made famous by O. Winston Link whose work and museum we documented in this earlier posting. Here are two of Gary's most recent images. He generously shares them online with those interested in them. Here are his comments on the experience of capturing the first image shown above.
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"I returned to "the bridge" on the SLR (St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railway) in Gilead, Maine last Thursday night to investigate how the fall color was progressing. True to form, while the hills surrounding the area had reached peak color, the trees around this bridge along the Androscoggin River were just starting to change in some cases. The river maintains its own little ecosystem here, slowing the fall color change along the riverbanks. Arriving in time to see #393 crossing over the open deck bridge in the darkness, I had lots of time to set the lighting up to catch the same crew returning with train #394 from nearby Berlin, New York. ........ Within a few minutes the scanner comes alive with #394 departing from Cascade Yard Limits up near Berlin, and I start watching the time. Around thirty minutes later #394 is on the curving approach to the bridge, #804's headlights shining through the trees!" ..... Shot in Gilead, Maine on October 8, 2010 at 02:49 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 35/2 (Nikon) set at f2."
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Here are his comments on the experience of capturing the second image shown below.
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"The talking defect detector to my east broadcasts over the car scanner announcing a second train crossing over the falls, and I jump out of the Civic to take my position atop the stepladder in anticipation. The roar from the falls adds to the drama of being here in the darkness, and I mean darkness. There are no streetlights around, only a spotlight up behind the bridges lighting up the dam. Perfect for night photos! Again, the only warning is the west end of the bridge brightening up from the oncoming headlights. You don't hear a thing over the falls until the engine cab pops out from behind the bluff at forty to fifty mph! This time it was the CN train heading for Montreal via Syracuse! What a nice surprise this was! With leader "class unit" #5500, a member of EMDs "class of '85", presently rostered as an SD60F, #5500 was one of four units designated as an SD50AF when built as demonstrators. What a nice start to my visit! Just as interesting is the trailing four axle CSX GP 40-2 and GP 38-2. ....... Shot at Frenchmans Hollow near Fullers, NY on October 2, 2010 at 02:36 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 35/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2."
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures and stories by Gary Knapp
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