June 18, 2018 – NS Heritage “Southern” unit, 8099, leads a loaded Duke Energy Coal train westbound past the restored depot at Princeton, Indiana, as a second train (Q0T) of 71T that runs from Francisco, IN to East Mt. Carmel, IN (Duke Energy). – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
June 6, 2018 – I think this shot is a good example of how sometimes it’s worth turning around an getting a going away shot! Norfolk Southern 167 (Granite City, IL-Danville, KY) heads downgrade at Hatfield Junction with several flats of CAT Dozers, as it heads east on the NS Southern-East District at Oakland City, Indiana with NS 9237 leading the way. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway
From left, Jim, Javid and Ryan waiting to shoot some street running action at La Grange, Ky – Photo by Adam Hill
This past weekend my good friend Ryan Scott from the Ft. Branch, Indiana area and I set-out on a day-long trip to photograph trains between Princeton, Indiana and what started out to be Louisville, Ky, but turned out to be La Grange, Ky. Our plan was to meet up with a fellow railfan friend of ours from Facebook, Javid Beykzadeh. Little did I realize that I’d end up meeting several more friends from Facebook while we were at it including, Adam Hill, Josh Kellerman, and Erik Landrum.
The railfanning community is actually fairly large, if you take in the world and that’s pretty much what Facebook does for us. I have friends who are railfans from pretty much all over the world and it’s always cool to meetup in person in our travels in search of that perfect train picture!
All my family already know my obsession with trains and photographing them whenever I can. Even, my nieces and nephews know about my love for trains, and I hope that I’m passing some of that onto them, but I digress.
As railfan trips go, this was a really good one with Ryan and I photographing 5 different railroads before the day was over. Evansville Western Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Indiana Southern Railway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. As day road trips go for me railfanning, this was a really good one!
Some of our group photographing Southbound with BNSF War Bonnet 791 at La Grange, Ky, – Photo by Jim Pearson
Other favorite photos of mine from our day-long trip are posted below.
June 9, 2018 – There’s just something about the lure of street running trains and when you throw in a BNSF War Bonnet, well, it makes it even better. Here we have a southbound CSX Q231-08 as begins to make it’s way through downtown La Grange toward Louisville, Ky.
June 9, 2018 Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099, “Southern” passes the signal at milepost 209.8, at Jefferson Township, Indiana, as it makes its way west on the NS Southern-East District. This scheme is from the Southern Railway (GE) which originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation’s first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, “The Best Friend of Charleston.” Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years.
June 9, 2018 – Here we find a crew getting NS Heritage 8099, Southern Unit, ready for pickup by an, Duke Energy coal train, at the NS Yard Office in Princeton, Indiana, after storms passed through the area. We got lots of great photographs, which you’ll see over the days to come and also met-up with several fellow railfans in person that we’ve been friends with on Facebook for sometime!
June 9, 2018 Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099, “Southern” passes the signal at milepost 209.8, at Jefferson Township, Indiana, as it makes its way west on the NS Southern-East District. This scheme is from the Southern Railway (GE) which originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation’s first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, “The Best Friend of Charleston.” Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years.
June 6, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 167 (Granite City, IL-Louisville, KY) crests the hill leading up to the west end of Hatfield Junction with several flats of CAT Dozers, as it heads east on the NS Southern-East District at Oakland City, Indiana with NS 9237 leading the way, as the last light of the day begins to fade. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway
June 9, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099 is illuminated from behind by a coal train working behind it at the NS Yard in Princeton Indiana as a light fog rolls through the area.
While I usually try to shoot my night photographs using a tripod with a low ISO, this shot was a handheld one, shot with a Nikon D800, using a 50mm f/1.4 lens at 1/160th at ISO 4,000. The bright red light comes from the FRED (flashing rear-end device) on the end of another train.
When shooting handheld with a high ISO like this at night, I find I get best results if I shoot at my widest f/stop and keep the camera on fast frame rate. Also, brace yourself, take a deep breath, let it out about halfway, hold it an then fire the shutter. Of course a stationary subject helps as well, but blurs can work as well if you have to go with a slower shutterspeed. Give it a try either way! If you don’t shoot, you won’t have anything for sure and the more you do it, the better you’ll get with shooting at night. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #norfolksouthernrailway #heritageunits
June 9, 2018 Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099, “Southern” passes the signal at milepost 209.8, at Jefferson Township, Indiana, as it makes its way west on the NS Southern-East District.
This scheme is from the Southern Railway (GE) which originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation’s first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, “The Best Friend of Charleston.” Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #norfolksouthern #nsheritageunit
June 9, 2018 – Here we find a crew getting NS Heritage 8099, Southern Unit, ready for pickup by an, Duke Energy coal train, at the NS Yard Office in Princeton, Indiana, after storms passed through the area.
Today I’m going to break down the technical information on how I shot this photo of Norfolk Southern’s 8099 Southern Heritage Unit at Princeton, Indiana.
Here’s the technical info on the picture: Nikon 800, full frame camera with a Nikon 18mm f/2.8 lens. Exposure was ISO 200, f/2.8 at 6 seconds as a RAW file with Auto White balance and by default I underexpose my photos by a -.7 exposure. I find this helps me recover the highlights in the picture.
Now, my thoughts… Of course, the photo was shot on a tripod, thanks to Ryan Scott as I forgot to put mine back into my new RAV 4 before the trip. If you’re out shooting after dark, you really need to use a tripod for best results. You can brace your camera on a wall, or something stationary and get acceptable results, but for the best results, use a tripod.
When shooting at night I always set the mirror to lock-up before shooting the photo to help cut down with camera shake and set the self-timer to 3 seconds, so my hands are off the camera when the exposure is made. You can use a remote type device as well, but I find the self-timer works well for me.
Next, take your camera off Auto ISO! If you’re working on a tripod at night, you don’t need the high ISO and by setting it to manual, say around 200-400 ISO you’ll get a lot less noise (grain) in your photograph.
Exposure: I usually set my f/stop to the widest opening, ie: f/2.8 in this photo. If you’re planning on stopping down, I’d keep it at about f/5.6-8. That’s my preference anyway. Shutter speed is always going to depend on the light, but I’d start out at about 10 seconds, shoot a shot and then check your preview. If your photo is too dark, increase your exposure, not your ISO, unless you absolutely have to. If it’s too light and washed out, then shorten your exposure.
White Balance… I shoot everything with auto white balance turned on. This helps me in the RAW plugin to correct the off-color lighting of the yard lights, street lights, etc. best. At least it does for me. The lights to the left of this photo put out a bright orange light, so much so that I find it unsuitable for my taste.
We all have our own idea of how we want our final photograph to look and I’m no exception. I’m to the point these days that when I’m shooting a picture, day or night, I have a preconceived idea of how I want the final picture to look when I’m done processing.
Finding standing water to reflect your subject in will always add impact to your image, but sometimes that’s not an option, so look for other things that can help add impact. However, as an early mentor in my life told me about things in your photo, if it doesn’t contribute to what you want your picture to say, then eliminate it by changing your focal length or camera position. Try your best to shoot the photo in the camera the way you want your final image to look so you don’t have to do any cropping.
Any other questions just post them in the comments!
June 9, 2018 – I spent the day railfanning with good friend Ryan Scott between Princeton, Indiana and La Grange, Ky and this is perhaps my favorite shot from the trip, which was one of the last shots of the day!
Here we find a crew getting NS Heritage 8099, Southern Unit, ready for pickup by an, Duke Energy coal train, at the NS Yard Office in Princeton, Indiana, after storms passed through the area.
We got lots of great photographs, which you’ll see over the days to come and also met-up with several fellow railfans in person that we’ve been friends with on Facebook for sometime! A big shout out to Javid Beykzadeh for helping with our journey around Louisville and La Grange and other fellow railfans Adam Hill, Erik Landrum, Josh Kellerman that were at La Grange, Ky when we all caught the CSX Q231-08 with BNSF 791 Warbonnet street running through there. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #nsrailway #norfolksouthern #nsheritageunit
June 6, 2018 – The warm light of the setting sun illuminates the scene, at the eastern end of the yard at Huntingburg, Indiana, as westbound Autorack NS 276 passes Norfolk Southern Railway’s Geometry Train platform #38, commonly known as “The Brick” as it tests the siding.
Light from the bottom of the cars on the geometry train take a digital profile of the track which is used for maintenance and upgrades.
The NS Research platform 38 “The Brick” was rebuilt using the frame and trucks of former NS/NW EMD SD40 1620. It contains sensing and measuring equipment to record track geometry and rail profile (rail wear), as well as the power supply for itself and NS Research car. The Research 36 car contains the recording and processing equipment for the data supplied by NS 38. Here it’s being pulled by NS 9272 as it does its testing on the NS Southern-East District. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #norfolksouthernrailway
May 28, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Railway Conrail Heritage Unit 8098 passes over the NS/Indiana Southern Diamond at Oakland City, Indiana as it heads east on the NS Southern-East District. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #nsheritageunits
May 28, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Railway Conrail Heritage Unit 8098 slowly makes it’s way downgrade at Douglas as it leads NS 285 East out of the yard at Princeton, Indiana with a load of containers and autoracks. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #nsheritageunits
April 12, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 8051 crests the hill as it leads an eastbound freight towards the crossing at county road 150 at Princeton, Indiana on the NS Southern-East District. The second unit is NS 8999 and the trailing unit is BNSF 6919. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway
April 12, 2018 – Union Pacific 8974 heads up a string of 8 locomotives on NS 319 as it pulls to a stop short of Ohio Street in Princeton, Indiana. It’s crew had to drop four of the engines at Princeton before continuing on east on the NS Southern-East District. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway
March 15, 2018 – A empty westbound Norfolk Southern coal train passes through Hatfield Junction outside of Oakland City, Indiana with Union Pacific 8997 bringing up the rear as the last DPU on the NS Southern-East District. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #unionpacific #uprailway
March 15, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8114 is leads empty autorack 239, with NS 9122 trailing, at Birdseye, Indiana as it heads west to Kansas City, MO. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsheritageunit #nsrailway #heritageunit
March 15, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8114 is reflected in the water as it leads empty autorack 239 west, as it approaches the last crossing before the NS yard at Huntingburg, Indiana on it’s way west to Kansas City, MO. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsheritageunit #nsrailway #heritageunit
March 15, 2018 – It’s a beautiful Spring day as Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8114 leads empty autorack 239 west, as it approaches the hwy 37 overpass at Eckerty, Indiana on it’s way to Kansas City, MO. Unfortunately the train got stuck in a siding just east of Oakland City, Indiana where the crew had to wait almost 4 hours for a higher priority train to pass it in the night, before finally continuing it’s trip west. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsheritageunit #nsrailway #heritageunit
March 10, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Railway’s NS 168 moves by West Douglas as it works on doing a pick-up at the Yard in Princeton, Indiana before proceeding on east with a short 1,500 foot train, with NS 8156 and BNSF Warbonnet, 737 as power.
March 10, 2018 – Day 131 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Industrial Landscape – I spent most of today railfanning (taking pictures of trains) in southern Indiana and Illinois. This scene is of the Norfolk Southern railway yards from an overpass in Princeton, Indiana. Good leading lines can help draw your viewer into your picture!
February 7, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 8100, the Nickel Plate unit, pulls a empty coal train around the loop at Alliance Coal past a loaded CSX train at Princeton, Indiana in preparation to pickup a load of coal.
February 7, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 8100, the Nickel Plate unit, pulls an empty coal train east past Lyle Siding in Princeton, Indiana as it heads for Alliance Coal to pickup a load of coal.