June 18, 2018 – NS Heritage “Southern” unit, 8099, leads a loaded Duke Energy Coal train westbound as it passes through the east end of Lyle Siding at Princeton, Indiana, running as a second train (Q0T) of 71T, from Francisco, IN to East Mt. Carmel, IN to Duke Energy. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
June 9, 2018 – “Southern Ghost!” NS Heritage unit 8099, the Southern, prepares to pull away from another engine in the early evening fog at the Norfolk Southern yard at Princeton, Indiana. This unit has and is being used as the leader lately on the Duke Energy coal run between Alliance and Francisco load-outs. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
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 15, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 8343 leads NS 224 (Atlanta, GA-Kansas City, MO) west across the Walbash River at Mt. Carmel, Illinois with ex-Conrail D8-40CW leading the way on the Southern West District. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway
June 15, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 8163 leads 70Q Extra (East Mt. Carmel, IN (Duke Energy) – East Mt. Carmel, IN (Sunrise Coal), as it arrives at the Load out in East Carmel, Indiana to pick-up a load at the newly located load-out. This is a new train that only has to travel a few miles from Duke Energy to load at the new facility. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #coaltrain #nsrailway
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 pulls it’s train past East Douglas as it leads NS 285 East at Princeton, Indiana with a load of containers and autoracks. – #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
May 19, 2018 – A westbound Norfolk Southern Railway mixed freight makes its way across Decatur Lake, just outside Decatur, Illinois. #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #norfolksouthernrailway
May 19, 2018 – After two great days of capturing steam action at the Monticello Illinois Railway Museum I made the trip home along with fellow railfans Ryan Scott and Bryan Burton and it was a great day! Everywhere we stopped we only had to wait 15 minutes or so before trains came along and we did this all the way back to Princeton, Indiana! It was a great day of railfanning and a lot of nice photos coming up over the next week or so between steam and diesel!
Plan is to post steam in the mornings and diesel shots from the trip in the evening, so look for two posts a day!
This shot is of a light engine, NS 6096, and a mixed freight, with NS 9854 leading, pulling westbound over the WABIC Diamond from the NS Yard at Decatur, Illinois, with the city in the background. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #norfolksouthernrailway
April 28, 2018 – For the second time in a week we find a Norfolk Southern Heritage unit on a CSX freight on the Henderson Subdivision. Today CSX Q589-28 (Avon, IN – Wauhatchie, TN.) has the NS 1074 Lackawanna Heritage Unit trailing as the second unit, as it snakes its way up the viaduct at Rahm, Indiana. – #jimstrainphotos #indinarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
April 28, 2018 – For the second time in a week we find a Norfolk Southern Heritage unit on a CSX freight on the Henderson Subdivision. Today CSX Q589-28 (Avon, IN – Wauhatchie, TN.) has the NS 1074 Lackawanna Heritage Unit trailing as the second unit, as it snakes its way up the viaduct at Rahm, Indiana. – #jimstrainphotos #indinarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
April 26, 2018 – CSX Q500-26 pulls north with Norfolk Southern’s 911 Honoring First Responders engine trailing the consist as it heads north on track 2 on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Ky. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad