Monthly Archives: November 2023

New Mexico Locomotives!

by in Digital darkroom, night photography, Railroad, Steam locomotives and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

In my last post, I introduced my recent trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to participate in a night photography workshop. I got several positive comments on those building shots – Thank You!

The day I arrived in Albuquerque, I connected with several friends who also love to photograph trains. After dinner, one of my friends and I drove to a secluded spot south of the city to see what Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) trains would come by. In the hour or so that we were there, we photographed many trains going by. Here’s a sampling of that evening.

The skies to the east were stunning and contributed to this composition!
These three locomotives were pulling a very long train. I will admit to removing all the graffiti from this trestle to minimize distractions from the main subject.
Approaching from the west, I zoomed in a bit to capture this one locomotive from the rest of the train.
We were at this location in the evening so the light was intriguing. I love this composition that includes a signal.

The star of the weekend and the purpose of my trip was to photograph Santa Fe Steam Locomotive 2926. This locomotive, built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia PA in May 1944, is currently owned and operated by the New Mexico Heritage Rail (NMHR). Locomotive 2926 was among the last group of steam passenger locomotives built for the Santa Fe Railway. This class of locomotives comprised the heaviest 4-8-4’s built in the United States. Locomotive 2926 was used by the Santa Fe from the time it was built until December 1953, with more than a million miles under its wheels. In 1956, the Locomotive was donated to the City of Albuquerque and placed on display in Coronado Park. Locomotive 2926 was acquired by the NMHR in July 1999 and restoration to operating condition began. In 2018, a fire was lit in the firebox for the first time in 65 years and 2926 moved under its own power on July 24, 2021. (Go to WWW.2926.US for more information.)

The NMHR brought the 2926 to the Albuquerque Rail Yards for our workshop, and what a subject it is!

This gorgeous sky wasn’t going to last, which was fine. We were there to shoot in the dark!
The NMHR had great models for the shoot. Although, the Engineer on the front of the 2926 really was the Engineer!
Lots going on here. Will it run? Is it on time?
A little monochrome treatment for this shot. Is the Engineer talking to a traveler or a railroad executive?
Our friendly Engineer set this lamp in front of the locomotive, making for a great and fun composition!

For this shoot, I used my Canon EOS R5 camera body with a Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8 L IS USM lens, tripod mounted (shutter speeds varied from 2-5 seconds to sync with the strobe lights). I prefer to shoot my night locomotive pictures with the camera no higher than 30 inches off the ground. The wide angle lens really added some drama to the compositions.

I hope you like these images. I had fun taking them and then making them in the digital darkroom!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR